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Title: Star Trek Nemesis
Rating: PG-13
Grade: B
RIYD: Any Star Trek or Star Wars film
The Gist: Captain Jean-Luc Picard faces
the most dangerous enemy yet – himself.
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They say it’s the last one. They always do. Will “Star Trek Nemesis” be the last installment of the bulwark science-fiction franchise?
It would be a shame if it was. Where else can will we find solid social commentary – MTV?
Besides, they could’ve picked a better one to end on.
“Nemesis” had its moments though, riding on the man-versus-self conflict. What’s special about “Nemesis” is the internal conflict externalizes into something tangible.
The manifestation of this conflict is a character called Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who through a coup d’etat, takes power of an unstable Romulan Empire.
There’s something unique about Shinzon. He’s not Romulan. He’s not even Reman, the inferior Romulan social caste that he led to power.
He’s human. In fact, he’s an exact DNA replica of Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) originally cloned by the Romulans as a weapon against the Federation.
Shinzon initially claims peace with the Federation, but Captain Picard discovers his nemesis is in possession of a weapon that could destroy the population of an entire planet.
Thus, the future of the human race again is placed on the bridge of the Enterprise.
“Nemesis” isn’t the best Star Trek yet, but it holds to the general spirit of the Gene Roddenberry series: the exploration of the broad spectrum of social values.
Sure, the acting is a little heavy-handed at times, but it explores the complex nature of political and economic alliances.
Maybe the costumes are a bit ridiculous, and the caked-on makeup on Data is a little too eye-catching for a big budget production, but where else can one find casual commentary on ultra-nationalism?
So there’s the same galactic dog fight in every film with helmsmen flying across the screen after torpedo blasts, but they’re fighting for humanity.
That’s why people love science fiction: subtext.
There’s all kinds of abstractions one could make about “Nemesis.”
There’s the whole Romulan class system sent in an uproar by a lower class uprising, led by a radical political manifestation. Sound like any “ism” that is collectively feared?
Then the Shinzon/Picard conflict explores a different “ism.” They’re exact biological copies, yet on opposite ends of the moral spectrum because of different backgrounds. We eggheads would consider this a commentary on social determinism.
There are numerous parallels, but this review only can be so long, and you probably want to know more about the movie and less about my nerdiness.
The special effects are great and alien cities carry a design that rivals that of “Star Wars.”
But the acting is a bit obtuse, and at times the film is drowning in dialogue, especially in the long drawn out please-God-stop-the-doggerel ending. It eventually ended, supposedly the last ending for the Star Trek Generations cast.
Is it really over, though? Don’t they have to kill Jean-Luc first? I smell another Trek movie in the space time continuum.
Star Trek seems to be hit and miss with most people. Some movies they like, and some they don’t. The rest of the population either forever loves or eternally hates Star Trek movies.
With that in mind, this installment is solely for the Trekky-minded variety.
