Liked the action, effects, green orion cadet, but lacked substance. How will they act in the next one?

Wonder how they will they differentiate the two versions of Star Trek canon in the novels and books? Star Trek Prime? Maybe Star Trek, Star Trek – A, Star Trek – B, C, D to distinguish the different alternate realities created every forty years they decide to reboot again. You know like they do with subsequent Enterprise ships they letter them to distinguish them. Since rebooting canon in a new alt reality will Abrams remain faithful with the new canon he creates? Meaning will they keep facts established in the new Trek universe consistent? I hope so because since they wiped the slate clean they have no excuses for not at least being true to their version of Trek.

As for Vulcan bullies and Vulcan prejudice against humans and biracial children being out of character is not too far fetched. We've seen Vulcans make comments about how superior they are. I know not which episode but in TOS I think Amanda mentions Spock being teased as a child by Vulcan children. Logic is something they mature into not born with. It was those experiences that drove Spock prime to excel to the point that T'Pring calls him a legend among his own people. He had to be more Vulcan than a full blooded Vulcan did just to be respected in his culture.

It is the worst film I have seen for a long time. Apparently the writers are big star trek fans, but to be honest there very little that would suggest they sat down and watch all 79 episodes. All they've done is use the cliche's and make a remake of every 'coming of age' movie and set it in space. This was a film purely for idiots who like big bangs and special effects. The biggest mistake in my opinion was having Leonard Nimoy as the link between this movie and the rest of the franscise. Had that link not been there, it might have been a bit more acceptable, but thw writers have been lazy and sat in a room and said 'You know what, we've got to appeal to the mainstream audience which is 16 year old morons from the deep south / or Chav's from Essex, London. We can't have a deep plot because people are stupid. There not that many Star Trek fans anymore so what we'll do is give Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek the finger and tell it THE HOLLYWOOD WAY.'

My horror is the kids will now think the Star Trek XI is about being arrogant and getting to the top by screwing people over just like Cap'n Kirk. The writers have gone into their little book of cliche's and come up with this.

You forgot to mention that Captain Pike;s history has changed. The crew from The Cage are all gone. Spock served with Pike 11 years before serving with Kirk and Pike wasn't the first captain, it was Robert April and according to one novel, the chief engineer was George Kirk, Kirk's father. What happened to Kirk's older brother. Spock would have spurned Uhura's advances – that was to get the testosterone going in the teenage boys.

As you said, by setting it in an alternate reality is a HUGE COP OUT. Friends have been saying, 'but it's set in an alternate universe'. No, it's because the writers are rubbish. Abrams has NEVER seen Star Trek. It shows. It was simply cashing in.

I passionately hate this film and feel that they've soiled the whole francise. It a very arrogant version.

J.J. Abrams and the rest of the Star Trek (2009) executives should be tar-and-feathered for mangling Star Trek so badly. It's a shame more people haven't criticized this movie more.

* Scotty being transported (conveniently) into a big transparent water pipe for comic effect? With the water flow suddenly and conveniently stopping once he's flushed out? I guess this new Kirk can't even get his hair wet??;

*Spock being responsible, solely, for the destruction of Romulus? (Even on Earth in 2009, important engineering and scientific work is reviewed and independently checked.) Why wouldn't the same be true on Vulcan?, and finally;

* Chekov's atrocious accent and his unbelievable & inexplicable mad dash from the bridge to the transporter room ("I can do it, I can do it,…") while Kirk and Sulu are accelerating toward the ground (Just what made him able to lock in on the falling pair, when the person assigned to the transporter wasn't, is never explained;

* Kirk's supreme arrogance during the Kobayashi Maru training exercise, and Spock (as, at most, a junior officer) as the "creator" of the Kobayashi Maru exercise????? What is Starfleet Academy exactly, some kind of junior college institution that has been waiting for the Kirk-Spock pair to make sure it gains accreditation??

* Sulu carrying a sword (and the villain on the platform) conveniently having a sword also – and not just shooting him point-blank – in the 23rd Century? Also, his introduction as the helmsman who failed to release the "inertial dampener" brake – typical, subtle Hollywood denigration of persons of color – introduce the Asian guy as one making a mistake,

* The bullshit speech of Captain Pike in this movie – about Kirk's test scores being off the scale – is absolutely unsupported and is just more contrivance by producer/director J.J. Abrams and the other Hollywood executives who are looking for another James Dean style white hero for 2009 and beyond (again, in my opinion);

* A worthless CGI monster chase scene on the icy planet (have we seen something similar to that before?) – with the monster being chased off (when it's time to move the threadbare plot forward again) by Spock with a simple torch flame. Note that this was followed by a scene where older Spock and Kirk do a stroll to the Starfleet base nearby, with no fear of the now defunct monster;

* Kirk as the "chosen one" is contrived in my opinion – The Original Series writers portrayed Kirk as being an exceptional Starfleet captain based on life experience, sound judgement, and dedication to his oath of service and the Starfleet mission (for instance in TOS episode "Court Martial". It showed his peers and superiors (other capable Starfleet captains, such as Commodore Wesley in "The Ultimate Computer" and judges in "Court Martial"), and it contrasted him to several Starfleet captains who forgot their pledge
to observe the Prime Directive or spaceship captains who made tragic errors in judgement (i.e. like Captain Tracy in TOS episode "The Omega Glory", starship Captain R.M. Merrick in "Bread and Circuses",
and Commodore Matthew Decker in "The Doomsday Machine".

* Vulcans – a society based on logic and reason – embracing prejudice against those who are biracial, in the 23rd Century no less;

* Vulcan High Council members just sitting around for Spock to beam them away to safety?;

* Uhura's role as essentially non-existent – (just eye candy for Kirk and a squeeze for Spock.) She does nothing on screen except appear pretty – no translations, no interception of messages. Did she actually do anything – I know she said that she translated something earlier but that doesn't really count (This characterization is actually a move backwards from Nichelle Nichols contributions in a 1960's TV show). How in the world could Kirk successfully act as the commanding officer of anyone if he's continually striving to score on any Starfleet female cadet who happens to pass by? How is this indicative of the "actual" Kirk and his self-control with regards to women under his command (i.e. Yeoman Janice Rand)? Note: It was only in TOS episode "The Enemy Within" in which the aggressive Kirk attempted any sexual contact with a member of his crew);

I just noticed that this post is the first item under the "From the Blogs" section on the CNN.com story about the movie . Pretty neat. I wonder if those choices are hand-picked or some sort of search algorithm.

Ugh. In the future, will we be able to execute people for crimes against creativity?

And don't get me started on Hottie!Kirk. Despite the fact that he looks like a Calvin Klein model, he scams on every girl in sight, uses pickup lines that Leisure Suit Larry would consider too obvious, and spends his final exam munching on an apple like some prep-school snot who knows he never has to study because his daddy's on the Board of Trustees. (I'm sorry to say, fellow Trekkies, that I am talking about the Kobayashi Maru scenario.) And then he's promoted to First Officer and then Captain for that kind of behavior?! To whom is that a likely, or attractive, scenario, except for thirteen-year-old boys who think that school sucks and that girls will fall all over them if they can just do an ollie on their skateboards?

After I saw the movie, I thought of it as just another example of how Hollywood underestimates the intelligence of its audiences. I felt vaguely insulted that someone thought people would be satisfied with this shoddy, gaudy, unoriginal pablum. Well, my cynicism about the taste of the average moviegoer has just been restored.

At least there's one good negative review out there. (Of course, the author's being flamed like no tomorrow on Rotten Tomatoes.) I suggest you check out it: it's well-written and pretty damn funny, especially the graf on Kirk:
http://antagonie.blogspot.com/