Review

This film was not at all timed correctly. But with the Dominion war over and the Borg Collective all but rendered impotent, the only major villain the writers had left was the Romulan Empire. In this respect, the right political players were picked. But the story of Shinzon vs. Picard was a poor choice, even if well executed. A better film would have shown us real progress between the Federation and the Romulan Empire instead of this comparative filler. Granted, it looks as though relations between the Federation and the Romulan Empire will improve after this film, but instead of showing us the likely progress, we're shown a lot of unnecessary fighting instead. And let's not forget that whole Argo scene. That's about as unnecessary as it gets, Prime Directive violation and all! Additionally, a better film would have been a film which did more to address the finales of DS9 and Voyager. I would have liked to have seen DS9 again as a cameo in this film. I would have liked to have known more about what happened to Sisko. I would have liked a current status report on the Dominion. I would have liked a current status report on the Borg Collective. And perhaps most importantly, I would have liked to have known exactly what happened to all that technology Janeway brought to the Federation from the future. Star Trek X: Nemesis features no use of the futuristic armor or transphasic torpedoes. I wonder if Janeway classified it all as soon as she became an admiral. ;) Due to all of these important omissions, I have to subtract points from the film. All of that being said, Star Trek X: Nemesis is really a solid film. It was every bit the action sequel to Star Trek VIII: First Contact the fans wanted. This film featured the longest starship battle sequence in history. It's about time we got to see the Enterprise E flex its muscles! The battle may not have the numbers DS9 had, but it is easily the most impressive one ever done. I'm getting the impression that Star Trek X: Nemesis was intended to wrap up TNG the same way Voy: Endgame was intended to wrap up Voyager and DS9: What You Leave Behind was intended to wrap up DS9. With Data dead, B4 being shown as unlikely to pull a Spock style Data resurrection (or at least, I hope not), and Riker and Troi leaving the Enterprise, it's just all too clear that this is the final TNG production. Besides, it's been hinted numerous times behind the scenes that this is the final TNG film. As a finale, Star Trek X: Nemesis is adequate in some ways, inadequate in others. I've already complained about the lack of closure we've seen with the other shows, an opportunity wasted here. But I'm reasonably pleased with the closure that Star Trek X: Nemesis offers TNG. Data's death was extremely touching. The wedding scene was fantastic. It's kind of annoying that we don't get to see Riker's new ship, but that's definitely not a show stopper. I may not have liked Star Trek X: Nemesis as much as DS9's finale, the last three TNG films, or TNG's TV finale but I liked it better than Voy: Endgame and I thought it was a fitting conclusion to the series. Just like the last four TNG productions, this one is open ended. Captain Picard will never retire as captain. No promotions. No stopping. He'll keep on exploring long past the end of the series until he dies of old age, because he's just as stubborn and stuffy as he was in TNG: Encounter At Farpoint. That's what makes him such a great captain.