Either way, we don't need another TNG film directed and written by people who don't know the characters. Nor do we need Berman trying to keep the film length under two hours. Data's death in Nemesis was barely poignant for me. It wasn't until the 2 disc DVD release with the deleted scene of Geordi and Worf cleaning out Data's quarters that I really felt Data was gone. No matter what would become of B4, he would not be Data, and for Data to have known that and yet still willingly sacrifice his life to save his friends and family...it wasn't the logical thing to do...but it was the human thing to do. And that's the only part of Nemesis that still felt like the last few movies as far as storytelling went. The special effects were top notch and the space dogfight was one of the best in Trek so far. Goldsmith's score was first rate, and to me saved the movie from being utter garbage. But the pacing, the length, and worst of all, the actor who played Shinzon...to me, that kept Nemesis from becoming what it could have been.
And here's my reasoning for the "reboot" of the franchise winning out over another TNG movie. Look around here people. We're growing older, and there aren't many new fans being brought into our world. Star Trek is dying, and has been since the DS9 era. It has nothing to do with the quality of the shows or the movies. It has to do with the fact that the casual moviegoer is not going to want to see Star Trek XI: TNG 6 or whatever because...it's not their world. The Next Generation crew has a history, and while we, as Trekkies, know that history like the back of our hands, others don't. They can't go into Star Trek Nemesis without at least seeing the previous movies or the TNG series. They certainly couldn't drop an audience into the "Lost Era" and expect them to know what brought Starfleet to that place. They would have to know about the Enterprise 1701 through B. In order to give it fresh life, we needed to step back to the beginning. I know that's what Enterprise tried to do, but Enterprise still relied heavily on everything before it, and that's why it didn't do well. What this movie needs to do is to focus on the origins, show these characters meeting, show the events leading up to Kirk taking command of the Enterprise. And it needs to do it in a way that can not only pay tribute to all that went before and the millions of fans around the world, but also attract new fans. My 15 year old sister has disliked Star Trek for her whole life. When she saw the new trailer, her words were, "That looks pretty cool." My friend who hates Star Trek with the same passion that Kirk hates Klingons saw the new trailer and said, "That actually looks pretty interesting." My professor at school, who is as old a fan as any of us said, "Wow, that looks great!" Even people that I know that are the most devoted purists of all time all agree that the new movie looks awesome so far. I know this rant is getting quite long, but let me just put forth one final point here. The Dark Knight. When me and most of my friends heard that Heath Ledger was going to be the Joker, we were all apprehensive. We didn't think he could pull it off. We thought it would be awful. And then we saw it. We saw Heath Ledger's Joker, and we knew. Heath Ledger is the Joker. That part has been forever changed by him, and in the best way possible. That's the kind of feeling I'm starting to get from this new Star Trek. At first, I was, like many of you, apprehensive. Then the images and the trailer came. Those things have erased my doubt. This is truly "The Next Generation" of Star Trek. I'm proud to say that I'll be there opening day to be blown away by this new movie. And my final points come not from me, per se, but from a certain Vulcan. The first: "There are always possibilities." And the second, and most important for ANY Star Trek fan to remember: "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations." Out of all the movies, I think THIS one will portray that philosophy best.
