Hollywood's current "it" director JJ Abrams, best known for his television shows, "Lost" and "Alias" and the film, "Cloverfield", takes the helm of the new Star Trek movie, rebooting the franchise in a very successful manner. Taking aim at last week's number one movie, "Wolverine: X-Men Origins", Abrams new film will most likely supplant Jackman's film at the top of the box office heap. Even President Obama, apparently a Star Trek fan, is asking for a viewing of the highly anticipated summer film at the White House.

      With a cast of youthful actors led by Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk (looking like he stepped out of an Ambercombie ad), the familair faces of the Trekkie universe are given a much needed rush of youthful adrenaline and appeal for a new generation of fans. Pine does well as Kirk, a womanizing and extremely independent young man who finds purpose as a Starfleet cadet. Uhura (played by the alluring Zoe Saldana) and McCoy (Karl Urban) are introduced early on as well as Sulu (Harold and Kumar's John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Of course the pivotal and important role of Spock is played by Zachary Quinto of NBC's "Heroes" fame. He steps easily and comfortably into the role made famous by Leonard Nimoy, who much to the pleasure of diehard fans, appears in the film as well. Other interesting cameos or supporting roles include Wynona Ryder as Spock's human mother, Ben Cross as Sarek, his Vulcan father and more surprisingly, Tyler Perry (the Madea movies) as a high ranking leader at Starfleet Academy. Eric Bana (Hulk, Munich, Troy) is vicious as Nero, the disillusioned Romulan who is determined to take his vengeance on Spock and all of the planets in the Federation.

      But the brunt of the film's success lies on the shoulders of Abrams, whose story telling must draw fresh viewers who haven't seen the previous films or television programs while pleasing the dedicated fans of Roddenberry's original vision. He admirably marries the new with the old, creating a film full of action that will please those craving a high octane summer film yet staying true to the beloved characters in the franchise. This origin of the young Kirk and the genesis of his Starfleet career preps the launch of a re-energized Star Trek film series and is bound to have a huge opening weekend. Abrams is definitely living up the his hype as a director, producing and directing both entertaining film and television programs. And the positive reviews and big numbers at the box office certainly aren't hurting his bankability.

      Well worth a trip to the cinema....grab some popcorn and enjoy the ride!