Orci talks about Star Trek 3

Back to Marcus for a sec, while I wouldn't go so far as to say he was cartoonish, I would have like a bit more backstory than "Winter is coming!" I mean "War is coming!" to help us understand and perhaps sympathize with his motivations. We got that for Nero.

 

Kirk would have no way of knowing that lifepods and shuttles would not be shot down by the Vengeance. He made a decision, based upon the information that he had at the moment. It doesn't change the nature of his sacrifice or the impact that it had upon his character arc.

 

Didn't McCoy tell Kirk that the Vengeance had been disabled?
Anyway Kirk should have contact the bridge before shoving himself in the WarpCore. There might have been other reasons why that might have been a waste of time.

Its actually not a big deal IMO. Just another place where the writing could have been a bit finer.
I means we get some great scenes where Sulu, Spock and Kirk are all very brave and I agree just because it was somewhat unnecessary it doesn't change the nature of Kirk's sacrifice.

If they were being realistic everyone should have abandoned the Enterprise after making certain she would burn up in the atmosphere. People are more important than machines IMO.

If the writing was a little more cleverer then there might have been some valid reason for Kirk's sacrifice like half the crew were trapped in Engineering or something or the lifepods were inaccessible.

 

I can agree with that point. The writing certainly could have been tighter and given a more substantial reason for Kirk needing to sacrifice himself. But, as it stands, it works very well in the movie because it shows Kirk's growth as a character.

Moving on to Marcus, I think we got plenty of backstory in that he is worried that Starfleet will not win a war with the Klingons. He is concerned, to the point of paranoia (in my opinion) that the Klingons will attack at any minute and that Starfleet is not up to the task.

Personally, I have enjoyed the idea that Starfleet would undergo a massive overhaul because of Nero's attacks, first on the Kelvin and then Vulcan and Earth. The idea that there would be more fear and more of a warlike Starfleet is really exemplified in Marcus. It isn't just that war is coming, it is that war is coming and he must lead in order for Starfleet to win.