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Plot Summary
The
Spaceship Enterprise travels on a mission in a neutral zone close to the
Federation’s enemies in Romulan space.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Steward) and his officers land on
a planet and find a prototype twin of the android Data who is an officer
on the Enterprise. After a
narrow escape off the planet Captain Picard gets a call from the
Federation telling him that their enemies, now lead by someone called
Shinzon (Tom Hardy), wants to start peace negotiations.
A wary Picard makes his way to the rendezvous…
Review
There have been several big
movie outings for the crew of the Enterprise over the years.
The TV series Star Trek started in the late 60’s and was hugely
popular in spite of some terrible sets, customs and primitive special
effects. The program managed
to spark the imagination and each new adventure of the Spaceship
Enterprise seemed to offer something weird and wonderful even if the
stories did follow the same formula.
Unfortunately the same formula
is still being used and watching this movie I really did feel that I had
seen it all before. There are
some up-to-date issues about cloning and chemical warfare but the movie
still has that familiar feel about it.
I couldn’t help thinking that Captain Picard was doing exactly
what Captain Kirk (William Shatner) did many years ago.
First there is the battle of wits between the Captain and his evil
foe and then there is the obligatory space battle between the Enterprise
and the ships of his enemy. Underneath
the surface remain the ideas of goodwill to all life forms and the quest
for knowledge. When Captain
Picard is described as a great warrior he said that he prefers to see
himself as a great explorer.
There is a fair bit of humour
thrown in and a few “in-jokes” along the way that work quite well but
for an action Sci-Fi, the movie lacks excitement and suspense.
Perhaps there is too much talking and not enough explosive action
although the battle between a number of space ships towards the end is
quite impressive.
Most of the main cast are
comfortable in their roles as they are more than familiar with their parts
in the TV series!
Tom Hardy plays Shinzon, who
has taken control of the Romulan Senate and makes a good evildoer.
The
Bottom Line: Star Trek
fans will probably love it but I think we have boldly gone where no man
has gone before, too often!!
Reviewed by Niall Quinn,
Premier Movie Review 2003 |