Questionable Trek vol. 17

It’s easy to criticize, but much harder to create. We’ve criticized the Star Trek movies a good deal, so maybe it’s time to offer some tips on how we would improve them? This week, it’s Scott’s turn!

Question: "Scott, How would you improve Star Trek: Nemesis?"


Scott's Answer: Star Trek: Nemesis is a conceptually-flawed movie and it had several things working against it, including a director who didn't do his homework, a producer who had been involved with the franchise for a tad too long, two lead actors who had too much clout and veto power, and an overall sense of what many refer to as "franchise fatigue." Oh yeah, and a release date that put the film against The Two Towers and James Bond.

I confess I can't recall much about Romulan politics at the moment. Many fans consider this film a missed opportunity to do something with characters like Sela (Denise Crosby) or Tomalak (the late Andreas Katsulas) or even Spock and the Reunification Movement. I don't share their views but what I do mind is the ham-handed backstory: the idea that Picard was cloned by the Romulans years ago as part of some secret plan to infiltrate Starfleet. The plan was abandoned, Shinzon was sent to the Reman mines where he suffered at the hands of the Romulans until the Remans took him under their wing... and now he wants to go after Earth? Just why did the Romulans choose Picard all those years ago? How did they get that close to him? If they could somehow infiltrate Starfleet back then, why not go with a bolder plan instead?

I like the idea of a secret cloning program authorized (or not?) by the Romulan government. But I would've liked to see a sequence in which the various Romulan bureaucrats weed out potential Starfleet officers. Perhaps a pre-credit teaser where we see various "possibilities" displayed, with Picard getting the highest marks. "This one will go far..." Then we could meet the operative assigned to get Picard's DNA. A good old-fashioned undercover operation... or perhaps a suicide mission? What kind of man would take the job?

Shinzon's plan to annihilate Earth comes straight from the "Let's do it just like Wrath of Khan!" school of Star Trek filmmaking. Instead, perhaps Shinzon could've wanted revenge against the Romulans who created him in the first place, with Picard and Co. forced to intervene on behalf of the Federation in order to prevent a war. The way the film plays now, the "Nature vs. Nurture" theme is there but not explored to its full potential. With Shinzon going after the Romulans, we also get the "Son vs. Father" theme (it's all very Oedipal!). Perhaps Shinzon could actually meet the man (or woman) who created him and see their previous Shinzon clones that didn't work (shades of Alien: Resurrection). Shinzon admires Picard and what he stands for but is blinded by hate. He doesn't want war but he can't let the Romulans get away with what they did to him. The entire time, we'd be asking ourselves whether or not this is human nature (revenge), or part of his programming (a rogue geneticist at work?), or a symptom of the conditions in which he grew up.

I'd probably scrap the B-4 subplot though if I had to include it, I wouldn't have Data die at the end... or I'd have B-4 die at the end instead. In the film, Data dies but the emotional impact is negated literally minutes later by B-4's reappearance. It's a total cop-out. Brent Spiner has said on numerous occasions that he felt too old to play an android that doesn't age, however there was an episode where they mentioned his aging program. Problem solved! If the B-4 subplot goes, so does the irrelevant chase scene on the planet with the aliens we never meet again. I would also reinstate most of the deleted scenes, including a thematically-relevant scene with Picard and Data where Data ponders the passage of time.

I think this film was a lost opportunity to rekindle the Picard/Beverly romance. Here's my take: we start the film with the aforementioned Romulan/clone scenes, followed by a beautiful title sequence featuring scenic shots of the Alaskan tundra (accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith's score), and then the Riker/Troi wedding. Picard and Crusher can share a nice moment on the dance floor where they reminisce about things past and speculate, as all Trek characters do, about the future. At the end of the film, during the "wake" for Data, they could hold hands - faced with the death of a long-time friend and fellow officer who was supposed to outlast everyone else, they realize life is short after all. Instead of Admiral Janeway giving Picard his orders via subspace, I'd have her show up in person at the wedding, which would give a sense of urgency to the proceedings.

I apologize for the meandering nature of this piece. When it comes to this film, I feel there's nothing worse than squandered potential. What say you?

Andrew's Reply: I like what you've done here, Scott. I think the biggest flaw at the center of this film is that the cloning plot has nothing to do with the rest of it. In fact, that sounds like it would have made a better film. But instead we just get, "Oh yeah, the guy from that cooler movie wants to destroy Earth for no apparent reason." I think at least adding the intro you discuss would have helped a lot, so would tying the rest of the movie into the cloning plot. At the very least, it could have added intrigue to a movie which was little more than "go there, shoot, end movie." I also like the idea of the Picard/Crusher romance as that would have been a stronger bit of character development than them focusing on how Data differs from his moronic cousin. . . and, as an aside, I still don't understand where the Romulans found him? Nice work, Scott.