Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Phil in the Blank]

This shit is simply not a Trek movie.

 

It's a bad action movie that takes place in space with the pew pew pew and BOOM BOOM BOOM sound effects to keep stupid people entertained.

[IndustriousAngel]

Mix-ups were used frequently in Star Trek so Nemesis is a Trek movie; it's just not very memorable with its over-complicated plot and unneccessary twists. Also, most Star Trek stories that have actual warfare at their core are weaker than the ones revolving around more philosophical or adventure themes, ST was never really about space battles and laser phaser or phfist fights, even if I liked those too as a boy.

Edited April 1, 2013 by IndustriousAngel

[Squaremaster316]

 

Oops, sorry, must have popped in Mad Max by mistake...

[4815162342]

Tom Hardy to play Picard in the TNG reboot films?

[fishstick]

F-. Complete garbage, has the most laughable sex scene this side of Zach Snyder oeuvre.

[Chewy]

Horrible. Tom Hardy is unimaginably awful

 

I was expecting so-bad-it's-good  but it's just a lifeless turd

[DeeCee]

Tom Hardy's story arcs in this and TDKR are very similar.

[4815162342]

If they ever move on to a TNG movie reboot, great lols will be had if Tom Hardy ends up on the shortlist to play Picard.

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited January 11, 2019 by Jay Hollywood

[Plain Old Tele]

You're being generous, Jay.

[DeeCee]

You're being generous, Jay.

I wouldn't read to much into it. What did he give Mad Max 2 again?

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited January 11, 2019 by Jay Hollywood

[Goffe]

I feel alone, so alone...

Edited July 31, 2016 by Goffe

[RobinHood26]

3 hours ago, Goffe said:

I feel alone, so alone...

 

Do you love it haha?

[4815162342]

6 hours ago, Goffe said:

I feel alone, so alone...

 

Now I am intrigued.

[Goffe]

the good news: I think less of Insurrection now. 

 

the bad news:  Nemesis is in the group of good Star Trek movies.

 

Spoiler

 

Let me explain myself. I prefer mood and atmosphere over whatever most think of a good script. Don't get me wrong, a good script can be a plus, but very rarely a bad one will be a minus. My particular idea of an unsuccessful  screenplay is one that lacks ambition or conforms with people's general expectations, not aiming any higher.

 

Of course, none of that is an absolute, and, in my opinion, the greatest films (mostly) excel in all areas. 

 

Nemesis is not the smartest ST or even the trekkiest Trek, but it does well what I consider fundamental to my enjoyment of a film, something absent in most ST entries, which is probably the reason why I like so few of them. 

 

Its strongest aspects are the nature-vs.-nurture running theme and the compelling and exciting conflict between Picard and Shinzon.

 

Darren Franich expresses my thoughts better than I ever could in his EW's review: 

 

Quote

"Maybe you remember how, a few movies ago, Picard was worried about his legacy. Maybe you imagine what he must be feeling, having just killed the closest thing he will ever have to a biological son. Maybe that explains the look on Stewart’s face. This is not a man who looks ready to die; this is a man in the act of pondering what the hell he even lived for."

 

Picard sees a lot of his younger self in the conflicted Shinzon, and he begins to wonder how he might have turned out had his formative years been harder. Picard wanted to trust Shinzon, wanted to save his soul. And Stewart couldn't have conveyed that more perfectly. 

 

It has the WoK's cat-and-mouse tension without being nearly as repetitive. Meanwhile, Baird's much welcome cinematic style works together with Goldsmith's memorable score that heightens the tension to produce an above average experience.

 

Another high point in Nemesis is the final setpiece, which is probably the best action sequence in these films, and the first one in a lonnnnnnng time where I felt things could go wrong for Enterprise and her crew, a sense of real danger basically nonexistent in the last few entries. Viceroy and Riker fight could have been left out, though.

 

Nemesis' dark and gritty style gives this Trek a real depth and human element that all TNG films had lacked until then. Stakes are more personal. Data abandons his over-the-top caricature self, delivering a very poignant scene where he shuts down his "brother". In the last 3 ST, some characters were given less screen time and were merely a presence on camera, here they actually advance in their lives, we see Riker and Troi's marriage, Riker's promotion and move to another ship, and Data's death. Only Undiscovered Country experienced this kind of character progression in TOS.

 

Also, It was very obvious that Data would die after we learned that he ctrl-v'd his memories to B-4, but, surprisingly, his sacrifice caught me by surprise and even moved me a little bit*. LET ME REPEAT IT, I WAS MOVED** BY DATA'S DEATH. I should worship at the altar of Stuart Baird for that alone.

 

*though one could argue Stewart did all the heavy lifting there.

** just slightly

Voyage Home 75/100
Motion Picture 70/100
Undiscovered Country 70/100 
Nemesis 65/100
Wrath of Khan 55/100
Insurrection 50/100
Search for Spock 50/100
Final Frontier 45/100
First Contact 40/100
Generations 35/100

 

 

Tom Hardy: "You may go."
Data as B-4: "Where?"
Tom Hardy: "Out of my sight."

Edited July 31, 2016 by Goffe