Here are the good bits:
The action was tight, though some other reviews don't think so. The gun fights reminded me a lot of Mass Effect and I'm on my Insanity run on Mass Effect 2 so I thought that was cool. Phasers fired like a mix between Star Wars blasters and actual firearms; they felt legit, like they would really do some serious damage to someone.
Pegg, Quinto, Pine and Cumberbatch were incredible. Especially Sherlock Holmes, I mean Khan. The dude's performance pretty much held everything together. He was enigmatic and intimidating, even with his very proper English accent and salon-perfect hair. Quinto did a very good Spock, but sometimes it felt like he was doing an impression of Leonard Nimoy.
I know Jim and Spock are friends, but these guys rivaled Frodo/Samwise, Aragorn/Legolas levels of bromance. I mean, there's a way to show friendship and there's trying-too-hard-at-being-Science-Bros.
Overall, the story took the audience for a few turns. The whole conflict was a little too convoluted. It had a couple too many twists and reveals, which made it a little hard to follow but with a little suspension of disbelief, it would still make for a fun ride. What I loved about how the story flowed was that every crucial member of the Enterprise crew was given ample time to shine, even though some of them didn't have all that much character development. And I guess because of that, you really wouldn't be
rooting for certain characters if you didn't know them from either the past movie or the series.
At first, it shows its Star Trek roots by emphasizing exploration and discovery of new worlds, but then it quickly adapts a very militaristic theme. The movie is quick to point this out, though, through a quick exchange between Pegg and Pine, if memory serves me correctly. For those who love the "final frontier" aspect of the franchise, I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the next Star Trek. Into Darkness focuses on plot twists, explosions and frenzied pacing.
Visually, the universe of Star Trek was impressive to say the least. Except for the classic communicator that really looked like late 90's flip phones, the technology and the advancements of their future made it look like, yes, space travel would indeed be possible (and that random planetoids had gravity and atmosphere similar to Earth). I was told that the 3D looks fantastic. I'm not a big fan of 3D so I guess I'll just have to take their word for it.
If you're looking for a more cerebral take on the franchise, you'll end up being disappointed. What Star Trek: Into Darkness is, at its core, is a fast paced space action popcorn flick. If you can forgive some of the more glaring plot holes (like how a planet that has mastered space flight has no ability to respond and detect imminent threats hurtling from outer space), then you're going to find Star Trek Into Darkness a good way to kill a couple hours. True blue fans of the series might not like the way some of throwbacks were handled, but noobs like me would have enough fun just trying to spot them.
TL;DR: Star Trek Into Darkness is a fun space action flick with great visuals and great acting. It paid enough respect to the original franchise. Watch it if you don't mind not thinking too much for two hours.
Star Trek Into Darkness gets 4.2 out of 5