A Trek film? No, but an entertaining one.

Rating: 1/10 (7 May 2009)

I am a lover of trek. I watched the re-runs of the original series when I was very young, and continued with TNG and DS9. Voyager was on my short list and Enterprise annoyed me with its lack of cannon and originality so much that I couldn't enjoy it as a trek series.
I have been beside myself over the last few years for a decent dose of "Star Trek" that held the same emotions and story telling as the originals. "Nemesis" completely destroyed the hope I had that the feeling of the original (or even the first two spin-offs) could be rekindled.
When I heard of this re-imagining, I had a feeling it would be "Nemesis" in new clothes, that as long as the same people were at the helm (B&B) there would never be a reprise of the old trek that so many loved.
And I was right. The old trek is gone, and may never be back. At least, not in this new form. But this movie, this mutated form of trek does have some appeal.
I am no fan of eye candy just for the sake of having it, and this movie delivers more than its share. The special effects were well done, the acting well above the decent mark, and in some cases excellent. But the notion, the very idea, that this is all trek is, well, absurd at best.
The story is sub-par, another psycho from Romulus wants to take his revenge, and eventually finds himself trying to destroy earth. The enterprise finds a very contrived way of stopping it. In essence, this is what "Nemesis" should have been. They ignore several scientific facts for the benefit of spectacular (although absurd) special effects shots and leave plot holes for the sake of including bits of cannon mixed with more effects.
The bits of cannon included, however, does not make it a trek film. Sadly, the film deviates totally from trek in general, and instead to make it a trek film, they use the names and clichéd lines from the original series, and even one of the crew. But almost everything else deviates and twists the origins into something more Hollywood'eske.
The final thought is this is a very entertaining film, and most fans of the originals will appreciate all the dialog and character association from classic trek. But overall this film is lacking in the one department that made Star Trek, what it was. And that is heart.