"Curse?
What Star Trek Curse?
STAR TREK NEMESIS
RATING: B-
Starring
Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton,
Michael Dorn, Gated McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Thomas Hardy, Ron
Perlman, Dina Myer. Music by Jerry Goldsmith, Co-Producer Peter
Laritson, Costume Designer Bob Ringwood, Edited by Dallas Puett,
Production Designer Herman Zimmerman, Director of Photography
Jeffrey L. Kimball, Executive Producer Marty Hornstein, Based
Upon "Star Trek" Created by Gene Roddenberry, Story
by John Logan & Rick Berman & Brent Spiner, Screenplay
by John Logan, Produced by Rick Berman, Directed by Stuart Baird.
Rated PG-13, Running Time 110
MINS, 2.40:1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.
Stardate: 56844.9 Captain Jean-Luc
Picard and the crew of the starship Enterprise-E have just attended
the wedding of long time sweethearts counselor Deanna Troi and
First Officer, Commander William Riker. Riker is soon to be promoted
to Captain of the U.S.S. Titan and on a trip to a second wedding
on Deanna's homeworld of Betazed the Enterprise detects a unique
signal from a remote planet. On the surface of the planet the
crew discover the pieces of an android nearly identical to Picard's
new first officer, Commander Data. This android named B-4 (Before)
appears to be an early version of Data by the same creator. But
the crew soon discover that more important circumstances have
come to light.
 The
Senate of the Romulans, longtime enemies of the United Federation
of Planets, has been overthrown by a race called the Remans. These
"Nosferatu" looking creatures have a powerful warship
and are led by a human named Shinzon (Thomas Hardy) who has declared
himself the head of the Senate and wishes to meet Picard to begin
diplomatic relations. Picard soon discovers to his horror that
Shinzon is actually a clone of his younger self, created by the
Romulans decades earlier in a plan to secretly replace him with
a spy. The plan was eventually abandoned and Shinzon was imprisoned
on the Romulan moon of Remus where he was raised by Reman slaves
and eventualy became their leader.
Shinzon speaks of peace with the
Federation and wants to acquaint himself with Picard so that he
can learn of his human heritage. The thought of developing a friendship
with Shinzon is tempting to Picard, but if Shinzon really does
want peace, why does he possess an energy power that is fatal
to humans? This energy (Thaleron energy for all you Trekkie geeks)
can incinerate any biological matter and by equipping his massive
stealth warship with this power Shinzon is a threat to the Federation
and any race that may get in his way. When true intentions are
revealed Picard and crew find opposition in the forms of Shinzon,
the Romulan Empire and even Data's new brother B-4.
 The
Star Trek series has endured for over forty years. "Star
Trek Nemesis" marks the tenth feature film and the fourth
involving the "Next Generation" crew. Of the five television
series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is probably
considered the best. It managed to surpass the original because
it had better stories, richer characters and a talented cast.
There has been a playful rivalry over the years between Star Trek
and Star Wars. Even though Trek came first the popularity of Star
Wars has overwhelmed it. People seem to enjoy the fantasy aspect
of Star Wars and it contains elements of Trek as well as other
films it was inspired by. Star Trek isn't science fantasy but
more science fiction. The human drama that exists amongst the
characters has been dubbed "space opera." Star Trek
was a pioneer by dealing with issues like racism and class struggle.
It took us to a time when human beings had reached their full
potential and were looking to the stars to learn more.
I like both Star Trek and Star
Wars equally. The fantasy and the mythical appeal of Star Wars
works for me and I enjoy the sci-fi elements of Star Trek. Star
Trek is a bit cleaner than Star Wars in terms of its look but
grittier in its stories. I also love the military aspect of Star
Trek which reminded me of battles aboard submarines in deep space
instead of the deep sea. Every boy wants to play soldier at some
point.
Having declared that I am indeed
a Trekkie you are probably wondering how I feel about this new
Star Trek feature. To be honest I feel I am sitting on the fence
with this one, having enjoyed it but also feeling disapointed.
We are presented with an interesting story, a first rate cast
and some well created visual effects. That's all a plus in my
book, but the problem is that none of these elements are used
to their full potential.
 Let's
start with the onscreen relationship between Patrick Stewart's
Picard and Tom Hardy's Shinzon. Sensational. They could not have
found two better actors who clearly click and act and appear as
if they are different ages of the same person. Some may feel that
Hardy whines a bit (a la Anakin Skywalker) when he showcases any
menace. I felt he was dead on. His character, now head of the
senate, reminded me of a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He made me
think of the powerful performance given by Joaquin Phoenix in
"Gladiator", a youthful man who commands with great
authority and has the ability to make all quake in their boots
because of his position. I guess it doesn't hurt that the screenwriter
of "Gladiator" also co-wrote this feature. Hardy has
my favorite line when he taunts Stewart with: "I'm afraid
you won't survive the victory of the echo (me) over the voice
(you)! Yeah, he goes over the top at times, but hey, this is Star
Trek. Stewart is clearly the man of the moment, having received
$20 mil for this feature and becoming a household name from the
X-Men series. He carries the film, he's the central character
and with such power and grace in his performance he can do no
wrong. His supporting cast don't fare as well.
 Jonathan
Frakes, so underated on the TV series and a wonderful director
of the past two features just doesn't seem like he's there during
this one. I'll let him slide a bit because his mind was probably
on another feature he helmed earlier this year, "Clockstoppers."
Brent Spiner who also co-wrote the story came up with a wonderful
idea for the character of B-4, but their interaction is brief
and the outcome of their encounter predictable. I wished he had
continued to explore Data's aspect of wanting to become a human
being, displayed so powerfully in "First Contact." His
interaction with Levar Burton's Geordi LeForge is the same as
always with Levar spurting off some technobabble about a computer
diagnostic on this and that. The poor guy is still wearing those
painful contact lenses. Well, better than that horrible visor
he endured for almost a decade. Gates McFadden also spurts some
medical technobabble and barely interacts with Stewart or anyone
for that matter. Any romantic sparks her Dr. Crusher had with
Picard are completely gone here. Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi is
given a little more to do this time out but it isn't pretty. The
idea of creating a psychic sexual relationship between her and
Shinzon is just laughable. If they wanted this fine actress to
add some PG-13 sex appeal they could have given her something
better. As for Michael Dorn's Worf, my favorite character, he
gets to be anti-social as usual. He only comes to life when he
gets to fire off a phaser or two. I can understand why Dorn almost
said no to returning this time and feel that his brief role as
"Sandman" in "Santa Claus 2" was richer than
this one.
 Star
Trek Nemesis' story starts off very interesting but soon segues
into memorable territory. Anyone familiar with some of the stories
from the series will get a sense of deja vu. The average audience
is not made up of Trekkies and they will probably enjoy the twist
and turns of the plot. The visual effects by Digital Domain are
handsomely done. They don't compare to the previous work from
ILM on past features, but who can aford ILM these days? I just
wish more ingenuity went into the effects and the battle sequences
involving the Enterprise and Shinzon's cloaked warship. I wanted
some of the energy and wit that went into their fighting tactics
like in "The Wrath of Khan." We get to see the Enterprise
take quite a licking, but after seeing an Enterprise blow up in
"The Search For Spock" we're all used to it and know
they can fix her up in no time.
 Director
Stuart Baird pulls off some credible work having been a Star Trek
novice. His staging of action sequences and tight editing give
the series some much needed punch. This guy's directed pics like
"Executive Decision" and "U.S. Marshalls"
and knows how to make smart action flicks, having also been the
editor on the original "Superman". Even though I was
dissapointed in the roles that the main cast played in the story
I was indeed pleased by the brief supporting work from sci-fi
siren Dina Myer as a Romulan officer and the great Ron Perlman
(again making the best of uncomfortable prosthetics) as Shinzon's
viceroy. Jerry Goldsmith, the father of the Star Trek movie theme,
returns with another wonderful atmospheric musical score that
rivals his work on the original feature and "First Contact.
I hope you don't believe that
I hated "Star Trek Nemesis." As a Trekkie I was indeed
dissapointed but that is because I'm a die hard fan and know the
potential of the series and the cast. Fans have been speaking
for years of a Star Trek "curse", a myth that every
even numbered feature is good and every odd numbered feature is
bad. There have been one or two odd numbered Trek features that
let me down, but I didn't hate them at all. I was dissapointed
in "Nemesis" and it happens to be an even numbered feature.
If they are going to declare that this is the last feature then
they better throw in everything but the kitchen sink. You have
to have an appealing story for Trekkies and audiences who aren't
sci-fi fans. That's the reason why "Star Trek IV: The Voyage
Home" was the most successful of the series, it had a little
something for everyone.
As a Trekkie I was let down, but
as a moviegoer I had an enjoyable time at the movies with this
feature. I didn't want it to be a perfect movie, I just wanted
to lose myself in a decent adventure with some well rounded and
dimensional characters and I got what I wanted. All of the actors
put in some fine work, its just that their full potential wasn't
realized and in a two hour feature that's nearly impossible. I
don't think we have seen the last of this crew. The destination
of "Star Trek Nemesis" is no where near the final frontier
but getting there is good fun.
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