I disagree about the dramatic tension being lost on Kirk's death. Even though I forgot about the tribble by the time Kirk was dying, I knew he wouldn't stay dead for long. But that didn't matter. To Kirk, and to Spock, he was dying. And he died. They were feeling some pretty strong emotions, and, because I love these characters so much, and, because the scene was so well executed, I felt those emotions with them.

I will concede that this definitely isn't as uplifting as the previous one. It's actually that very fact that's making me consider my preference towards Into Darkness. Honestly, this reminds me of my feelings toward Star Wars. I used to think ESB was the greatest, by SW just got this great feeling of hope to it. Star Trek 09's got that too. I don't know. I'll have to wait some time to see how my opinions form.