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I chose to write this review not because this was such a great movie -it was probably the weakest Star Trek-movie of the lot- but because to me it marks the end of an era. Although Star Trek has continued after The Next Generation, it never got any better than this series with its original story lines and enigmatic cast. This should be their last motion picture. I used to be quite a fan, but from now on Star Trek has lost its appeal to me forever.
Although the story of this movie isn’t too bad, you never get really sucked into it. You don’t truly feel the threat that emanates from Shinzon (who is a clone of Jean-Luc Picard and thus his ’son’) and you also don’t feel the underlying paternal feelings Picard has for this strange creature and the discord this brings. Plot: former Romulan colonists try to destroy the Federation and Earth with a lethal radiation weapon. The whole story is basically about family and finding one’s self, bla-di-bla. The whole cast seems tired and somewhat relieved that it’s finally over.
However, there are some interesting things to be seen here, especially if you know the series and characters well. First of all, the amusing character of Worff is virtually invisible, which is quite a shame; the same goes for William Ryker and Dr. Beverly Crusher. What I also found strange is that when they find an android similar to Data, they don’t ever refer to Data’s evil brother Lore or the origins of this particular android. It’s only on the DVD’s extras that they refer to Lore. I also thought that Picard did have a son in the series he didn’t know of, so his utter astonishment to the cloned son is a bit strange. I also was amazed at myself that I instantly recognised Ron Perlman as Shinzon’s Viceroy, as he wore a full mask (well, you could also recognise him when he used to play ‘The Beast’). There was one cool homage-like scene in the movie though: the impalement of Shinzon by Picard at the end. This scene came straight from one of my favourite movies: Excalibur. In this masterpiece King Arthur stabs his evil bastard-son Mordred while simultaneously working his way through the spear that impales him. Contrary to this movie, Picard does not die as Arthur did. Would have been much cooler, but Plasticface buys it instead.
As I wrote: I didn’t really intend to review this movie on itself, but I wanted to single out its significance as -what I consider to be- the final chord. The Next Generation series was cool, regrettably this movie isn’t.
Rating: **1/2 out of 5.
paco (89 posts)Certified movie phreak and conspiracy theorist.
18 Comments
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Great post Paco! A while ago I wanted to review this film on CoP and point out the exact same thing. I had just posted reviews for two awful Sci-Fi flicks, so I didn’t dare put the CoP-ers through more misery. But it’s good that you did. So I agree with you. Maybe the producers, directors and writers of Star Trek can come up with a totally different series that’s not in the Star Trek universe.
Comment by reisneus — Fri November 7, 2003 @ 20:15As we say in Dutch: “gedeelde smart is halve smart”
Comment by paco — Fri November 7, 2003 @ 22:01Have you two seen “Enterprise”? I haven’t, but somehow it seems to me to have a better chance of succeeding that DS9 and Voyager.
Comment by weefselkweekje — Sat November 8, 2003 @ 10:16I’ve seen some of the ‘new’ Enterprise series. They throw in plenty of ‘historic’-storylines. It wants to be a stand-alone series. But because it’s part of the Star Trek universe/timeline, people will always expect it to compete with the other series. Still no match for ‘next generation’.
Comment by reisneus — Mon November 10, 2003 @ 10:40Cast pro’s. There’s an OK doctor character, chief-engineer is good, Scott Bakula is more experienced, and a good-looking Vulcan.
Huh? A good looking Vulcan? Would you care to expand on that Reisneus?
Comment by punkmachine — Mon November 10, 2003 @ 11:30Yes, I agree with Paco’s review, though I haven’t given up totally on the future of Startrek. Enterprise seems to have a lot of potential. I like the way it actually goes more to the original series with the characters. They are much less disciplined and federationalized.
Something happened somewhere along the way with DS9 and Voyager, but it was already well taking root in NG. The federation are really a bunch of fascists. Remember when they wanted to disassemble data? They kind of makes me think of the peacekeepers in Farscape. Big bureaucracy gone bad.
Anyway, Nemesis is definitely the worse Startrek film ever and yes, the NG cast should give it a rest. Too bad for them to go out with a whimper rather than a big bang though. The original ST cast (Kirk, Spock and the crew) really had the best ending film of their movie cycle, even ending the film with the whole crew getting a big round of applause, which they rightfully deserved.
Comment by denise — Tue November 11, 2003 @ 11:53Maybe NG can still ‘Go out with a bang’ …. nah
B.t.w. I also like the less federationalized, more easy-going chain of command in ‘Enterprise’
@ punkmachine – Matter of taste, of course.
Comment by reisneus — Tue November 11, 2003 @ 12:51Saw two Enterprise episodes last night, and loved them. Great stuff about the Prime Directive. Very basic. Not a soap.
Dig the Vulcan girl as well
Comment by weefselkweekje — Tue November 11, 2003 @ 13:18I’ve seen a couple of Enterprise episodes and they’re not too bad, but the theme tune is GOD AWFUL!!! Plus, seeing Scott Bakula as anything other than Quantum leap’s Sam Beckeet is still impossible. No matter how cheesy Quantum Leap got at times it was always watchable.
Comment by damian — Tue November 18, 2003 @ 16:01As for nemesis I thought it was pretty boring to be honest. The main action scene, with the dune buggy thing is stolen straight from Goldeneye (when James Bond jumps off the cliff and skydives into the plane) which got away with the stunt because it was tongue in cheek but cool. The scene in nemesis is liek a bad episode of He-Man or something.
After that it’s just like an average episode. Time to put these guys to bed I think, before Johnathan Frakes gets any bigger (he’s starting to resemble the old eccentric Orson Welles)
The first time I watched an episode, I ‘overlooked’ it completely because the intro was so un-startrek-like. Ok the whole ‘history of space travel’ mumbo jumbo is fine, but waaay to mushy and the music really is horrible.
Comment by reisneus — Wed November 19, 2003 @ 13:47I like how they’ve used the first warp ship from First Contact in the intro. The music is so bad I’ve started muting my TV set…
Good to see Klingons as bad guys as well. I’ve always felt that their culture was based on Muslim/Arab culture, so I look forward to future storylines about mutually respecting eachother’s cultures.
Comment by weefselkweekje — Wed November 19, 2003 @ 14:10Care to elaborate on that? Bad guys? Klingon culture based on Arab/Muslim culture? I think I fail to see the connection.
Comment by paco — Wed November 19, 2003 @ 14:38Well, Klingons have a high sense of honour, they practice ‘blood vengeance’, and they’re very paternalistic. Like the Fremen in Dune, I’ve always suspected that they’re inspired by Muslim cultures on Earth. Greatly exaggerated of course, but still…
Picard acted as a ‘mediator’ in several Klingon conflicts, and I thought those were some of the best episodes in ST/TNG. Mainly because they dealt with the moral conflicts that arise when cultures clash.
Comment by weefselkweekje — Wed November 19, 2003 @ 16:35Good save
Comment by Paco — Thu November 20, 2003 @ 1:42Tnx, but it really wasn’t a ’save’. In my opinion most good SF creates situations that mirror Earth in some way, and then deal with the dillema’s that arise. Dune is a very clear example. There’s even a Jihad.
Comment by weefselkweekje — Thu November 20, 2003 @ 9:34I also like the way the humans feel about the Vulcans ‘guidance’.
Comment by reisneus — Thu November 20, 2003 @ 12:06I have seen shards of it, but I cannot get myself to sit down and watch it. The problem I have with Star Trek after Next Generation is that the series turned into a soap; less emphasis on the story/action and more about interpersonal relationships (booooring).
DS9 was so boring also, by the time they decided to spice it up by introducing the (cool) Jem H’dar (and some old N.G.-crew) I lost interest.
Comment by paco — Sat November 8, 2003 @ 14:02Ha! What do you have to say about the new Star Trek movie coming out???
I was tripping when I saw Nemesis, and I could never tell what was Shinzon’s skin and what was hallucination- it was pretty good on hallucinogens.
Comment by lala — Sat May 9, 2009 @ 1:48