Star Trek - Nemesis (2002)

Movie Info

The tenth film in Paramount's highly lucrative sci-fi franchise is also positioned as the last for the entire original Next Generation crew. En route to the honeymoon of William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) on her home planet of Betazed, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise receive energy readings identical to those uniquely emitted by the positronic brain of android crew member Data (Brent Spiner). Upon investigation, they discover the disassembled parts of an identical android named B4, an early prototype of Data himself, now scattered on the surface of a remote world. As they reassemble B4, the crew receives word from Starfleet that a coup has resulted in the installation of a new Romulan political leader, Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who claims to seek détente with the human-backed United Federation of Planets. As commander of the closest starship to Romulus, Picard is ordered there to negotiate with Shinzon. Once in enemy territory, the captain and his crew make a startling discovery: Shinzon is human, a slave from the Romulan sister planet of Remus (the residents of which are vampire-like creatures that dwell on the perpetually dark side of their home world), and has a secret, shocking relationship to Picard himself. It soon becomes clear that Shinzon has lured the Enterprise to Romulus using B4 as bait and that his sinister ulterior motives include the destruction of Earth. A vicious battle between the Enterprise and Shinzon's powerful warship ensues, resulting in heartbreaking heroics and a devastating casualty. Star Trek: Nemesis was written by long-time Trek fan and Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan. Regular cast members Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, and Whoopi Goldberg co-star with Ron Perlman, Dina Meyer, and Steven Culp.

PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence and peril and a scene of sexual content)

Final Star Trek film featuring the Generations crew is a pretty good final, before the J.J Abrams reboot, and it's a step up from the previous film, and it manages to be an effective blend of Scio Fi and thrilling action, enough to please fans of the show and films. Although not a perfect tenth film, Nemesis is a worthwhile picture, one that is quite entertaining from start to finish. A young Tom Hardy plays the villain here, and he gives the film's strongest performance. Here Hardy would show glimpses of what was to come later in his career. Add to that, a good story, and you have a worthwhile Star Trek film worth seeing if you've enjoyed the other entries in the series. Although not breaking any new ground in the film franchise, Nemesis is a worthy final for the Generations era of Star Trek films, and is a film that is also underrated. The film may be flawed, and it does fall short of what it could have been, but it does manage to be a highly engaging picture that is much better than what you might think. I enjoyed Nemesis and I thought for a tenth film, it managed to be quite good, even if it wasn't perfect. With that being said, there is enough thrills and entertainment value to be had here if you're in the mood for a fun little Sci Fi film. This one may not be the best Star Trek film, but it surely isn't the worst either. For what it offers, it has enough momentum to appeal to genre fans as well as Star Trek fans alike. This is a pleasant ending to the original series before the reboots, and it manages to be a pretty good final, despite the fact that it could have been a bit better as well.

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.