If you watch all of the extras on the BD, and perhaps additional DVD edition, you will discover that the director wanted to have some of the similar character traits from the old series, but also wanted them to be different. That being said I think they did a great job with the characters, and accomplished what they were after.
Did anyone else watch all of the deleted scenes? I really hope that when they get to klingons, that they don't have those dumb helmets on (which reminded me of Lord of the Rings) and do the makeup/masks correctly. Also they were saying that they had taken them to Rura Penthe, but it was not the snowy wasteland from the previous movie. I'm glad that they cut that scene out.