Out Now: Star Trek

J.J Abrams breathes new life into one of the oldestrunning science-fiction series of all-time.

Unlike previous movies in the ongoing Star Trek film and television series, the Lost writer's vision of the series is in many ways more human (excusing the pun) in terms of the emotional struggles between characters, their development throughout the feature as well as the usual small matter of saving the Earth from complete and utter annihilation.

James T Kirk's (Chris Pine) character is revitalised as a young, roguish and overly hot-headed student who gets suspended from Star Fleet Academy for cheating on the space-aged equivalent of a Higher exam.

Thanks to the aided efforts of some friends though Kirk manages to smuggle onboard the Starship Enterprise as it heads off on its first mission to investigate a distress signal from the Planet Vulcan (Spock's homeworld).

Realising that they are heading for a trap Kirk manages to warn Captain Pike and the crew narrowly avoid disaster. But survivial comes at a cost when the Captain surrenders to Nero, destroyer of the Vulcan homeworld; leaving Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the young, inexperinced Kirk to save Earth from a similiar fiery fate.

Older fans of the series may find the new version a little over the top compared to the original shows which was more about mankind coming in peace to the rest of the universe and the show's usual happy endings where action scenes often took a backseat to the main moral message.

But many will still enjoy this fresh approach to an old classic which has enough explosions to keep the kids enticed and a deeper storyline for older fans to engage in.

Also it has British funny-man Simon Pegg playing Scotty. If that isn't enough to get you to watch then I don't know what will!

Star Trek is in theatres now.