For those of you who haven't seen the movie yet, I strongly recommend it. It is a wonderful tale. It has a great plot and theme. The theme is what you are now versus what you could have become. A very strong premise, indeed. Special effects is an understatement. They were more than special; they were spectacular. The acting was wonderful, and it was just so cool to see the crew together again. The ending is... surprising to say the least. If you're the kind who easily gets weepy at a movie, be sure to bring some tissues. And the music is wonderful. So much so that I now have the soundtrack. There's action, adventure, drama, humor, sadness, and hope. Overall, it was wonderful. Even if you haven't seen a single Star Trek episode, I think you'll be able to follow and enjoy this movie. Just know that the Romulans are bad guys. Heh. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for! Go!For those of you who have seen the movie, the following is my full review. WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
I arrived at the theater with my little sister, and the first thing I noticed was that someone (I think it would be safe to say that it was some people from the staff of the theater) had drawn very bad pictures on the big glass windows and doors of the entrance. There were huge letters that spelled out "Star Trek" and a huge drawing of the Enterprise from the original Trek. There were also stick figures of the whole Next Generation crew. Thankfully, their names were written next to them so that we could tell them apart. The only ones you could really figure out who they were without using their names were Geordi (because he was wearing a VISOR) and Picard (because his head was shining like a light bulb). Of course, they spelled "Geordi" like "Jordy", "Troi" like "Troy", and "Riker" like "Ryker" and all of the 'e's were backwards. There was another group of ugly-looking people and the words "bad guys" with an arrow pointing at them. Another group of ugly-looking people had the caption "more bad guys." There was a Romulan symbol (the bird with the two planets in its talons), but the bird was just the cutest little bird you could ever see. It was smiling! And there was another drawing of the original Enterprise. It was smiling as well.This had my sister and I laughing before we even entered the theater. When we finally composed ourselves, we walked through the doors only to crack up once again. The wall above the concession stand was littered with print out pictures from the original Star Trek, The Next Generation, some of the Trek movies, and, of course, Nemesis. In the middle of all of the pictures, there was a big cardboard cutout of the original Enterprise. There were bright, neon pink, green and yellow strings attached to it that crisscrossed above our heads. The pink ones led to the back of the room and were attached to a wall that held lots and lots of Nemesis posters. The strings (apparently phasers) were "shooting" one of the posters right where Shinzon was. The green strings came from the wall to my left... they were attached to a cardboard Borg cube. The yellow ones were coming from a Klingon ship on the wall to my right. My sister was looking up at all of the strings and she pointed out to me that there was a Data action figure tied to the one that was blowing up Shinzon. I learned later that it was symbolic of what happened in the movie.
My sister and I handed our tickets to the person who checks your tickets, (do they have a proper name?) and headed off toward the theater. We sat through the previews, and then the lights went out and the movie started. And now... I guess my review will start, too.
From the moment the titles appeared on the screen to the moment the credits rolled, I absolutely loved this movie. I got chills as soon as the music started. (The movie has a beautiful score, by the way. It is wonderful music.) I thought it was clever when the second 'r' in "Star Trek" and the second 'e' in "Nemesis" were backwards. Even then, in the opening titles, the theme of the movie was being emphasized. I think the theme was something about what you are/what you've become versus what you could have been. When Picard looks at Shinzon, he sees a mirror image... the same with Data and B-4. And the mirror images of the letters was just an interesting technique.
Despite what people say, I think it was a pretty good plot; the whole premise being that there are so many different people that you might become, but you can only become one of those people. Everything you do, all of the events of your life, shape you into the person you are. And, what would happen if you met one of the people you could have been? If suddenly you came face to face with yourself, but it isn't quite yourself? I don't know, maybe I'm just too analytical. But I loved the plot. As I already mentioned, I loved the music. The special effects were more than special... they were spectacular! (I was grasping my arm rests when the Enterprise rammed into the Scimitar.) The ending was... for lack of a better word... perfect. Data's noble sacrifice had me in tears. What better way to die is there than saving one's friends, ship, and, quite possibly, the galaxy? I saw it coming. As soon as he ran out of the ship, I knew what would happen. I spent the whole time just thinking... "Oh no, Data! NO!" (He's my favorite character in all of Trek.) But I couldn't have thought of a better way to have ended the movie. Riker finally gets his own command, there is a possibility of peace with the Romulans and the Federation after years and years of conflict, and, of course, B-4's little song. (Mind you, even though B-4 has all of Data's memories and such... he could never actually be Data...) And, if nothing else, it was great to see the crew together again.
There were just two things that bothered me enough to mention them here, and one of them doesn't even have to do with the movie. I think that there were too many scenes of fighting between the Enterprise and the Scimitar. I think that if they cut back just a little on that, they could have added some of the continuity stuff that everyone is complaining about. But then, who knows? Maybe the battle wouldn't have been as exciting if they had cut back on some of it. I'm not one to judge. The other thing was that at the most tense, emotional, saddest, most surprising part of the movie... after Data blows up the Scimitar and saves the Enterprise and it's all quiet... just the Enterprise floating silently in space and the audience is just sorta' staring at the place where the Scimitar used to be. And everything is absolutely quiet... SOME GUY'S CELL PHONE WENT OFF! In the middle of this... "wow" kind of feeling... some "do do do do do do do da da da!" song starts playing! This guy was sitting just a few seats down from me, and I felt like smacking him. If I wasn't such a nice (and shy) person I probably would have told him a few things after the movie ended. I would have said something like, "What were you thinking bringing your cell phone to a MOVIE!? You don't need a phone at a MOVIE! What are you going to do when someone calls, huh? TALK TO THEM? IN THE MIDDLE OF A MOVIE!? Or if you ABSOLUTELY can't LIVE without your CELL PHONE, then put it on SILENT setting and don't RUIN the experience for the REST of us who are SMART ENOUGH NOT to bring a CELL PHONE to a MOVIE THEATER!" Some people are really stupid... ya' know? Oh, and it's not like he forgot to turn it off or anything. Right when the previews started, his cell phone started ringing. That should have been enough reminder for him to turn it off. AI!
But, other than the cell phone thing, I could not have asked for a better experience, or a better movie.
