Everything is accelerated in the Kelvinverse. In the next movie (set a couple years later), Kirk would be transported into the 24th century where he'd be killed falling off a bridge. Spock would then scream "IT"S BEEN FUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!" (just to add a twist on the scene).
He really was. And I really liked how it intertwined with the villain, who felt like Starfleet had left him while Kirk felt like he didn't fit in Starfleet.
I know NuKirk was stated as being genius-level, but even so, it seems that he would need more years of experience to be considered for the admiralty. Kor
The truth is 99% of Starfleet is still tied up in the Laurentian system, so they had to make some modifications to their promotion criteria.
Probably a low grade admiral stuck on a starbase where he can't cause trouble. Laurentian system is Vulcan for "money pit."
Except Kelvin Universe Trek seems to treat rank very lightly. It's like lower management positions in retail rather than anything remotely military.
That may be, but the problem is from the dialog and the way Kirk talks, the viewers get the impression he's bored. We may be misreading it, but the dialog does lead you to think he's got disillusioned and bored. If it were the 5th or 6th movie, after many experiences (that we get to see too) it would make more sense, but this is barely 3 years out and he was only a cadet himself 3 years earlier. He applies for admiral and the Enterprise gets destroyed. It all happened too soon Another thing is when Kirk is killed, its Spock that yelled "Khaaaaaannn!" It gets so much flack because some fans probably feel the bond isn't there. Yes, they've been on the Enterprise for a year together, but we don't get to see that year, the experiences, the bonding, it just jumps ahead a year at the beginning of the movie. The rushing things and the promotion isn't a huge, major thing that doomed the franchise, but I think it might have a been a smaller thing that helped hurt it.
While Spock yelling "Khaaaaaaan!" was irredeemably stupid, I 100% got that the bond was there. I clicked with some of my best friends ever in less time than Kirk and Spock knew each other by the time of Into Darkness. And I bicker with them even more than Kirk and Spock do in that movie. You're also pretty much saying Wrath of Khan doesn't stand alone as a movie (in which Kirk and Spock's friendship is talked about in very mushy terms during the command change-over but not really shown) and only works if you've watched 79 episodes of TOS and the original movie first.
Heh.. One of the pitfalls of knowing that Brand New Trek is coming, but to having to wait soooo gosh-darn long for it to show up.