Decades later, Kirk (CHRIS PINE) has grown up into a brash and impulsive young man in Iowa with a thing for bucking authority and hitting on pretty, young women such as Nyota Uhura (ZOE SALDANA), who wants nothing to do with him. The latter results in a bar fight between Kirk and some Starfleet Academy enrollees, only to be broken up by Captain Christopher Pike (BRUCE GREENWOOD). He sees untapped if unrefined potential in the young man, and eventually convinces him to attend the academy.

Yet, three years later, Kirk's impulsive behavior has kept him from being called to duty on any ship, particularly due to clashing with young academy instructor Spock (ZACHARY QUINTO). Having grown up bullied by his Vulcan brethren for having a Vulcan father and human mother, and trying to balance that internal combination of logic and emotion, Spock has little patience for Kirk and his ways of breaking the rules in order to win. But when a distress call comes from Vulcan and the yet-to-christened U.S.S. Enterprise is called into duty, Kirk ends up onboard, thanks to his medical officer friend, Leonard "Bones" McCoy (KARL URBAN), who induces a fake illness to pull that off.

Along with Pike and Spock, Kirk encounters the rest of the crew, including communications expert Uhura, helmsmen Hikaru Sulu (JOHN CHO), and navigator Pavel Chekov (ANTON YELCHIN). Upon arriving at Vulcan, Pike and his crew realize the planet as well as several Federation starships are under attack by Nero and his technologically advanced warship.

When things go badly there, Kirk ends up banished on an ice planet where he not only meets engineering expert Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (SIMON PEGG) but also a much older and wiser Spock, who gives him the lowdown on what's occurring. From that point on, Kirk does what he must to gain control of the Enterprise and prove his worth by defeating Nero and saving the day.

For those in the latter category and who fall into the baby boomer generation, pre-computer age entertainment is often the big retro memory draw, with repeats of old favorite TV shows clearly doing the trick. The only real problem is that there's obviously nothing new with said material, meaning that while comfort might be obtained, it might be tinged to one degree or another with boredom.

But what if somebody could take something old, rearrange it, and still provide that comfort level while putting a new spin on it? That would be truly something special in today's stress-heavy world, and that's exactly what "Star Trek" turns out to be. Not only that, it's the most enjoyable, thoroughly entertaining, occasionally quite surprisingly touching and hands down most fun flick to come along so far this year.

Director J.J. Abrams (best known for creating and/or producing TV hits such as "Lost" and "Alias" but with only "Mission: Impossible III" as his big screen credit) along with writers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman certainly had their work cut out for them when they took on this picture.

After all, the series went off the air 40 years ago, returned in syndication, spawned six films with the original cast, a number of spin-off TV shows, and four resultant films based on "The Next Generation." While they had their fans, none of those latter films or TV shows had the devotion of the original ones, and by the time "Star Trek Nemesis" was released in 2002, it grossed a measly $43 million at the box office. Clearly, the world of Trek had seemingly run its course.

When word came that an origins film would be made, I was one of those who cried foul. While not an artistic classic, the original TV show was fun, sometimes thought-provoking in a smart sci-fi way, and had a good cast with a terrific camaraderie among the characters. Besides, I had grown tired of Hollywood endlessly going back to the well rather than coming up with something new. And then there was the fact that this was sacred childhood territory for yours truly.

But then something interesting occurred. The trailers for the film looked fairly good, even if the casting of performers to fill the iconic roles of Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones and so on didn't quite seem to be spot on. And while I've never watched an episode of any of Abrams' shows, I knew of the fervid fan devotion to them, so I figured something good might come of all of this.

Boy, was I right, and so is the cast, crew and just about everything they do. For those who barely remember the original five-year mission being cut short by NBC, only know of it due to William Shatner's melodramatic performance or Spock's pointy ears, or have zero working knowledge of the show and all that it spawned, the film still works on its own level.

There's a decent story of a young crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise facing a technologically advanced madman bent on revenge, with plenty of state of the art special effects, terrific action, equally good comic relief and characters you come to care about.

However, the best treat awaits those who grew up with the show and have fond memories of spending the evenings or afternoons of their childhood watching it. With something deeper than just loving homage at play, the cast and crew have created believable, younger incarnations of the former characters and breathed a lot of new life into them. While diehard Trekkers (formerly Trekkies back in my day -- in any event, the kind who attend related conferences and such) might object to some liberties that have been taken with the characters and their relationships, I found most if not all of it spot on.

Chris Pine perfectly creates what one would imagine a young James Tiberius Kirk would have been like both before and during his early days with Starfleet, while Zachary Quinto does the same (while strikingly looking quite a bit like a young Leonard Nimoy).

Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Zoe Saldana as Uhura are all solid, with all of them tapping into certain clearly identifiable mannerisms and such from their character and performer predecessors. John Cho and Anton Yelchin are present as Sulu and Chekov respectively, but have lesser parts (although Cho has a decent moment in one of the more gripping action set pieces).

Yet, they do so without turning them into caricatures, and while the audience might knowingly laugh at such similarities, all of that occurs in a good and completely organic way. It's like watching an old home movie from a friend's past and noting what was there and now realizing how it segued into the person you came to know. It's perfectly done and is one of many pleasures the film offers, which also include fun connections to elements from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and more (including an extended cameo by Mr. Nimoy that serves as an effective and even moving bridge between this and the previous version).

So that this doesn't come off as a complete love-fest, I'll briefly touch on a few nitpicky things (you knew this was coming) that should be noted. Most notably, the underlying plot of revenge will strike some as perhaps a bit too similar to that of "Wrath of Khan" (although it throws in a decent time travel twist that allows for some revisionist material), which then brings us to the antagonist.

While Eric Bana is credible and thankfully a step above the usual, one-dimensional megalomaniacal villain character, he doesn't bring the viewer anywhere near the joy as Ricardo Montalban so effortlessly, if melodramatically did in that film (although I doubt anyone can top that deliciously over-baked if completely calculated performance).

Abrams also falls into the trap of so many non-veteran directors nowadays in thinking the action must include lots of shaky and bouncy camerawork. Thankfully, it isn't quite bad enough to warrant motion sickness readiness (like the Abrams produced "Cloverfield"), but I wish filmmakers would get over this annoying trend.

And speaking of that, it seems the director was going to set the record for lens flares in the film (they come fast and furious for a while, and even Abrams admits to having gone overboard with them), but either they settled down or I got so wrapped up in the overall experience that I didn't really notice them anymore. That also thankfully holds true for what could have been distracting cameos by Winona Ryder and Tyler Perry, not to mention some sort of clearly unnecessary Ewok type creature that's keeping Scotty company.

Yet, those are just small items in what's otherwise a terrific piece of filmmaking. While it clearly doesn't have the depth or darkness of last year's "The Dark Knight," it's just as entertaining or more as a pure popcorn flick filled with just the right combo of action, comedy and even some unexpected romance.

And for those who find comfort in returning to things of old, this film is going to hit the sweet spot, leaving many a baby boomer fan with goose bumps, the occasional (and clearly unexpected) lump in the throat and a big old' silly grin across their mug. My favorite movie so far this year and about as entertaining as they come for both fans and newbies, "Star Trek" rates as an 8 out of 10.