Review of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) by Gareth R — 25 Jan 2009

The Next Generation comes to an end, for some reason, in the tenth Star Trek film. Although no catastrophe, Nemesis is lame enough to finally upset that theory about all even numbered Trek films being pretty good. It's yet another outing with a plot that has no business being on the big screen. Although it aspires to be this crew's finest hour, what with the Wrath Of Khan-like death of a main character at the end, it just isn't diverting enough, and like the television series that spawned it, the characters just aren't strong enough to hold a movie.

It's clear that the filmmakers had Wrath Of Khan in mind when they made this. And why not? Khan is probably the best Trek film, because it's more an unashamed drama than sci-fi geekfest. Like Khan, we have a villain (Shinzon) who has spent 20 years on a barren planet, and he hates the current captain of the Enterprise with a passion. He takes possession of a ship (the Scimitar) which doubles as a weapon of mass destruction (here something-or-other radiation, rather than the Genesis device), and eventually winds up stalking the Enterprise inside a nebula. Then, at the end, when the WMD explodes, a beloved member of the Enterprise crew sacrifices himself for everyone else, with the door left (slightly) open to bring him back. The similarities are difficult to deny.

But sadly, while Nemesis ably copies the plot developments of that better Star Trek film, it misses all the stuff that made it work. Shinzon is no Khan; a young clone of Picard, he's an impetuous and irritating foe, no more worthy of big screen villainy than F. Murray Abraham's grumpy bad guy in Insurrection. The Remans, whose planet he's been living on, are a dull and silly bunch, looking like Nosferatu and sounding like villains from a cartoon. And Shinzon's relationship with Picard is rather forced, what with him being an entirely new character, lacking the basic and established hatred (especially on Picard's part) that makes nemeses interesting to watch. If Shinzon was an established character, like the Borg in First Contact, there might be emotional groundwork for the actors to build on. But there's no such passion here.

My attention was far more focussed on the now typical Data sub-plot, where everyone's favourite character discovers a younger version of himself called B4. Brent Spiner has always excelled at playing relatives of Data, and B4 is a worthy - if simple - addition to Trek canon. Parallels are obviously drawn between Picard and Data's double troubles, the problem being I'm only interested in the sub-plot. It's the Data/B4 stuff that keeps me from giving Nemesis a lower rating.

As for the rest of the crew, including Worf who is somehow still here, there's not enough story to go round. Screenwriter John Logan finds rather pointless ways to involve Troi (via a strange psychic link with Shinzon and the Remans) and Riker (via an elaborate but unengaging fight with the Reman viceroy) in the action, but they're still rather flat characters. As for Geordi, Dr Crusher and even Worf, they fulfil the age-old Trek film cliche of sitting on the bridge, looking on. If Star Trek films are going to keep coming up with plots for just Picard and Data, why keep pretending they're ensemble dramas?

The action, of which there is a fair amount, is sometimes fun to watch. There's an enjoyable, well-shot bit with a moon buggy when the crew find Data's brother on a desert planet; the stand-off at the end, with Picard and Shinzon using their ships as battering rams, is reasonably exciting; and although the death of That Character Everyone Likes comes out of nowhere, and feels like a cheap shot, it's nice to have an emotional moment at the end. It's just a pity they didn't work up to it more.

But when things aren't blowing up or bumping into each other, we're stuck with the dull script. The dialogue's sometimes embarrassing, more often arbitrary, lacking the pointed humour and pathos of - yes - The Wrath Of Khan. Even First Contact, which is still far and away the best film to feature Picard and co., had a script with moments of wit and terror, and even a few characters.

So the lasting impression of this final film is of Star Trek at its dull, middling most average. Not enough spark, and absolutely no air of finality, ensure that you may not feel like this is truly the last Star Trek film*, but you'll be grateful it was. A sad, flat ending, then, and I'm not just talking about the guy who dies.

*Not including the Abrams prequel.