It does seem his Trek scripts get a fair amount of criticism on these boards, but I haven't had a problem with them. Remember, the first script was hampered by the writers' strike, too. Their hands were tied at tweaking it.
That's true about ST09, which is why I'm less harsh on it because I simply shrug it off as an awful film that's a product of the writers strike.
And I don't see why that wouldn't have been dramatically better if they had postponed it to the moment where Kirk looks into Harrison's eyes, thinking of what Spock had been telling him all along and then deciding to do the right thing by arresting him. I think it's important to have Kirk experience the moment rather than simply do what he's told earlier. He discovers it for himself and grows from it. It would even show Spock following Kirk to this very moment because he had confidence that Kirk would make the right decision when faced against it, strengthening their trust in each other. If these are to be the stories of the younger version of the characters growing into the ones we see in TOS, this would be the way to go.
As it is, it feels rushed and compromised because of filmmakers being afraid that Kirk would lose audiences. I understand the desire to try to appeal to as many of the masses as possible, but I don't think they should underestimate audiences.
Edited to add: That's why I thought the only time they really had Spock out of character in these two movies was when Spock had no problem with the Enterprise opening up all barrels on Nero at the end of ST09. I can understand the explanations for why he thought it was OK, but I'd think that it's something he will end up regretting having wanted.
It was the callousness that bothered me. The characters were smirking when taking that action and it just felt like a total bro moment, that an action film has to have the hero kill the bad guy with a cool attitude or something. That's what James Bond does to hide his inner-disgust, not what should be the heroes in Star Trek.
STID at least attempting (even though I don't think they succeed) at being more thoughtful of such things is what puts it ahead of ST09 for me. The only bit that carries over from that first film is when Uhura's all "go kick his ass!" to some effect, but that's pretty mild.
Well, Kirk changing his mind when he did, rushed or not, was an important moment for Spock, too. Kirk is in the chair and Spock is at his station. They exchange glances. That alone is classic. Then, Spock waits to see if Kirk does the right thing or not. He's staring him down. Again, classic. Kirk changes his position. Spock realizes that his captain is a reasonable person open to other opinions and capable of keeping his emotions from driving his command.
Having it happen the other way is total self-realization for Kirk. The "quicker" way makes a bit more ambivalent and moves the Kirk-Spock relationship, too. Kirk wants the bastard dead, but he knows his first officer is right, too. He relents to the better and less partial judgment of Spock. (He should've done that for Scotty, too, and maybe that's playing on his mind. Is he going to let his emotions cause him to ignore the advice of every officer under him? That could get his crew killed, someday.) Kirk is beginning to learn his responsibilities as a captain are ultimately more important than a personal vendetta. In return, Spock gives him his few moments of trying to beat Harrison senseless even though he surrendered.
Edited to add: To make this more on topic, I think Orci has the characters and their growing professional and personal relationships down very well. Excellent, even. If anything else, that makes me feel he should be fine as the director of the next movie. Like I said, that glance between Kirk and Spock before Kirk changes his mind on the purpose of the mission is classic. Things were said between them in that glance. That takes understanding of the characters and appreciation of how their interactions were presented before in TOS. That scene was directed by Abrams, but it was written by Orci and the others. I would think he'd have the same appreciation and vision of how to present the characters. That's 80 percent of the battle, right there.
