2. No Forced Romance
Yep, Im climbing on this fanwagon: the Spock and Uhura relationship is terrible. I know they needed to give Uhura some kind of plot, but why did it have to be romantic? Girls can do things besides be love interests, you know. Or they could have just genderswapped a character: imagine a booze swigging potty-mouthed lady McCoy! Or a dirt-encrusted hyperbolic lady Scotty! More importantly, the focus of Star Trek characterization has always been on brotherhood, and the addition of a romance to the main crew undermines that. Theres relationship drama that people are afraid of being sucked into, so they cant bond. Brotherhood and comradeship were the emotional heart of every good iteration of Star Trek, and the romance just takes up too much attention and screen time. Khan didnt force a romance. They could have. The reunification and rekindled flame of Kirk and his doctor friend could have been a big deal in the film. Instead, theres no romance at all in Khan, and other fascinating relationships are the films emotional center.