Star Trek: Nemesis

The final screen journey of the Next Generation crew, Nemesis was mauled by critics and fans alike.

In fairness, there is a lot to like about this film, and depending on your disposition, you may see past the faults. As it stands, however, those faults run deep.

Star Trek II was cited as the goal for this film to achieve, in terms of making compelling cinema. Nemesis, however, is surprisingly close to the second film in many respects.

Spoilers follow.

In both Star Trek II and Nemesis, there are many common story threads and events:
-A main character dies, but the possibility is left open for him to come back.
-The Captain faces an enemy from his past.
-There is a pitched space battle between the two foes, with the hero's ship coming off worst initially.
-The enemy controls a planet-threatening 'doomsday weapon'.
-The final battle takes place in a nebula (although for different reasons).

With all these similarities, it's difficult to see Nemesis as anything other than a pale shadow of it's inspiration.

Other problems include the character of Data, who has seemingly reverted to his first season persona. We also get 'treated' to B4, who is basically a pre-first season Data. It's like we're being forced to retread old ground. It's not even the first time Data has discovered another model of himself, although Dr. Soong didn't seem to remember building any other prototypes during the series.

Actor Tom Hardy does a great job of imitating a young Picard, despite his humerous glued-on chin and nose, and scenes between the two actors are genuinely compelling.

The cast all seem aware that this is their final voyage. At the beginning of the film, there is a real sense that everyone has come back from a holiday. In a sense, this is true in the story, since they have been attending Riker and Troi's wedding, but as the cast walk onto the bridge you can't help but feel that they really are walking onto that set for the first time in years.

Interesting to note is that the Enterprise had a familiar-looking sickbay in the last two films, since it was Voyager's sickbay redressed. With Voyager off the air at the time of Nemesis' release, the Enterprise suddenly has a new sickbay.

Director Stuart Baird often stated that he did no research into the histroy of Star Trek before working on this film, his justification being that he wanted to make a fresh film that was different to what had come previously in the franchise. It is open to debate just how successful this approach has been.

Record 1119 - film - Last update 28 Jul 2007, 19:48:52

Entry written by: DiscoBurgess

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