Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Stuart Baird

Writers (WGA):

Gene Roddenberry (television series Star Trek)
John Logan (story) ...

Release Date:

13 December 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

A Generation's Final Journey... Begins

Plot:

After the Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan planet of Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a truce, the Federation soon find out the Romulans are planning an attack on Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Romulan | Planet | Honeymoon | Android | Captain

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander / Captain William T. Riker
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data / B-4
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Commander Worf
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi-Riker
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Tom Hardy	...	Praetor Shinzon
Ron Perlman	...	Reman Viceroy Vkruk
Shannon Cochran	...	Senator Tal'aura
Dina Meyer	...	Commander Donatra
Jude Ciccolella	...	Commander Suran
Alan Dale	...	Praetor Hiren
John Berg	...	Senator
Michael Owen	...	Helm Officer Branson

Also Known As:

Star Trek X (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and peril and a scene of sexual content.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Italy:T | Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/12 (video rating) | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

El Mirage Dry Lake, San Bernardino County, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Whoopi Goldberg]reprising her role as the Enterprise-D's bartender Guinan from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although Shinzon and Picard have identical DNA, speech patterns are not genetic. It is a learned behavior and a product of the environment one grows up in. Although he was probably taught by the Romulan government to speak with a British accent from birth, he more than likely would have become a product of his Reman surroundings and "grown out" of the accent and begun speaking with a similar accent as the Remans or Romulans.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Senator: Senators, consider the opportunities for the Empire. At last, the destinies of the planets Romulus and Remus will be united. Shinzon of Remus is offering us a chance to make ourselves stronger than ever before. It would be madness to reject it. I beg you not to let prejudice or politics interfere with this Alliance. By joining Shinzon's forces with ours, not even the Federation will be able to stand in our way.
Praetor Hiren: That's enough!

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)

Soundtrack:

Blue Skies

Good action and tone but let down by a shaky concept and some weak plotting

After the wedding ceremony of Riker and Troi, the Enterprise ventures near to the Romulan neutral zone in response to a signal - a signal they find is coming from an uncharted planet where they find a prototype of Data. As the nearest ship, the Enterprise is sent to Romulus to supposedly negotiate peace with the new government of the planet. On arrival Picard discovers that the head of the Reman is his clone. The Enterprise quickly finds that the peace talks are no more than the start of a planned attack on Earth.

Given that the evens are always the better films when it comes to Star Trek films, I had reasonable hopes for this film, most of which were met adequately (note the choice of word). The plot is where both the potential and the weaknesses lie. The film has the `discovery' of a Data prototype on an uncharted planet, and then the discovery of a Picard clone, and then kicks off into a bigger plot where the Enterprise must stop the Reman from attacking Earth with a powerful, outlawed weapon. The various touches of the film are both good and bad. The discovery of B4 sits awkwardly with the rest of the film and never really makes complete sense. Shinzon being Picard's clone works quite well and allows for a greater level of involvement in the plot than if he had been just another bad guy out to destroy the world. However I did think the film still had room to really go for it and push the emotional conflict a lot better.

Part of the problem was Shinzon himself; I never really ever felt that he was Picard's match where I should have felt like I was watching two titans in battle. That said, when it comes to the battles, they are all pretty enjoyable and the effects are good. Some of them are genuinely quite exciting, although the film struggles to have a consistently tense mood.

The cast are all pretty comfortable in their well-worn roles. Stewart is always good as Picard, but I didn't feel that either Frakes or Sirtis were allowed to do much with their material. With no solo material Dorn, McFadden and Burton do their best and they do well to make an impression regardless. Spiner co-wrote this film and that says a lot. His usual Data role is as good as always, but his B4 just smacks of his self-serving hand in the script; the film would have been better without this character and could have driven the plot in other ways without him. Perlman is almost totally unrecognisable under his makeup but projects menace nonetheless. Hardy is a bit too calm and polished for the role - I didn't get the feeling that he had any of Picard's passion or gutsy mentality, he should have had that AND been a lot more aggressive due to his environment - having a shaved head and an English accent just didn't cut it, even if he was good in earlier scenes.

Overall this is an even-numbered Star Trek, so it is fated to be enjoyable and, on the most part it is. The plot has one good concept that works (the clone) and one concept that really doesn't at all (B4) and would have been dismissed were it not for Spiner's hands on the script. The action is good and Stewart is as good a central point as ever, making for an enjoyable if unexceptional entry in the long running series.