EXCELLENT!
Just got back from a packed movie theater a little while ago. I was very happy with this film. It had it all. Action, humor, great FX...it was even touching at times.
The strength here is definitely the performances. The big three of Chris Pine, Zachery Quinto, and Karl Urban did a great job with their respective characters. Pine definitely plays it Han Solo-like but you do see how in the end he becomes Captain Kirk. Quinto was terrific, particularly in that Vulcan council scene. He brought Sylar to Spock and did it very well. Urban was terrific as McCoy and I agree we didn't see enough of him. They even managed to work in a reference to McCoy's divorce, a piece of backstory that's been a part of the character forever but never referenced on-screen. The friendship with Kirk was great.
I have to say that Bruce Greenwood was awesome as Pike. I'm glad Kirk ended up as captain at the end but damn, I'm sorry we didn't get to see Pike in command longer. He even looked like Jeffrey Hunter from a distance in that uniform. Nice touch with him in the wheelchair at the end. He might not end up banging Vina on Talos IV but at least he's still got his face.
Leonard Nimoy was indeed the emotional focal point as Old Spock. His scenes were actually quite touching and it was so awesome when he returned. The audience cheered for the first time when he was revealed.
Like I said, the film had a lot of heart. The death of Kirk's father, the destruction of Vulcan and Amanda's death (can't believe they actually did that), and Old Spock's scenes brought out emotion you haven't seen in a Trek movie since Wrath of Khan.
The rest of the cast was fine. Both Pegg and Yelchin were funny, Saldana was hot and I'm glad that they made Uhura an actual linguist instead of a switchboard operator. Sulu was succificently badass with his sword. Ben Cross was good as Sarek, who seemed a hell of a lot nicer in this movie than his initial ST appearance.
Weak spots...I really wish Abrams would have calmed down with the rapid-fire editing during the fight scenes. Just like in Batman Begins and Quantum of Solace, the actions sequences fly by way too quickly and don't make you enjoy them very much. Also, I don't think the Nero character was given enough time to be a truly memorable villain. I thought Bana was fine but we saw too little of him and why in God's name did he wait so long to attack Earth after destroying Vulcan?
Continuity porn...did Scotty kill Porthos?!?!
All and all, a great first outing and I can't wait for the next film. I agree...it ended way too soon. I can't wait to see what the next adventure of the original crew will be.