I kept hating that every time I watched an interview with Chris Pine or Zach Quinto, they'd say "We won't mention the huge spoilers!" Like Jesus Christ, there's a spoiler big enough that they have to mention every time that they AREN'T going to explain it?
I'm surprised I didn't think about it. Khan. Khan!!! Of course! I had all kinds of theories. Was expecting maybe Cumberbatch was a Klingon, or that maybe he was related to Spock somehow, something. Maybe a Romulan related to Nero? I'm incredibly disappointed that looking into IMDB shows that Cumberbatch is Khan. Say his pseudonym, for crying out loud. I feel sorry for anyone that goes to the IMDB page and gets the film spoiled for them.
Going into the film proper, man. The opening scene on that primitive planet was a thrill. Even though it was the opening of the film, you still felt a sense of danger which really helped in the ending of the film. You see that Kirk is brash enough that he's willing to wager the lives of his entire crew to save Spock, even though that is strictly against code. But that's Kirk, and his naivety may be his downfall. I also thought the natives on that island looked damn cool. Never have I imagined how freaky it'd be if our eyelids rolled up from the bottom. Gnarly.
I enjoyed that Kirk was brought down to earth by Pike, his superior. Nothing is above Captain Kirk, even though he's the brazen, strong Captain of the USS Enterprise. Meanwhile the entire scene with John Harrison attacking London was so damn intimidating. It's like he had the Bane voice, without the silly filter. Cumberbatch was superb throughout. He's broken out on the scene to me like Fassbender has. His voice is just so powerful, something like we haven't seen recently. Not many men can carry a role just on the power of their voice. That dude can.
Instead of breaking down each part of the film, saying what I liked, I'll speak more generally. I thought all of the action was top-notch. I thought that it was really cool that they ended up fighting a bunch of Klingons, even if they were demolished by Khan. From there, to the ending action sequence, it was all great. I really love each of the members of the USS Enterprise. I felt like McCoy had a much bigger role in the last film. I love Karl Urban and think he does a great job with Bones, but he seemed to take a backseat in this one. Hell, Scotty seemed to have way more screen time than Bones, and that's not necessarily a bad thing because I love Pegg, but I was just wishing to see a little more of Bones. Uhura, Spock, Kirk, and Sulu are all sufficient, but I felt like Chekov really took a bigger step than I expected in this one. Chekov was really fun and witty in this compared to the prior film. He was more of a nuisance before. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but was Peter Weller in the original? I had no idea this dude was going to be in this film, and I got a little nerd-boner when I saw Robocop as an Admiral for the Starfleet.
. Although Alice Eve was amazingly hot and a key piece of the plot, I'm glad that there were no major love plots going on in this one. We had plenty of RomCom stuff in Star Trek, and even some here with Spock/Uhura on Kronos, and I'm fine with them setting up Kirk and Carol in the future if that's what they want to do, but that's not what this film was about.
This was about Spock and Kirk. As it should be. Spock, Kirk, and Khan. Yes. That's exactly what I want from a Star Trek film. Although Cumberbatch doesn't seem nearly the physical threat that Ricardo Montalban was, he was just as menacing with his great acting. The dynamic of doing what's right and what's against protocol was a great aspect that really helped build the dynamic of the two young stars of Star Trek.
The one minuscule gripe I have with the film is that I felt that they killed a lot of the emotional impact on the film by reviving Captain Kirk. I completely understand why they did it. I saw it coming a mile away. I just don't necessarily think it was the best choice in terms of creating an impactful film. For me, it's that .5 that separates it from being a perfect film.
Either way, I'm confident that Star Trek is in good hands. I'm just worried that JJ will re-focus on Star Wars, and then we won't get another ST film half as good as this one. If we can get one with a Klingon war, or more stuff with Khan? Man I'm happy.
Blew my mind cuz I simply didn't realize that and had to go back and check to really recognize him. Seems he has more than one American accent cuz I usually recognize ppl quicker even when they adapt that much for a role.
Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, Damon are the "stars". 
