If Malik did start reciting Moby Dick dialogue and intended to destroy the Enterprise with his self destruction, I would say they went further beyond doing a call back. 
For what it's worth, when I was watching the flick and that scene came up, I was thinking "you gotta be kidding me", but then I started to get into it because the actors were doing a hell of a job selling the scene (Chris Pine's "I'm scared Spock" is great). It was actually working for me. But then Spock yelled "KHHHHHAAAAAAAN" and it dropped like a brick, or a starship plummeting down San Fransisco. They had me, they didn't have to take it further with that awful bit.

For what it's worth, when I was watching the flick and that scene came up, I was thinking "you gotta be kidding me", but then I started to get into it because the actors were doing a hell of a job selling the scene (Chris Pine's "I'm scared Spock" is great). It was actually working for me. But then Spock yelled "KHHHHHAAAAAAAN" and it dropped like a brick, or a starship plummeting down San Fransisco. They had me, they didn't have to take it further with that awful bit.