Dark Eye

Finally! After waiting for years the big payoff is here and it couldn't be better. Return of the King is a definitive culmination of a journey and have essentially wrapped the trilogy into one big film.

Again I walked out the theatre with a big grin and a feeling of light-footedness, much like after watching the first two. It has great character moments akin of The Fellowship of the Ring, and spectacular battle scenes bigger than The Two Towers. But while TT focused more on the world of Men, this time the Hobbits have taken the centre stage, especially that of Frodo and Sam. Memorable visuals are plentiful like the beacon of Minas Tirith, the sight of Orc armies marching out from Minas Morgul, Trolls beating the drums of war, rampaging Mumakils and more.

What else can I say about this movie except to gush more about it? I love the book and the movies, and very grateful to both J.R.R Tolkien and Peter Jackson for their respective talents.

Those useless movie reviewers who complained that the ending "dragged on" for too long are not worth their salt. Its not even long at all! These guys just reek in their over-glorified short-attention span and they have a "Made in Hollywood" stamped over their foreheads. Since the first two did not have endings, the third film demand proper closure. This film has the dignity to say goodbye to the characters in a proper fashion. After all, when you reach the end of a gigantic NINE hours trilogy, wouldn't YOU want an ending that takes it time to reward its audiences instead of rushing straight into the credits?

Good god, not another one of these Disney rubbish again. Each year after year I spent my money on tickets, hoping that they will improve. I loved all their pre-Lion King era features so I gave them my chances, my benefit of the doubt. So did they ever learn from their past mistakes? That's wishful thinking. Even my 11-year old cousin left the cinema half-asleep. This will be the LAST time I will give a Disney feature a go. EVER.

Now they stated that 2D animation is dead. Well just look WHO killed it in the first place! Disney have only themselves to blame for not listening to us for years.

Its official that Nemesis is the last outing for the beloved Next Generation cast, but somehow I came out of the theatre feeling that it could've been more. There are many plot holes, and simply too many moments where its there just for the sake of being there, like the desert buggy-car chase and that infamous "mental-rape" scene involving Shinzon and Troi. The presence of B4, which in terms of story continuity does seem like a bad joke. Also, Nemesis tried too hard to be on the level that Wrath of Khan was, which incidentally is not even on my top 5 best Star Trek movies.

Despite its many flaws however, Nemesis still manages to entertain. Great all-around performances by the cast, the ships look impressive, Worf can still make me laugh, and the Remans looked cool. I enjoyed the intense persona of the villain Shinzon, and Captain Picard had never let us down. Honestly I can't understand those who slammed this movie so hard. Unlike a certain naive reviewer here, I'd rather watch Nemesis anyday than the collosal snore-fest called the Phantom Menace. In Nemesis, at least there isn't a stupid cretin named Jar-Jar, and the entire cast of Star Trek have never given us wooden "faster, more intense" performances.

I guess many fans wanted the TNG era to end with great splendour, much like The Undiscovered Country. But instead we are left scratching our heads, wanting for more. Star Trek is rapidly losing its general audiences, and this can be blamed squarely on the producers who are too busy with making money rather than telling us good stories. Nemesis also suffered from a bad stigma, because it was released at the same time when the TV show Enterprise is on the decline. I say give Star Trek a well-deserved rest for a few years and to get some breathing space. Perhaps money wouldn't be such an issue then and creativity will win out.