This movie, which takes place not too long after the first J.J. Abram's movie, has the Enterprise on a primitive planet, with Kirk and McCoy being chased by angry natives. A volcano is starting to erupt nearby--and it's up to Spock to set a device that will prevent the mountain from exploding and killing the caveman-like inhabitants. Of course, this goes against the prime directive and Spock barely escapes with his life. This pisses off Uhura and causes a rift in their relationship. Because of his flagrant disregard for the rules, Kirk is demoted to second officer and Admiral Pike is resuming command of the Enterprise.
But there's a new threat, a terrorist who works for the Federation, and he attacks the headquarters in San Francisco, killing Pike. Kirk vows revenge, as Pike was a father-figure to him. It turns out that this is a familiar villain to Star Trek. It takes place before the Original series episode Space Seed and speeds up what basically happens in Wrath of Khan, so this is all an alternate-reality version of that movie. Yes, the villain is Khan! At first I wasn't sure about casting of Benedict Cumberbatch in the role made famous by Ricardo Montalban, but this Khan is as dangerous and threatening. Carol Marcus is also at hand, though this is well before she even thinks of creating the Genesis Device.
I enjoyed this as much as the first J.J. Abrams movie.