Just like the country song goes (at least how I remember it): You just can't find an editor when you need one most.

Rating: 6/10 (11 May 2015)

So you know where I'm coming from, I'm not a trekkie and I'm not a fanboy. I like sci-fi, but am not crazy about comic books or movies based on them. I grew up on the original Star Trek, but never really watched or cared for the newer versions or spin-offs.
My biggest criticism of this film is that while the special effects were pretty spectacular, it seems like Abrams was so enamored with his ability to do cool visual things, that he just couldn't stop making the movie. I would have rated this film much higher if they would have edited out 25-30 minutes, but as it is, it doesn't have the script to merit its length.
Also, especially towards the end, the blatant disregard for basic laws of physics and increasingly ridiculous acts of physical ability became so absurd that it was nearly impossible to "suspend disbelief."
Furthermore, it was a bit grating that all of the aliens in the movie essentially looked like human beings with very serious disfiguring diseases. How come alien life forms from all over the galaxy have bilateral symmetry with two arms, two legs, a single head and neck on their shoulders, two eyes, etc? Certainly it couldn't have been the special effects budget that spawned such biologically impoverished extraterrestrials.
Most of all though, this movie suffers from a major case of bloat. I really liked the film through the first half, but kept stopping it in the last half just to see how much was left--I couldn't believe it when I stopped it near the end there was still 21 minutes to go. At that point, I'd had enough and just wanted it to end. Don't they have editors in Hollywood?