A very entertaining movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2013)

I'm giving this movie a 10 to try and counteract some of the ridiculous low ratings some other reviewers seem to want to give it--because I wouldn't want their review stars to deter anyone from going to see it.
I am a long time ST fan, although not obsessive, and I found this to a highly entertaining movie with plenty (perhaps a tad bit too much plenty) of action, deftly interspersed with effective dialog and character moments.
In contrast to some comments, e.g. one reviewer who found it "dum" I experienced the script as being rather sophisticated in its handling of the reworking/riffing on the original "Star Trek II. " And if you want your Trek with a social message, this movie has a pretty clear one: if we as a country forget what we stand for and become like the "terrorists" we fear so much, we are indeed going "into darkness."
I'm also not sure what the comments about it not being Trekish or intellectual enough are about. This set of movies clearly references ST:TOS, a rather cheesy TV show. The typical TOS episode involved the senior officers of a ship all beaming to a desert back lot, where Kirk macked on an alien girl, Spock opined about logic and the prime directive , and everything is solved by fisticuffs. Oh, and there is a scene at least once an episode where the Enterprise is attacked and the crew defends it by vigorously throwing themselves from side to side on the set. Herman Melville it ain't.
In this context the stylistic acting choice in the movie, aka "hamming it up," works well and is completely appropriate. The cast functions well as an ensemble, and the characters are both vivid and engaging.