Decent CGI, bad 3D and a weak story

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2013)

Six stars out of ten may seem overly generous, but please consider that this film fulfills at least some of the expectations of the audience: the cameras were on, with the lens caps off and pointed in the general direction of the actors; the costume department supplied colorful costumes, including some very sexy (if rather sexist) uniforms for the female personnel of the Fleet; the computer-generated sets are not horrible, just unbelievable and borderline steampunk; there was a script telling a story of sorts; the actors took time to memorize their lines; and the music is not obnoxious.
I saw the 3D variant of the movie—and here comes the first disappointment: the 3D is badly done. The movie is filmed as if it was regular 2D, complete with many scenes filmed with a limited depth of field (yes! new revolutionary technique! shallow DoF in 3D!), with the result that quite often there is an out-of-focus foreground, an out-of-focus background and a flat but in-focus middle plane. After an hour or so I actually tried to take the special glasses off and to my surprise the film continued to be quite watchable, even if somewhat blurry in places.
This being a Star Trek movie nobody expects great feats of acting performance, but everybody expects a good story. There is indeed a story, but it's rather not so good. Actually, it's quite weak, and too simple and short—the last 30 minutes or so of the movie are content-free and pointless, since by that time the story is over and we had found out everything there was to find out.
*** HERE BE SPOILERS ***
You see, the Star Fleet is not militarized and its ships are essentially unarmed. (What! Not militarized! And those admirals, captains, commanders, lieutenants, what are they? Just ordinary civilians with fancy job titles?) Now the Klingon Empire is out there, and their Fleet is militarized and armed with military weapons and stuff, and the Klingons have already conquered two whole planets. A rogue, psychopathic, and generally bad admiral makes an elaborate and overcomplicated plan to nudge the Federation into war with the peaceful Klingons, militarize the Fleet and assume the role of war leader. The Enterprise with captain Kirk in command is unwittingly volunteered to be a sacrificial pawn. (One may think that the film is called Into the Darkness because they are kept in the dark, as it were.) Captain Kirk objects to this role, considering it to be rather deleterious for his career and well-being. Fisticuffs ensue. (Isn't it amazing how often officers of a high-tech star-faring Fleet need to use their fists in interstellar fights?)
What do we learn from this film?
 In the future, orbital mechanics will be declared a reactionary science and then completely forgotten and erased from physics. As a result, if a starship loses power while in orbit it will fall down to Earth.
 Interstellar ships are fully capable to maneuver in the atmosphere and under water, not to mention that they can survive re-entry.
 Lifeless planets with breathable atmospheres are aplenty in our neck of the Galaxy. The source of oxygen in the atmosphere of a lifeless planet is left as an exercise to the members of the audience.
 Interstellar ships use reactive thrusters to maneuver. Unfortunately we are not told from were they get the reaction mass.
 It's all right for the XO of a Fleet starship to have an intimate relationship with a lieutenant who is assigned to the same ship.
 Engineering personnel is apparently genetically engineered to work unprotected near warp cores which are venting coolant (or steam? did I mention that the computer-generated sets are borderline steampunk?).
 Actually, unprotected humans can survive in a warp core long enough to be able to perform useful work there.
 Warp cores are engineered with generous tolerances, so that they can be brought into alignment by applying vigorous kicks.
 The use of hands-free headsets will become so completely unfashionable that even Fleet officers on hazardous missions will absolutely refuse to use them.
 It is essential to train the crew of an interstellar Fleet ship in unarmed and close-quarters combat, because such skills are quite often required for the successful completion of their missions.