Star Trek Into Darkness | What to Watch

Main stars Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine

(Image credit: Zade Rosenthal)

Another successful reboot for the Star Trek series. 4/5 stars

Chris Pine's Kirk, Zachary Quinto's Spock and the rest of the crew are back in this spectacular, smart and thrilling sequel.

JJ Abrams' follow-up to his 2009 sci-fi reboot has enough wit and zip to satisfy both diehard fans and non-Trekkies.

Cleverly referencing Star Trek mythology, the story finds Kirk and the Enterprise crew striving to foil a rogue Starfleet officer - a sardonic, imposing Benedict Cumberbatch - but it's the relationship between Pine's cocky rule-breaker and Quinto's by-the-book right-hand man that really drives the movie, with the tension between Kirk's reliance on gut instinct and Spock's Vulcan logic creating moments of gripping suspense.

Alongside them, Zoe Saldana's cool communications officer Uhura once more proves her mettle, Karl Urban's medic Bones is winningly cranky and Simon Pegg again plays Scotty for laughs.

Combining breakneck thrills, deadpan comedy and deft use of series lore, this is a blast!

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.