Why no respect for NEro??

[srombomb]

I keep reading from these so-called Star Trek purists, and even in regular reviews of the new Star Trek movie that Nero is a villain who is considered weak by many.

I have absolutely no idea why. Explain to me why I would "feel" for Kahn? The guy tore apart our favorite Captains ship in Space Seed and then held Kirk and co. hostage. So because his new wife dies while on ceti alpha 5 that is supposed to make me feel like he really got the raw end of the stick when in reality it was his actions that got him banished to that planet to begin with. Wake up people, Kahn was not someone who deserved pity points. Not in the least.
Whereas Nero is considered someone you would feel less for, even though you know his background was from working in a blue collar field, supporting a wife and almost newborn child, only to see them get killed because his government, and the Vulcan government, and Spock prime failed to destory the star in time. I can relate to that kind of rage as long as the person was a good doer before they went nutty over everything that ensued.

Someone posted that Chang was a better villian lol. Are you kidding me? What because he quoted shakespeare so well? Give me a break, we got no backstory on Chang, none, notta, zip. All we knew was that he was an admirer of Captain Kirk's fellow warrior status. Or some have said the Borg queen was better? Huh? Right I loved that whole motivation of her trying to get into Data's pants. Not sure if that was creepy in a villain sort of way or downright gross. Sure did make a great villain alright In all seriousness she wasn't bad, but to say she was superior to Nero is a little wacky in my opinion.

Nero/Eric Bana gave me a villain that looked menacing from the first scene of the movie. I've never been creeped out by someone in a film who merely sits in a chair and stares in the opposite direction as the person addressing them. He managed to do that to me. His accent and interesting way his mouth pronounced and screamed at different things. His intensity while tortoring Capt. Pike was first rate acting, and well enough in character describing why he was so pissed off to begin with. So we got a solid backstory as to why Nero had the motivations he did. People argue that he shouldn't be mad at Spock, but when something bad happens to your family, the rage that ensues usually ensures all bets are off at thinking "rational" for a certain period of time and that is when your looking to place blame against the easiest person to place blame on.

So yeh, I rate Nero's character as one of the better villains in Star Trek history. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to cut down the greatness of Kahn, but when I read people arguing they "felt" something for Kahn, I think they outta go back and rewatch space seed and realize the guy was a total douche from day 1 in terms of his motivations

Lastly, I think alot of people are forgetting that one main reason Nero had to wait for Spock Primes appearance was-- RED MATTER. Spock had it in his ship, Nero didn't. It's just that simple. He wouldn't have been able to go destroy Vulcan without it.

Lay off Nero already!! He was a cool villain to add to Trek lore.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Dude blew up Vulcan. Give him his props.

 

[srombomb]

exactly! Kahn couldn't even take out one starship! Let alone blow up a planet.

 

[Lawrence B]

Yup. Nero pulled off something no other baddie including the Borg and Klingons were able to come close to doing - blow up the homeworld of one of the Federation's founding members.

 

[waynehead]

There's something to be said for being articulate.

A villain like Khan or Chang is more interesting because they choose evil, despite their brilliance. Remember in ST2 when his sidekick is all like "sir, we have a ship, we can just fly the F outta here" and Khan insists they stay to fight? His obsession with Kirk is his tragic flaw, which is another thing most great villains have.

Nero, on the other hand, is just a grunting single-minded blob in my view.

Also, great villains usually challenge their adversaries in some capacity...Khan was smarter and stronger than Kirk. Ultimately kirk's victory over Khan is our victory, too, b/c like us he's just human and yet he's still able to overcome the odds.

Kirk beta, OTOH, seems to have every advantage over Nero...he's braver, cleverer, bolder...it's just that his ship is puny by comparison. His triumph is less meaningful than Kirk's victory in ST2 b/c, let's face it, in a bar fight or a chess match, we know Kirk beta would win every time. That's why Nero is a lesser villain. It's also part of the reason why ST11 is a lesser film...

 

[Vger]

Yup. Nero pulled off something no other baddie including the Borg and Klingons were able to come close to doing - blow up the homeworld of one of the Federation's founding members.

One thing that always bothered me about the Borg 'invasions' was they only used one cube. Never made any sense. No way would they Federation have been able to survive had they come in with more ships.

As for Nero. I liked him. Wasn't an evil character like the others but was made into one by events. Felt sorry for him unlike the others.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Khan and Chang were moronic, egocentric dumbasses, Khan most of all. Kirk was all kinds of nice and forthcoming to him. If I had been Kirk, I would have told the Feds a story that would have made them either execute Khan or lock him up forever.

Khan was too dumb to shut up when he should have known that his stupid babbling would rouse suspicions. Idiot.

Nero, though....what a guy. He blew up Vulcan, so kudos to him. Great move. He had the coolest ship ever. His attitude was cool, too, the way he talked to Pike was something we have never seen before. And then, he's very attractive. I know, I'm shallow. Sue me.

 

[Alrik]

Sorry to the bashers. Got to give Nero props here as well. How refreshing and eerie was it to hear:

"Hi, Christopher. I'm Nero."

No pretense, no respect. Basically a, you're screwed and can't do nothing about it so deal with it type attitude.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I had expected a babbling, evil overlord kind of villain, but got a driven, tortured, sort of mad, but very three-dimensional person. Very nice.

 

[srombomb]

Interesting, but did you not catch the scene where Nero's number 2 was clearly hinting to Nero that they should maybe look into doing bigger and better things than just waiting for Spock? However, Nero insisted they wait to nab him. Red matter or no red matter he had the most powerful ship of that timeline and could have used it to take control of the galaxy. Instead he waits for Spock Prime, who was ultimately the reason why (regardless of Vulcan waving bye bye) he failed and was defeated by baby Kirk and Spock. So like all great villians, he also had a flaw and a tragic one at that: Obsession with one person. "SPOCCCCCCCCCCCK".

There truly is something to be said about being articulate.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

There's something to be said for being articulate.

A villain like Khan or Chang is more interesting because they choose evil, despite their brilliance. Remember in ST2 when his sidekick is all like "sir, we have a ship, we can just fly the F outta here" and Khan insists they stay to fight? His obsession with Kirk is his tragic flaw, which is another thing most great villains have.

Nero, on the other hand, is just a grunting single-minded blob in my view.

Also, great villains usually challenge their adversaries in some capacity...Khan was smarter and stronger than Kirk. Ultimately kirk's victory over Khan is our victory, too, b/c like us he's just human and yet he's still able to overcome the odds.

Kirk beta, OTOH, seems to have every advantage over Nero...he's braver, cleverer, bolder...it's just that his ship is puny by comparison. His triumph is less meaningful than Kirk's victory in ST2 b/c, let's face it, in a bar fight or a chess match, we know Kirk beta would win every time. That's why Nero is a lesser villain. It's also part of the reason why ST11 is a lesser film...

No, it's the reason why you're knitpicking a really good film. Wow...

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Interesting, but did you not catch the scene where Nero's number 2 was clearly hinting to Nero that they should maybe look into doing bigger and better things than just waiting for Spock? However, Nero insisted they wait to nab him. Red matter or no red matter he had the most powerful ship of that timeline and could have used it to take control of the galaxy. Instead he waits for Spock Prime, who was ultimately the reason why (regardless of Vulcan waving bye bye) he failed and was defeated by baby Kirk and Spock. So like all great villians, he also had a flaw and a tragic one at that: Obsession with one person. "SPOCCCCCCCCCCCK".

There truly is something to be said about being articulate.

Quoting Shakespeare doesn't make you articulate. But what you said makes my good mate Nero here a three-diamensional rather than a cardboard character. In my opinion of course.

I said I thought he was cool, not terribly bright.