'Star Trek' (PG-13)(out of four)

Whether you're a self-proclaimed Trekker or not, J.J. Abrams ("Lost") has put together just about the perfect "Star Trek" film. Unless you've been living under a rock forever, you must know about Captain James T. Kirk, his first officer Spock, and if you've graduated to novice Trekker, you know a bit about the peripheral characters such as shipmates Medical Officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Montgomery "Beam Me Up Scotty" Scott, Sulu (John Cho), Uhura and Chekhov.

The revered television show has become a staple in pop culture since its 1966 debut on NBC. It followed the daring and provocative voyages of the Starship Enterprise, launched in the year 2245 and in service for 40 years. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was the ship's commander during a five-year mission which lasted from 2265 to 2270.

But how did Kirk come to be the celebrated captain? When we first met our Starship crew on the small screen, Kirk was already settled in the captain's seat, which is what makes the latest "Star Trek" movie all the more inviting. This is where the future begins.

When we first meet our characters out in space, the father of James is at the helm of a ship, in the throes of an attack by enemy Romulans, the biggest hellraisers of the galaxy's three alien races. Kirk has to make the choice of staying with his pregnant wife to see through the birth of their son, or make the choice save his 800 shipmates.

This is, too, where we meet James T. as a baby, born in space in a galaxy far, far away. Fast forward a decades or so later, and young James is an Iowa farm boy, who seeks thrills by joyriding in a Corvette of which he can barely see over the steering wheel. Fast forward another decade, and he's still a delinquent, but very much in search of finding himself.

The adult James' (Chris Pine) fate comes calling and Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) asks him to follow in his father's footsteps at the Starfleet Academy. It is there he'll meet a bitter rival, who will eventually become his closest ally, Spock (Zachary Quinto), a half-human, half-Vulcan who struggles with emotions not accepted in his race. The stoic Spock is merely there to serve, but as his father tells him, "You will always be a child of two worlds."

If you're looking for something to relate to, this is the film that has it, from family relationships, to interracial couplings, villains, heroes and a few inside jokes for the already initiated ("Live long and prosper," and "Phasers on stun" illicited chuckles from the audience).

As you can imagine it ends up being newbie Kirk and Spock's job to save a planet and their own ship when their captain almost meets the same fate as the first Captain Kirk. The Romulans are once again threatening a planet, and this time they've set their sights on Spock's home of Vulcan.

Nero (Eric Bana), an evil Romulan with facial tattoos that make him look like a cast off from the cable television show, "Miami Ink," wants the Vulcan planet and he'll do anything to get it, even if that means taking out Spock, and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

As expected of an action film, the near-death experiences of our hero as he clings to a fiery Romulan drilling platform, and a way cool scene where a freefall through space could mean death if it weren't for beaming capabilities, satisfy completely without being too unbelievable.

It's because Abrams and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman create a world where anything can happen. People go forward and back in time, but it's done with such a smooth hand that continuity is never sacrificed.

Casting was certainly a difficult choice for this film, making sure that the actors kept intact the memory of the originals, while bringing something fresh to the big screen. Pine makes the right choices as a young James T. Kirk in not trying to impersonate the iconic Shatner, but incorporating many of his smooth moves. This Kirk is Pine's own creation and his characterization actually allows for a new appreciation of the venerable captain.

Quinto plays Spock a bit stiffer than Leonard Nimoy (who appears in the film in a pivotal role as the elder version of Spock) allowed, but here it works. Karl Urban captures the essence of McCoy with some very funny lines: "The ex-wife took the planet in the divorce," and Simon Pegg steals the movie midstream doing a send-up impersonation of the original Scotty, James Doohan. Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Anton Yelchin fill out the Enterprise crew as Uhura, Sulu and Chekov, respectively.

As the eleventh "Star Trek" movie, this reboot stands on its own. Creative, compelling, with just the right mix of space action and humanistic humor, going back to the "final frontier" is worth the riveting ride, even if you don't know the difference between warp, transwarp and slipstream.