Hmmm....I can't necessarily disagree on the evolved push in their timelines. However, it should be noted that (and I only picked this up from listening to hardcore Trekkies debate the finer minutia of the movie) Kirk was actually older when he entered Starfleet here than in the original timeline. The counter, though, was that he skipped past some of the middle, and hit Captain. But, he only makes Captain in this movie just three years before he did originally. He was always the youngest Captain in Starfleet history, so I guess that...coupled with my own enjoyment of nostalgia...allowed me to just accept it and move on to the sequel.
Nerdtalk it all you want. Cadet straight to Captain, the second highest rank in the service, is just gay.
