Star Trek: Nemesis (Widescreen) (US)

Having just bought the DVD and viewed it for the second time (first being the cinema release) I find that my reaction to this film is more divided than for any other Star Trek movie or, come to that, any of the various series.

As a long-time fan of all the TV shows and the previous nine movies Nemesis proved to be disappointing to me in quite large chunks but enjoyable in others - a real curates egg. I do not really want to be overly critical as it is clear that a lot of effort,and presumably dollars, went into this and it is a good bit of sci-fi if you are not particularly familiar with the Star Trek universe. But, of course, there`s the rub - as in many respects this movie promised a lot to those of us who are long-time fans but fails to deliver as most of the usual cast get very little to do. First Contact was quite different in this respect as pretty much all the cast had a fair crack of the whip (even the entertaining Reg Barclay character). I had great anticipation to see Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan again and, yes, even Wil Wheaton`s Wesley Crusher who I have always had a soft spot for. In the event we see them so fleetingly and without a word said that I started the movie off in a state of mild disgust which grew stronger as the utterly lame and unconvincing `baddie` made his appearance.

In one of the extras they talk about how successful they have been in creating a foe who is vulnerable yet `snake-like` and `sinister` but I found him to be almost completely unconvincing and weedy and, indeed, would have preferred Ron Perlman`s cheesy character of the viceroy as the chief baddie.

Patrick Stewart is utterly superb throughout and, whilst I do not mean this a criticism of the other regular crew who basically have nothing to work with, he carries the entire movie on his shoulders.

Minor irritations are, for example, why does no one mention Lore (my screen namesake) at all? One would assume that a Data type android would be Lore before B4! Why does all of B4`s various body parts emit positronic energy instead of just his brain and how can they detect this anyway. I realise this is just technobabble but there is a clearly defined fictional history for technical stuff in Star Trek and it should be adhered to or risk ridicule from the fan base which is what keeps the franchise going year after year.

I have to say that I did like the ending and all of the deleted scenes which should have been kept in. The trouble is that they tend to delete all of those scenes that they think are going to slow down the action for the general public but in doing so they remove a lot of classic Star Trek moments.

Nemesis sags badly in the middle and I actually found myself nodding off at one point which is tantamount to sacrilege for soemone like me, so be warned.

I do hope that this is not the final Next Gen. movie as there is an opening at the end for a sequel and I hope they let Jonathon Frakes direct once more as Stuart Baird has made a pig`s breakfast of what could have been a superb swansong.

Frankly I have recently been more entertained by watching a new episode of Stargate SG1 from which you can infer that I think a lot of money has been wasted on this movie. This was supposed to be a big exciting battle in space type of adventure but the whole look of the thing is so dark and dreary and the crew so glum-faced that it makes me depressed even thinking about it. It tanked at the box office because it deserved to but I suspect that it will do well on DVD because mugs like me will want to see it again just to see if their original disappointment is repeated. Sadly, it is despite the extras, in which you get to see more of the cast than in the movie itself!

Sorry if I seem a little disjointed (like B4) but I am probably more annoyed with Nemesis than Star Wars II.

Cheers.

Lore