Star Trek: Nemesis review

In the Star Trek universe, there is an unspoken belief among devoted fans that the even numbered films are infinitely better than the odd. Star Trek: Nemesis, the tenth intergalactic adventure for Starfleet command, is the glaring exception to the rule.

Touted as the final mission for Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his loyal crew, the film is an unsatisfying mish mash of action set-pieces and political double-dealing that boldly goes where the other films have gone many times before.

As Nemesis opens, political upheaval has thrown the Romulan government into disarray. A new Praetor called Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who hails from the sister planet of Remus, has staged a daring coup in the hope of forging a delicate peace treaty between Romulus and the Federation. The USS Enterprise-E is the closet vessel to the Neutral Zone so Picard and co are despatched as Federation envoys to broker a deal with Shinzon.

Upon arrival, Picard is shocked to discover that the new Praetor is a human clone of himself, bio-engineered by the Romulans as a weapon against the Federation. When, the Romulans abandoned their plan to substitute the captain with a doppelganger, they abandoned Shinzon in the dilithium mines of Remus where he joined forces with the Viceroy (Ron Perlman) to bring down his creators.

Suspicion and curiosity threaten to destroy the fragile alliance between the Federation and the Romulans. Picard wants to believe that Shinzon desires a lasting peace, but the new ruler possesses immeasurable military might, and the proposed treaty could be a cunning ruse to annihilate mankind. With so much at stake, the captain takes the biggest gamble of his career, aware that his actions could dictate the future of Earth, or bring about the planet's destruction.

Star Trek: Nemesis tries in vain to strike a balance between pleasing the hardcore fans and entertaining the multiplex masses unfamiliar with the franchise. Unfortunately, the film doesn't really satisfy either audience, stuttering awkwardly through a flimsy plot (that feels suspiciously like a cast-off from the TV series) and a couple of unspectacular action set-pieces: a chase on buggies through the desert and myriad skirmishes between the Enterprise and enemy craft.

The screenplay tips its hand far too early and dramatic momentum almost evaporates entirely in the middle third when Shinzon inexplicably refuses to take advantage of the Federation's stupidity until it is too late.

Special effects are workmanlike throughout and there's still an air of polystyrene about the sets. The ensemble cast have no need to stretch themselves - they know these characters intimately already and Nemesis is hardly a spiritual journey for any of the crew. Stewart is steadfast as the wizened captain and Frakes and Sirtis finally get to sink their teeth into a romantic sub-plot as the recently wed lovers.

If the Star Trek franchise is to survive up against the myriad other blockbusters, the producers are going to have to take the characters and audiences on an emotional journey, possibly outside the realms of a normal adventure. And money and time need to be spent adding pizzazz and pyrotechnics to the action set-pieces. Otherwise, Starfleet command will have reached the final frontier.