My bro said this is the best star trek film ever made.
Though he has never been a trek fan except mildy of the next generation tv series a long ways ago.
In fact he is a halo 3 fanatic. Not surprising really he likes this film.
I say its a fun action flick and nothing more. Respects the mythology to a certain degree and all the young players seem to be playing the same characters we saw in the old star trek. Despite the timline and backstory changes and that the enterprise looks like a video game spaceship.
To me personally this movie is kind of a glass half full kind of thing. It is better to have a new trek intead of none, yet if this is the best they could come up with after 43 years perhaps trek should have stayed dead or at least for a while longer. Enterprise ended in 2005 and Nemesis came out in 2002.
If i was responsible for treks direction . I would have let trek remain dormant for at least another decade until resurrecting it. Plus i would have set it in the future hundreds of years after picard and crew and have it have all new characters and a brand new starship enterprise. Instead of a rehash of old trek been there done that. Or do a earth romulan wars movie set in kirks fathers era. Unlike the idea of berman to have it set in kirks grandfather's time.
The safe thing to do is what they did. Use the old star trek which is the most relatable to older folks and spice it up just enough to get young people involved too. If you ask me they really did not change all that much it is almost the same old star trek. Not really boldly going where no man has gone before.
There were other stories they could have done. The fourth and Fifth seasons of tos for instance in their first five year mission. Or the second five year mission. Both never told on tv or in movies. What about the in between time when the crew goes there seperate ways leading up to the motion picture. Or what happened in between trek 1 and 2. Kirk goes from being an admiral to a captain in the first movie on his own decision agreed to by nogura then suddenly he is an admiral again in star trek II and spock is captain with no explanation.