Review of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) by Agentjohnson — 16 Jan 2011

Star Trek is best when it gets its Characters to do compelling, interesting things in the face of existential, moral, or even philosophical threats and dilemmas. Lacking that, which this movie certainly does, a tightly constructed good vs. evil showdown makes a passable substitute, as worked so well in the Wrath of Kahn, or The Undiscovered Country, which incorporated several elements to craft a great film.

In this film we watch them drive dune buggys around a planet they shouldn't be on to find Datas developmentally challenged replacement. We see a villain suffering from constipation bent on destroying the Federation and watch as the Enterprise fails at every turn to be sufficiently capable, in spite of being the greatest ship Starfleet has to offer, to even dent the enemy ship. We've certainly seen this before.

As this disaster wheezes to an end, we find Data gone, most of the rest of the crew tired from making sure to be as ordinary and unremarkable as possible, and ourselves wishing that they had just stopped after 9, or, better yet, 8 movies if they weren't even going to try.