Star Trek X: Nemesis

2002 • 116 minutes

About this movie

In the wake of a joyful wedding between Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis), Picard receives another reason to celebrate: the Romulans want peace and the captain will be the Federation's emissary. But as the EnterpriseTM heads toward the Romulan Empire, a brilliant villain awaits - harboring a diabolical plan of destruction and an unimaginable secret that will give Picard his most fearsome challenge.

Ratings and reviews

🤦‍♂️ One scene describes the problems in this film: the rape scene. WHY? It was absolutely disgusting, the actual film is ok, it's got a silly plot and suffers the same things that Insurrection did, it feels just like a long TNG episode, the send off to Data is good but other then that, not a great ending to TNG cast and films, and not a great ending to the original Trek films

Nemesis has aged well, but there's no depth in this Next Generation finale that goes for a dark tone incompatible with all that had gone before. Many memorable scenes damped down by the abbreviated plot and its flaws (Data's twin obviously was a potential way for the character to return if the movie had been a blockbuster...but that kills the effect of Data's sacrifice; Data's loss deserves more than the toast to absent friends, but no one cares; Riker's farewell to Picard is lifeless after all they've been through together... etc.). The Remans now seem like a great idea, with Klingons in rubber masks on the bizarre Discovery series. Tom Hardy is great as Shinzon, but the name is terrible and the character and his Reman cronies are just tools to make the film feel bleaker. Stewart and Hardy never bond, and that works as long as the whole story isn't taken into account. You might not be able to reach the battered soul of your embittered and vengeful clone. The writers were onto something there. Picard the diplomat is laughed away by his militant clone. Data's sacrifice scene is moving, but all of it is stiff. When the Captain rams the unsuspecting Scimitar with the Enterprise, it's nothing less than a Freudian triumph of superego over id, with Picard showing Shinzon he too can give in to his dark side. Troi has good scenes, Worf and Dr. Crusher are wasted. Geordi is more mature, but that ramps up the gloom. A movie that flopped on its release now feels fresh, if out of sync with the history it brings to a close. This is the Alien3 of Star Trek movies and Data is Bishop, Newt, Hicks and Ripley and her clone all rolled into one. Trek fans at least get one final voyage with the TNG crew, and they don't just stand around as was the case in the boring Insurrection. The gang did well in Generations and were spectacular in First Contact. And that's all we're ever going to have. From here on out, it seems Trek will just be action comedy films and a shaky-camera adult-oriented TV successor to the war-propaganda Battlestar Galactica reboot. In short, Nemesis really was The End. Watch the truly brilliant scene where Data deactivates B4 and tells him the meaning of "indefinitely." The euphemism holds power, though TNG ends with a whimper. I now accept that.

Another of the late Next Generation cast movies that I had seen only once in the theater, so here I am trying to get another opinion. For this one, I thought it was much better a second time. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention the first time I saw it, because it is a bit confusing. However there is a neat duality theme to it that was completely lost on me the first time. It's a shame this movie has the reputation of "killing" the Next Generation cast's chances at another big screen outing. There are some cool character ideas they could have drawn further on at the end of this movie. If you saw it and didn't like it, give it another shot as I did and you may find it's actually a good bit of sci-fi (at least after the fairly terrible Insurrection).