Just saw the film, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. The serious moments were marvelous and reminded me of TOS. Of course, there was far too much humor, but it seemed to me we had already seen every one of the jokes in the various commercials and trailers. So, I just sort of tuned-out when I noticed a joke coming up. So, I did enjoy the film -- just wish I could have enjoyed it more.
The weak-link, acting-wise was Eva Green, in my opinion. She didn't seem to have the essense of Angelique, she was just playing a blonde bitch. I also think the [spoiler]Carolyn/werewolf[/spoiler] thing was silly, out-of-the-blue, and a big mistake. That was the only part of the movie that truly offended (if that is the correct word) me, as a fan of TOS. Afterall, a possible sequel would likely have been about a [spoiler]werewolf.[/spoiler] That story now seems unlikely, with the Carolyn development. And, why burn-down Collinwood? How can there be a sequel without Collinwood? But, how could it ever be re-built? It seemed to be pretty-much destroyed.
What did I like? I loved the Vicki/Maggie connection. A real nod to the original. I also enjoyed Julia's new motivation (eternal youth). However, I think that angle needed a bit more development. It did seem a bit shocking, in that one scene. More build-up would have been nice. Also, there was no real need to kill-off Julia. Why not just scare her away from Collinwood? Or scare her into hiding? She would have been an important utilitarian character in any sequels -- as she was in TOS. Big mistake, killing her.
Regarding Laura -- they did imply that she was a phoenix. What was the term they used? As someone mentioned earlier, they said something about periodic reappearances, but I forget the exact term. Also, she did first appear during the fire. At first, I though David was going to summon her out of the fire. I have a feeling there was more discussion of Laura in the cut-footage.
All-in-all, the movie wasn't the train-wreck I was expecting. I don't believe it was a parody, and I don't believe anyone was making-fun of TOS. I wish it had been a straight horror film, but I am not in the demographic that matters to film-makers.
I now believe Burton's comment about not having plans for a sequel. Too much of the structure of the story had been destroyed by the end of this film -- not unlike House of Dark Shadows. Of course, they can create a sequel out of anything, but it does seem unlikely, at least to me.