(2002) 2.5 Karl Williams Using as a story template Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) -- the most popular and critically acclaimed entry in the long-running Star Trek franchise -- the tenth film in the sci-fi saga from Paramount Pictures is an entertaining, tightly paced action epic that doesn't quite live up to the high-water mark it's aping. Director Stuart Baird performs admirably given the budgetary constraints imposed by his corporate masters: the effects are fine, the sets and costumes suitably eye-pleasing, and a few performances are quite memorable, particularly guest star Tom Hardy as a scenery-chewing villain in the best Ming the Merciless/Khan Noonian Singh tradition. As usual, audiences are also treated to generous helpings of the genuinely funny, touching pas de deux that is Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard and Brent Spiner's Data, the yin-yang relationship that is at the heart of this enterprise, literally and figuratively. However, the real problem with all of the Next Generation stories remains the same. This particular incarnation is too top-heavy with characters and their respective plot lines, all shoehorned in to keep their respective costume-wearing fans satisfied. The original Trek wisely kept such day players as Chekhov, Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty mostly in the background, focusing primarily on the Freudian trio of McCoy, Spock and Kirk (has it ever been more obvious that three characters represented Id, Superego and Ego?). Here, every supporting player gets his or her moment in the sun, whether it's a couple of sarcastic quips (Worf) or an entire, energy-sapping subplot (Riker and Troi). Thus hobbled, even devoted fan and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Logan is forced to glance away too often from his main storyline, a credibility-straining but satisfyingly exuberant attempt to create protagonists as fiendishly clever and personal as the series' finest bad guys, the Borg. What works in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) works quite well, and that could cause the studio to remain understandably reluctant to tamper with success. But while recycling may be good for the bottom line, it doesn't yield blockbusters. Discovery is only ever the result of experimentation and exploration, of pushing boundaries and trying something new, of literally going where no one has gone before. What could be more appropriate for Star Trek than that?

cast-crew for Star Trek: Nemesis on AllMovie

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

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Star Trek: Nemesis

editor rating

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mpaa rating

flags

Mild Violence

genres

Science Fiction

sub-genres

Sci-Fi Action

category

Feature

directed by

Stuart Baird

countries

USA

release date

December 13, 2002 (USA)

run time

117 min.

produced by

Rick Berman

released by

Paramount

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cast

Patrick Stewart: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Brent Spiner: Data/B4

LeVar Burton: Geordi LaForge

Jonathan Frakes: William Thomas Riker

Jude Ciccolella: Commander Suran

Shannon Cochran: Senator Tal'aura

Alan Dale: Praetor Hiran

Robertson Dean: Reman Officer

Michael Dorn: Worf

Tom Hardy: Shinzon

J. Patrick McCormack: Commander

Gates McFadden: Beverly Crusher

Dina Meyer: Romulan Commander Donatra

Kate Mulgrew: Kathryn Janeway

Michael Owen: Helm Officer Branson

Ron Perlman: Romulan Viceroy

David Ralphe: Commander

Marina Sirtis: Deanna Troi

John Berg: Senator

Majel Barrett: Computer

Steven Culp: Commander Madden

Whoopi Goldberg: Guinan

crew

Stuart Baird: Director
Rick Berman: Producer, Screenwriter, Screen Story
Brent Spiner: Screen Story, Screenwriter
John Logan: Screen Story, Screenwriter
Jeffrey Kimball: Cinematographer
Jerry Goldsmith: Composer (Music Score)
Dallas Puett: Editor
Herman Zimmerman: Production Designer
Cherie Baker: Art Director
Don Woodruff: Art Director
Peter Lauritson: Co-producer
Marty Hornstein: Executive Producer
John M. Dwyer: Set Designer
Ronald R. Reiss: Set Designer
Bob Ringwood: Costume Designer
Junie Lowry-Johnson: Costume Designer
Robert Blackman: Costume Designer
Harry Cohen: Sound/Sound Designer
Jim Wolvington: Sound/Sound Designer
Thomas D. Causey: Sound/Sound Designer
Digital Domain: Special Effects
R.J. Hohman: Special Effects
David Sardi: First Assistant Director
Amanda Mackey-Johnson: Casting
Cathy Sandrich Gelfond: Casting
Alan Robert Murray: Supervising Sound Editor
Bub Asman: Supervising Sound Editor
Doug Coleman: Stunts Coordinator, Second Unit Director
Flemming Olsen: Additional Cinematography
Mark O. Forker: Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Westmore: Makeup Supervisor, Makeup