Let's see how well television wunderkind J.J. Abrams can do in the feature film world. The future "Star Trek XI" producer's big-screen directorial debut, Paramount's "Mission: Impossible III," lights its fuse in movie theaters all over the world this weekend, so get in line!

Not only will Star Trek fans be scrutinizing the film's direction, they will also be interested in the quality of the script, because Abrams' co-writers on "M:i:III" — Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci — will also write "Trek XI" (related story). (As clarification, Abrams will produce "Trek XI," with an option to direct.)

The reviews for the Tom Cruise action epic have been pretty positive. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times criticizes the film somewhat for feeling like "two consecutive one-hour TV shows, one sort of standard, the other stocked with excitement." But, he adds, "Fortunately for the film, and for us, the second hour is the best one..." Turan continues that Abrams "has come up with a solidly crafted entertainment, a diversion that really diverts once it gets down to business."

Todd McCarthy of Daily Variety writes, "The high-octane juice audiences crave in big-budget action films surges propulsively through 'Mission: Impossible III,'" adding that Abrams "orchestrates the billion-dollar franchise's requisite elements with skill and energy."

The Hollywood Reporter calls this "Mission" sequel "ultrawired but more human, if no less absurd." Reviewer Sheri Linden says that Abrams "takes the driver's seat with both feet on the accelerator... Although it trades in the same high levels of improbability as the previous films, Abrams and his co-scripters inject some humor and emotion, elements sorely lacking in the first two editions." Linden says that the "lean" script by Kurtzman, Orci and Abrams "is the least self-serious, most down-to-earth 'Mission,' insofar as a barrage of preposterous action and ultra-violence can be called down to earth."

Monday's L.A. Times ran a story in its Calendar section describing how Abrams got the job on "M:i:III." "Tom [Cruise] gave me that 'Risky Business' smile and said, 'Do you want to do it?" is what Abrams boiled it down to. Visit this link to read that story.