Good, really good. But not great.

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2013)

First of all, let me state that I recently saw Iron Man 3 and I've enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness WAY more than the first. Why? Because it is plain and simple a very good movie. Iron Man, in my opinion, is not.
One more thing: For everybody who compares this Star Tek movie to "Wrath of Khan": Into Darkness takes place way earlier in Trek-continuity than the "original" second Star Trek movie! You must compare it to the episode "Space Seed" from TOS, because that's when the Enterprise first discovers Khan in space. In the time-line from J.J. Abrams' movie, Khan and his crew just hasn't been found by Kirk and his crew and so everything happens as it happens in the film ...
But now into detail:

The Good:

The acting. Benedict Cumberbatch simply is PERFECT. Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, Peter Weller, Simon Pegg and John Cho are also great. And even Chris Pine shows that he can act (no, really).
The CGI. There is so much action happening in this movie and you do not ONCE think of it not being real. I guess that's the best you can say about CGI used in a film. There's one exception, though: See "The Ugly".
The script. Adapting one of the most famous story lines/villains in Star Trek history is risky, to say the least. They did it very well. Cumberbatch's Khan is scarier than Ricard Montalban's and even though it's hard to believe that a Star Trek Admiral is even a bigger lunatic than Khan, at the end it all comes together fine. The chemistry between Kirk and Spock with all its tension is well scripted, too
The dialogue. Yes, I know, this is also part of the script, but it deserves a special note. Funny, emotional ... and sometimes epic. 'nuff said.

The Bad:

The side characters. Bones, Chekov, Scotty. In this movie, they are just here to ... be here. Especially Chekov is so "unnecessary" that they take him as a substitute to Scotty in Engineering?! I'm sure that aboard a starship there is at least one other person who is more qualified than a helmsman(!) to be Acting Chief Engineer? And Scotty as a "Secret Agent"? Doesn't work for me. Next time, please involve more of the crew members in the actual main plot!
The plot holes. This contradicts my praise for the script a bit, but I just wanted to point out that there are some really ridiculous scenes: John Harrison tells Kirk his real name and he calls himself just "Khan"? Not "Khan Noonien Singh"? Who would do it like that? Not me! Scotty can get aboard Admiral Marcus' ship undetected? I don't think so! Khan is not able to scan his torpedoes for lifeforms, when he beams them aboard? No way! A helmsman becomes Chief Engineer? But I had that one already ...
Leonard Nimoy. Why was he in the film??? His scene was really unnecessary and even more ridiculous than the ones mentioned above. So will young Spock call his older self in each and every movie to come? And will Nimoy-Spock tell Quinto-Spock everything he wants to know? Frankly, I don't care: Please get rid of Obi-Wan-Kespock!

The Ugly:

The Beaming. There were so many great special effects - and then the beaming of people looks like they got caught in a bunch of wool? I don't get it ...
The Showdown. I was a bit disappointed by the way, Abrams & Co did the final battle between Khan and Spock. I think, a villain like that shouldn't be defeated on top of a car. Khan deserves more.
The 3D. Just. Totally. Unnecessary.
That's it: Seven Stars, period.