Things I loved:
- The sacrifice of George Kirk to save his wife, newborn son, and crew. Very moving use of music and imagery.
- The Enterprise rising up out of the atmosphere of Titan while the music soared. What an iconic shot, even more so then the first glimpse of the Enterprise in space, which was great as well, with the score again playing such an important role.
- The way Bana so earnestly said "Hi Christopher, I'm Nero." It was just so out of left field for a Trek villain to say that I loved it, and it got a big laugh from me and the audience.
- The way Quinto delivered his "Live Long and Prosper" line to the dicks on the Vulcan Science Academy board, coming out more like "Die Young and Suffer" (by the way, Sarek was part of a lot of extra-curricular activities with his ambassadorial duties, High Council, and the Science Academy - was he involved in Model Federation Council and Three-Dimensional Chess Club too?).
- Sarek's much improved relationship with Spock, and Spock's early scene with his mother. It was great when Sarek broke his traditional Vulcan stoicism to tell Spock how much he loved Amanda.
- The death of Vulcan, and Spock's monologue in reaction to it. "I am now part of an endangered species" was just haunting, and really drove home that this universe has consequences that normally couldn't be explored otherwise. Likewise, Nimoy's "Jim, I just lost my planet. I can tell you, I AM emotionally compromised" was equally moving.
- I loved that every one of the primary TOS characters, in completely unique ways, was given an opportunity to shine in their respective duties and contribute to the overall outcome of the plot. It's rare for an origin story or any Trek movie to give all the primaries a decent contribution to the plot, but this one did so successfully. Each of them got their own cool or funny (and usually both) scene.
- I loved the confidence of Uhura, and how she always got exactly what she wanted and was the consummate professional. I liked how they played up the relationship with Spock, which was hinted at in TOS (heavy flirting at the very least) but never followed up upon.
- I liked how Pine channeled Shatner in a couple of scenes (the Kobayashi Maru test and the end as captain) but didn't overdue it and charted his own path as a character. The eating the apple bit and his arrogant swagger in the Kobayashi Maru test were great.
- The humor was perfect. Sulu's reaction when Spock reveals that he actually did leave the "parking break" on, and Chekov's attempt to use his access code were hilarious. Every McCoy scene was fantastic, and Urban just nailed it.
- Pike was the perfect image of a captain, in both mannerisms and actions. As was Robau. They really set the tone.
Anyway, I'm rambling. There were a lot of plot holes and things I didn't care for at first, but then again, I love 'The Wrath of Khan' and can overlook its numerous flaws, so I should grant this film the same courtesy, since its great moments far outweighed the bad. Seeing it again in a quality theater with a large crowd (the first time was a matinee in a crappy theater) really helped improve the experience as well.
It shows that he isn't ignorant but just very er, willfull.
That scene is splendid (strange, I hadn't realised I loved watching violence that much before). Kirk is no weakling, we saw him trashing several cadets in the bar, but Spock is so much faster and stronger Kirk doesn't stand a chance. There's a moment where Spock uses his fist as a hammer which is both chilling and amazing. 
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