Rated PG-13 (Sci-Fi Action Violence
and Peril and a Scene of Sexual Content)
Running Time: 1 Hour & 56
Minutes
Cast:
Patrick
Stewart-Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan
Frakes-Commander William Riker
Brent
Spiner-Lieutenant Commander Data\B-4
LeVar
Burton-Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge
Michael
Dorn-Lieutenant Commander Worf
Gates
McFadden-Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina
Sirtis-Counselor Deanna Troi
Tom
Hardy-Praetor Shinzon
Ron
Perlman-Viceroy Vkruk
Dina
Meyer-Commander Donatra
Jude
Ciccolella-Commander Suran
Shannon
Cochran-Senator Tal'aura
Alan
Dale-Praetor Hiren
Kate
Mulgrew-Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Whoopi
Goldberg-Guinan
Wil
Wheaton-Wesley Crusher
Majel
Barrett-Ship's Computer
Directed by Stuart Baird
 |
| Captain Picard confronts his clone, Shinzon, in "Star Trek Nemesis." |
Note: Part of the "Star Trek The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection" Blu-Ray set.
When you have a franchise like Star
Trek that has been with us for the past 43 years, it gets harder to keep things
fresh. “Star Trek Nemesis,” released on December 13, 2002 was to serve as the
swan song for the TNG cast with the tagline, ‘A Generation’s Final Journey
Begins.’ Unfortunately, the film received negative reviews from professional
critics and was a financial flop at the box office. “Nemesis” tries to be
another “Wrath of Khan” with some thrilling space battles but all this comes at
the expense of the characters and the cast just doesn’t seem to have their
heart in the performances.
On Romulus, the Senate is listening to a proposal
from Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who wants to unite the Reman forces and attack the
Federation. The Praetor would hear none of it and they are subsequently all
killed with a deadly thalaron weapon. Meanwhile, Captain Jean-Luc Picard
(Patrick Stewart) is serving as best man to Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes),
who is about to be married to Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis). After the
ceremony, the crew set a course for Betazed but is sidetracked when they
discover a positronic signature on nearby Kolarus III. Picard, Data (Brent
Spiner), and Worf (Michael Dorn) travel to the surface using a shuttlecraft and
find the remains of a disassembled android that looks exactly like Data. The
android is called B-4 and as LaForge (LeVar Burton) works on him, Picard
receives a message from Admiral Kathryn Janeway (from the TV series, “Voyager”),
who informs him that a new Praetor has come to power on Romulus and wants to
discuss peace negotiations. When the Enterprise arrives at Romulus, they are
greeted by a massive warship called the Scimitar and the Praetor is Shinzon of
Remus. To Picard’s shock, he’s human and a clone of him. Although Picard really
does want to believe Shinzon is sincere about peace, he decides to wait until
that trust can be earned. However, LaForge discovers thalaron radiation on the
Scimitar, which raises a red flag and it becomes apparent what Shinzon’s plan
really is: to drain Picard’s genetic material since he is dying and annihilate
Earth with a destructive thalaron weapon. Picard and his crew must stop Shinzon
from carrying out his plan before the heart of the Federation is destroyed.
The
story of “Star Trek Nemesis” had a lot of potential as it explores the nature
vs. nurture concept but all of this is sidelined in favor of massive space
battles. While Star Trek does feature action, the focus is always on the human
element and this is what sets it apart from other science fiction films. Picard
has grown up in an environment surrounded by caring family and friends but
Shinzon has never known love, and is fueled by hatred due to his loss of
identity. The film asks whether if this darkness has always been with Picard or
it was the harsh realities of life that made Shinzon the way he is today. Data
believes that although they share the same genetic structure, they are not the
same because Picard always strives to better than he is. Running as concurrent
subplot is Data’s meeting with his ancestor, B-4 and his culmination in his
journey to be more human. In the end, he sacrifices himself to save Picard and
although it was sad to see him go (he is my favorite character), his death is
ultimately meaningless as he survives through B-4. “Nemesis” concludes that
people are not born the way they are and it is the environment that shapes them
to what kind of person they’ll be. Unfortunately, you’ll have to infer this
yourself due to its many action scenes to appeal to a mainstream audience. The
film also suffers from an underdeveloped plot such as how Shinzon acquired B-4
in the first place and if the Remans are a working class species, how did they
develop a massive warship with an experimental weapon. Non-Trek fans would just
reason that’s the nature of the franchise but that’s not true; as outlandish as
the premise always gets, the writers always found a way to ground the films.
The acting is solid but many of the cast members seem to be weary of the roles
they’ve been playing for the past 15 years. Patrick Stewart is still engaging
(no pun intended) to watch as Captain Picard, as is Brent Spiner as the
indispensible Data but the others end up doing very little other than engage in
expository dialogue. Tom Hardy is Shinzon and has a few good scenes but his
acting ability pales in comparison to Stewart whenever they’re on-screen
together. He’s basically a Khan-wannabe but he’s never given proper motivation
for what he’s doing. Sure, he had a hard life growing up but it just makes him
out to be an angry child lashing out because fate dealt him a bad hand. If
there’s one advantage that “Nemesis” has over the other Trek films, it’s the
special effects and they are excellent. The USS Enterprise-E displays
incredible detail as does the Reman warship Scimitar. The space battle in the
Bassen Rift is suitably impressive and ranks up there with the Borg fight from
“First Contact.”
The Blu-Ray is better than “Insurrection” but there are times
when the details are too soft. However, all the space scenes are sharp and are
a visual treat for the eyes. Audio is near reference quality as you’re treated
to loud phaser blasts and Jerry Goldsmith’s excellent score. Everything hits
you with a bang during the space battle and you’ll find yourself leaning
forward in your seat to take in everything. Like the other discs in the set,
“Nemesis” comes jam-packed with special features, which include commentaries
from Michael and Denise Okuda, director Stuart Baird and producer Rick Berman
plus the standard featurettes on the making-of the film. Of particular interest
are the deleted scenes as the initial cut of the film ran 45 minutes longer and
many of the scenes edited out were character moments. These are not
re-integrated into the film so you’re still seeing the theatrical version.
Despite the amount of hype surrounding the film, “Star Trek Nemesis” couldn’t
have been released at a worse time as it put the film in direct competition
with “Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets” and “007 Die Another Day.” A
week later, the much-anticipated “The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers” was
released, which caused “Nemesis” to lose 76% of its business. Reviews weren’t
positive as it holds a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics called ‘the whole
affair feels a bit tired.’ The film ended up making $43 million domestic and
$67 million worldwide, barely covering its $60 million production budget. “Star
Trek Nemesis” is not as bad as most people made it out to be and as a Trekkie,
I rather enjoyed it for the most part but one can’t help feeling that the cast
feels weary in their roles, as if they’re going through the motions. As a swan
song to the TNG cast, it’s mostly between a bang and a whimper.
Final Rating: 3 out of 5
"You are ME! The same noble Picard blood runs through our veins. Had you lived my life, you'd be doing exactly as I am. Look in the mirror and see yourself. Consider that, Captain...I can think of no greater torment for you."
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