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Nemesis
Premiered: 2002
Producers: Rick Berman
Director: Stuart Baird
Writers: Rick Berman,
John Logan, Brent Spiner
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
The Cast:
Jean Luc Picard: Patrick Stewart
William Riker: Jonathan Frakes
Data: Brent Spiner
Geordi Laforge: Levar Burton
Worf: Michael Dorn
Beverly Crusher: Gates McFadden
Dianna Troi: Marina Sirtis
Shinzon: Tom Hardy
Although Star Trek: Nemesis is in many ways the best of the Next Generation films, it remains haunted by the ghosts of Trek past. The plot is simple; Shinzon, the new Romulan praetor, turns out to be a clone of Jean-Luc Picard. Shinzon wants, using a massive ship and a powerful new weapon, to kill not only Picard but the population of Earth as well, an intention which Picard and company must somehow foil. How much one enjoys the film will depend in large part on how much one is bothered by the clanking of the chains of memory, and how much one is willing to sacrifice plot complexity for magnificent visuals and special effects.
Certainly the film is loaded with spectacular sets and CGI work. Some of the backgrounds are stylish and grandly evocative in ways unseen in some time, and more than once the film manages to recreate the sense-of-wonder that far too much of recent Trek, in whatever form, has lacked. The climactic space battle, involving four ships, whips into action with an impressive fluidity, and the collision between the Enterprise-E and the Scimitar, while nonsense in terms of physics, is utterly believable in dramatic terms; the CGI shot of the former plowing through the flight deck of the latter is simply magnificent. Similarly, the Rift in which the battle is fought looks and feels genuinely other worldly, and the operation of Shinzon's great weapon is stylish and colourful. Although the interior of Shinzon's ship owes a bit too much to various sets in the Star Wars films, the exterior is a triumph of the modeller's imagination, managing to be both darkly elegant and menacing at the same time.
Nor is the film badly acted. Tom Hardy, as Shinzon, brings a low-key intensity to the role that contrasts well with the ranting of many previous Trek villains, and Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner give their usual solid performances as Picard and Data, respectively, with Spiner appearing to good effect also in the dual role of B-4, a preliminary version of Data. Marina Sirtis's brief scene of a forced mind-link with Shinzon and the Reman viceroy, though the motivations of the latter two are not entirely clear, is well done, and her vengeance, using a version of the same link, provides a strong sense of moral turnabout that is among the better moments in the film. Few others among the cast are given much to do in the way of acting, so it would be unfair to make much comment, save to say that all the characters were at least treated with respect, and thus no one seemed ill at ease or awkward with their small roles.
But even the best visuals and acting need something strong on which to build if they are going to be more than merely competent elements in an uneasy mix, and it is here that Nemesis begins to go astray. Even on its own grounds, the plot is remarkably weak, since it rests on motivations which are neither clear nor plausible. That Shinzon, created as a clone for political purposes later abandoned, and himself abandoned to a life of slavery in the dilithium mines on Remus, would come to hate Picard might be believed; that he also comes to hate Earth and the Federation is implausible; that the Remans, oppressed (yet often used for military purposes) by the Romulans, would come to share Shinzon's hatred of the Federation, and follow him into what would surely become a war of extermination, is simply improbable.
This new Praetor says he desires peace with the Federation and equality for the Remans. But Shinzon's seemingly altruistic motives are a front. A clone grown by the intelligence branch of a previous Romulan government, he's a younger replica of Picard, originally designed to age rapidly and be substituted for the captain in an espionage plot that was later abandoned. Now a Reman by fraternity and vile temperament, he's hell bent on ruling the Romulan Empire, irradiating Earth with a powerful doomsday weapon and capturing Picard for a life-saving DNA transfusion.
Nor is it likely that a cast-off human clone would be able to reach a position of such trust and power as Shinzon has reached (we learn that he won several victories in the Dominion War, though not how he became a military commander or learned strategy enough to win those victories). Somehow he has obtained an android of advanced technological construction (B-4), control of a weapon of awesome power, and a colossal ship with which to wield that weapon, without the Tal Shiar noticing. These facts, too, raise more questions than they answer.
Similar problems exist with Picard's motivations as well. Immediately upon meeting Shinzon he recognizes a kinship with him, and within hours he is deeply concerned for Shinzon's character and fate. By itself this is a stretch, but the climax of the film requires still more stretching of credulity; as we've known he must, Picard confronts Shinzon and kills him. He is so distraught at this that he seems to lose all will power, and stands in what appears to be a trance as Shinzon's weapon prepares to wipe out the Enterprise. Only the timely appearance and sacrifice of Data saves Picard and his command. Given what we have seen of Picard's character over the years, this is simply not believable. (Think how much more powerful the scene would have been, at least given the Picard/Shinzon connection, had Picard stopped Data and said, simply, "No, Mr. Data, this is something which I must do for myself," then beamed Data back and destroyed the weapon, along with himself.)
Already one of the ghosts haunting Nemesis will be obvious: this film is, in many ways, The Wrath of Khan without the Kirk/Khan back story. In both we have the confrontation of two strong wills, the appearance of a devastating new weapon, the near destruction of the Enterprise, and the sacrifice of a beloved character for the greater good. What's lacking is the intensity of the former film; not even the improvement in visual effects over the last twenty years makes up for the essentially recycled story. Nor is this the only ghost. Some of the others are no doubt intentional, such as Riker's call for "Defensive pattern Kirk-epsilon"). Some further ones are probably accidental, such as Riker's kicking of the Reman viceroy, as the two dangle from a collapsing catwalk, until the latter falls screaming to his death many levels below, a scene reminiscent both of Kirk's death in Generations and, more noticeably, of the end of the Kirk/Kruge fight in The Search For Spock. Still others are simply strange; a surprising number of cues from earlier Jerry Goldsmith scores appear here, some in quite bizarre places (the music linked to The Final Frontier heard during the wedding scene at the beginning, for example) and others for no apparent reason at all (the references to Alexander Courage's fanfare from the original series). Not all the ghosts are behaving in understandable ways, it would seem.
Nemesis is an enjoyable film, but it lacks both depth and consistent pacing. Director Stuart Baird and screenwriter John Logan seem at times unsure of themselves or their own intentions. Too often action scenes stumble toward their conclusion without the necessary sense of rising tension, and there are some such which appear simply gratuitous (the battle between the Enterprise ATV and those of the inhabitants of the planet on which B-4 is found, for example, which is neither especially well-filmed nor significant to the plot in any way at all; it would have been more sensible, and more germane to later plot developments, for B-4 to have been found drifting in space near the Romulan Neutral Zone). A film such as this requires extremely strong character work if we are to care about its outcome, and that development is, sadly, all too lacking. One of the central problems, in fact, is that these characters could be replaced by ones previously unheard-of and no one would notice that this was meant to be a Trek film, as opposed to a fairly conventional sci-fi action programmer. Much was cut before release, apparently including a fair portion of character work, so it may be that the 'Director's Edition' DVD will in fact be an improvement overall, despite the inevitable loss of impact suffered by the superb visuals-- but a theatrical release must stand or fall by what is in fact on the screen, not what we hope to see later. By that measure, Nemesis cannot be considered a major addition to the Trek film canon, enjoyable though it is.
Last edited by Adge - April 2018
Premiered: 2002
Producers: Rick Berman
Director: Stuart Baird
Writers: Rick Berman,
John Logan, Brent Spiner
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
The Cast:
Jean Luc Picard: Patrick Stewart
William Riker: Jonathan Frakes
Data: Brent Spiner
Geordi Laforge: Levar Burton
Worf: Michael Dorn
Beverly Crusher: Gates McFadden
Dianna Troi: Marina Sirtis
Shinzon: Tom Hardy
Although Star Trek: Nemesis is in many ways the best of the Next Generation films, it remains haunted by the ghosts of Trek past. The plot is simple; Shinzon, the new Romulan praetor, turns out to be a clone of Jean-Luc Picard. Shinzon wants, using a massive ship and a powerful new weapon, to kill not only Picard but the population of Earth as well, an intention which Picard and company must somehow foil. How much one enjoys the film will depend in large part on how much one is bothered by the clanking of the chains of memory, and how much one is willing to sacrifice plot complexity for magnificent visuals and special effects.
Certainly the film is loaded with spectacular sets and CGI work. Some of the backgrounds are stylish and grandly evocative in ways unseen in some time, and more than once the film manages to recreate the sense-of-wonder that far too much of recent Trek, in whatever form, has lacked. The climactic space battle, involving four ships, whips into action with an impressive fluidity, and the collision between the Enterprise-E and the Scimitar, while nonsense in terms of physics, is utterly believable in dramatic terms; the CGI shot of the former plowing through the flight deck of the latter is simply magnificent. Similarly, the Rift in which the battle is fought looks and feels genuinely other worldly, and the operation of Shinzon's great weapon is stylish and colourful. Although the interior of Shinzon's ship owes a bit too much to various sets in the Star Wars films, the exterior is a triumph of the modeller's imagination, managing to be both darkly elegant and menacing at the same time.
Nor is the film badly acted. Tom Hardy, as Shinzon, brings a low-key intensity to the role that contrasts well with the ranting of many previous Trek villains, and Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner give their usual solid performances as Picard and Data, respectively, with Spiner appearing to good effect also in the dual role of B-4, a preliminary version of Data. Marina Sirtis's brief scene of a forced mind-link with Shinzon and the Reman viceroy, though the motivations of the latter two are not entirely clear, is well done, and her vengeance, using a version of the same link, provides a strong sense of moral turnabout that is among the better moments in the film. Few others among the cast are given much to do in the way of acting, so it would be unfair to make much comment, save to say that all the characters were at least treated with respect, and thus no one seemed ill at ease or awkward with their small roles.
But even the best visuals and acting need something strong on which to build if they are going to be more than merely competent elements in an uneasy mix, and it is here that Nemesis begins to go astray. Even on its own grounds, the plot is remarkably weak, since it rests on motivations which are neither clear nor plausible. That Shinzon, created as a clone for political purposes later abandoned, and himself abandoned to a life of slavery in the dilithium mines on Remus, would come to hate Picard might be believed; that he also comes to hate Earth and the Federation is implausible; that the Remans, oppressed (yet often used for military purposes) by the Romulans, would come to share Shinzon's hatred of the Federation, and follow him into what would surely become a war of extermination, is simply improbable.
This new Praetor says he desires peace with the Federation and equality for the Remans. But Shinzon's seemingly altruistic motives are a front. A clone grown by the intelligence branch of a previous Romulan government, he's a younger replica of Picard, originally designed to age rapidly and be substituted for the captain in an espionage plot that was later abandoned. Now a Reman by fraternity and vile temperament, he's hell bent on ruling the Romulan Empire, irradiating Earth with a powerful doomsday weapon and capturing Picard for a life-saving DNA transfusion.
Nor is it likely that a cast-off human clone would be able to reach a position of such trust and power as Shinzon has reached (we learn that he won several victories in the Dominion War, though not how he became a military commander or learned strategy enough to win those victories). Somehow he has obtained an android of advanced technological construction (B-4), control of a weapon of awesome power, and a colossal ship with which to wield that weapon, without the Tal Shiar noticing. These facts, too, raise more questions than they answer.
Similar problems exist with Picard's motivations as well. Immediately upon meeting Shinzon he recognizes a kinship with him, and within hours he is deeply concerned for Shinzon's character and fate. By itself this is a stretch, but the climax of the film requires still more stretching of credulity; as we've known he must, Picard confronts Shinzon and kills him. He is so distraught at this that he seems to lose all will power, and stands in what appears to be a trance as Shinzon's weapon prepares to wipe out the Enterprise. Only the timely appearance and sacrifice of Data saves Picard and his command. Given what we have seen of Picard's character over the years, this is simply not believable. (Think how much more powerful the scene would have been, at least given the Picard/Shinzon connection, had Picard stopped Data and said, simply, "No, Mr. Data, this is something which I must do for myself," then beamed Data back and destroyed the weapon, along with himself.)
Already one of the ghosts haunting Nemesis will be obvious: this film is, in many ways, The Wrath of Khan without the Kirk/Khan back story. In both we have the confrontation of two strong wills, the appearance of a devastating new weapon, the near destruction of the Enterprise, and the sacrifice of a beloved character for the greater good. What's lacking is the intensity of the former film; not even the improvement in visual effects over the last twenty years makes up for the essentially recycled story. Nor is this the only ghost. Some of the others are no doubt intentional, such as Riker's call for "Defensive pattern Kirk-epsilon"). Some further ones are probably accidental, such as Riker's kicking of the Reman viceroy, as the two dangle from a collapsing catwalk, until the latter falls screaming to his death many levels below, a scene reminiscent both of Kirk's death in Generations and, more noticeably, of the end of the Kirk/Kruge fight in The Search For Spock. Still others are simply strange; a surprising number of cues from earlier Jerry Goldsmith scores appear here, some in quite bizarre places (the music linked to The Final Frontier heard during the wedding scene at the beginning, for example) and others for no apparent reason at all (the references to Alexander Courage's fanfare from the original series). Not all the ghosts are behaving in understandable ways, it would seem.
Nemesis is an enjoyable film, but it lacks both depth and consistent pacing. Director Stuart Baird and screenwriter John Logan seem at times unsure of themselves or their own intentions. Too often action scenes stumble toward their conclusion without the necessary sense of rising tension, and there are some such which appear simply gratuitous (the battle between the Enterprise ATV and those of the inhabitants of the planet on which B-4 is found, for example, which is neither especially well-filmed nor significant to the plot in any way at all; it would have been more sensible, and more germane to later plot developments, for B-4 to have been found drifting in space near the Romulan Neutral Zone). A film such as this requires extremely strong character work if we are to care about its outcome, and that development is, sadly, all too lacking. One of the central problems, in fact, is that these characters could be replaced by ones previously unheard-of and no one would notice that this was meant to be a Trek film, as opposed to a fairly conventional sci-fi action programmer. Much was cut before release, apparently including a fair portion of character work, so it may be that the 'Director's Edition' DVD will in fact be an improvement overall, despite the inevitable loss of impact suffered by the superb visuals-- but a theatrical release must stand or fall by what is in fact on the screen, not what we hope to see later. By that measure, Nemesis cannot be considered a major addition to the Trek film canon, enjoyable though it is.
Last edited by Adge - April 2018