|
Post by Jeremy on Oct 29, 2019 11:49:26 GMT -8
Nemesis isn't great, but it's certainly a step up from Insurrection. Three reasons: (1) It feels like a movie, rather than an overstretched episode, (2) the special effects are much better, and (3) the action scenes are directed by someone who knows how to direct action scenes. All these factors combine to make it a modestly entertaining film, even if it falls well short of the best Trek movies.
It's fun to watch Patrick Stewart play off a young Tom Hardy (who remains one of the more unfortunately underused actors in Hollywood), but the script doesn't give either actor much to work with. The story is bland and predictable, and the dialogue definitely needed another brush-up - surprising, since John Logan is a generally talented screenwriter. The climax is also fairly by-the-numbers, even at its emotional apex, a sign that franchise fatigue was starting to set in.
The film flopped at the box office (beaten in its opening weekend by a Jennifer Lopez romcom... ouch), and it's not hard to see why - by 2002, Star Trek was long past its status as a cultural touchstone, and in need of some time off. Only now, some 17 years later, are we getting a follow-up to the story of Jean-Luc Picard. Only time will tell if it delivers...
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Sept 11, 2020 14:17:12 GMT -8
I think there's a good TV show somewhere in Star Trek: Lower Decks, but thus far it's been struggling with an identity crisis. Too juvenile for adults; too dark and cynical for kids. Kind of off-the-wall, but never at the Rick and Morty levels it aspires to. The characters, thus far, come off like staid archetypes that we've seen elsewhere - Boimler is a by-the-book nerd, Mariner a rule-breaking rebel. Remove the Trek references and this is just another animated workplace comedy.
Speaking of the Trek references, this show seems geared toward series fans, as the many nods toward the older shows will go over the heads of newcomers. But it's also a poor fit for Trek die-hards, given its tendency to mock and undercut those earlier shows (albeit only to an extent - can't risk hurting the brand, of course). So it doesn't even fit too comfortably within its own franchise.
Still, I do like the cast (Tawny Newsome is quite funny as Mariner, although some of her lines are delivered a little too quickly) and the animation is colorful, so it's not the worst way to spend a half-hour each week. But I'm hoping the writers start going places a little more boldly.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Jun 8, 2023 18:06:37 GMT -8
I didn't get into Star Trek: Picard during its first two seasons (tried a few S1 episodes a while back and quickly lost interest) and hadn't thought much of it till this year. But the buzz around the new third and final season got me curious, so I decided to check it out.
The new season is impressive simply for what it accomplishes - it functions as a grand finale for the Next Generation saga that started all the way back in 1987. The season can best be described as pure, unadulterated fanservice for longtime TNG fans, bringing back a ton of characters (including nearly the entire main cast) and filled with references and "Member this?" moments.
I don't love it when TV shows and movies overindulge on fan-winking references - recall my comments toward the Obi-Wan miniseries and the recent Super Mario film. But Picard S3 manages to pull it off, in part because of the air of finality that comes with it. Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and co. aren't getting any younger, and this is in all likelihood the last time they'll all play these characters together. So, understanding the fans' disappointment with Nemesis as a TNG finale, they've reunited over twenty years later to draw the saga of the Enterprise-D to a close.
Not everything about the season quite works narratively - at ten hourlong episodes, it takes some time to warm up, and there are some understandable contrivances in getting all the characters together in time for the climax. (Worf's part seems notably tacked on at first.) And some references work better than others - the cameo from a minor TNG villain midway through the season feels cheesy and tonally at odds with the darker implications of the story (which also wraps in some material from DS9 and Voyager as it goes along; like I said, this is the ultimate in nostalgia bait).
Still, I was fully absorbed by the second half of the season, and happy to go along with even the more overt attempts at fanservice. A strong and fitting conclusion to a saga that began all those decades ago.
|
|