Star Trek: Nemesis - Spoilers

[olegai]

Well, more or less entertaining if you are into ST movies with J.L Picard. Sad part is that Data dies and Riker is off to command some new ship so most likely this is the last installment of ST TNG movie. My prediction is that ST:N wont do any good in box office and will be out of major theatres within a month ;( Sigh let's all hope LOTR will be awesome.

[off_world]

I don't think there is any question that TTT will be AWESOME!!!

[olegai]

Dont forget Matrix (that comes out before T3, also the Core looks quite promising, and that new Jim Carey movie (forgot the name, where he plays god)

[Synd D`nys]

The Core looks foul. My prediction is that it will make Armageddon look like Citizen Kane.

[Demin]

Olegai,


Bruce Almighty is the name of the Jim Carrey movie.

[Fadaar]

Jim Carrey as god? Should be interesting

[Spankmonkey]

I can't decide which was more unpleasant when going to see Star Trek: Nemesis: The movie iteself, the trailer for The Core, or the fat load of shit sitting next to me who insisted on chortling is lard-wreathed head off at every mindless quip and half-baked joke. I think I even heard this fetid mound of clothed garbage chuckling at the god damn Fandango commercial. 1/4 into the presentation, I wanted to beat him to death with the sweat-covered arm rest. What stopped me short of doing so was the knowledge that it was the only thing restraining his free flowing, fish-belly-white gut from spilling into my lap.

Fuck you, whoever you are, for ruining an already bad movie.


Oh yeah, Star Trek. It's like they aren't even paying for actual movie scripts anymore, and just using old episode scripts that never saw production. The first rule of thumb when writing FEATURE LENGTH plot lines for continuing sagas is that by the end of said story, there needs to be some drastic change in the fantasy world that wouldn't have occured without the circumstances that compose the plot. If this simple goal isn't achieved, then the story fucking blows and you have Star Trek: Nemesis. Quench your ST thirst by watching the trailers over and over until it goes to video/DVD (in 2 months at most), because those are literally the best parts, keeping in mind that Data dies at the end when he blows up Baldy's ship. Oh yeah, and they ram the Enterprise into said ship before detroying it. YEEEFUCKINGHAW... wait, didn't they do that in Wrath of Khan? YES, YES THEY GOD DAMN DID.

I want my $6 back.

I sincerely hope that this IS the last ST movie if this is the sort of anticlimactic shlock we can expect from here out. Not an original plot element to be seen.. and you have to endure Wil Wheaton's gay-ass grinning mug for about 5 seconds. But he doesn't speak, at least, making it the real highlight of this film. I hope there is a Heaven, because watching these awful installments would be Gene Rodenberry's Hell.

[gn0me]

The first rule of thumb when writing FEATURE LENGTH plot lines for continuing sagas is that by the end of said story, there needs to be some drastic change in the fantasy world that wouldn't have occured without the circumstances that compose the plot.

Umm, I would say the drastic change to the fantasy setting would be improved relations with the Romulan Empire with the death of Shin'Xar. Considering the Federation has been in a hot and cold war with the Romulans from Kirk to present, that's a pretty drastic change imo. I'm really not sure what you were looking for in this movie? Did you want Earth destroyed or something?

Anyway, I thought it was a fairly entertaining movie. It had a believable bad guy, good space battles, and some good ethical debate in true ST:TNG fashion. Also, it DID evolve the plot of the ST universe, but maybe you needed that part spelled out a bit more clearly. I will agree that the plot itself was nothing amazingly original, but honestly, it's Star Trek and after 10 movies I'm not sure how much more original you can get.

I give it a B.

[Spankmonkey]

...spell it out for me, because there's obviously no way I could comprehend something so banal and rehashed. It wasn't my impression at all that the Romulan/Federation relations had improved much beyond those directly involved. Sure, the crew of the 2 Warbirds and the crew of the Enterprise may have become good buddies due to the ordeal. This, to me, doesn't translate into the whole damn quadrant is now frolicing arm in arm due to a barely-plausible set of circumstances. The Enterprise wasn't doing the Romulans a big favor, but rather saving the Federation's ass from certain death. How does this markedly improve their relationship? Maybe now they will talk of peace, but, as stated in the movie, change of Romulan governments are frequent so there's no real promise of peace and, consequently, no real progression of the story.

Mix that with basically everything good about Wrath of Khan - climactic ramming of ships, self-sacrifice by the 'logical' crew member to save the rest, a genetically engineered/cloned super villan, a (very contrived) arch rivalry between said villan and the captain - and you have ST: Nemesis.

The combat scenes were good but they typically are, so nothing to rave about there. What bugs me the most about this mess is the probability of it being the last. Surely the best ST series there is won't end on this unimaginative note? If it was the last, what I had expected was combat at least on the scale of First Contact, except in Romulan space. THAT would have been drastic. Nemesis was not. The beauty of the Star Trek world is that there are infinite avenues they COULD have explored for originality's sake despite the 9 preceeding films. They chose not to, and the film suffered as a result.

/overanalysis off

[gn0me]

I find it rather futile to read too much into the "what ifs" regarding that aspect of the plot. When I left the theater, I had the impression there would be a new chance at peace between the Federation and the Romulans for a few reasons. First, the entire old senate, which harbored hatred and distrust for the Federation was removed. There is a fresh start for a new lasting peace. Second, the commander of the warbird seemed fairly sincere when hinting at future peace - why even add that part to the movie if they won't expand on it down the road? Third, the Enterprise did not just save Earth and the Federation, it spared Romulus from an all out war which likely would have left the Romulan Empire in ruins as well. This seemed to be a fairly significant event.

The plot advancement in this movie will hopefully become more significant in the next film (which I imagine there will be one more if the cast is for it). I agree that it parallels Wrath of Khan very closely. However, that didn't bother me that much while watching it. I found it entertaining and it definately ranks in the top three of ST films.

[Renegade]

Ok, the part where Picard kills the dude was horrible. OH NO im gonna impale you on the pole! THUMP! That shit looked like it didnt even go through him at all, like it just went THUMP agaisnt his chestplate thing. That was the cheesiest thing i ever seen. Anyway, yeah i didn't think it was that great.

[Millie]

Originally posted by Spankmonkey
I think I even heard this fetid mound of clothed garbage chuckling at the god damn Fandango commercial.

LOL. I think the Fandango commercial should be used as a Eugenics test. Anyone caught laughing at the ad should be sterilized to prevent procreation. Honestly, people that stupid should not be breeding.

Edit: As far as Romulan/Fed relations are concerned, the two sides had an alliance of sorts during the final season of Deep Space Nine (a highly underrated series, in my opinion). The Federation, Klingons, and Romulans signed a non-aggression pact and supplied each other w/ fleets, plans, and tactics in order to beat the Dominion. The way in which the Federation lured the Romulans into joining the alliance was actually pretty brilliant, and quite "Romulan" in style. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that the episode in which it happens ("In the Pale Moonlight") is quite something.

[Jaytee Bushwacker]

Oh yeah, and they ram the Enterprise into said ship before detroying it. YEEEFUCKINGHAW... wait, didn't they do that in Wrath of Khan? YES, YES THEY GOD DAMN DID.

When in the hell did they actually ram ships in ST II - WoK? They almost collided in the mutara (sp?) nebula but they missed by like a couple meters.

I liked the movie, aside from the main characters getting a little older looking (though Troi is still quite doable) it was really a decent film. The "bad guy" really was a nice twist, and Picard telling him about his first academy training mission then cutting him off and ramming the Enterprise up his ass was great.

And Millie I think its quite plauseable that, although the Romulans joined the alliance to defeat the Dominion, there would be sections within their society that would prefer to take over the federation as we saw in the film.

[rukidding]

The plot to XXX was more interesting than Nemesis. It’s like they took the second-best plot ideas from the previous movies. Data aka Spock dies and is going to be “reborn.” Shin’Kar aka Khan has a world-killing device and must be stopped.

Picard and Data kill 20-some soldiers from the “elite-warrior-race” when they try to escape the ship. I don’t think there was a single fight in the entire movie that the “elite-warrior-race” won. If these are the best warriors in the Romulan Empire, send in the Girl Scouts to assault their planets and end the entire war. No wonder the Romulan’s want peace at the end of the movie. They realized they are a bunch of sissies and don’t want to get smacked around anymore.

The Scimitar pulls off of the Enterprise after it’s rammed. As Mr. Cranky pointed out in his review, how the hell does this happen? The Scimitar does a full reverse and instead of pulling the dead-in-space Enterprise across the galaxy, it pulls off the ship. No way.

The designers of the Scimitar put the uber-toxic-radiation generator on the BRIDGE. Good idea!

Data is launched out the front of the Enterprise, crosses the distance to the Scimitar in less than seven minutes, happens to hit an entry port, and runs to the bridge in time to save Picard. Hey Data, the ‘prototype’ personal-teleporter is the size of a quarter. Put a couple in your pocket next time, you dumb ass android.

The designers of the Enterprise should be executed. There is absolutely no reason to put the bridge on the outside layer of the ship. I laughed out loud when the Scimitar blew the view screen away and the navigator flew into space. The bridge is put as far away from harm’s way as possible.

Shin’Xar needs a transfusion from Picard in a handful of hours or he is going to die, so he decides to get some grub and talk philosophy, then sends Picard back to the Enterprise so he can be snatched away. This occurs in front of the entire crew. This is aside from the fact that Shin’Xar happens to seize control of the Romulan Empire just days before he is expected to die. Nice timing.

Probably more problems I am blocking out, or just don’t have time to write.

[Millie]

People are being unduly harsh on Nemesis. Is it a Wrath of Khan knock-off? In spirit, yes. Is it cheesy? For the first hour or so, sure. But is it "bad?" I wouldn't go quite that far.

Nemesis really picks up during its final moments. You know exactly what's going to happen, and when -- yet somehow, knowing all that doesn't dampen the emotional impact that the events have.

Maybe I'm just being sentimental, but I was on the verge of tears when Data sacrificed himself for the Enterprise and its crew. And unlike Spock in "Wrath," there seems to be no hope of reviving Data after that explosion. Say what you will about B4, but he's just not the same. As Data himself put it so aptly, B4 is identical to him in parts and in programming -- but he does not have the same personality. Even if all of Data's memories reappear in B4's brain, he'll still be B4 with Data's old memories. Nothing more, nothing less. Data, as we knew and loved him, is gone.

Nemesis suffers most when it tries to be an action movie. Numerous Star Wars-like gun battles, flight sequences, and fancy spacework can't take away from the fact that Star Trek is not, and never can be, an action franchise. Its fight scenes come across as little more than cheesy attempts at emulating other shows or films.

Star Trek, and especially TNG, has always been best when it concerns itself with the philosophical and not the physical. If you'll recall, many of TNG's best episodes (with the notable exception of the Borg shows) took place entirely on the Enterprise, without a single punch thrown, phaser drawn, or shield raised. Shows like "The Measure of a Man," "Time's Arrow," and "The Inner Light" revolved around personal and metaphysical dramas among the characters. Was Data sentient, or was he Starfleet property? What would it have been like for Picard to experience an entire lifetime in the course of an hour? Questions like these informed the best of the series, and the subtle reminders of such questions appear in Nemesis.

I wouldn't consider the film a bad one. I wouldn't consider it great, either. It's "good," and at times tilts in the direction of either positive or negative extreme. When all is said and done, though, I enjoyed myself.

Grade: B