Captain's log: Star Trek Beyond brings us back to the five-year mission of the USS Enterprise, as it encounters brave new worlds, strange alien species… and Idris Elba.

At the helm of this latest adventure in space (aka the final frontier) is Fast & Furious director Justin Lin, who takes over the captain's chair from Star Wars defector JJ Abrams.

Paramount

Digital Spy and other publications are already sending back dispatches on Star Trek Beyond, so check out the first reviews below:

1. Digital Spy

"Fresh off the Fast and Furious franchise, Lin brings a fresh dose of energy and emotion with him, working from a script co-written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg. Star Trek is fun again."

2. The Guardian

"The real star, as ever, is Zachary Quinto's imperturbable First Officer Spock, who conveys logical calm, droll humour, and a kind of martyred romanticism. He rules the movie with a single raised eyebrow. Without Spock, this might be a bit ordinary."

3. Variety

"Director Justin Lin brings his bravura action energy and a certain nostalgic flair to the Star Trek series, even as he unboldly goes where too many have gone before."

4. TheWrap

"Without a TV series to bridge long gaps between movies, each new Trek film has shouldered the burden of being many things to a large and varied fanbase. Star Trek Beyond forges a path right down the middle of the franchise's well-defined lane, playing more like a greatest-hits compilation than anything new. Given the various low points in the 13-film series, that's not a bad thing.

"This episode cuts right to the core of the series' original appeal, giving the terrific cast a chance to play against one another in a straightforward story. It's not exactly bold, but Beyond does satisfy."

Paramount

5. The Hollywood Reporter

"While Beyond won't unseat 1982's thrilling The Wrath of Khan as the gold standard for Star Trek movies, it's a highly entertaining entry guaranteed to give the franchise continuing life."

6. Crave Online

"They don't all have to be The Wrath of Khan. They don't all have to be The Undiscovered Country. Sometimes the can just be First Contact or Star Trek Beyond, fabulous tales of daring-do about awesome people doing awesome things, touching upon some philosophies but mostly just leading by example. Be better people, don't let bullies win, and most importantly… live long and prosper."

7. Den of Geek

"Star Trek Beyond is eager to please, as it fuses moments of broad comedy, explosions, battles and chases with quieter character-building moments - including one genuinely moving homage to the late Leonard Nimoy. The result's fun but oddly lacking in a sense of outright peril or drama; it's telling that Beyond's most poignant or funny moments are all spawned from nods to the old TV shows and their cast."

8. IndieWire

"A lighter, funnier effort than the previous installments, Star Trek Beyond reflects a changing of the guard. With JJ Abrams passing the baton to Justin Lin, the latest entry plays like a CGI-heavy Fast and the Furious movie set in the future, with fancy gadgetry and fast-paced showdowns taking prominence over plot. Simon Pegg does double-duty, returning to the role of Scotty and co-writing the screenplay with Doug Jung.

"The result has Lin's eye for outstanding set pieces and Pegg's ear for injecting familiar genre tropes with wit. There's an odd disconnect between the movie's undercooked conflict and its epic scale, to the point where it barely exists as more than a series of flashy moments. But its trivial qualities come as something of a relief - this is a movie engineered to avoid overextending its allure, which differs greatly from so many of its summer movie peers that do exactly that."

Star Trek Beyond arrives in cinemas on July 22. Watch a trailer below:

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