I liked a lot about “Nemesis”
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It´s sort of sad and ironic that the release of the most recent "Star Trek" film was overshadowed by the uber-geek event of the millennium, the "Lord of the Rings" saga. What once would have been a cause celebre, the unveiling of the next chapter of a beloved television series, was treated as a mere afterthought by those leaving the theater after their fourth viewing of "The Return of the King." And perhaps the worst part of all? After several mediocre-to-bad installments, "Star Trek: Nemesis" wasn´t that bad; in fact, it was quite good.
Part of the problem of past "Star Trek" films was the inclusion of a large cast who suffered from growing egos. "Nemesis" suffers none of that; the focus is squarely on the captain of the ship, Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) with a subplot featuring everyone´s favorite android, Data (Brent Spiner). It´s fortunate, too, because Stewart is given the chance to stretch his acting chops like he never has before in the Trek universe. While he may still be stiff on the bridge, he´s almost impish off, a charismatic figure that, it would be easy to see, would be a pleasure to serve with.
The film starts off by kicking the main plot into high gear with the assassination of the Romulan council. Pattered after the Italian empire of the time of Christ, there is a large schism between the military and the bureaucrats who make the final decisions. The generals want to take the fight to the Federation, and though the council has no love for them, they feel the timing is simply not right. So what is a frustrated military man to do? Assassinate the lot of them and usurp them with a previously unheard of slave class from the mines of a moon around Romulus. Of course.
That moment of Greek tragedy is followed with a wonderful moment of great joy: The wedding (finally) of Deanna Troi and Will Riker. Data sings, Picard gives a toast, and Worf (comically, of course, since that´s all Klingons are these days; comic relief) gets smashed on Romulan Ale. The first half hour of the movie is an adventurous romp, one that is seemingly without purpose. After the wedding, the Enterprise departs for Betazed, home planet for Deanna Troi where another ceremony awaits, this one sans clothes.
The crew is interrupted, though, when they find signs of another android like Data on a planet that hasn´t yet achieved warp drive capacity. This gives the crew a chance to break out the new "Star Trek Dune Buggy." Named something far more "Trekkie," it´s nothing more than an excuse to have Worf, Data, and Picard race around some desert dunes on a desert world that´s conveniently close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. It actually reads more like a stage in a video game than a Hollywood movie scene.
The recovery is astonishing: Looking just like Data, the android is not nearly as complex. It instead acts like an idiot child, asking only "Why," but never comprehending the answers. And since the Enterprise is near the Neutral Zone and considering the recent tragedy on Romulus, Admiral Janeway (holy crap, you mean Voyager made it back to Earth? I quit watching after the second season) asks the Enterprise to make contact with the new government. It, of course, puts off the commencement of the wedding ceremony on Betazed for Riker and Troi… but last I checked the Enterprise wasn´t a taxi service. I could be wrong.
Picard and a team makes first contact with the new ruling class of Romulus, the Remans. Long held as a slave class on the dark side of a mining moon, the Remans revolted and took power with the help of the military. They are lead by Shinzon (Tom Hardy), a human who looks strikingly like Picard in his younger days… and not without purpose. Though I shouldn´t want to spoil the surprise for you, he is a weapon created by a former Romulan regime who was cast aside when a new group took power.
The Remans, bent on destroying more than just the Federation (think wiping out Earth), quickly get into conflict with Picard and company. Personally, I really like the Remans. They are an angry, disgusting, and vile race, but one whose malice is justified. They hate because they were subjugated for so long that now they want to take it out on the universe. Furthermore, the designs for them as characters and their world are absolutely beautiful. Dark and angled, their ships simply look strong, belying the power they truly possess.
Atypically set on starships, "Nemesis" is perhaps the first "Star Trek" movie that feels like it could actually happen. There is an obvious chain of command and the residents of Enterprise know how to handle a conflict. In that vein it´s closer to "Master and Commander" than an actual episode of the Trek franchise. Furthermore, the movie takes a lot of cues from "Star Wars," finally including single-person fighters (for the Remans) and treating these lumbering battle cruisers like the behemoths they are instead of a spry and agile craft. And honestly, I never had any admiration for the Romulans and their warships before seeing this movie, but their portrayal in "Nemesis" has left them in a completely new light for me.
I liked a lot about "Nemesis," it´s true. Data gets some great moments and a swan song (literally) and I think "Trek" was finally beginning to come into the new millennium where Roddenberry´s ideals, though wonderful, were being updated for a new generation. But there are still some issues I take. As I mentioned, Worf is completely cast aside as comic relief in this movie, having only a couple of good battle scenes. One would think that the fearsome head of security would be given the chance to square off against the most powerful Reman, and not Riker. Furthermore, there is a scene where the Remans attempt a mind link to put a shunt between Riker and Troi. Though it is a disturbing scene, there is no point to it, save being a plot point later in the film. There are several threads like that left hanging, including how Shinzon created the Data-like android Bee-Fore.
The cinematography is good, the tone appropriately dark, and the action is by and large magnificent in "Star Trek: Nemesis," plus it takes on the difficult psychological concept of nature vs. nurture. It´s not only good for a "Trek" film, it´s pretty good on its own merits as a film.
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[release]16528[/release]