So, this just raised a thought. Over the years I've read so many complaints about how Picard is nothing like TNG and how the characters are different places and their lives and how they look old and how the Picard isn't about exploration..were the same complaints raised about the TOS movies..because as you stated the TOS movies are nothing like the shows, many are darker in tone, and most of them are not about "exploring" either.
I'd still say the characters still largely act like the characters, however. There's times for thought and introspection in the first few movies, certainly.
Generations had quieter moments and a looming threat that the Enterprise has to deal with with a very restrained action sequence that consisted largely of 3 people.
First Contact primarily adopts a feeling of dread, again, fairly small scale in its action sequences and has lots of lovely acting by Patrick Stewart, Aflre Woodward etc. You get how utterly terrifed Picard is of the Borg because of what they'd done to him. It's a well done callback and makes sense in context.
Insurections tends to be the odd duck, praised by many for being closest to a long form TNG episode its tightly directed and pretty well written all things considered, and it made a modest profit but the writing's clearly coming on the wall here.
Nemsis. Oh Nemesis, you red headed stepchild of a movie. This is where the weird shift occurs, characters still largely act like they should, but it has such a radically different feel and tone, the lighting technicians are locked in a closet somewhere for the entire shooting of this film, everything has a sickly green, grey or black filter sloshed over it the directing doesn't
feel right for even a Trek film and the scripting at times feels sloppy.
Then we come to Picard. When it was first announced it was to be a deep character study and analysis of Picard himself. The man, the myth, the legend.
Indeed, Picard as a character was the diplomat, the talker, the one who knew things and people and would mediate situations. So, what would we see? Perhaps Picard as a more formal Federation Diplomat settling disputes with some new races, or old faces who
only trust him as a neutral party?
He's semi-retired and would rather be at the Chateau checking this year's grape crop but instead still accepts that he has obligations to the galaxy and any way to prevent loss of life and other bad situations that only his wisened, soothing words could stop?
Or maybe a man in his Chateau reflecting on a life well lived and speaking to people from his long, storied career and how he helped and nutured them? Maybe we'll get a nice callback like the Dixon Hill holonovel that he asks one of his friends to come back for as it's the last ever one to be made?
No, we got action-hero Picard from Nemesis teaming up with a plucky crew of Misfits solving a Galaxy spanning Mystery and a heavy hint the Romulans gave birth to the Borg.
And an atrocious French Accent with a stupid eyepatch.
