I've had an interesting relationship with Star Trek Nemesis since its release in 2002. A lot of that has to do with the circumstances of my own life at the time. The year 2002 was the year that I left to serve a two year church mission during which time, I would voluntarily abstain from doing certain things, which included watching movies. That summer, I got my fill as I prepared for this personal journey. My beloved friend and I somehow found out that a teaser for Nemesis would be included with The Time Machine, not that we really needed an excuse to go see that film, but it definitely helped in the decision making process. That summer, anticipation was high. I had really enjoyed Insurrection, and I was really looking forward to eventually seeing what Nemesis did to build on that mythology. December rolled around, and I got the score for the movie. It was dark, brooding, atmospheric, and not a single bit like what I had expected based on the score for Insurrection. The previous film was lighter, had more soothing cues, and juxtaposed all of that with some darker movements. Intrigued, I decided to pick up the novelization and read that with what little free time I did have. It was a quick read, and pretty enjoyable. It didn't give me the full picture as to what was really going on with this new film, but it did give me a vague general idea.
Sixteen long months later, I returned home from that personal journey of service, and with said beloved friend, sat down one afternoon to finally experience the glory of Star Trek Nemesis. It opened with those dark mysterious tones, and that font that screams conspiracy, and I was thinking that this was going to be a truly memorable experience. And was it ever, but not necessarily for the reasons I was hoping. Everything started off fine, but suddenly, there was Picard acting juvenile and boisterous, making jokes on the bridge, the bridge, and I saw a film that lacked quite a bit of energy. Thus began a strained relationship with a film from a franchise that I loved. I found a lot of flaws with this film too. They were egregious to boot! I would often pander the out-of-character lines that each character had to parrot on screen, the poor pacing, and lackluster ending. It was tumultuous, and it lasted for years. But, with age comes wisdom, and hopefully, a tempering of passions, and so begins the tale of how the underdog film of my favorite franchise won me over.
Actually, it's a short tale. I never hated it enough to never watch it so anytime that I would do a marathon, it was always in the mix. I've seen a few dozen times at least. I've not ever refused to sit through it, and I I've always tried to not make too big of a stink during viewings. I'd say over the years, it's grown to be mostly an apathetic take on this movie. However, one night within the last month, I was doing a ritual marathon of the Prime universe films, and I popped in Nemesis, and it was a completely different experience. I'm going to blame it on the 4k TV that we got for Christmas, but for the first time in ever, I was able to see some real artistry in this movie that I had previously disliked so much. I started to notice some nuance in the way that Picard's facial expressions were portrayed, I saw some create framing of shots in areas that had previously seemed pretty mundane, and I even started to see why it was that old Picard was acting in such a garish manner. He was probably intoxicated at an event that celebrated two of his dearest friends, and he was probably also working to reconcile with some major changes in his own life.
I'll be brief on the synopsis since I know my audience pretty well. The gist is that on Romulus, a Reman named Shinzon has conspired certain Romulan senators to carry out a political coup and sieze the praetor position. Meanwhile, Riker and Troi finally tie the knot. On the crew's way to Betazed, they pick up some positronic energy signatures on a planet so turtle heads. They go the planet, gather pieces of an android like Data, and then reassemble said android, which as it turns out, it supposedly a prototype to the make of android that Data was eventually developed into. Around the time that the prototype comes online, Picard receives orders that Enterprise has been invited to Romulus for peace negotiations. The crew go to Romulus for said negotiations only to find out that the new praetor who invited them is Picard's clone. Picard is now shaken by the fact that someone just arbitrarily used his DNA to clone him. The whole thing stinks, but any opportunity for peace is too important to pass up. Shinzon and Picard have a philosophical discussion about nurture versus nature. We find out that Shinzon's little scheme worked really well because he had the support of the military and also that he has a degenerative disease that is killing him. We also find out that the android had been programmed to steal vital information from the computer banks of the Enterprise. Tragic backstory... Awkward Picard academy photo... Mind rape... Awkward mind rape. A revelation that the Reman ship employs copious amounts of extremely deadly radioactive material. Shinzon kidnaps Picard in order to perform a full blood transfusion in order to save himself (Shinzon) from the disease that's killing him (Shinzon). But wait! Picard and Data discovered the treachery behind the prototype and pulled a switcharoo! Data doing the Vulcan nerve pinch and introducing the MacGuffin of the film. A daring escape via a really nifty looking fighter ship. Shinzon cloaks and leaves in a huff and Enterprise flies off in pursuit. We finally find out that Shinzon pretty much just aims to destroy Earth to destabilize Starfleet and the Federation, but also because he's butt hurt over how hard his own life was compared to Picard's. Talk about Shinzon's potential plans by the heroes. Preparations for battle. Shinzon is getting sicker. Aw man, there's a nebula in the way of our course that will cut off communications with the rest of the fleet! Ambush! An, honestly, really sweet space battle. A failed attempt to play to Shinzon's humanity. Surprise back up in the form of Shinzon's former co-conspirator in a freakin sweet Warbird! Mind rape revenge... The Enterprise gets boarded. Riker and Shinzon's lackey have a fight so more mind rape revenge! Troi crashes the ship... again... Shinzon decides to set off his doomsday MacGuffin right then and there in order to destroy the Enterprise. Picard beams over to stop the madness. Data takes the old fashioned train via open space in order to assist. Picard and Shinzon get into a tense fight, and Shinzon is killed, but Picard has no way to survive destroying the doomsday MacGuffin. Enter Data, who uses his previously introduced MacGuffin to save Picard and make the ultimate sacrifice. To absent friends... An homage to The Motion Picture. Riker and Picard part ways for the first time in 15 years. Another Data MacGuffin, but a glimmer of hope nevertheless. Another Motion Picture homage of sorts and roll credits.
Okay, that wasn't nearly as brief as I had anticipated. But that is the gist of the film. Now, the things that Stuart Baird did well, he did pretty darn well. The movie is a little on the slower paced side, but it is kind of a mystery film so I suppose I should cut it some slack there. Like I said, for someone with only editorial experience previous to this project, Baird is able to frame up shots in some pretty interesting ways. He also didn't constrain himself to traditional lighting which works sometimes, and sometimes not. John Logan is not my favorite writer in Hollywood. He made some poor dialog choices in this film, and I'm sticking by that assessment. There are just some lines that a little too out of character for the characters presenting them and every time one of those lines is said, it takes me right out of the movie. I liked a lot of the prop design for this film. The toys would have been amazing had a licensing agreement extended to such things because these props were pretty sweet. I also like the starship design for this film. The Scimitar is an imposing ship to look at, and the Valdore as a follow-up to the D'Deridex is a great design. John Eaves got to go back and add a great bit of detail to the Enterprise as it was built up as a digital model for this film, and he did a great job, and Baird must have loved it because he get intimate with is a lot. I'm not kidding. Some of the beauty shots of the ship are practically pornographic! Take a watch, you'll understand. Lastly, Jerry Goldsmith delivers another good score. It's not my favorite from him, but he captures the tone of the film extremely well with his music, and it highlights the film beautifully.
The things that didn't work for me is a list that tends to shrink over the years, but there are a few things that really stick in my craw. First, by the time we get to Picard's 'Mr. Troi' joke, I am done with jovial Picard. It just pushes the whole bit way too far for me to stay on board. Second, the lighting filter that they used for the turtle head planet is awful. I know that Baird was trying to make it look alien, but it's just too harsh. It washes out the color, and it literally hurts my eyes, especially on a UHD TV. Third, I don't like what they did with Gates' makeup design. I'm about to get a tiny bit shallow here, but I had a TV crush on Crusher for a long time, and the way that the makeup team did her makeup always highlighted her natural beauty and radiance. The team on Nemesis made her look frail, old and frumpy and I don't like it one bit. I get that she was getting older, but they made her up to look practically necrotic, and it was such a waste of beautiful person. Lastly, I don't particularly like Shinzon's motivation, or lack thereof depending on the moment. It's very inconsistent throughout the movie. At one point, he just wants to meet Picard, then he wants to use Picard's blood to save his own life. Okay, I can get on board with that. But his drive stems from wanting to make the Remans equal to the Romulans until it doesn't and when it doesn't, it stems from wanting to destroy everything that Picard loves because Picard had an easier life that Shinzon. He's all over the map. I didn't particularly like how Nero's motivation played out in the 2009 film, but at least he was consistent about it. I really feel like Shinzon could have been a much better character if he'd been better honed.
Believe it or not, that's all I have. Now I will say that the Next Generation films suffered a bit by comparison to the Original Series movies. I realized that part of that is because even if the films were not directly related, whether is was a good film:
Or a bad one:
There was always a little something holding the mythology together. Most prominently in the TOS films, it was the character arc that they put Spock on. However, Kirk and McCoy and even the rest of the crew got some development that spanned all of the movies and that helped to tie everything together a bit. The TNG films have a little of that with a Data growth arc, but no one else really gets an arc that spans beyond a single film. Also, Data's arc by the end seems forced and contrived. I realize that Spiner felt like he was getting too old to play the role, but if 2018 me could time travel, I would totally go back and inform him that by 2016, we'd have the ability for him to realistically look 20 forever in any movie he made. I think killing the character was a wasted moment with inadequate build up.
I don't think that this film deserves the red headed step child treatment that it garners. It is technically the lowest grossing film in the franchise, but I'd like to put that in perspective a bit:
That is terrible competition against which to pit a Star Trek film! Star Trek is great and I love it so hard, but it is never going to be the kind of mass appeal blockbuster money maker that Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings became. NEVER. It will always have its cult following, and those fans will, for the most part, stay pretty passionate about the franchise, but whoever thought that Nemesis could realistically compete with the two highest grossing franchises of the 2000s was nuts. I really think that's sad too because my biggest disappointment with this movie is that it left so much unfinished for me. Yes, there was a way for Data to return, and yes, the crew were still mostly where they had been for 15 previous so exploring what becomes of this beloved cast seems like something that someone would have pushed for a bit harder. Too much time has passed now, but I dream of one day experiencing the universe where the TNG cast got the theatrical send off that they earned.
All in all, I would recommend this film to anyone who's looking to get really into Star Trek. If you want to be come the uber Trekkie, this is a must see. It's not Trek at its finest, but it's also not Trek at its worst. It puts forth a satisfactory effort that will entertain, and there are quite a few nuanced tidbits to discover through subsequent viewings. It's available to watch on most streaming services in HD and I'd definitely say that if you've got some free time soon, give it a watch! Stick around! Next week we're going to take a look at a special subject to coincide with a special anniversary!
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