Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

[Article: I think this article spends too much time building the author's (my) back story, not nearly enough time analyzing the movie itself]

She made admiral before Picard did? What's up with that?

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. The holiday season is upon us, and you can see the change in the air. The weather is colder, the stores are decked out in decorations, and the movie industry brings out its big guns. Already, the theaters are steeped in blockbusters like 007: Die Another Day, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Equilibrium. Even the comedy genre offers up its bids for your $7 dollars (on average), with Analyze That and The Hot Chick (although personally I would advise against the last one). And it only get bigger, with a wide range of upcoming titles that cater to every taste, from historical crime sagas, to Coincidental Romances, to Leo DiCaprio vehicles with Christopher Walken in them, to Fantasy Epics that EVERYONE wants to see. With all the movies coming out, it means that competition is fierce and that the window of success is small for a movie to make it's mark.

Caught in the middle of it all is Star Trek Nemesis. The tenth installment in the Star Trek movie franchise, and the fourth to star the Next Generation cast, Nemesis has just five days before Two Towers. As an even numbered picture in the series, it is viewed with the double-edged conventional belief that it will be better than the odd numbered movies. The film centers around Shinzon, portrayed by the very capable Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down), a deprecated human clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. What is striking is that he has spent much of his life on the planet Remus, the bastard of the twin home planets of the Romulan Empire. The entire planet of Remus is subjugated to Romulus, the shiny "civilized" side of the Empire, made to do all the arduous work. Think the Morlocks from The Time Machine (I reference the superior book, not the atrocity that is the movie). So when he stages a coup of the Romulan Senate and declares himself sole praetor, his request for peace comes with a healthy does of skepticism from the United Federation of Planets. Captain Picard and the Enterprise-E is sent to represent the Federation in the matters, and from there things get more complicated.

I grew up in a lucky time for sci-fi fans. The Next Generation was in heavy rotation in the syndicated television circuit, and the wide exposure resulted in a widespread interest among the general population. Although "Trekkies" were still considered a socially outcast group, it was not unusual for people to admit that they had found an episode or two enjoyable, even if they did not have a fanatical devotion to the series. I loved it. I was/am a hardcore geek, and I thought the show was spectacular. Here was a show that was well-written and yet still optimistic not only of the future, but of human nature in general. I had the encyclopedia, I had the phaser and tricorder toys, I even had the uniform, which I busted out time and time again on Halloween.

So when word that a tenth movie was being made, my first reaction was nothing short of excitement. Of course, I weighed this against reviews of the previous movie, Insurrection, which was generally panned. I bided my time, not seeking out any additional information about it, so that by the time it was released (today), I only knew of a few basic plot points.

I liked it. It was a good solid movie. Not the best, nor the most exciting, but definitely well executed. It felt like a larger, more expensive version of a TNG episode, and I mean that in a good way. The pacing was very good, unlike Generations, which cruised through the story at ridiculous speeds. There were lighthearted moments and good lines interspersed throughout. The plot had a few bumps in it. In particular, the dune-buggy scene seemed somewhat forced. Hovercrafts have been featured in continuity several times prior to the movie, so why on earth would Starfleet develop a four-wheeled vehicle? The new Romulan ship fired while cloaked, a feat that had not been attempted since The Undiscovered Country, which begs the question as to why we had not seen it employed earlier. One would think that with more than a hundred years between, with the technology obviously surviving during that time span, a case here or there of a cloaked firing vessel would have popped up. And there is a matter of Shinzon's viceroy. But all these are semantics that only require a short leap of faith.

The meat of the story is an interesting concept. What defines a person? Is it your genetic heritage, your life experiences, or both? Presented on the two different sides of the spectrum are Picard and Shinzon, good and bad in respective, simplified terms. One has had a loving and supportive life, and one has known little but battle and hardship. But instead of choosing just one stance, the movie instead touches on the subjects and leaves the answer to the audience. While it is clear that different lives had made different people, is the capacity for evil within Picard, or is it inherent only in his dark clone? To another extent, does the enemy have the ability within himself to be good, or has it been erased by his experiences?

Out of a $5 dollar scale, I give it a solid four dollars (keeping in mind that I was raised on Trek, take that as you will).
[I think my expectations for this movie were just too low, leading to the inflated grade. I think I would give it a three out of five now]