Sitting alone in a theater, I was expecting this to be the big important even-numbered picture it was supposed to be. The Alexander Courage theme started and I was instantly in Trek mode. Then...I was out of it. Then I came back in. By the end, I wasn't sure what to think. It's an empty feeling watching a movie by yourself at a theater. Maybe that contributed to it, but I wasn't really feelin this one at first. Watching it later, it IS a pretty action-packed spectacle, perhaps not worthy of being the movie that killed the franchise (the only real failure at the box office). It wasn't the movie's fault it opened around the time The Two Towers came out...that was Paramount's fault. But it is what it is, and what we have is a movie that kind of feels like a farewell, but an incomplete one. This is no Star Trek VI, but it is no Star Trek V either.
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| I have to admit, this ship is pretty cool. |
What I Liked:
Finally, a movie about the Romulans. Is it okay NOW Patrick (see: Insurrection Review)??? The Reman backstory is interesting, but they needed slightly more motivation I thought. Perhaps a story about crying out to the Federation for help and receiving squat. It would have made the revenge against Earth more interesting. Anyway, The action is the real star of this one, even if the finale felt too close to Wrath of Khan. The effects were good for the budget. Tom Hardy is also fun to watch here, especially now after all he's done since. The dual character study with Picard/Shinzon and Data/B-4 is something you'd expect from a Star Trek story and I'm glad this is given some decent screen time.
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| A decent "green" movie. |
What I Didn't Like:
Stuart Baird. Oh sure, he can put together a lean, mean action picture, but it needed more soul. In fact, I found the soul...it's in the deleted scenes. All scenes about Crusher going to Starfleet Medical, gone from the final cut. Discussions about the family breaking up, gone. Cleaning out Data's quarters and finding his emotion chip (!), gone. Seriously Baird, if there was one scene you should have deleted, or cut a lot more, it was the scene between Beverly and Picard in his ready room. Nothing about it made sense. This is the moment where all continuity got thrown out the window just to show how similar Picard looked to Shinzon. First off, there's Picard's academy picture, which smacks against all flashbacks we've had of him in the past (he used to have hair in TNG flashbacks). Then there's the conversation. "Remember him?" asks Picard to Crusher. Of course she doesn't, she never knew you at the academy! Berman, are you asleep at the wheel? B-4 is kind of stupid, but I don't mind the idea. What I do mind is no mention of Lore, Sela, or (to a lesser extent) Commander Tomalak. I get it, all the newbies will be sooo confused, blah blah blah. The thing is, making Sela the mastermind of the operation would actually help the credibility of this plot! Who else would know that Picard would be a big deal when the plan was first hatched twelve years ago? Ugh. Also, is it me, or did the actors seem a bit tired? They don't look quite as spry as they did four years ago for Insurrection. Maybe they need to go back to the Ba'ku planet for a recharge. Because of the low energy from everyone, it all feels too little, too late; the wedding, the Romulan story, everything. But, there were moments when I was able to forget all this and enjoy the movie for what it was: a slick (sort of) action pic and not much more.
Also: Viewscreens shouldn't know know how to dramatically zoom in on someone.
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| Don't get between Worf and the Buffet line. |
You hate to see the crew you love go out like this. It only feels like the beginning of the end and not a proper farewell. I hoped for more. John Logan's original script apparently called for a much bigger finale, but those budget restrictions always get in the way...that is, until 2009. Unfortunately, the franchise needed to die for a while before it could get the respect it deserved. How do you do that? You release it against The Two Towers. Fracking brilliant.
Starbase out.
Yeah pretty much similar thoughts. I can't find anything that's REALLY bad with this movie, but other than the space battle it's kind of forgettable. And while the space battle is good (I stick in the player sometimes and that's the only part I watch) it had some bad timing with Two Towers and I believe Attack of the Clones the same year, which both felt infinitely more epic than a battle which really have been more than a few ships. Get with the times, Paramount! Ya gotta spend to entertain!(in fantasy/sci-fi action) I do remember the shot composition was kind of boring. And we don't need more Datas, even if I like the scene where he shuts him down. And I know what you mean about the actors. Marina Sirtis took an age hit, even her careful "glamour lighting" couldn't hide it.
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