Well, I just saw the tenth Star Trek movie, Star Trek Nemesis, and I think I share Ebert’s opinion (pretty funny and worth a read) that it is all getting a bit tiresome. Twice in the movie they blurt out some weird technical gibberish like, “We’ve detected some Flibberty-gibble emissions!” in a serious voice, and then they have the gall to have this big dramatic pause with intense music like we’re supposed to blindly accept that it’s something serious even though God knows we have no clue what they’re talking about because… THEY JUST MADE THOSE WORDS UP! And I’ve always wondered, who’s in charge of the ship when every single high-ranking officer goes on an away mission? Scruffy the janitor? And I couldn’t take people saying with a straight face that the twin planet to Romulus is named Remus; that’s just too cutesy. And they have to get some better weapons than those plastic pieces of crap; I’ve had toys that were scarier looking.
But that’s all standard Star Trek criticisms and shouldn’t turn off anyone who like the series. What is good about the movie is that they finally have a villain wussy enough for Jean-Luc Picard to beat up – a clone of himself. Actually, the villain was the strongest point of the movie, and I couldn’t help but root for him as he was much more interesting than the other characters. Plus, I just couldn’t fathom the motivations of one of the Romulans who ends up helping Picard. Anyhoo, this is supposedly the last Next Generation Star Trek movie, and, to emphasize that point, one major character dies at the end (no, not Whoopi Goldberg). I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more, though, as these movies are always profitable.
In summary, worth an outing for even a mild Star Trek fan (myself included), but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone else. Two and half stars.
BTW, I’ve added Picard to my list of possible replacements for Trent Lott.
I read where Riker and Troi are married in this film. Boy Howdie! To boldly go where no man has gone before! Cmdr. Riker gets his very own Troi toy.
If she were truly an empath she’d be slapping every male member of the crew including Data. She’d probably slap a few of the women, too.
Frank, you sure can tell that you don’t watch a lot of Trek, nor do you have any understanding of it whatsoever. Your review was a waste of my time.
JRF, you sure can tell that you don’t participate in a lot of reality, nor do you have any understanding of it whatsoever. Your existence is a waste of my oxygen.
Augh! The wrath of a trekkie — oops, I mean, trekker — run!
Oh wait — it’s a Star Trek fanboy. Just knock him down and steal his Federation emblem.
I want a new Trek movie! No more Captains, no more First Officers, no more betazeds! I want a whole new Trek Paradigm!
Here’s what I want: I want Star Fleet Marines. I want the people who -aren’t- nice, who don’t speak in technobabble, who solve problems with the business end of a phaser rifle. I want crusty Gunnery Sergeants (who -will- be called ‘Gunny’), who still think the Klingons are a bunch of long-hair wussies, and who smoke. Smoke -constantly-. I want to hear ‘Smoke ’em if you got ’em’, and I want to see more than half of the troops light up. I want to see alien Marines, female Marines, I want to see brutal hand-to-hand combat, I want to hear ‘Boarders away!’ when they transport. I want to have casualties, with blood, and screaming. I want people to die, heroically, and for no good reason. I want to have the writers strapped down and forced to watch ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Blackhawk Down’, ‘We Were Soldiers’, ‘Aliens’, over and over again, while I whisper ‘Trek, Trek’ in their ears. I want the hundreds of deaths we see in Trek movies (go and estimate them, sometime, you’ll be shocked) to -mean- something. I want too see grief and rage and despair, I want to see pride and honor and determination. I want to see bar fights and people in the brig. I want to see innovation and creativity, that don’t involve making up new words on the spur of the moment. I want to see Marines pinned down planetside, and I want to hear them call in orbtial support from their starship – and I want to see that support -delivered-. I want fire from the heavens raining down on the enemies of the Federation. I want to see assault shuttles landing in hot LZs, I want to see dogfights that go from dancing in the treetops up to furballs in space. I want to see zero-g combat, I want to see ships venting sections to space. I want the full, awesome, terrible panoply of war in the Trek universe.
Is this too much to ask?