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At last. Today's film is Star Trek. It was released in 2009, is still in theaters (I checked!), and thus this review will contain neither plot summary nor spoilers. This review was also written directly after seeing the film, so it was fresh in my mind. It was directed by J.J. Abrams, and starred Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (McCoy), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), John Cho (Sulu), and Simon Pegg (Scotty). It also starred Eric Bana as Nero, and Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike. A guest cameo (and a rather lengthy one) is Leonard Nimoy, although I won't tell you who he plays, as that falls under the category of "spoiler."
Star Trek fans: be not afraid. In no way does this film malign or disrupt the rest of the Star Trek universe. They come up with a quite creative (but very Star-Trek-y) way to deal with that, and I approved highly.
There are references. The famous lines are said - for example, "Live long and prosper" and "I'm givin' 'er all she's got, Captain!" - but there is not a hit of cheesiness about it. Each of the old lines are inserted with a touch of class. They are there because they work in the moment, not because they want (solely, at least) to get a fan reaction - and most of those lines are given new meaning in their new context.
The computer graphics are extraordinary. I have seen good CG before, but I tend to find space battles slightly dull - not my favorite part of any sci-fi (as you could see in my review of Nemesis). This was filmed (animated?) in such a way that I pretty much always knew what was going on, but it was also quite chaotic - much more realistic of a space battle in my opinion. I have a feeling that this is the kind of battle-work that all of the Next Generation movies tried to do, and, yet, fell short. Also - and I'm not a ship girl - the shots of the Enterprise herself were quite lovely. I, in fact, leaned over to my friend, Jessica, in the theater and whispered, "Glorious!" at one particular shot of the Enterprise.
The actors did an excellent job of portraying their characters. They did extremely well at not only calling back to the classic actors (they clearly did due diligence and watch the original series and the movies) and made the characters their own. A special mention goes to Quinto, who slid gently into the role of Spock with no bumps or bruises - it felt like he put on an old glove. The true star of the show (although certainly not the main character) was Urban as Bones. He got the inflections, the lines, the cranky affection for his friends, and even the slight quirk of the mouth that Kelley always had. Amazing. Cho, who played Sulu, also stood out - but not in a good way. Sulu did not have but one moment. Cho neither made you believe he was a younger George Takei nor that he was a younger Sulu. I look forward to seeing the character and actor progress if they make other movies - and I hope they do.
If this is the direction that Star Trek will take in the future, I am pleased and proud. I can only hope that they can - and will! - keep up this level of excellence. I am mildly uncomfortable saying this, but I believe this to be the best Star Trek film yet. It's masterfully crafted, cultivates more emotions than just nostalgia (I laughed out loud several times, was actually afraid for the characters, and nearly cried two or three times), is a great action flick, and good fun. I actually had to remind myself to breathe after the first scene - utterly amazing - of the movie. Indeed, The Wrath of Khan has the action and passion, The Voyage Home has the joy, and Star Trek has it all. Go see it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Star Trek: Nemesis - "Do You Think This is a Wise Course of Action, Sir?"
The final film before the newest is Star Trek: Nemesis. It stars the same cast and crew with the addition of Tom Hardy, and is directed by Stuart Baird (who only directed two other films besides Nemesis, and is primarily a film editor by trade).
Nemesis begins with the Earth wedding of Troi and Riker. En route to the ceremony on Betazed, the Enterprise picks up signals of a positronic nature on a desert planet, and goes to investigate. Once there, they discover pieces of a prototype android, clearly made by Dr. Noonien Soong, and aptly named B-4 (Brent Spiner). They assemble B-4, a child-like version of Data, and, though his programming would allow him to evolve like Data, a complete memory transfer from Data sparks seemingly no effect.
Back en route to Betazed, Picard receives a transmission from Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) at Starfleet Headquarters ordering them to Romulus, where there has been a coup d'etat. A new person from Remus (Romulus' sister-world) has take power - Praetor Shinzon (Hardy).
The Enterprise goes to Romulus, and the crew discovers that Shinzon is not only human, but actually a clone of Picard. Shinzon was the product of an abandoned project to replace Picard. Shinzon tells Picard that he is only interested in peace, but Picard and his crew soon discover that Shinzon is harboring a planet-killing weapon. With this weapon, he plans to destroy Earth and cripple the Federation. To accomplish this, Shinzon had previously found and reprogrammed B-4, who transmits the information on ship placement within the Federation to Shinzon's ship.
After this discovery, the Enterprise takes off to find the bulk of the fleet, placed close to the neutral zone. Shinzon's ship fires and disables the Enterprise in the midst of a nebula, which hinders communication with Starfleet. A battle ensues, in which two Romulan war birds assist the Enterprise, but ultimately get disabled. Also, Troi uses her telepathic abillities to locate Shinzon's cloaked ship, and fires a blow that cripples his ship, and destroys the cloak.
Frustrated, Shinzon loses his temper, and decides to unleash the planet-killing weapon, which takes 10 minutes to deploy, on the Enterprise. Picard beams over in an apparent suicide mission to stop the weapon. He grapples with Shinzon, eventually killing him, partially by accident. While he stares at Shinzon in shock, Data beams over, quickly uses a prototype self-transporter on Picard (who beams back to the Enterprise), and destroys the weapon, the ship, and himself in one blow.
The Enterprise crew is stunned at the death of Data, and raise a glass to him in Picard's quarters. Back at spacedock where the Enterprise is being repaired, Picard bids goodbye to Riker, who is headed to his own command on the Titan. Picard also has a long conversation with B-4 about Data, which B-4 seems to not understand. As Picard walks away sadly, B-4 starts absentmindedly singing "Blue Skies," the song that Data had sung for the wedding. Picard smiles at this hopeful sign, and the movie ends.
There are several action scenes in this movie that Baird talks excitedly about in the behind-the-scenes and I find quite dull. One such example is the Argo, an off-roading vehicle and a complete copy of the Warthog from the video game Halo. Picard goes all gung-ho driving it, while they pick up pieces of B-4, and then driving it as they are chased by Tuskan raiders and Jawas that come out of nowhere. Wrong movie, you say? If they weren't Tuskan raiders and Jawas, they were awful copies.
I also had mixed feelings about seeing Admiral Janeway giving orders to Captain Picard. While she definitely deserved a promotion after all that Voyager went through, it's quite odd to see her an admiral while Picard is only a captain. I guess he took Kirk's advice from Generations, and never let go of that captain's chair.
I also felt very uncomfortable with the rape scene. There is a scene where Shinzon invades Troi's mind with the help of his Reman Viceroy while she and Riker are making love, and makes her see him in Riker's place. It's extremely disturbing, and, while this kind of thing does happen in Star Trek, it's rare, and I happily skipped past it during this viewing. It does allow Troi a good moment later in the film, however, when she invades the Viceroy's mind in order to get a fix on their cloaked ship's location. As she enters his mind, she says, "Remember me?" in an extraordinarily deadly tone - quite unique for her character, and appropriate for the scene.
Nemesis frustrates me. It is an excellent cast, the last in a series, and almost the same production team as the others. What this movie is missing is what is intricate to Star Trek in general, and Next Generation especially: human interaction. So much of this movie is merely pointless action scene after pointless action scene. The behind-the-scenes interviews confused me a great deal, since all of the cast and crew (with the notable exception of Baird, the director) talking about how this movie is about family - staying family while still moving on. Then I saw the deleted scenes. They were beautifully acted, completely heartfelt scenes between people about their relationships and themselves - much more in line with TNG and the interviews. I could not be more upset that those were the scenes that were cut. Those were the scenes that were missing, and I'm convinced that that was what made this movie a box office and critical failure.
One example of such scenes that made me actually cry was Worf and Geordi cleaning out Data's quarters after his death. There are objects that they see that are vital to Data's development - his violin, his book of Sherlock Holmes, his paintings. And Spot. Spot meows and leaps into Worf's arms. Almost unable to hold back tears, Worf looks at Geordi and says, "I am not a cat person." Geordi smiles back, places a hand warmly on Worf's shoulder and says, "You are now..."
If you have the opportunity, and want to watch this movie, watch the deleted scenes as well. Those at least will make you feel like you are coming home, not being hung out to dry.
Nemesis begins with the Earth wedding of Troi and Riker. En route to the ceremony on Betazed, the Enterprise picks up signals of a positronic nature on a desert planet, and goes to investigate. Once there, they discover pieces of a prototype android, clearly made by Dr. Noonien Soong, and aptly named B-4 (Brent Spiner). They assemble B-4, a child-like version of Data, and, though his programming would allow him to evolve like Data, a complete memory transfer from Data sparks seemingly no effect.
Back en route to Betazed, Picard receives a transmission from Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) at Starfleet Headquarters ordering them to Romulus, where there has been a coup d'etat. A new person from Remus (Romulus' sister-world) has take power - Praetor Shinzon (Hardy).
The Enterprise goes to Romulus, and the crew discovers that Shinzon is not only human, but actually a clone of Picard. Shinzon was the product of an abandoned project to replace Picard. Shinzon tells Picard that he is only interested in peace, but Picard and his crew soon discover that Shinzon is harboring a planet-killing weapon. With this weapon, he plans to destroy Earth and cripple the Federation. To accomplish this, Shinzon had previously found and reprogrammed B-4, who transmits the information on ship placement within the Federation to Shinzon's ship.
After this discovery, the Enterprise takes off to find the bulk of the fleet, placed close to the neutral zone. Shinzon's ship fires and disables the Enterprise in the midst of a nebula, which hinders communication with Starfleet. A battle ensues, in which two Romulan war birds assist the Enterprise, but ultimately get disabled. Also, Troi uses her telepathic abillities to locate Shinzon's cloaked ship, and fires a blow that cripples his ship, and destroys the cloak.
Frustrated, Shinzon loses his temper, and decides to unleash the planet-killing weapon, which takes 10 minutes to deploy, on the Enterprise. Picard beams over in an apparent suicide mission to stop the weapon. He grapples with Shinzon, eventually killing him, partially by accident. While he stares at Shinzon in shock, Data beams over, quickly uses a prototype self-transporter on Picard (who beams back to the Enterprise), and destroys the weapon, the ship, and himself in one blow.
The Enterprise crew is stunned at the death of Data, and raise a glass to him in Picard's quarters. Back at spacedock where the Enterprise is being repaired, Picard bids goodbye to Riker, who is headed to his own command on the Titan. Picard also has a long conversation with B-4 about Data, which B-4 seems to not understand. As Picard walks away sadly, B-4 starts absentmindedly singing "Blue Skies," the song that Data had sung for the wedding. Picard smiles at this hopeful sign, and the movie ends.
There are several action scenes in this movie that Baird talks excitedly about in the behind-the-scenes and I find quite dull. One such example is the Argo, an off-roading vehicle and a complete copy of the Warthog from the video game Halo. Picard goes all gung-ho driving it, while they pick up pieces of B-4, and then driving it as they are chased by Tuskan raiders and Jawas that come out of nowhere. Wrong movie, you say? If they weren't Tuskan raiders and Jawas, they were awful copies.
I also had mixed feelings about seeing Admiral Janeway giving orders to Captain Picard. While she definitely deserved a promotion after all that Voyager went through, it's quite odd to see her an admiral while Picard is only a captain. I guess he took Kirk's advice from Generations, and never let go of that captain's chair.
I also felt very uncomfortable with the rape scene. There is a scene where Shinzon invades Troi's mind with the help of his Reman Viceroy while she and Riker are making love, and makes her see him in Riker's place. It's extremely disturbing, and, while this kind of thing does happen in Star Trek, it's rare, and I happily skipped past it during this viewing. It does allow Troi a good moment later in the film, however, when she invades the Viceroy's mind in order to get a fix on their cloaked ship's location. As she enters his mind, she says, "Remember me?" in an extraordinarily deadly tone - quite unique for her character, and appropriate for the scene.
Nemesis frustrates me. It is an excellent cast, the last in a series, and almost the same production team as the others. What this movie is missing is what is intricate to Star Trek in general, and Next Generation especially: human interaction. So much of this movie is merely pointless action scene after pointless action scene. The behind-the-scenes interviews confused me a great deal, since all of the cast and crew (with the notable exception of Baird, the director) talking about how this movie is about family - staying family while still moving on. Then I saw the deleted scenes. They were beautifully acted, completely heartfelt scenes between people about their relationships and themselves - much more in line with TNG and the interviews. I could not be more upset that those were the scenes that were cut. Those were the scenes that were missing, and I'm convinced that that was what made this movie a box office and critical failure.
One example of such scenes that made me actually cry was Worf and Geordi cleaning out Data's quarters after his death. There are objects that they see that are vital to Data's development - his violin, his book of Sherlock Holmes, his paintings. And Spot. Spot meows and leaps into Worf's arms. Almost unable to hold back tears, Worf looks at Geordi and says, "I am not a cat person." Geordi smiles back, places a hand warmly on Worf's shoulder and says, "You are now..."
If you have the opportunity, and want to watch this movie, watch the deleted scenes as well. Those at least will make you feel like you are coming home, not being hung out to dry.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Star Trek: Insurrection - "Taking the Captain's Yacht Out for a Spin?"
The next-to-last in our lineup of pre-existing Star Trek films is up now: Star Trek: Insurrection. This movie was released in 1998, and was directed by Jonathan Frakes (after, of course, he directed ST: First Contact). It stars the same Next Generation crew, with the notable additions of F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe.
The Enterprise crew discovers that the Federation is working in tandem with a race called the Son'a - a pleasure-loving race obsessed with youth - to attempt to harvest metaphasic radiation particles from the rings around a planet in the Briar Patch, a section of space difficult to navigate and impossible to communicate through. These particles have youth-giving properties. They basically stop the aging process, and revert those who are older to become young again, both emotionally and physically. This, of course, would be an amazing resource for the Federation, as well as for the selfish Son'a, since the Federation could use it to cure diseases and afflictions, such as blindness.
The problem? The planet is already inhabited by a technologically advanced, but simplistic people called the Ba'ku. They prefer to live without the benefits and hazards of technology, and to live in the moment. Although only a population of 600 or so, Picard and his crew still believe that it is wrong to take their resource away from them. Not only were the Federation and the Son'a going to steal the particles, they were also going to relocate the Ba'ku onto a holographic ship. The ship would have the same visual environmental setup as the planet. In effect, it would seem to the Ba'ku that they had never been moved, except when they would start aging again. This is something that the Enterprise crew can't abide, even though they have experienced some of the benefits - Riker and Troi have stuck up their long-languishing romance, Worf is suffering symptoms of jak'talah (Klingon puberty), and, most heartbreakingly, Geordi is no longer blind. Despite that, Geordi and Riker take the Enterprise back to the edge of the Briar Patch, in an attempt to persuade the Federation Council that this is wrong. Picard, Crusher, Worf, Troi, and Data beam down to the surface to help the Ba'ku keep from being transported onto the holoship, and off of their planet.
Picard, having struck up a friendship and budding romance with one of the heads of the Ba'ku, Anij (Murphy), easily persuades the Ba'ku to trust them. Encouraging them to take only essential belongings, they hurry the Ba'ku into the mountains, towards caves where they can find shelter. Meanwhile, the leader of the Son'a, Ru'afo (Abraham), working with Admiral Dougherty (Zerbe), send ships to intercept (and if necessary, destroy) the Enterprise, and also sends scout ships down to the surface equipped with drones carrying isolinear tags. Those tags, if shot into the Ba'ku, would allow them to be transported individually onto the Son'a ship. Picard and the others get most of the Ba'ku to safety, but Picard and Anij, along with perhaps fifty or a hundred others get transported to the Son'a ship.
On the Son'a ship, Ru'afo and Dougherty go to talk to Picard and the Ba'ku. We discover that the Son'a are actually the same race as the Ba'ku - they had been young people who left the planet, embracing technology, but growing old. They came to resent the Ba'ku for "hoarding" the fountain of youth, even though the Ba'ku never asked the Son'a to leave in the first place. Dougherty, upon realizing that, and seeing Picard's utter devotion to the Ba'ku, realizes that the Federation has chosen the wrong path. He confronts Ru'afo away from the prisoners, and Ru'afo kills him in an entirely gruesome manner. Ru'afo then orders his people to deploy the collector for the particles. This would destroy life in the sector, but Ru'afo no longer cares about relocating the Ba'ku, as that had been a Federation condition from the beginning.
Picard is then separated from the Ba'ku, so that he can be murdered to stop him from revealing to the Federation what was happening. Ru'afo's second-in-command, Gallatin (played by Greg Henry), escorts Picard to a section of the ship that would not be protected from the metaphasic radiation. En route, Picard persuades Gallatin that the Son'a should not be killing their own families and friends, and that Gallatin must oppose Ru'afo. Gallatin reluctantly agrees, and helps Picard communicate with his people on the surface. They transport the Son'a to the holoship, now made to look like the Son'a command ship - thus making it so that the Son'a are unable to control the collector. Ru'afo quickly determines the situation, and transports himself off of the holoship and onto the collector, in an attempt to restart it manually.
Picard also beams over to the collector, to stop him, and destroys the collector from the inside. Picard believes that he is to die, since the Son'a beamed back to their real command ship, and had taken Gallatin and Worf hostage. However, the Enterprise, back safely from a successful conversation with the Federation Council, swoops across the exploding collector, and beams Picard out to safety. Ru'afo, of course, is killed, exploding along with the collector. Before rescuing Picard, the Enterprise also attacks the Son'a command ship, dealing it a lethal blow. Worf and the Son'a are also beamed back to the Enterprise.
The away team still on the surface escorts the Ba'ku back to their village, and re-unites Gallatin with his mother, starting the healing process between the Ba'ku and Son'a. Picard and Anij promise to see each other again. Yet again, the Enterprise flies off for more missions and adventures.
This movie is definitely more light-hearted than the other two Next Generation films, but still adds in the moral element inherent in Star Trek, and also has a few fairly creepy bits. I think it's awfully well put-together, but I believe that First Contact was superior. With that, here are a few notes.
I think the costume work for this film is very good. I love the new dress uniforms - ivory with blue accents, as opposed to the longer skirt-shirts from the series. They look much more professional, much more uniform, and less cringe-inducing. I also like the civilian clothes that the Enterprise crew wears when they are going onto the surface. They are casual, but still ver chic, and each fits their character very well.
I have also come to appreciate the music more in the last few films, after watching a behind-the-scenes featurette on Jerry Goldsmith, a legendary composer who did the Star Trek films as well as films too numerous to count. The opening music which plans over the pastoral scenes of the Ba'ku life is gentle and serene. It's soothing, and fits the visuals perfectly. Also, I love how, when they re-introduce Worf, a slow, quiet Klingon theme plays. Fantastic. Although not by Jerry Goldsmith, I also enjoy the scene with the music from H.M.S. Pinafore, which Picard and Worf sing to try to reach a malfunctioning Data. The three of them have excellent voices, and it's fun to hear Gilbert and Sullivan in a context where you usually wouldn't.
When Geordi recovers his eyesight, it is one of the saddest and sweetest things. He stands on a hill with strikingly brown eyes, filled with tears that don't fall. He watches the sun rise and comments to Picard who comes upon him, "You know I've never seen a sunrise?" It speaks to his character how, even given that gift, he does not want to take the Ba'ku away from their home.
Stepping away from gushing for a moment, I wanted to highlight things that I do not approve of. When Worf suffers from symptoms of puberty, he is made the butt of jokes, and generally looks ridiculous. Since Worf is generally a serious character, and one of my favorites, I dislike this comic use of him. The character of Worf is complex and interesting enough that he doesn't need to be relegated to the role of comic relief. In addition, I dislike the "perfect moment" segments, where the Ba'ku have so learned to appreciate time that they are able to slow down time, and make a moment into a universe. It was campy and weird. I like my Star Trek to make some sort of pseudo-scientific sense, and this just seems quite odd to me. Finally, I am kind of embarrassed that Riker pulled out a joystick - a joystick - to pilot the Enterprise manually. Talk about unrealistic! Seems very ego-centric as well.
All in all, good movie. You really do feel the camaraderie between the cast members, and the guest stars are excellent and match the regulars pace for pace. The music is amazing, and the story is cool. It's just not quite as good as First Contact. What do you think?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Star Trek: First Contact - "They've Adapted!"
Today's film is Star Trek: First Contact. It was released in 1996, and was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who had previously directed several episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager, but never before this a feature film. The movie stars the same crew as before, with the excellent additions of Alice Krige, James Cromwell, and Alfre Woodard.
The movie begins when Picard receives word of the Borg in the Terran system - home to Earth and Starfleet Headquarters - and also the newly-made Enterprise E is to stay in the Neutral Zone during the battle. When Picard protests, the admiral issuing orders informs him that while they have the utmost confidence in the Enterprise and her crew, they didn't think it wise to bring Picard - who had previously been assimilated as a human/Borg hybrid "ambassador" and escaped - into a situation where he would encounter the Borg again. Shortly after the battle begins, Picard disobeys orders. In the nick of time, the Enterprise saves the heavily damaged fleet, including the Defiant, a rather familiar ship commanded by Worf. The Enterprise takes on the crew of the Defiant and takes command of the fleet. Picard orders all ships to fire at what appears to be a non-essential part of the Borg cube, but succeeds in destroying the cube.
A life-pod escapes from the cube, and opens up a temporal rift. The Enterprise gets caught in the temporal wake, and sees the world change around them; they see Earth entirely assimilated and the Borg living on it. Determined to stop this potential future, the Enterprise follows the Borg sphere in.
They find themselves in the 21st century, one day before the first warp-capable ship (the Phoenix) was to fly. The Borg try to annihilate that ship and her captain, but the Enterprise destroys the sphere before they are able to do so. In an effort to ensure the safety of the Phoenix and her captain, an away team beams down. After they locate the Phoenix, and begin minor repairs, Troi finds Zephram Cochran (Cromwell) - the man who is to make the first warp flight - drunk in a bar. She and Riker tell him the truth: they are from the future, and he has to make the flight to usher in a new era for humanity (since this flight would attract the attention of the Vulcans, and be the catalyst for the Federation). He agrees to make the flight, but is creeped out by the hero he is to become.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, they discover that the Borg had gotten onto their ship before they blew up the sphere. The Borg commandeer Engineering, lock out the controls from the bridge, and start assimilation of both ship and crew. Picard forms several teams to investigate the situation with the Borg and confront them, as necessary. While patrolling, Data gets captured by the Borg, and Picard gets separated from his team.
Picard, while attempting to outrun the Borg and get back to the bridge, runs into a 21st century woman, Lily (Woodard), who had been brought on board for medical treatment. Picard explains the situation to her and, after some initial conflict and disbelief, the two work their way back to the bridge.
Data, meanwhile, is reactivated strapped firmly to a table. He meets the Borg Queen (Krige), an entity that is the one mind of the Borg, like the queen in a hive of bees. "I am the Borg," she introduces herself. She reactivates Data's emotion chip, and attempts to seduce him by hooking up human skin to his mechanical frame and allowing him to feel the sensations that follow.
After a few more battles with the Borg, the remaining bridge crew advises Picard to set the ship to self-destruct. He vehemently disagrees and orders them to go on fighting. In fact, he loses his temper enough to call Worf a coward. Lily follows Picard into his ready room. The two joust verbally. Finally, Picard realizes that it is a misbegotten sense of revenge that is driving him to keep fighting to the point of suicide rather than destroying the ship, and the Borg with it (giving the Borg the Enterprise as well, as he saw it). Because of Lily, he sets the self-destruct, and evacuates the ship.
Picard stays on board in an effort to save Data. He enters Engineering and encounters the Borg Queen. He offers to willingly take his place by her side as Locutus - sacrificing himself - if she lets Data go. She seemingly accepts his offer, has drones hold him in place, and then calls to Data. Data responds that he does not wish to leave. Data then unlocks the ship's computer for the Queen, and fires torpedoes at the just-emerged Phoenix.
And misses.
Data then breaks open a coolant tank, which releases toxic gas that destroys organic material. Picard deftly maneuvers out of the reach of the gas with quick climbing, while the Queen and her drones die in gruesome agony. Picard stops the self-destruct sequence, and the Phoenix successfully goes to warp. The Vulcans see the warp signature and come down to Earth. The rest, as they say, is history (future?), and the Enterprise goes home.
This was critically considered the best of the Next Generation movies. I haven't re-watched them all yet, but it is certainly excellent. It is definitely more action-oriented than Generations, and also manages to carry with it the character development from TNG.
One of the coolest carry-overs from the series is, of course, the Borg. The Borg are simply terrifying. It's both freaky and cool that you can walk among the Borg until they consider you a threat, for example. Before then, you are no more than a bird on a branch to them, and they don't even look at you. The incorporation of Lily into this environment was especially effective. She reacts by screaming, clutching at Picard's arm, and visibly shaking until they get to relative safety. Lily brings the viewer straight into what it must be like to be in a Borg environment. The TNG crew are so used to it, the viewer can become nonchalant about the Borg. Not so when Lily is reacting the way we would to the same situation.
The interaction between Data and the Borg Queen, however, really bothers me. The character of the Queen is well-played, and quite an interesting concept, but I don't see Data being seduced the way he was, or at least the way he seemed to be. Of course, he only considered the Queen's offer to stay and rule with her for .68 seconds, but, as he said, that is an eternity for an android. I guess that Data is more human-like than even I want him to be.
I believe we see Picard at his best and worst in this movie. He is brave and self-sacrificing, but also petty and vengeful. He calls Worf a coward merely to rile him up - which it does. Worf retorts,"If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand." When he argues with Lily about the ship, I actually get frightened of his ferocity and single-mindedness. But then he goes back to the Picard we know and love, quoting Moby Dick, and finding that he is no different than Captain Ahab in that moment. Absolutely superb acting, although I have always been quite partial to Patrick Stewart.
A side-note issue is when Picard is explaining the 24th century to Lily, he says that, "Money doesn't exist in the 24th century." This is clearly not the case, as in other TNG movies and clearly in Deep Space Nine, gold-pressed latinum is the currency of the day. What that should have said in my opinion, was that money is not at play within the Federation. Then again, I suppose it is easier to explain the first way.
Deanna is incredible when she's drunk, and I believe it is her best acting yet. She also seemed like she was having fun, which was a first.
This film is certainly worth a watching. It has two simultaneous "A" plots, action, terror, and even a few laughs. Totally worthy of being a descendant of the TNG series.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
The movie begins when Picard receives word of the Borg in the Terran system - home to Earth and Starfleet Headquarters - and also the newly-made Enterprise E is to stay in the Neutral Zone during the battle. When Picard protests, the admiral issuing orders informs him that while they have the utmost confidence in the Enterprise and her crew, they didn't think it wise to bring Picard - who had previously been assimilated as a human/Borg hybrid "ambassador" and escaped - into a situation where he would encounter the Borg again. Shortly after the battle begins, Picard disobeys orders. In the nick of time, the Enterprise saves the heavily damaged fleet, including the Defiant, a rather familiar ship commanded by Worf. The Enterprise takes on the crew of the Defiant and takes command of the fleet. Picard orders all ships to fire at what appears to be a non-essential part of the Borg cube, but succeeds in destroying the cube.
A life-pod escapes from the cube, and opens up a temporal rift. The Enterprise gets caught in the temporal wake, and sees the world change around them; they see Earth entirely assimilated and the Borg living on it. Determined to stop this potential future, the Enterprise follows the Borg sphere in.
They find themselves in the 21st century, one day before the first warp-capable ship (the Phoenix) was to fly. The Borg try to annihilate that ship and her captain, but the Enterprise destroys the sphere before they are able to do so. In an effort to ensure the safety of the Phoenix and her captain, an away team beams down. After they locate the Phoenix, and begin minor repairs, Troi finds Zephram Cochran (Cromwell) - the man who is to make the first warp flight - drunk in a bar. She and Riker tell him the truth: they are from the future, and he has to make the flight to usher in a new era for humanity (since this flight would attract the attention of the Vulcans, and be the catalyst for the Federation). He agrees to make the flight, but is creeped out by the hero he is to become.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, they discover that the Borg had gotten onto their ship before they blew up the sphere. The Borg commandeer Engineering, lock out the controls from the bridge, and start assimilation of both ship and crew. Picard forms several teams to investigate the situation with the Borg and confront them, as necessary. While patrolling, Data gets captured by the Borg, and Picard gets separated from his team.
Picard, while attempting to outrun the Borg and get back to the bridge, runs into a 21st century woman, Lily (Woodard), who had been brought on board for medical treatment. Picard explains the situation to her and, after some initial conflict and disbelief, the two work their way back to the bridge.
Data, meanwhile, is reactivated strapped firmly to a table. He meets the Borg Queen (Krige), an entity that is the one mind of the Borg, like the queen in a hive of bees. "I am the Borg," she introduces herself. She reactivates Data's emotion chip, and attempts to seduce him by hooking up human skin to his mechanical frame and allowing him to feel the sensations that follow.
After a few more battles with the Borg, the remaining bridge crew advises Picard to set the ship to self-destruct. He vehemently disagrees and orders them to go on fighting. In fact, he loses his temper enough to call Worf a coward. Lily follows Picard into his ready room. The two joust verbally. Finally, Picard realizes that it is a misbegotten sense of revenge that is driving him to keep fighting to the point of suicide rather than destroying the ship, and the Borg with it (giving the Borg the Enterprise as well, as he saw it). Because of Lily, he sets the self-destruct, and evacuates the ship.
Picard stays on board in an effort to save Data. He enters Engineering and encounters the Borg Queen. He offers to willingly take his place by her side as Locutus - sacrificing himself - if she lets Data go. She seemingly accepts his offer, has drones hold him in place, and then calls to Data. Data responds that he does not wish to leave. Data then unlocks the ship's computer for the Queen, and fires torpedoes at the just-emerged Phoenix.
And misses.
Data then breaks open a coolant tank, which releases toxic gas that destroys organic material. Picard deftly maneuvers out of the reach of the gas with quick climbing, while the Queen and her drones die in gruesome agony. Picard stops the self-destruct sequence, and the Phoenix successfully goes to warp. The Vulcans see the warp signature and come down to Earth. The rest, as they say, is history (future?), and the Enterprise goes home.
This was critically considered the best of the Next Generation movies. I haven't re-watched them all yet, but it is certainly excellent. It is definitely more action-oriented than Generations, and also manages to carry with it the character development from TNG.
One of the coolest carry-overs from the series is, of course, the Borg. The Borg are simply terrifying. It's both freaky and cool that you can walk among the Borg until they consider you a threat, for example. Before then, you are no more than a bird on a branch to them, and they don't even look at you. The incorporation of Lily into this environment was especially effective. She reacts by screaming, clutching at Picard's arm, and visibly shaking until they get to relative safety. Lily brings the viewer straight into what it must be like to be in a Borg environment. The TNG crew are so used to it, the viewer can become nonchalant about the Borg. Not so when Lily is reacting the way we would to the same situation.
The interaction between Data and the Borg Queen, however, really bothers me. The character of the Queen is well-played, and quite an interesting concept, but I don't see Data being seduced the way he was, or at least the way he seemed to be. Of course, he only considered the Queen's offer to stay and rule with her for .68 seconds, but, as he said, that is an eternity for an android. I guess that Data is more human-like than even I want him to be.
I believe we see Picard at his best and worst in this movie. He is brave and self-sacrificing, but also petty and vengeful. He calls Worf a coward merely to rile him up - which it does. Worf retorts,"If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand." When he argues with Lily about the ship, I actually get frightened of his ferocity and single-mindedness. But then he goes back to the Picard we know and love, quoting Moby Dick, and finding that he is no different than Captain Ahab in that moment. Absolutely superb acting, although I have always been quite partial to Patrick Stewart.
A side-note issue is when Picard is explaining the 24th century to Lily, he says that, "Money doesn't exist in the 24th century." This is clearly not the case, as in other TNG movies and clearly in Deep Space Nine, gold-pressed latinum is the currency of the day. What that should have said in my opinion, was that money is not at play within the Federation. Then again, I suppose it is easier to explain the first way.
Deanna is incredible when she's drunk, and I believe it is her best acting yet. She also seemed like she was having fun, which was a first.
This film is certainly worth a watching. It has two simultaneous "A" plots, action, terror, and even a few laughs. Totally worthy of being a descendant of the TNG series.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
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