Better than I feared, actually quite good

Rating: 8/10 (18 October 2013)

I have to say that this movie was better than I feared it would be and that it was actually quite good. With the first movie I was not overly thrilled with the concept of the reboot and the alternate timeline. I still am not too thrilled about that even though I can understand the motivation for doing it since it certainly gives more creative freedom.
One thing that sets this movie apart from the movies in the original timeline is that it is much more of an action movie. Many of the movies in the original timeline was downright slow. The little fighting they contained was over in a matter of minutes and they often went to extreme lengths to talk themselves out of everything. This one is much more of a roller-coaster ride and Captain Kirk is much more gung-ho and impulsive. To me this is a very positive thing and the main point that makes this movie a good one.
There are of course other things making this movie worthwhile to watch. The special effects are quite enjoyable. Especially combined with the fast pace and plentiful action. I think Chris Pine as well as the other actors where performing quite well in their respective roles. I quite liked Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan although I have to say that I did not like the Khan element itself. It just felt cheap to try and ride on one of the most popular of the original movies. They could easily have made the plot, or at least a quite similar one, work without the bad guy being Khan.
Another thing that disturbed me was that they just had to wreck the Enterpriseagain. Not only that but it really became ridiculous how much they could wreck on that ship and she would still hold together. In some of the original movies it went overboard in the other direction. One shot and weapons, shields, warp drive and everything else useful would go off-line. In this one they make Swiss cheese of her and she still flies. While we are at it, the scene where Kirk realigns the warp core by kicking at it is fairly ridiculous as well.
In general I think this is an enjoyable movie. Maybe not 10 out of 10 but definitely high up on the scale. I hope they continue to make Star Trek movies with this amount of action in them. Certain reviews that I have read states that this movie is dumbing down Star Trek or "Star Trek for morons". I must say that I disagree totally. It is not any dumber than many of the previous movies and it has a fast pace and level of action that many of the others lacked.