I guess I don't know understand what the essence of Trek is that makes these NOT Trek.
They seem to give a lot more attention to Spock, Kirk, and Uhura than the rest of the crew. In some ways I'm thankful... I could only take so much of the new Chekov. I like Sulu. I like Bones (although he could tone it down a bit and the chemistry between him Kirk and Spock isn't what it was in TOS) and Scottie is about on par with what I would want.
What else is there. The tech is there. The aliens are there. The Federation is there. The ships are there. There's only so much to Trek both on and under the surface. I guess I need to go back and rewatch TOS because, while it was enjoyable, I don't remember it being so mindblowing that I'd completely dismiss these new movies. Not that it's a fair comparison anyway... TOS and the JJ movies. If you compare the original crew movies to the JJ movies... I'd say you're getting less in some areas, more in others. Without a doubt II and III were the best of the originals. Effects were great for their time (and probably even for our time since they were still using practical effects). Acting was more or less great from what I remember.
What people seem to keep overlooking is that the original movies didn't have to compress any backstory into the film... it was already established in the series... kind of. Here you are re-booting the series and making some significant changes, essentially throwing in an origin story of several characters while still trying to tie it together with a story that brings elements from the Trek Prime universe.
Well, that's kind of my point, actually.
It's NOT Trek because, for one thing, it erases the rich background that created Trek films, and replaces it with whatever they pull together in the new films. It's precisely because they tossed out the continuity that this feels like..."not Trek." So, people who talk about how Kirk was a bookworm according to this one passage in an episode on TOS, end up being pissed that he's reduced to this skirt-chasing daredevil, which he definitely wasn't in TOS or any of the original films.
There's also a major difference in pacing and the conceptualization of the films. The first JJ film was a roller-coaster. The original Trek films were not. They built more towards a major conclusion, but would have some slower moments. That's one of the key differences. In addition, old Trek dealt with big ideas in sci-fi. New Trek....does not.
That said, I think there's a real difference between STII/III and every other film. STI and STV had interesting concepts for an episode, but felt...kind of pointless otherwise. STIV was similar. Fun, entertaining, but not really...I dunno...matching up to what STII/III gave us. STVI was a return to form, though.
And the Next Generation films were all over the map. Only one felt "large scale" enough to me, and that was First Contact. except, as fun as that was, it also was hampered by some weakness (yet another time travel story, etc., etc.). The others felt pretty disjointed, and Insurrection and Nemesis were just garbage.
I honestly think that, with the exception of STII/III, Trek is better dealt with on television. You can explore more ideas, build the characters more naturally, the rhythms of TV fit the notion of what "Trek" is better, etc. STII/III I think were better because they DIDN'T have a young crew, and instead dealt with an old crew dealing with the fact that they were old, and being thrust into the midst of some interesting "naval" combat. STVI had cool large-scale political themes, plus more "naval" combat.
The new films feel very, very different. They're ZOMGSAVETEHWORLD films, that literally never stop moving. They're far far more kinetic, both in terms of the visuals and in terms of the pacing of the plot points. They're roller coaster rides, and Trek has, up until them, never been about that.
From my perspective, this is ok. It'd be nice if Trek could remain a high-quality version of what I like about it, but I accept that time marches on, and my tastes are not going to be catered to by filmmakers most of the time. Plus, I've still got the old stuff, which I love.
For the new stuff, all I'm looking for is a well done cotton-candy thrill ride. That's it. A day at the visual amusement park, well executed. If the films can give me that, I'm happy. It's NOT "your Daddy's Trek." And that's ok. It doesn't need to be. It's not "Trek," either, but that's ok, too.
