New ‘Star Trek’ felled by J. Lo, lack of life

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In theaters

STAR TREK: NEMESIS, directed by Stuart Baird, written by John Logan, 116 minutes, PG-13.

For “Star Trek: Nemesis,” the real nemesis last weekend wasn’t a Romulan, a Reman or a Borg, but a working-class, earthbound maid from Manhattan who bagged herself a senator and cleaned up at the box office with the No. 1 film in America.

Being vaporized by J. Lo apparently has become all the rage, as P. Diddy and Lopez’s two former husbands can attest, but no one expected her to trump “Nemesis,” the 10th film in a

4-decade-old franchise whose following is legendary.

Still, that she did so is indicative of the Next Generation’s waning appeal. Billed by Paramount as “A Generation’s Final Journey,” “Nemesis” follows the new Bond film, “Die Another Day,” in that it’s not the groundbreaking movie it needed to be to remain relevant or, for that matter, to infuse the series with renewed life.

As directed by Stuart Baird, the film is peppered with precisely the sort of Star Trek hallmarks fans expect – cheesy makeup, hokey sentiment and the occasional bad line of dialogue – but in a world of high-tech imitators redefining what it means to explore the final frontier, at least with a 21st century sensibility, those signature elements are beginning to feel too much like nostalgic trappings.

The film, from a script by John Logan, begins promisingly with the mysterious obliteration of the Romulan senate before it cuts to the lengthy and considerably less interesting wedding of Cmdr. Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the half-human, half-Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), a clumsily handled, self-conscious affair that has all the forced merriment of a high school reunion.

While en route to Troi’s home planet, which the pair plans to visit, the crew of the Enterprise is sidetracked by a bizarre series of events.

Apparently, both Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) have clones, one of whom, the seething, bald-headed Shinzon (Tom Hardy), is the mirror image of Picard in his youth who needs Picard’s blood to stay alive, the other of whom, B-4, is Data’s childlike prototype.

What ensues goes beyond mere phasers and fireworks. Indeed, amid the inevitable – and entertaining – power struggle that erupts between Picard and Shinzon is a debate, of all things, on nature versus nurture, with the film suggesting that we are absolutely able to change our own destinies at will, overcoming such obstacles as our environment and our DNA.

To that end, “Star Trek: Nemesis” offers a handful of tidy theories, conclusions and a predictable, telegraphed twist that comes at the end. This isn’t a bad film – far from it. It’s nicely acted by Stewart and Hardy and, once it occurs to Baird that he might want to include some action, the movie finally comes to life midway through with some cleverly conceived battle scenes, the best of which finds Picard ramming the Enterprise straight into Shinzon’s ship.

Still, for those who remember the great “Wrath of Khan,” the 1982 film that featured a true nemesis in Ricardo Montalban and the sort of poignant ending “Nemesis” strives yet fails to achieve, this Star Trek falls short.

Grade: B-

On video and DVD

MINORITY REPORT, directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, 145 minutes, PG-13.

Set in the year 2054, Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” is great-looking sci-fi noir, a brooding, cerebral look at the dangerous level of faith we place in technology that’s peppered with enough depth and glitz to satisfy those seeking something more substantial at the video store.

In the film, Tom Cruise is Jon Anderton, a Pre-Crime cop who joined the Department of Pre-Crime after the kidnapping and murder of his young son, Sean, six years before. Divorced from his wife, Lara (Kathryn Morris), and hooked on mood-lifting drugs, Jon is an emotional wreck, for sure, but he’s gifted at his job and has complete faith in the department’s ability to stop a crime cold before it even happens.

That is, of course, until three psychic prognosticators called “Pre-Cogs” finger him.

Now certain the system is flawed, Jon is forced to hit the streets running; in 36 hours, he’ll allegedly kill a man he doesn’t know. If he is to survive over the next day and a half, he’ll need to stay one step ahead of his own department – which is now out to get him – and prove the Pre-Cogs wrong.

What spools from this premise is a labyrinthine plot that sometimes becomes unwieldy but which never becomes absurd. With Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow and Samantha Morton all pitch-perfect in supporting roles, the film borrows from a wealth of influences – “Metropolis,” “Blade Runner” and “Tron” chief among them – while considering a world without murder and throwing its bloody answers at the screen.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Tuesdays and Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores, starting alphabetically with the most current releases.

Baran ? A-

A Christmas Story ? A

Minority Report ? A-

Unfaithful ? B-

Halloween: Resurrection ? F

K-19: The Widowmaker ? C+

Stuart Little 2 ? A-

Austin Powers in Goldmember ? B-

Lilo & Stitch ? B+

Ice Age ? B

Lovely and Amazing ? A

Men in Black II ? C-

Sunset Boulevard (DVD) ? A+

Reign of Fire ? C+

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron ? B+

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing ? A

Bad Company ? D

The Importance of Being Earnest ? B-

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones ? C+

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys ? B-

The Powerpuff Girls Movie ? B

Pumpkin ? C+

The Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood ? B+

Eight Legged Freaks ? B

Spider-Man ? A-

Sum of All Fears ? D

E.T.: 20th Anniversary Edition ? A

Mr. Deeds ? D

Insomnia ? A

Life or Something Like It ? B-

Scooby-Doo ? C-

Windtalkers ? C-

Big Trouble ? D

Enough ? C-

Jason X ? Bomb

Brotherhood of the Wolf ? B

The Scorpion King ? B

Enigma ? C

Monsoon Wedding ? A-

Murder by Numbers ? C

Death to Smoochy ? B+

40 Days and 40 Nights ? C-

Monsters, Inc. ? A-

Panic Room ? B

Changing Lanes ? B

Count of Monte Cristo ? B+

Frailty ? C-

Blade II: B+

High Crimes ? C

Queen of the Damned ? C-

Iris ? B

Joe Somebody ? D

The Rookie ? A-

The Sweetest Thing ? D+

We Were Soldiers ? B+

Birthday Girl ? B

The Business of Strangers ? B

Clockstoppers ? C

In the Bedroom ? A

The New Guy ? D

Showtime ? C+

Deuces Wild ? D-

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ? B+

Collateral Damage ? D

Dragonfly ? D

Resident Evil ? C-

Crossroads ? C-

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist: B-

The Time Machine ? D-

Amelie ? A

John Q. ? C-

Pinero ? B

Charlotte Gray ? B+

Hart’s War ? B

The Royal Tenenbaums ? B+

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ? B+

Shallow Hal ? C

A Beautiful Mind ? B

Gosford Park ? B+

I Am Sam ? C

The Majestic ? D-

Max Keeble’s Big Move ? B

Orange County ? C-

The Shipping News ? C

Rollerball ? F

Black Hawk Down ? B

Kate & Leopold ? C+

Monster’s Ball ? A

The Mothman Prophecies ? C

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ? B 3/4