STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Rated PG-13)

Never attracted to the dozen or so “Star Trek” television shows and about equal number of films with original TV cast members, I would never be mistaken for a Trekkie.

Until George Lucas mucked up his franchise with inane “prequels” of increasingly dubious merit, “Star Wars” was terrific, namely for interesting characters, good humor and exciting action.

On the other hand, the original “Star Trek,” at least to my untrained eye, appeared more cerebral and weighed down by too much mystical philosophy. That’s not a bad thing, but the action was usually paced by gradualism.

As unlikely as it is that I would ever become a Trekkie, I have been won over by director J.J. Abrams’ new vision of a rebooted “Star Trek” pulsating with high-octane action and plenty of humor.

“Star Trek Into Darkness” even improves upon Abrams’ maiden voyage with the 2009 “Star Trek,” which introduced the young generation of Starfleet leaders, including the brash James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) trying to live up to his father’s legacy.

The action picks up soon after where things left off four years ago. Captain Kirk’s command of the USS Enterprise is tested when he and his crew attempt to save a primitive society from a volcano poised to erupt.

Spock (Zachary Quinto), the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer trapped in harm’s way on the volcano’s edge, is rescued by Captain Kirk in direct violation of a prime directive from the Federation.

Returning his ship safely to Earth, Kirk is demoted to First Officer by Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood). We know from the first film that the swaggering Kirk is impulsive and willing to bend the rules, and here he is no different.

While punished for insubordination and writing false reports, Kirk is soon pressed back into service when a terrorist attack destroys the Federation underground headquarters in 23rd Century London.

On top of that, rogue Starfleet officer John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) also conducts an above-ground aerial assault on a Federation conclave, killing some key members and thus necessitating Kirk’s return to command of the Enterprise.

The motivations of the dastardly terrorist are not immediately known, though later revelations prove that he’s a recognizable foe with an agenda more fully explained by mysterious torpedo tubes placed aboard the Enterprise.

On a mission to exterminate Harrison with extreme prejudice, the Enterprise is sent to the planet Kronos by a belligerent Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) to seek the hiding place of the renegade.

Capturing Harrison is fraught with great risk and danger, since Kronos is an outpost for the hostile Klingons, who view any incursion on their planet as an act of war.

Turning the Enterprise into a warship creates onboard conflicts between Kirk and Spock, as they argue over the moral issues of an order to assassinate Harrison rather than to bring him back to stand trial.

As unlikely as it may seem, Spock, the pensive, logical Vulcan who can never tell a lie, is in the middle of a rocky romantic entanglement with Zoe Saldana’s tough-minded, yet sexy Uhura.

The Enterprise is populated with other familiar, lovable characters, from Simon Pegg’s funny and frantic Scotty to Karl Urban’s sardonic yet urgently attentive medical officer Bones.

As expected, John Cho’s Sulu is aloof and confident at the controls, while Anton Yeltsin plays Chekov with youthful, untested resolve.

New to the Enterprise crew is a stowaway, the uninvited science officer Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) with suspect motives, an attractive blonde who most certainly will get Kirk’s attention. Creating some wariness for the crew is the fact that she’s the daughter of Admiral Marcus.

The action sequences in “Star Trek Into Darkness” are cranked up to an impressive magnitude, from the violent confrontation with the Klingons to an intergalactic battle in space that nearly destroys the Enterprise, causing Kirk to improvise to bring the ship back to San Francisco.

The return to the City by the Bay results in a massive amount of destruction to the skyscraper buildings, resulting in a stunningly visual representation of wholesale destruction of property and human lives.

Though this may be presumptuous on my part, I feel there are many segments of this film that evoke memories of the past, perhaps to breed familiarity or to render homage. Some may point to the need to revisit some of the early “Star Trek” films.

Whatever the case may be, the thrilling “Star Trek Into Darkness” delivers genuine excitement that allows this venerable franchise to continue to go boldly forward and to live long and prosper.

I hope the hardcore “Star Trek” fans may find this new direction appealing, but I do not feel qualified to speak for that constituency.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.