Finally saw it, and as much as I loved and defended the first movie..... this one unfortunately was just too much of a mindless action flick for my taste.
There were definitely some cool sequences in it, and some pretty good laughs (especially early on), but there was very little actual
Star Trek in it.
There was no sign of the inspiring, optimistic Star Trek future anymore, no real exploration or philosophy or thoughtful dialogue-- just a lot of running around and fighting and people seeking revenge.
Lots and lots of revenge. To the point where it really started to rub me the wrong way after awhile.
And while the overall storyline holds together on a basic level, there were so many liberties taken with the Trek universe and technology and character backstories that it just started to seem utterly random and
ridiculous after awhile.
In the end, as much as I really hate to say it, I frankly think
Nemesis is a better Trek movie.
I would recommend watching it again. I mean, if that's how you ultimately feel about it, that's fine, but from what you're saying here, I think you missed a great deal of the story. There is an undercurrent of optimism throughout the movie, and there's a strong moral thread running through it as well.
I'm not sure what you mean by liberties with the universe or technology, since Star Trek has
always been rather loose with both, and I don't know what you mean by the effect on character backstories, either.
There
is an element of revenge, and it sits squarely with Khan. While tangible and palpable for a while, the concept is gone from Kirk's mind before the
Enterprise has even reached the Klingon border, as his sanity and rational thought prevails. Kirk's revenge motivation was that he had seen his mentor and father figure murdered. Shinzon's revenge was against a man he never met, who had never caused him harm, instead of toward the people who had engineered his existence.
And please forgive me for saying, but when I see "it has little actual Star Trek," or "it's not Star Trek," I just find that to be so wholly subjective as not to have any meaning whatsoever ascribed to it other than "it's not the movies I'm used to watching," which is, in itself, also wholly subjective.
The fact of the matter is that this is Star Trek, and that the idea, components, characters, and "spirit" of Star Trek is contained within that celluloid, even if you don't feel it is. It's entire premise is based on the knowledge that it is Star Trek.
That said, you picked
Nemesis as your "real Star Trek" comparison and not
The Wrath of Khan (also about revenge), which doesn't make sense, because
Nemesis was about revenge,
uberpowerful technologies, death, and sacrifice as well, with no exploring at all. They even went so far as to break the Prime Directive by driving a dune buggy with advanced technology on a planet with a pre-warp civilization, and firing upon those people when discovered (Kirk, on the other hand in
STiD, took every action not to break the Prime Directive until it became life and death). Other than being warm and familiar to you, in what way is it
Star Trek, and
StiD not?
