MOVIE REVIEW

Star Trek: Nemesis  (2002)

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton
Director: Stuart Baird

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Paramount

Review Posted: 12.13.02

Spoilers: Yes

By Sara Michelle Fetters

"Tenth Trek Adventure Boasts Major Destruction But Little Else"

There is a point in Star Trek: Nemesis that I could not help but start to think The Muppet Movie.

During their travels in this tenth Trek adventure, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise come into contact with a ship of the likes they have never seen before. It de-cloaks right in front of them and Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge runs diagnostic scans of the vessel and rattles off all of the vehicles weapons and defenses. He also scans a highly dangerous form of radiation emanating from within the warship. A form of radiation so toxic and dangerous, the Federation stopped all forms of experimentation upon it.

Now it turns out that this radiation is linked to an ultimate doomsday weapon with the capability to destroy all life on Earth.  As the weapon is about to be deployed against the Enterprise and its crew, Picard furiously enquires how long they have before it becomes operational. It is at that point LaForge reads off the exact time until the weapon can fire, the exact procedure for doing so and the exact consequences of what will happen when it does.

Now, there are two scenarios available here. The first is that the Federation did not abandon testing of this highly unstable radiation source and LaForge has been working with them to fashion a weapon such as this. The other, and the one that got me to thinking of The Muppet Movie, is that he had read ahead in the script much like Kermit the Frog so he could appear smarter in comparison to the other actors.

Silly, yes, but so is the exchange between the two officers in the film. Worse yet, much of Nemesis feels just the same.

Personally, I was always partial to the original Trek films. I find parts two, four and six to be quite exceptional examples of filmmaking – and sequel - excellence (I’m also fond of three, but that one bogs down in the middle). Of the Next Generation adventures, I admit to warming somewhat to Generations until the idiot “death-of-Kirk” final, and First Contact had its moments, but they were a bit sporadic. (Alice Krige was sensational, however, as the Borg Queen and worth the price of admission on her own.)

But then, it isn’t that Nemesis doesn’t have potential. Opening with the wedding of longtime sweethearts Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the U.S.S. Enterprise crew quickly find themselves investigating a strange energy reading on a distant planet while on their way to Troi’s home world of Betazed. Upon touching down, they discover the remains of a robot mysteriously similar to their own mechanical Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner).

Before they can proceed to unravel this quandary, word comes from Starfleet (a pointless cameo from Kate Mulgrew) that they are immediately to proceed to the Romulan neutral zone to enter into peace negotiations with their Romulan Praetor, Shinzon (Tom Hardy, Black Hawk Down). It is here where the crew lays their first glimpse on the armored warship Scimitar, not realizing at first the nefarious weaponry hidden inside.

While remaining suspicious of their host and his sinister viceroy (Ron Perlman – buried inexplicably behind some truly gruesome Nosferatu-like makeup), Picard finds himself warming slightly to the enigmatic Shinzon. Part of this is due to the fact that the Romulan Praetor is in fact a clone of Picard, grown to one-day infiltrate the Federation as a spy.

That plan, though, is discarded and Shinzon is banished to the mines of Remus – Romulus’ sister planet – to hopefully perish amongst the Reman slaves. This fails and the duplicitous clone rises up in arms against the Romulans, seizing control, intent on taking revenge against the race that created him and upon the humanity he was cheated from.

It’s heady stuff, and all of the elements for an exciting drama are in place. But John Logan’s (Gladiator) screenplay drops the ball, making Shinzon decidedly one-dimensional. It’s unfortunate, for Stewart and Hardy are surprisingly well matched in the film. They play off each other with a gentle ease, and watching their animosity slowly build is a treat.

Nemesis does have one major ace up its sleeve, and that is director Stuart Baird. The acclaimed editor behind Superman and Lethal Weapon made a successful transition to the ball cap and microphone set with Executive Decision in 1996. Knowing how to crank up tension and action, Nemesis features the best outer space battle ever shown on film. The final 40 minutes or so of this Trek adventure is a slam-bang boxing match, with the Enterprise and the Scimitar landing blow after knockout blow. Its stunning, and nearly makes the preceding hour or so worthwhile.

Unfortunately, there are just too many moments when you want to shake your head at the idiocy of it all. And the climax, while slightly stirring as it affects the mortality of a beloved character, doesn’t hold up at all to review. Case in point, after the whole film has spent an entire running time warning us of the dangers of this new radiation and its lethal consequences, characters walk right up to its source as if spellbound by the pretty emerald green coloring.

I couldn’t help but scratch my head. So much in Nemesis works, and yet none of the pieces come close to holding together. There are some films you let slide because of a great moment or sequence. While this tenth Trek film boasts a stunner of denouement and a battle sci-fi fanatics should go ape over, I just can’t do it.

Maybe if Kermit or Miss Piggy would have made an appearance, then I could have. At the very least it would have at least explained how LaForge might have read the script in advance.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4

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