Star Trek: Nemesis
Directed by: Stuart Baird
Starring: Patrick
Stewart
as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Brent Spiner as Data and B4, Jonathan
Frakes as Commander Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna
Troi, LeVar Burton as Geordi LaForge, Michael Dorn as Worf,
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Kate Mulgrew as Captain
Janeway, Dina Meyer as Commander Donatra, Tom Hardy as Shinzon,
Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, Diana Muldar as Dr. Pulaski
Review by : Matt McConnel
This is
the movie that Insurrection could have, and should have been.
There are many plot similarities, but while Insurrection fell
on its face, Nemesis rises to the challenge, and delivers
an enjoyable ride that not only advances the plot of the Star
Trek universe, but also brings some interesting character
development. There is a surprise at the end I shan't spoil,
but let me assure you all, dear readers, that it is expected
and unexpected. Trust me, you'll know what I'm talking about.
On those
lines, the writer, the same man who gave us Gladiator, has
taken some definite risks with his characters, putting them
into some rather bizarre and often very difficult situations.
Without delving too much into the plot, the opening grabs
you and does not let go. A coup in the Romulan Senate brings
a mysterious figure to power, one that offers a hand of peace
to the Federation. A genuine gesture or an insidious plot?
Well, it has to be the plot because this is Star Trek after
all, and what is Star Trek without villains who can be taken
down by our heroes.
Minor
spoilers follow: Riker gets his own command, he and Troy get
married, Data sings Irving Berlin, they find another android
by Sun (not Lore), the new leader of the Romulan Empire is
a human clone of Picard, and to top it off, one of the principle
crew members will die. Yes, die.
I liked
a lot about the movie. Big space battles, some nice humor
for both the general audience and the layman. I also got a
real kick out of the writing/acting meld. It was obvious that
the actors liked the script and flowed with it well. There
are some real great moments given to Patrick Stewart and Brent
Spiner, although the supposedly funny/touching Rainman moments
intended between Data and B-4 (aka Before) his little prototype
brother just seem to die on the screen.
Yes, there
is a lot of techno-jargon and what not, and there is even
a chase scene early on where I had to remind myself that I
was in fact watching Star Trek and not Bond. But on the whole,
Nemesis is quite enjoyable and suits the franchise well. The
end leaves little opening, save for some big, wonky, and twinky
magic wand fixen' deus ex machine, for a continuation of the
Next Gen portion of the franchise, but I suspect with the
positive response so far, they will squeeze another one out.
Matt
also has the helm of our anime section. Email him here.
|
(well,
3.75) 