Ardsgaine
Active Member
**SPOILERS** You've been warned. **SPOILERS**
Jan and I finally went to see Star Trek: Nemesis tonight. I wasn't happy with it, and here's why...
It's my opinion that ST:TNG produced some of the best shows that have ever been on television, in particular, "I, Borg" and "The Perfect Mate." What I saw tonight, though, barely came up to the least of the TV episodes. The mood of the movie was dark. Details of the plot lacked continuity with the series. Worst of all, for dramatic tension it relied on a notion of genetic determinism that was counter to the ideals of the series and which it didn't really believe anyway.
There was no sense in which Shinzon was the same person as Picard. His genetic make up could not have given him any insight into Picard's character or feelings, as the movie tried to suggest. The previews had claimed that we would see a threat from the past, but it wasn't a threat that any of us recognized. It had no history in the series. It was a spurious invention. It relied completely on the idea that genetics plays some role in determining our character. Yet, this was contradicted by points made in the movie about the role of environment, and most of all, the role of choice, the moral ambition implicit in striving to be a better person.
Once those points are made, the idea of a genetic connection between Picard and Shinzon becomes ridiculous. It could have been pulled off, though, if more had been made of Shinzon's obsession with his status as a clone, or as he put it, as an echo or shadow of the original. He had a massive inferiority complex, and a lot could have been done with that if they hadn't given some credence to the genetic connection by having Picard take it seriously. Had Shinzon been the only one obsessed with genetics, it would have been put in its proper place. Instead, what we got was a complete muddle.
Another problem with the movie was the way it dissipated its energy in irrelevant subplots. The marriage between Riker and Troi was pulled out of a hat, as that relationship had already died in the series.
The interest that Shinzon shows in Troi, and the subsequent telepathic contact between her and the Reman viceroy were also spuriously thrown in just to allow Troi to play some part in the final battle.
During that battle the participants spent a lot of time looking stunned at newly unfolding events rather than reacting to them in what one would consider a timely fashion for people trained to fight.
Then there's the discovery of B-4, which allows them to kill off Data without putting Brent Spiner out of work. Data's death would have been a lot more dramatic and moving if it hadn't been such an obvious stunt. "Data's dead, but not really. We downloaded his memory into B-4." *Wink. Wink.*
Anyway, I don't know if we can ever expect anything better from the Star Trek crew. They're getting old, and, with the exception of Patrick Stewart, they seem to be phoning in their performances. I don't think they really believe in the show anymore, and they don't have writers or a director capable of giving them good material to work with. Personally, I would rather not have to see the next installment in the decline of a once great show.
Jan and I finally went to see Star Trek: Nemesis tonight. I wasn't happy with it, and here's why...
It's my opinion that ST:TNG produced some of the best shows that have ever been on television, in particular, "I, Borg" and "The Perfect Mate." What I saw tonight, though, barely came up to the least of the TV episodes. The mood of the movie was dark. Details of the plot lacked continuity with the series. Worst of all, for dramatic tension it relied on a notion of genetic determinism that was counter to the ideals of the series and which it didn't really believe anyway.
There was no sense in which Shinzon was the same person as Picard. His genetic make up could not have given him any insight into Picard's character or feelings, as the movie tried to suggest. The previews had claimed that we would see a threat from the past, but it wasn't a threat that any of us recognized. It had no history in the series. It was a spurious invention. It relied completely on the idea that genetics plays some role in determining our character. Yet, this was contradicted by points made in the movie about the role of environment, and most of all, the role of choice, the moral ambition implicit in striving to be a better person.
Once those points are made, the idea of a genetic connection between Picard and Shinzon becomes ridiculous. It could have been pulled off, though, if more had been made of Shinzon's obsession with his status as a clone, or as he put it, as an echo or shadow of the original. He had a massive inferiority complex, and a lot could have been done with that if they hadn't given some credence to the genetic connection by having Picard take it seriously. Had Shinzon been the only one obsessed with genetics, it would have been put in its proper place. Instead, what we got was a complete muddle.
Another problem with the movie was the way it dissipated its energy in irrelevant subplots. The marriage between Riker and Troi was pulled out of a hat, as that relationship had already died in the series.
The interest that Shinzon shows in Troi, and the subsequent telepathic contact between her and the Reman viceroy were also spuriously thrown in just to allow Troi to play some part in the final battle.
During that battle the participants spent a lot of time looking stunned at newly unfolding events rather than reacting to them in what one would consider a timely fashion for people trained to fight.
Then there's the discovery of B-4, which allows them to kill off Data without putting Brent Spiner out of work. Data's death would have been a lot more dramatic and moving if it hadn't been such an obvious stunt. "Data's dead, but not really. We downloaded his memory into B-4." *Wink. Wink.*
Anyway, I don't know if we can ever expect anything better from the Star Trek crew. They're getting old, and, with the exception of Patrick Stewart, they seem to be phoning in their performances. I don't think they really believe in the show anymore, and they don't have writers or a director capable of giving them good material to work with. Personally, I would rather not have to see the next installment in the decline of a once great show.
