On the technical side, it was superb. Aside from what others have mentioned, the sound design was incredible. The phasers, particularly the hand guns, were very tough. Lots of strength in the beams. The sound effects were great in general. I liked the overall feeling of family among the crew. Riker leaving wasn't just an old friend leaving the job. He was the oldest son moving out on his own with his new bride. Data, the middle son, dies and the house was gutted by disaster, but they're repairing and moving on. The performances were all great, Jerry Goldsmith's penultimate score before his passing was excellent; the official soundtrack CD does not do it justice and neither does the epic butchering of the end credit piece. For his career and his life to end pretty much on that end credits suite is fitting. It's a beautiful send off (Looney Tunes: Back in Action was his true "last" score, but Nemesis was his final "dramatic" score). I miss Mr. Goldsmith's contributions to motion pictures a great deal. And honestly, I liked the whole atmosphere and the fact that it didn't take place on an Earth type planet inhabited by white people in clothing from the Land's End catalogue. I love Nemesis, always have.
It's been a long time since I've seen NEM, but the wedding scene felt pretty awkward and out-of-place. It seemed like something they tacked-on just for fan-wank reasons, and not to advance the plot in any way. The space battle CGI was quite good.
I'm among those who find this movie so frustrating because it did so many things wonderfully well, most of them mentioned here. Even much of the basic plot idea could have worked. I actually like the idea of delving into the mysterious "Romii" world shown on the star chart in "Balance of Terror." A Romulan coup/civil war backdrop could have worked wonderfully. Picard confronting the much-younger clone of himself, who took a very different path in life that filled him with hatred and resentment against his progenitor. Riker finally leaving the Enterprise behind and moving forward to his own command, with Deanna at his side as his new bride. A meaningful, touching end for Mr. Data. All great ideas that could have worked. Unfortunately the way they were put together just didn't gell. But wow, when I think about it, Nemesis could have been such a great film. *sigh*
The moral dilemma of Picards, that just what shapes us as we mature...How different upbringings are the crucible that makes us who and what we are. The NON-highlight?...Smoke coming out of the nacelles of the E going to warp.
The music. The scene with Picard and Riker as Riker is leaving the ship one last time. B4 humming "Blue Skies" and Picard helping him along and then strolling down the Enterprise passageway and smiling and it cuts to the Star Trek theme. Seeing the whole cast (minus Crosby) at the wedding scene.
I was planning on being that harsh, but I can't deny that the effects for that assassination scene looked pretty neat. It's a real shame about everything that came afterwards.
I think that the movie would've been much better if it had a different director. Stuart Baid just didn't seem to connect with the material all that much. If Frakes had directed it it may have turned out better. It just didn't gel all that well and probably would've with a different director. The script probably needed another draft too.
I was excited by the tagline when the film first was released in 2002. "A Generation's Final Journey Begins" got me so enthralled I overlooked any faults the film may have had for quite some time afterwards. But yes the film could have been better and they should have had Ambassador Spock or Commander Sela instead of relying on all-new characters outside the regular cast. Even Tomalek (sp?) would have been welcome!
Nemesis had great potential. The clone infiltrator plot should have been larger. The current Captain of the USS Titan is a clone and the Enterprise has to fight against a Federation starship. And they should have dumped that silly B4 sideplot. It wasn't necessary at all, it was a waste of precious screentime. Spock should have had a role in this. They could have at least mentioned him. I'd have left out the Reman subplot. Just have a Picard clone work in Romulan mines, amongst convicted Romulan and interspecies criminals. And Worf should have gotten a major, well choreographed, epic fight scene (finally). Worf in a big blade fight/fist fight against badass Ron Perlman. And then, and while it sounds minor it's actually a huge change: have the drydock scene at the beginning, and have the wedding at the END of the movie. The relationship between Riker and Troi came out of nowhere. It would have been nice and would have made for greater drama to build up to the wedding during the movie. And a "Picard gets orders, Enterprise triumphantly leaves drydock" beginning would have been a great nod to TMP, and they could have finally shown the Enterprise-E in all her glory in drydock.
Well, the Riker-Troi relationship as it was in the films started in Insurrection, but Riker always loved her, as Worf refers to at the end of that adventure.
It really didn't though. By the end of Insurrection they were a couple again. We went through seven years and two films of the will they/won't they get back together backstory and I guess all it took was the Fountain of Youth planet to push them over the edge and into a bathtub once and for all.
I didn't have a will they/won't they get back together backstory in mind, rather a will they kill off one of them or even both backstory in Nemesis that forces them even stronger together so they end up getting married. Touch on the plot point of All Good Things: Troi died in the future, and Riker blamed Worf for it. And Picard told them about it at the end of AGT. Yet that shadow never went away. And now Troi gets in real danger, and Worf saves the day.
The problem with that scenario is that Nemesis wasn't about Riker and Troi (or Worf, or Geordi, or Crusher). None of the four TNG movies were. They were all about Picard and Data, and Nemesis was no exception. Now I'm not being an apologist for Nemesis. I thought it sucked. But to focus on plot points from AGT would have required a completely different take on this movie. For the four TNG films, if you weren't Picard, Data, or the villain du jour, then you were just a bit player.
I actually had some high hopes after seeing this scene. It felt very in tune with classic Star Trek. The scene felt dangerous, and held a greater air of mystery than any part of TUC, for example. I had managed to remain spoiler-free so didn't know anything of what was to come. The exciting prospect of Romulans finally on the big screen and a brand new adventure for the Enterprise had me hooked. Then the rest of the movie played (sorry) Donatra and the Valdore also had great potential (but were underutilized)