Hours removed from having seen the movie, I can say that many of the critics are right, but some of them have made their points WAY too strongly. Some of the criticisms have even gone so far as being mean. Even Roger Ebert, who I thought was dead on in his reviews of Trek's 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, went overboard here.
Personally, I thought Nemesis was a decent Trek outing. Eons better than Generations or the bland Insurrection, (which gets my vote for worst Trek film), but not as good as First Contact.
Patrick Stewart, as always, is very professional and elevates much of the material. Jonathan Frakes, who I always felt was underused, gets a chance to figure a bit more prominently in the action than usual. Brent Spiner as Data, who I felt was grossly overused in the past, is actually not overbearing here. When I heard Data has yet another "cute" moment in this film, I braced for the worst. But when he broke out singing, it wasn't bad at all. In particular, I was also glad to see Marina Sirtis as Counselor Troi get some more screen time. Sirtis was wonderfully effective in her small role, showing a lot of convincing emotions. All the other regs get very little to do, but that's no big surprise.
I didn't consider Tom Hardy's Shinzon to rank with the best of Trek's villains. While no antagonist will probably ever live up to Ricardo Montalban's Khan, there have still been some great villains in the Trek film franchise, particularly Christopher Plummer as the eye-patched General Chang. I wouldn't rank Shinzon anywhere near Khan or Chang.
As a Trek fan who loved the original series, and the Next Generation (but wasn't grabbed by the subsequent spin-offs), I enjoyed the opening moments at the wedding. I found criticisms of these opening scenes to be unfair. I could not find anything particularly wrong with them.
Critics, however, rightly criticized the middle of the film as being a bit too slow going. During one scene where Picard and Shinzon are talking, I found myself daydreaming about other things. However, the space battle came along soon enough, providing much needed action. Unfortunately, the film's slow-moving earlier scenes affect the space battle. Because some earlier scenes were uninteresting, it takes a bit of the edge of the climax excitement. The epilogue, though good overall, feels too rushed for my liking.
The movie also has this out-of-gas feel throughout. It's no secret to me, however, because as a fan, I believe the Star Trek shows have been running on fumes for years. Though I don't believe it warrants the end of the Trek franchise, it most definitely calls for new creative involvement. Producer Rick Berman, who took over for Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, would be wise to pass the baton or bring better talent to the table. Former producer Harve Bennett worked wonders for the franchise when he rejuvenated series interest with Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock and the Voyage Home, all wonderful movies filled with a lot of adventure and heart. The difference between Bennett's films and Berman's is that Bennett's took more risks, and the results speak for themselves.
To be fair to Berman, the current team brought us First Contact, so why they've come up short with every other Next Generation film is beyond me.
In the end, Nemesis is a decent Trek entry that is better than the Insurrections of the series, but falls short of achieving the glories of The Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, First Contact or even the highly underrated Search For Spock. Unfortunately, I don't think the movie will win the franchise any new fans. If you've never seen a Trek film, I probably would not start with this one.
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