okay so personally, i think both Chris Pine and Paul Wesley did a great job as Jim Kirk. the only difference is that Pine's Jim took 10mins to convince me, while Wesley's Jim did take a while - both of which are on me, not on them.

essentially, they are are portraying two different types of Kirk. at the start of Star Trek AOS, particularly in Star Trek 2009, Jim is still a cadet and is put through a life and death situation where he has to earn everyone's trust. he gets thrown in the captain's seat with zero experience and no one is convinced he can get the job done until the end. this Jim lost his dad and still has that rebellious streak in him - something that Pine captured very well.

while in Strange New Worlds, the Jim we meet is already a First Officer on Farragut and has seemingly gone through the ranks. We get a Jim who genuinely wants to be friends with everyone, who hasn't lost his dad and had time to develop his skills outside of the Enterprise. Wesley's Kirk takes time to grow on you cause the first two times you meet him, he's supposed to be a different version of Jim. It's not until Lost in Translation that we see The Real Slim Shady Jim Kirk. And Wesley did well.

and in terms of his relationship with Spock and how they bonded;

AOS: the world is about the end and we have got to work together if we want to save our asses.

SNW: Sam's a dick, isn't he