Movielogr

Rating: 3.5 stars

All movies seen on 12/13/2003

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Directed by Stuart Baird

Science Fiction

Most recently watched by VicnaLobster, ashe5k, tylermager, seanCduregger, sleestakk

Overview

En route to the honeymoon of William Riker to Deanna Troi on her home planet of Betazed, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise receives word from Starfleet that a coup has resulted in the installation of a new Romulan political leader, Shinzon, who claims to seek peace with the human-backed United Federation of Planets. Once in enemy territory, the captain and his crew make a startling discovery: Shinzon is human, a slave from the Romulan sister planet of Remus, and has a secret, shocking relationship to Picard himself.

Rated PG-13 | Length 116 minutes

Actors

Patrick Stewart | Jonathan Frakes | Brent Spiner | LeVar Burton | Michael Dorn | Gates McFadden | Marina Sirtis | Ron Perlman | Tom Hardy | Dina Meyer | Jude Ciccolella | Shannon Cochran | Kate Mulgrew | Wil Wheaton | Stuart Baird | Alan Dale | David Ralphe | Majel Barrett | Bryan Singer | Whoopi Goldberg

Viewing History (seen 2 times)

Viewing Notes

This reivew originally appeared on ZENtertainment.com. As of the last snapshot on September 16, 2003, it had received 1,381 hits.

STAR TREK: NEMESIS is billed as the final journey for this generation of Enterprise crew. The question is, what kind of journey will it be after the sleep-fest that was INSURRECTION? Rest assured however, that NEMESIS is light years ahead of its predecessor.

When the entire Romulan Senate is assassinated and a new regime takes over, the crew of the Enterprise-E is called in to Romulus to enter negotiations with the paranoid race, despite the crew already headed to the wedding of Commander Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. Before even meeting him, Captain Picard is wary of the intentions new Romulan Praetor, Shinzon, given the violent, troubled history between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. Picard’s suspicions are magnified when he actually meets Shinzon, as he is closely related to Picard.

Shinzon is the leader of the Remans, from Romulus’ sister planet Remus. Romulans have always ruled over the Remans, using them as a slave race. Shinzon’s rebellion, with the backing of the Romulan military, is designed to bring the Remans to an equal level with the Romulans. However, his intentions are more sinister, as he wants the Romulan Empire to be a slave to no one, including the Federation. When he finds out Shinzon’s true intentions, Picard and crew must then escape Romulan space and return to Federation space to save Earth.

Whereas INSURRECTION felt like a two-part episode in a regular series with a high budget, NEMESIS actually feels like a movie. The story had a nice blend of drama and action, although at times it felt like one part of the film was weighted down with drama. However, there is a return to epic space battles, which we haven’t seen in a Trek film in some time. As usual in a STAR TREK film, the special effects were great. Unlike some recent movies with rather lackluster, unimpressive effects, most of NEMESIS actually felt and looked real.

The cast returns superbly to form, with the wit and candor that has become the norm since the NEXT GENERATION cast hit the silver screen. Although the story once again focuses on developing Captain Picard and Data, ancillary characters are given a larger amount of screen time than some of the last few films. The story actually seems to restore the old feeling that, as in the television series, this crew is a team, not the Picard and Data Show.

While writer John Logan mostly did a superb job, the introduction of new character B-4 was almost completely unnecessarry. B-4 is an android that is found by the Enterprise crew on the way to the Riker-Troi wedding. He is not only an android, but a childlike prototype of Data. B-4 served a plot purpose, but he was uninspired and a retread of Data’s past. By the next film, B-4 should be elminated from the cast unless he undergoes a major evolution. Logan also slightly missed the mark on the characterization of the Romulans. Typically, they have been portrayed as a paranoid foe. However, in NEMESIS they almost seem friendly.

STAR TREK: NEMESIS proves true that the even-numbered TREK films (this one was ten) are the best in the series. John Logan and director Stuart Baird have recentered the series and provided an enjoyable action-drama. Hopefully TREK execs will learn from their experience in the last three films and keep this ship on this heading.

Comments