Review of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) by Xgary X — 07 Mar 2014

The Romulan Empire acquires a new ruler in a military coup d'etat and this mysterious figure offers an olive branch to the federation which promptly dispatches the Enterprise to investigate. I hated Nemesis when I first saw it; once again Brent Spiner is saddled with some mawkish sentimentality and weak slapstick (his interpretation of a prototype data resembles an autistic Stan Laurel), some blatantly irrelevant action sequences and the script seemed superficial and little more than an excuse for CGI infested space battles.

Now I've seen it in the context of the JJ Abrams reboot, it makes rather more sense and in fact feels like it has more in common with the new direction than the old franchise. The special effects in particular are rather better than the previous films, the battles are more epic and spectacular and the scenes between Picard and his doppelganger are quite powerful and intriguing.

Unfortunately the themes of nature vs nurture are only superficially realised and it soon settles back into the inevitable CGI orientated battle of wills which strangely echoes The Wrath Of Khan to the point where it almost feels like a remake at certain points.

Not the tragedy I considered it at the time but it also never quite fulfils its potential either. An entertaining sci-fi blockbuster nonetheless that once again relies a little too much on Trek lore for casual viewers.