I agree that this seems like a total reboot of the story. I went into the movie thinking that this was the standard Star Trek movie where everything fits into the cannon with loving and amusing details. It didn't which is kind of annoying but surprisingly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie at all. I think the essence of the characters was kept constant without being too dark a restart. Blowing up planet and killing billions is kind of dark but the SFX were cool...
It makes me wonder though, does it take away from the entire Star Trek cannon? (forgive me if cannon is misued) Generations, DS9, Voyager all take place two to three hundred years after the original don't they? If the Vulcans are doing the 'logical thing' to boost their numbers wouldn't they have that whole endangered species thing licked by the time the TNG era starts? Besides I assumed that Vulcans had several colony worlds like those crazy pink thingies from the third rock from the sun... err humans.
Maybe a more dedicated and knowledgeable ST fan would be able to clarify.
Anyway just my .50 I'll go back to lurking now...
~To create a new world through the imagination