I thought it was ok for what it was: mindless popcorn fare. I thought Cumberbatch was a poor choice for Khan, but as Nameless Villian #3, he could have been very good. Many of the things you brought up in the review could be explained away as being part of the alternate reality of Abram’s Star Trek series. Spock’s relationship with Uhura, the fact that it is Adm. Marcus’s team that finds Khan instead of Kirk (there was the line about Starfleet had been seeking more power military assets to counter the Klingon threat). The Hot Blond babe character was Carol Marcus, who would later be the mother of Kirk’s son, David. They would develop the Genesis torpedo on Ceti Alpha 5, where they would meet Khan.
That said, the radiation death scene was copy/paste of the same scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. My eyes rolled so far I thought they were going to fall out of my head.
The scene at the beginning where the Enterprise was under water was probably the stupidest thing I have seen in a Star Trek movie since the whales on a Klingon bird of prey.
They were hiding the ship from the native population. Fine. Except for the Earth shattering sonic boom created during entry. Enter else where on the planet and fly to the temple location? A Constitution class starship (which I’m assuming this one still is) was never designed for atmospheric flight. It would have shaken itself apart with the first 1000 miles. They would have had to divert every bit of power from all over the ship the inertial dampers to make it halfway safe. /nerd
“A Constitution class starship (which I’m assuming this one still is) was never designed for atmospheric flight”
Ahh, but you see. This is an ALTERNATIVE universe in which the constitution class starship was designed for atmospheric flight.
It explains everything.
In this universe it is actually great sci fi writing that Kirk dies and is raised to life exactly like Spock in the other film then takes the captain’s chair fifteen minutes later like nothing happened.
AND babes in underwear actually look better than in our universe.