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True Nemesis: Trekkie cliches


LONDON — Okay, so I admit it, I’m biased. I’m a trekkie, through and through.
So that means that I’m automatically going to give Star Trek: Nemesis a good review … right?
Well, actually, not really.
Sure, it has the ever-brilliant Patrick Stewart manning the helm, but surely all of these actors are way past their sell-by date, at least when it comes to Star Trek.
I have to say this film has several good points, because it’s true.
But the one thing which makes this film so different from all of the other Star Trek films is that this one has no story.
Sure you have the great veteran actors, the human element and the as-ever outstanding FX, but where’s the plot gone?
In this film, there is a beginning, a middle and an end, but not much happens in between. Where’s the traditional Star Trek subtext we all know and love?
The script is mediocre at best, though it is witty and pulls some new tricks out of the bag. This time around, the largest role is given to the Tin Man with a heart, Data (Brent Spiner).
Of course, he would be the star, considering that Spiner co-wrote the screenplay.
Even if its pitiful excuse for a plot could stand up to scrutiny, there is a problem with the villain.
This film promised a new, exciting villain. Sure, it has the ultra-menacing ‘clone’ but it’s all been done before.
The ‘new’ race of aliens is underdeveloped and unnecessary.
Of course, those of us in the audience who were dedicated fans of all things Trek had heard of the Remans, but surely if this new-out-of-old race of aliens was going to be the ‘big bad,’ we should have been given something, anything, which could have given us a clue as to how everything worked together.
I say Bring back the Borg!
The several climactic moments which this film produces are all thinly disguised copies of what has gone before — the crash, done in both Insurrection and an episode of Voyager, the ‘other android’ in seasons three and four of The Next Generation and Data and Picard … saving the world together… um… too many times to count.
But, after all, this is a Star Trek film, home to the clichés and annoyingly unrealistic dialogue that we’ve come to know and love after watching a few hundred episodes. (Trust me, it does happen.)
It wouldn’t be fair to say that this film is all or even mostly bad. It’s not. Really.
After all, it does hold the attention for pretty much the entire time.
Just because the villains are nowhere near as menacing as we expected, and everything has been done before, Nemesis still packs in the requisite number of punches needed to keep the audiences coming in.
So, now that I’ve seen this long-awaited film, I must say that it is better than a lot of the stuff which claims to be Sci Fi these days, but that’s not hard, is it?
My (almost) final word on the matter is to see it, whether you are a Star Trek fan or not, but don’t be surprised if it disappoints a bit or if it confuses you.
Finally, I’m off to write a very serious letter to Paramount entitled ‘What have you done to the best character!!! You can’t do this to me!!!’

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