I had no problems with the idea of a young senior crew.....this is, after all, the "peackeeping humanitarian fleet" that Pike describes. I get the impression this incarnation of Starfleet is a lot less military than prior renditions...kind of an official Peace Corp. in space....but with guns and ships?
The plot holes I had issues with involved the liberal abuse of basic physics, although in some cases one could postulate a reasonable explanation, although invoking some treknobabble Okudaisms might be required. For example:
NOTICE: SPOILERS BELOW
1. What the hell is Red Matter? Is this related to trilithium???
2. Exactly which sun went nova, and how did it threaten Romulus in a manner which was faster than light? Subspace warp speed supernova? Gah!
3. Nero and his buddies decide it is more fun to sit around for 25 years waiting for Old Spock to show up than taking initiative and wiping out a virginal Federation? Or did it take them 25 years to repair their ship after Kirk Sr. punched a hole in it?
4. Spock Sr. is marooned on Hoth...er, an Ice World. Which is close enough to Vulcan that Vulcan can be seen to implode....is this some hitherto unmentioned moon, or what? Gah!
5. Okay, given that transporters are Trek supertech, its hard to argue any physics on this. But the movie's use of transporters
to hit a target moving faster-than-light a a distance that has to be several light years away with near amazing precision has alarming consequences for the possible abuse of such technology. It is entirely unclear to me why A: anyone even needs starships when transporters can cross light years instantly, B: they don't simply engage in interplanetary warfare by transport-warping in antimatter bombs from several light years away, and C: it's all completely doable with existing technology....you just need the formula.
Now, aside from those issues I had, this movie ROCKED! And I can hardly wait for sequels, let alone to see more. It was Star Trek at its finest, harkening back to the very oldest days of the space opera genre, beyond Roddenberry and right on back to the awesomeness of E.E. Smith's Lensmen. Fantastic movie.....just keep in mind that the Trek universe is filled with rubber science (and plot loops galore) and all is well.
