Star Trek: Nemesis
The latest incarnation of the Star Trek franchise, and the last time around the block for the Next Generation crew, provides us with big bangs and an intergalactic plot that fails to stir the blood. As the writers seek to bridge the gap between the majesty of a space opera that encompasses the fate of entire solar systems, with the actions of two men, the backdrop is insufficiently entrancing to overshadow the weaknesses in the foreground.
Jean-Luc Picard has a Nemesis. A twin with issues. This is not too bad a premise to start the movie with, and it works it's way higher in your expectations when you see the opening sequence in which a coup-d'état overthrows the Romulan leadership, but we are left in the dark as to the deeper motivations behind the power transfer.
It's a promising start. Interplanetary politics in turmoil, a secretly supported political takeover in a hostile state, a seemingly cunningly-conceived plan to obtain inside information on the federation's forces. Our expectations are raised high in the first few moments of the movie (apart from the usual scenes with Data embarassing himself that are simply superfluous). Unfortunately, having promised so much, this film delivers little.
What starts out as a grandiose story of majestic proportions quickly loses courage and boils down to a battle of characters between two men. This would be all right if we didn't expect events operating at a higher level. The entire Starfleet military capacity is cut out of the movie with a poorly contrived plot point, and the whole story, despite the backdrop of a risk to the existence of all mankind, is really about two characters in a battle of wills, with some interesting psychological overtones. However, if you want to do the "two-men-of-incredible-ability-in-a-battle-of-wills" storyline, you have to be aware that you're competing with John Woo's Face/Off, to mention but one of a plethora of movies superior to Nemesis.
The performances of the characters themselves (at least those we are used to) are perfect. You can tell that these actors wear the characters like second skins, as well they might after hundreds of hours of distributed episodes and heaven only knows how many movies. This is the film's great strength - the characters could have sleepwalked their parts and nevertheless seemed convincing. Unfortunately, the antagonists don't benefit from the same depth of character and long-term development, so a story is created that can suitably expose the new antagonists in a 2-hour movie. This makes them seem shallow in comparison to the protagonists. Star Trek always defined its main Federation characters as individuals we come to know, but the enemy is always a state, or a force, or a technology, and therefore lacks an screen presence - there simply isn't a cast of bad guys to draw from.
Star Trek: Nemesis doesn't fail to disappoint in the sense that it provides everything a Star Trek movie needs to in order to remain true to the franchise. There's a couple of things that let it down in the grander scheme of things though.
- First of all, we feel insufficiently attached to those characters that suffer in order to feel for them. Their emotional involvement in the movie is almost non-existent. When Deanna Troy gets violated in a way that could have been made to seem absolutely awful, all we register is a plot point that we know will come back later. The losses experienced by the crew of the Enterprise are not felt on anything remotely resembling an emotional level, and so when we see the characters responding emotionally, it clashes with our own feelings.
- Second, there is a mismatch between the scale of the movie and the impact of the protagonists that damages the integrity of the plotline. We see an underdog rise from Remus to become ruler of Romulus, and he does so with the help of Romulans. He also holds members of the army under his thumb through their fear of him. But we never really understand why. I think we're expected to believe his ship is the reason, but that's pretty weak: using a warship to tie the entire plot together. If that was the plan, a lot more attention should have been paid to characterising the ship itself, and increasing it's image in our minds. Instead, it just looks like a big, badly-designed weapon.
- Once again, everything is easy for the enemy until a sudden insight turns the tables. We know in our deepest hearts that this isn't realistic: when you're outgunned 10 to 1, an insight into your enemy's psyche shouldn't really be able to turn the tables on that. An inability to develop a sequence of events that lead to a victory in any other way results in an attempt at inserting a plot twist that is perilously close to Deus ex Machina.
All in all, it feels a little too pre-fabricated and shrink-wrapped to be a true addition to the shelf of "good movies from 2003". Nevertheless it will provide two hours of good entertainment to those who want to see the next installment, and its shortcomings will no doubt fade as fast as its individuality as a film as it is gradually subsumed into the overall collection of Star Trek material. For the fans, it will be easily assimilated.
Posted by nlvp at June 16, 2003 01:00 AM