Star Trek: Nemesis 2002

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: Won't go into the captain's log as the U.S.S. Enterprise's finest hour -- that honor still belongs to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan -- but it is reasonably entertaining and reassuring, like a trip home during the holidays. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: May satisfy the faithful but can leave the casual moviegoer feeling as if he's walked into a bar where nobody knows his name. Read more

Howard Cohen, Miami Herald: Devotees of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan will feel a nagging sense of deja vu, and the grandeur of the best Next Generation episodes is lacking. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Star Trek: Nemesis stands alone as an engaging intergalactic thriller with a lot of spirit-and some rousing action scenes. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A better movie than the vacuous Insurrection. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: An amiably klutzy affair whose warm, fuzzy heart emits intermittent bleats from the sleeve of its gleaming spacesuit. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Reasonably entertaining if utterly familiar. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: The torpid first half nearly made me drift into suspended animation. But the exciting second half makes up for it with a long, thrilling, Pyrrhic battle. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The overall feel of the film is pretty cheesy, but there's still a real sense that the Star Trek tradition has been honored as best it can, given the embarrassing script and weak direction. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: This is the fourth film to feature the Next Generation crew, and everyone is still off-track after the ideologically unsound, sparsely entertaining Insurrection. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Familiarity and continuity are what the success of this series has always been about. We've been here before, and we like the neighborhood. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: Between its brisk start and explosive finish, Nemesis dawdles in talky, jargon-filled explanations. Read more

Mark Harden, Denver Post: Nemesis suffers from a paunchy midsection, several plodding action sequences and a wickedly undramatic central theme. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: As lo-fi as the special effects are, the folks who cobbled Nemesis together indulge the force of humanity over hardware in a way that George Lucas has long forgotten. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Familiarity breeds content with Star Trek fans, and the 10th movie in the series does nothing to mess with the series' comfortably monotonous fantasy formula. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Star Trek Nemesis is a definite improvement on 1998's Star Trek: Insurrection. Read more

Paul Malcolm, L.A. Weekly: Nemesis never feels true to itself, its energy never fully engaged. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Not a bad premise, but the execution is lackluster at best. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It has become apparent that the franchise's best years are long past. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Star Trek was kind of terrific once, but now it is a copy of a copy of a copy. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Stewart instead lends integrity and wry stoicism to Nemesis, but the movie is unworthy of him. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: This tenth feature is a big deal, indeed -- at least the third-best, and maybe even a notch above the previous runner-up, Nicholas Meyer's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: What nudges the movie toward a qualified recommendation is the continuing high standards set by Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: The outcome is as professionally crafted as ever, but the material feels learnt by rote. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: As spent screen series go, Star Trek: Nemesis is even more suggestive of a 65th class reunion mixer where only eight surviving members show up -- and there's nothing to drink. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: A respectable venture on its own terms, lacking the broader vision that has seen certain Trek films ... cross over to a more mainstream audience. Read more

Alex Pappademas, Village Voice: John Logan clones Enterprise skipper Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), geek-relatable android Data (Brent Spiner), and -- less successfully -- 1982's Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Read more