It's a shame that "Star Trek" is having a tough time surviving in a market that's glutted with bigger budget, "sexier" stuff like The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter...
Compared to those blockbusters, Nemesis appears almost quaint, with its heavy reliance on computer graphics that were state of the art - several years ago. Paramount simply isn't investing enough money in these films to keep them looking up-to-date, which is a shame, because Star Trek still has plenty of relevant things to say.
Or does it? You could look at Nemesis as a triumphant return to form, filled with all the action and humanism we've come to expect from these films, or you could look at it as a clumsy rehash of plot elements from "The Wrath of Khan" (revenge! space fight! dramatic death!) and "The Undiscovered Country" (peace with our moral enemies!). I have trouble deciding if this movie is good enough to justify continuing the franchise; I've got nostalgic feelings for the Next Gen crew, even though I prefer the originals, and maybe those feelings are acting in the same capacity as beer goggles.
So what works? Stewart, Frakes, Spiner. The battle is fun. Some of the "deep" questions raised about identity, cloning, and nature vs. nurture got me thinking (although, in the end, they were largely irrelevant - the whole thing devolves into a fight!). What doesn't work? Stilted dialogue. Techno-babble. Boring sets (particularly for the Enterprise). Trying to pass off California filmed through a filter as an alien planet.
Final verdict? First, Star Trek needs a rest. Then, it needs more money. That's what happened to Doctor Who in the last decade, and Godzilla and James Bond went through similar trials in the 1980s. It's bound to happen to any long-running franchise. When it comes back, it does need to be better than Nemesis, not because Nemesis is terrible, but because it's a bit tired. New creative blood revitalized the original crew's films - Nicholas Meyer and Harve Bennet, who knew nothing of Star Trek, managed to give the series the jolt it needed to remain popular for a decade. Another dose of outsiders, with outside perspectives, will be needed to get Star Trek up and running again, sometime in the future...
Compared to those blockbusters, Nemesis appears almost quaint, with its heavy reliance on computer graphics that were state of the art - several years ago. Paramount simply isn't investing enough money in these films to keep them looking up-to-date, which is a shame, because Star Trek still has plenty of relevant things to say.
Or does it? You could look at Nemesis as a triumphant return to form, filled with all the action and humanism we've come to expect from these films, or you could look at it as a clumsy rehash of plot elements from "The Wrath of Khan" (revenge! space fight! dramatic death!) and "The Undiscovered Country" (peace with our moral enemies!). I have trouble deciding if this movie is good enough to justify continuing the franchise; I've got nostalgic feelings for the Next Gen crew, even though I prefer the originals, and maybe those feelings are acting in the same capacity as beer goggles.
So what works? Stewart, Frakes, Spiner. The battle is fun. Some of the "deep" questions raised about identity, cloning, and nature vs. nurture got me thinking (although, in the end, they were largely irrelevant - the whole thing devolves into a fight!). What doesn't work? Stilted dialogue. Techno-babble. Boring sets (particularly for the Enterprise). Trying to pass off California filmed through a filter as an alien planet.
Final verdict? First, Star Trek needs a rest. Then, it needs more money. That's what happened to Doctor Who in the last decade, and Godzilla and James Bond went through similar trials in the 1980s. It's bound to happen to any long-running franchise. When it comes back, it does need to be better than Nemesis, not because Nemesis is terrible, but because it's a bit tired. New creative blood revitalized the original crew's films - Nicholas Meyer and Harve Bennet, who knew nothing of Star Trek, managed to give the series the jolt it needed to remain popular for a decade. Another dose of outsiders, with outside perspectives, will be needed to get Star Trek up and running again, sometime in the future...