Star Trek: Nemesis

Much maligned yet surprisingly decent, Star Trek: Nemesis follows the Enterprise crew as they attempt to broker peace with the Romulans via their mysterious new leader (Tom Hardy’s Shinzon). Filmmaker Stuart Baird delivers a surprisingly engrossing opening stretch that both establishes the picture’s primary villain and reacquaints the viewer with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and company, with the narrative, past that point, segueing into a fast-paced and often impressively exciting midsection that is, on the whole, as good as anything within this venerable series. It’s clear, too, that Star Trek: Nemesis benefits from an ongoing emphasis on perfectly conceived and executed action sequences, although Baird does an effective job of incorporating smaller, quieter moments focused on the irresistible (and legendary) camaraderie between the franchise’s core stars. (There is, for example, a subplot involving Brent Spiner’s Data that nicely fleshes out the fan-favorite figure.) The film culminates with an engrossing third act that boasts a number of memorable set pieces, which ultimately does cement Star Trek: Nemesis‘ place as a thoroughly satisfying capper to a solid quartet of movies.

*** out of ****