I think it's a really good film. Rewatched it just last night as a matter of fact. I think it gets a lot more criticism than it truly deserves.
I think both reimagined Star Trek movies have been overly criticized. The concept of both new movies is transparent. They take place in a new timeline where events are slightly altered, not totally changed. Even the pivotal Kirk/Spock scene in
Star Trek: Into Darkness, while somewhat awkwardly presented dramatically, makes perfect sense. The first two movies, along with
Star Trek: Beyond, are original episodes rewritten for a new generation.
Personally, I love them. However, I do understand why some are turned off not seeing totally fresh material--even though the latest franchise was never advertised to be totally new. For example, Ricardo Montalban
was Khan in both the original series and the movie in every sense. His performance doesn't take a back seat to anyone else's but Benedict Cumberbatch's performance was never intended to threaten Montalban's earlier work. It was a different way of looking at the character under similar yet very different circumstances. But moviegoers are sort of stuck in limbo if their personal standard is Montalban and only Montalban as Khan. I thought Cumberbatch did a great job of showing how malevolent Khan could be from a different angle.
My hopes for
Beyond is seeing more Karl Urban as McCoy. I think he does Deforest Kelley perfectly, even moreso than how any his other co-stars portray their characters.