Star Trek: Nemesis

It has always been easy to level criticism at Star Trek films, for either being too slow, to action-packed, too Trekkie, not Trekkie enough, or whatever. The fact of the matter is, is that none of them are classics, except for the people who know and love the characters in them: namely, Trekkies.

It has been said that Stuart Baird was brought on board to try and open up Trek to a wider audience, but that simply insults the viewers Trek already has. Voyager tried, and failed, and Enterprise is rapidly going the same route.

The better Trek films are those that revolve around the character-dynamics, and seeing those people work as a team. In those films, such as Wrath of Khan, The Undiscovered Country, or First Contact, the comradeship of the protagonists is evident.

Not so in Nemesis, which is ironic, especially considering the entire film is purportedly about such relationships. None of the characters have been drastically altered, as many might suggest, but there is very little interaction between them, there's no moment where the viewer would think "only Picard/Data/whoever" would get them out of this situation. It's all a bit [for lack of a better word] bleh. There's no adventure, something that has been missing from Trek since First Contact.

Shinzon is a powerful character, a wonderful character, but sorely underused. It's almost as if he's never really serious about what he's doing, and as such, never seems to pose much of a threat. This is emphasized through the cliched dramatic countdown timer sequence (used excessively in Trek, but here lacks substance, especially since it is entirely and utterly pointless).

Nemesis starts off well, full of hope and joy, and the prospect of Troi and Riker's wedding, and the viewer too, is led into a false sense of hope at the prospect of the film. But Stuart Baird lets us down harshly. He was the wrong director for the job: the script (if you listen to the dialogue, watch the cut scenes, etc) is not an action script, but a character-driven one, with a few action elements.

Baird has turned that on its head, and produced an action film, with very little character involvement.

As a plus point, it must be noted that Goldsmith has outdone himself - the music (although in parts evidently synthesized rather than orchestrated) is a delight. Buy the CD, and forget the film.

I loved it.

I used to be a real Trekky several years ago, but kind of grew out of it. This was the kind of Star Trek film I had been waiting to see. Much more involving than Insurrection and an intriguing story that I thought just got better as the film went on.

Brent Spiner did a masterful job with his two roles.

The special effects were like nothing I had ever seen from Star Trek before. They were brilliantly created and went beyond the typical Star Trek style effects which added extra depth to the film.

I have been told that many pure Star Trek fans did not like this film. And I agree that it seemed rather 'un-Star Trek' in many ways. But I think it was these un-Star Trek elements that really boosted this film.

It comes in at number 2 of my favorite Star Trek films. Second only to Wrath of Khan. Or perhaps a draw.

6 out of 10

If the rumors are to be believed, then approximately fifty minutes of footage for Star Trek: Nemesis are lying somewhere in Paramount's vault. While the movie itself is technically well-edited with a slick Hollywood gloss, this might explain why everyone but Picard and Data are left short-handed with minimal screen time and dialogue. Hopefully, the missing footage will find its way to the DVD release, where we can get the final tribute the crew of The Next Generation deserves.

As a story for a final adventure, Nemesis isn't quite the epic one may hope for. The plot mostly focuses on the parallels between Picard and the new Romulan leader, a human named Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who claims to desire peace between the Romulans and the Federation. He also has a special bond to Picard, which I won't give away, suffice to say Data also gets to experience something similar throughout the film. Essentially, the plot isn't particularly interesting and it works primarily as a set-up for the climactic space battle, definitely the movie's highlight.

Before then, the only setpieces worthy of interest are a gratuitous but enjoyable car chase (!) on a desert planet that resolves in a grin-inducing fashion, and a fast-paced shootout on board Shinzon's warship, the Scimitar, which also resolves in a pretty cool manner. That's all the action we get in the first 80 or so minutes, meaning there's a lot of talky scenes that go nowhere and clumsily insert the good ol' "Nature vs. Nurture" debate to no avail. Outside of the action, what makes the first 3/4's of the movie watchable are the excellent special effects and the crew's camaraderie. Acting wise, we get excellent performances from Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner (by the way, is it just me or does Stewart look even more physically fit than ever? Old age is doing little to bring him down)

Clearly, the final space battle is what we've been waiting for, and after 10 movies and 23 years, we get what is easily the most elaborate action sequence of the entire Trek franchise. The segment runs just short of a half-hour and features the Enterprise going toe-to-toe with the Scimitar, and to keep the concept of one starship battling another from getting boring (because let's face it, that gets old in a matter of minutes), director Stuart Baird throws in a few more ships, some more phaser fights from boarding enemy parties (which prove to be the most exciting parts of the movie), fisticuffs, and even a self-destruct sequence that could prove fatal for everyone. It's a doozy of an action scene, even if it is slightly marred by Troi's psychic link and tiresome reports of collapsing shields. This is the sequence that makes the movie worth watching to sci-fi action fans.

Personally, I would have preferred had Baird just spaced the action out more evenly (a la First Contact), rather than stuffing it all in the conclusion, since the plot itself is hard to hold interest on its own. Still, from the space battle alone, this is more action-packed than any of the original crew's films and comes out just ahead of First Contact in terms of quantity, if not in quality. The finale also features the death of a beloved character, which isn't executed quite as properly as it should have, but is touching on its own. Once again, I'm hoping the director's cut will fix that up. Until then, this is just satisfying enough to those who thirst for outerspace action.

I'm conflicted in my opinion of the final adventure of the Next Generation crew. I can see why a lot the fan community slam the film but I can't help but find some positive aspects in the movie. I agree that it's a good thing NEMESIS was the final film in the series, as the filmmakers appear to have given up recapturing the essence of the series years before and were more interested in putting out blockbuster hopefuls. The film opens with the marriage of Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis), but the festivities are soon put on hold when the Enterprise-E locates a prototype android identical to Data scattered in pieces on a nearby planet. As the android (dubbed B-4) is reassembled, the Enterprise is dispatched to Romulus where the Remans have risen up against the Romulans and their leader apparently seeks to find peace with the Federation. The Remans are led by a clone of Captain Picard named Shinzon (Tom Hardy), originally bred as a weapon against Starfleet but eventually relegated to the dilithium mines of Remus. Picard struggles with the feeling that a portion of his identity was stolen as the Enterprise is discovers that Shinzon's intentions are not those of peace, but of destruction.

As has been the case with all of the Next Generation movies (with the exception of INSURRECTION), this film is visually beautiful. The CGI effects are at their peak and the production design of Herman Zimmerman continues to blow me away. I loved the design of the Remans: part Romulan, part vampire. It was some of the best makeup design in the series since the Borg were redesigned for FIRST CONTACT. The filmmakers have even learned from their mistakes of the last film and used a cinematographer who gave the film a wonderful cinematic feel, as opposed to the flat television lighting they'd regressed to before. Nothing about the film's visual style disappoints, but the same can't be said for the story. Most of the earlier films retained the depth of the series, but NEMESIS really is nothing more than a flashy action pic. For proof, you need to look no further than the entire last half of the film. There is some weak subtext to the story but the entire second hour is drawn out battle leading to the climactic confrontation between Picard and Shinzon about the enemy ship.

As seems to be the norm with all of the Next Generation movies, Picard and Data are the focal points here. The other crew members are usually given plenty of their own to do, but not here. A lot of the crew members are underused and I'm sure they weren't happy about being background players in their final feature film. Patrick Stewart is certainly the strongest member of the cast and carries most of the movie, and Brent Spiner is great as usual as Data (and B-4). I wish I had more positive things to say about Tom Hardy as Shinzon. He's a fantastic actor and has the skills to go face-to-face with Patrick Stewart (for those who doubt me, watch his screen test for the film). I just couldn't help but feel his character was too young and that really robbed me of any sense of danger from him. Had he been a bit more aged and worn, I might see him as a threat to Picard.

I suppose the film is a fun action flick, but it's just a weak STAR TREK film. It's shallow story can't be saved by it's impressive effects, but I wish the crew had been given one more chance to do it right before calling it quits. It's an entertaining two hours but aside from a bittersweet ending there's nothing entirely memorable about it. Fans of the franchise will be polarized in their views on the film and non-fans might be able to stomach it as an action-packed sci-fi romp. One thing's for certain: it's not the best time spent with the crew of the Enterprise.

This apparently final flick of the TNG crew went unnoticed in the theaters, and I don't think Paramount invested heavily in either the movie itself or its promotion. Despite the many scathing reviews I found some quality in the movie. Many of what have been interpreted as ripoffs of previous scripts were deliberate nods to the series' high points, and if it wasn't clear enough the many cameo appearances should have given the hypercritical some pause. Many of the sets and scenes were well done, and Tom Hardy and bad guys did good. The weakest part of the movie is that there should have been more sense of the crews' closeness, principally through better dialog. Even Data doesn't have many good lines. It just doesn't have much of an edge to it. Even if they didn't get a huge budget for it better character interaction could have made this a much more memorable movie. Certainly not the worst Star Trek, its too bad that it couldn't have been a better movie to end the series.