REVERIE: J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot promises to make the final frontier flashier, faster-paced

Star Trek XI might successfully reboot the venerable science fiction franchise for new fans and Trekkies alike because Director J.J. Abrams is learning from its past shortcomings and mistakes.

What made "The Original Series" unappealing to casual observers was the limited, oftentimes ridiculous special effects of the 1960s.

Though William Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk was apt to throw a punch, his intensity was underscored by the obvious stunt man in a rubber lizard suit, mascara-wearing Romulan, or other opponent he combated.

Special effects on TV progressed substantially when "The Next Generation" premiered in the late 1980s, and later its spin-offs, but the socially conservative atmosphere of the time and that the TV series is based in a future in which humanity is more peaceful than in Kirk's days of cowboy diplomacy stifles the pace of the action.

Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard was the captain of a starship Enterprise with children aboard, more apt to use his mind than his fists to defeat an alien menace.

The later "Enterprise," which Trekkies see as an affront to the unique nature of the five-year mission of Kirk and his crew, meshes both action and special effects well, even dressing its cast in what finally look like practical astronaut apparel.

Lacking from the TV series is an overarching story that is ultimately abandoned in favor of a post-Sept. 11-like deviation focused on revenge after an alien attack on Earth.

Add to the aforementioned problems that young audiences did not grow up with "TOS" to know enough about what is going on in "TNG," its spin-offs, or "Enterprise." No to mention that each series takes place in an ideal future in which humanity lives in peace as a result of having made contact with an intelligent alien species.

If anything, the Star Trek franchise might benefit by a non-Trekkie filmmaker who can objectively mesh together the best elements of its venerable history with a lot of action beats to reintroduce the world to Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future.

Remaining to be seen is whether Star Trek XI will feature a story akin to the moral spirit of its predecessors and if the younger cast has the acting chops to make this more than just a dry, visual extravaganza ala "The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy."

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REACTION: New Star Trek XI trailer shows a lot flashy action cuts, but minimal story substance

Released during the weekend was the trailer for the new "Star Trek" movie, which is about one of the earliest missions of James Tiberius Kirk and the rest of the original U.S.S. Enterprise crew.

If the movie trailer is any indication,"Star Trek" is more than visually impressive, and it surpasses the simplistic backdrops used in the original TV series to portray the experience of visiting aliens on faraway planets.

In the opening cut alone, a young Kirk drives a car he clearly is too young to legally drive so as to flee from a robotic traffic cop covered in black garb from head to toe and riding on a hovering scooter. Driving toward a cliff, young Kirk jumps out of the car, which falls to its destruction as he clings to the edge.

What detracts from the sequence is that it involves what seems to be action concocted by screenwriters with a penchant for exaggeration as opposed to subtlety.

While the aim is to establish that Kirk is a bad seed from a young age who struggles to find his place in the world, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurztman could have had the character first go through puberty.

Jimmy Bennett, the actor portraying the boy who would be Kirk, is only 12 years old, showing that the character's antics as a pre-teen are simply overkill.

Saving the action cut is young Kirk's red and gray jacket that looks very similar to the adjustably-sized one Marty McFly wears in "Back to the Future II."

Continuing the overwhelming need to overcome the limitations of visual effects in the 1960s, the movie trailer shows Spock teleporting, The Enterprise entering an actual hyper space region instead of jetting off screen, an updated physiological look for Romulans that no longer makes them look like grumpy Vulcans, explosions, a space slug creature, more explosions and so forth.

Not to mention Zoe Saldana's Uhura showing her bra and Chris Pine's Kirk having movie sex in the dark to get audiences other than hardcore Trekkies to buy tickets to this mile-a-minute, blow-'em-up space extravaganza that is being plugged as a time-travel story and not a reboot in case it blows up in director J.J. Abrams' face.

How the trailer makes the movie look promising is that it introduces Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) to audiences who are either too young to have seen "Star Trek" or could care less about the TV show, its subsequent spin-offs and movies.

At the same time there is not any clear indication as to whether Pine can convincingly portray Kirk as a rebel without a cause that rallies together the Enterprise crew or simply as a young William Shatner epigone.

Quinto's acting is also sparingly showcased. WATCH THE NEW TRAILER!

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