Review of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) by Sean G — 03 May 2009

A Generation's Final Journey Begins.

A decent attempt at reinvigorating the franchise but it did not make it so.

Will Riker and Deanna Troi of the Enterprise-E have just married and their crew is taking them to their honeymoon. Captain Jean-Luc Picard must veer of this course for the married couple as he is ordered by Admiral Janeway to head to the planet Romulus where the new praetor, named Shinzon, wants to make peace between the Romulan Empire and the Federation. These two factions have been at war for years and the offer of peace is too tempting to ignore. It is revealed that Shinzon is a Reman and was once a slave under the Romulans, but he and others have taken over the Romulan Empire during a coup. Shinzon is also a much younger clone of Picard who is slowly dying. Shinzon needs Picard so he can save his own life, as Picard is the only source of the same genetic material. Shinzon plans to destroy the Enterprise, planet Earth, and the entire Federation. Shinzon is quite capable of doing this as he has perfected a theoretical radiation weapon that can destroy all life on any planet. With the Federation defeated, Shinzon's empire will rule the galaxy and no force could stop him. Captain Picard and the Enterprise must engage Shinzon before he reaches Earth and it may well be the last journey for this Generation.

The director's chair has been taken away from Jonathon Frakes and suited for Stuart Baird. The story was made under the eyes of John Logan, Brent Spiner, and Rick Berman. Having the same people work on the story for this piece of Star Trek fiction is one of the many problems why Star Trek at the time, was slowly dying.

The cast of course has Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Brent Spiner as Data, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, and Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi. All the cast members know their roles inside and out. This film has a special focus on Picard as he is facing off against a clone of himself named Shinzon played by Tom Hardy. Shinzon is basically a mirror for Picard. Picard is a man who strives to make himself better and always making the best choice possible for the Federation. Shinzon is a person who wants everything for himself and will destroy anything in his way. Tom Hardy does play the role of the villain well but it is not a villain that will go down as being one of the best in Star Trek lore. Data is also a special focus in this film as Brent Spiner plays Data and also a less advanced version of Data named B-4. Data is always on a mission to be more human and to make himself better everyday. B-4 is less intelligent and doesn't have much of a clue of what is going on, but his real place and side in the story is revealed to be that of Shinzon's.

The music of this film is done by Jerry Goldsmith and when the signature theme of Star Trek is heard, it goes along very well with this final journey of The Next Generation. Star Trek fans will definitely enjoy hearing it. The film has great special effects and good action scenes. There is the retro feel as well with the Enterprise engaging their enemy in space, firing phasers, and shaking in their seats when the Enterprise takes damage.

When this film was in development, it was set to be the film that would reinvigorate the Star Trek franchise and save it from imminent death. When it came out, Trekkies all agreed on one thing: Star Trek is dead. After Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, the TV shows Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise moved the franchise along bit by bit to a deep chasm. These shows were making the franchise stale and it was just the same old shit all the time. Each series had some good episodes but the series never ventured off far from the same formula as the original series or TNG. On the cinema scope, things seemed to be going good when Star Trek: First Contact came out as it featured the fan favourite Borg and had an interesting story, humor, emotion, and kick ass action scenes. Then Star Trek: Insurrection came out and then this movie. This movie is better than Insurrection but is just too focused on action and not enough on character.

This movie starts off well with the destruction of the Romulan senate and the wedding of Riker and Troi. The wedding is filled with some pretty funny moments and its just fun to see. Every Trekkie knew Riker and Troi were meant to be together and it was good to have it finally official with an on-screen treatment. Then the real game begins when the away team of Picard, Warf and Data find B-4. The discovery of B-4 is filled with a nice action scene of the trio on a desert like planet in a vehicle akin to the Warthog of the Halo video game series. Things then move to the planet Romulus where the crew meets Shinzon, find out his real plan, discover the capabilities of his Warbird called Scimitar and how it can destroy so much life, and decide to duke it out. The final space battle between the Enterprise and Scimitar also features two Romulan Warbirds who assist the Enterprise in their battle. This battle has some good special effects but I would have like to seen a fleet vs. fleet battle if this is the be all, end all battle of the Enterprise.

Right after the wedding, the film loses its comedic relief moments and focuses on the major conflict between Picard and Shinzon. It doesn't reminisce on the main characters that the Trekkies have known for years. At the end of the flick, when Riker and Picard must part ways as Riker is set off to be Captain of the USS Titan (which you never get to see), the two only shake hands and that's it. These two men have known each other for over a decade and they are not even sad to see each other go. Also, if you have ever seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the story of this film ends with something very similar in that flick. !BEGIN SPOILER! In The Wrath of Khan, Spock dies. In this film, Data dies. But there is still the hope that Data will return as he gave B-4 the same memories he has had his entire life. The film teases with a possible return of Data becoming B-4 but it isn't much to think about. !END SPOILER! The final scene of the film has a lackluster view of the Enterprise and then the rolling Star Trek theme. I was expecting a final shot of the crew on the bridge, followed by a Picard speech, maximum warp, and, "Make it so!".

The problem with Star Trek dying during this time was by the people who were envisioning it, never wanting to take the series where no series has gone before. By this time it was the same formula and same aliens who looked like humans with bad makeup on. The scope and scale of the action never grew either. By the time this flick came out, there should have been space battles the size of the ones in the Star Wars prequels. This film is watchable for sci-fi fans and Trekkies, although Trekkies may be disappointed.

"I'll show you my true nature. Your nature. And as Earth dies - remember that I'm forever Shinzon of Remus! And my voice will echo through time long after yours has faded to a dim memory." - Praetor Shinzon.