This thoroughly entertaining movie is probably the best of the Star Trek movie series, thanks to a fast pace and a complex plot which throws in a number of different ingredients into the brew and keeps things moving at a speed, without ever becoming too technical or confusing. While the film is clichéd in places (that old "countdown to self-destruction" is pulled out of the stock ideas closet AGAIN) and guilty of being a rip-off in others, the sheer quantity and quality of the action, acting, set design, and fluid direction make it a rip-roaring adventure in the best old fashioned sense. Only a few times does it throw in some sickly sentimentalising, which is another plus.
The main problem with the film is the lack of characterisation - as there are so many characters and situations packed into so little time, a lot of people get left out. A good portion of the film is made up of action and events, which leaves us little time to get to know the characters. Female crew members Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden are near forgotten and get only a few lines after the inclusion of Alfre Woodard as a tough female heroine, who is admittedly good but hogs too much of the limelight. Meanwhile, Jonathan Frakes and Levar Burton are relegated to near-cameo roles after being earthbound for most of the movie. This is understandable with Frakes, as he was busy directing after all, but it doesn't give much opportunity to check out Burton's cool robotic eyes very much.
Patrick Stewart is as good as ever as Captain Picard, and here he's given plenty of opportunity to be tough and sweatily frightened in equal measure. The character of Data, the android, is also explored, which is quite interesting as he is mainly used as simple comic relief. Michael Dorn is wasted as Worf, the klingon member of the crew, and has little to do aside from run around and grunt a lot. Non crew-members include James Cromwell as the drunken inventor (very different role here) and Alice Krige who gets to play the chief villainess - a memorably slimy addition to the baddies, who gets a memorable introduction via her head and spine being inserted into the rest of her body.
As time travel is used as a plot device, there are the expected number of plot holes which have been brushed over smoothly with lines of jargon as throwaway explanations, something which annoyed me a little. My favourite parts of the movie involve the crew exploring the parts of their ship which have been taken over by the Borg, including quite a few spooky moments which resemble the best bits of ALIENS. The Borg are an impressive army of cyborg killers, and the scenes of them being put together are a lot of fun in a grisly-but-tame kind of way. As a special effects-laden blockbuster (the CGI is incidentally pretty good), this movie is action-packed enough to appeal to both fans and non-fans of the series, and a lot of fun to watch - just don't expect anything too heavy.
The main problem with the film is the lack of characterisation - as there are so many characters and situations packed into so little time, a lot of people get left out. A good portion of the film is made up of action and events, which leaves us little time to get to know the characters. Female crew members Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden are near forgotten and get only a few lines after the inclusion of Alfre Woodard as a tough female heroine, who is admittedly good but hogs too much of the limelight. Meanwhile, Jonathan Frakes and Levar Burton are relegated to near-cameo roles after being earthbound for most of the movie. This is understandable with Frakes, as he was busy directing after all, but it doesn't give much opportunity to check out Burton's cool robotic eyes very much.
Patrick Stewart is as good as ever as Captain Picard, and here he's given plenty of opportunity to be tough and sweatily frightened in equal measure. The character of Data, the android, is also explored, which is quite interesting as he is mainly used as simple comic relief. Michael Dorn is wasted as Worf, the klingon member of the crew, and has little to do aside from run around and grunt a lot. Non crew-members include James Cromwell as the drunken inventor (very different role here) and Alice Krige who gets to play the chief villainess - a memorably slimy addition to the baddies, who gets a memorable introduction via her head and spine being inserted into the rest of her body.
As time travel is used as a plot device, there are the expected number of plot holes which have been brushed over smoothly with lines of jargon as throwaway explanations, something which annoyed me a little. My favourite parts of the movie involve the crew exploring the parts of their ship which have been taken over by the Borg, including quite a few spooky moments which resemble the best bits of ALIENS. The Borg are an impressive army of cyborg killers, and the scenes of them being put together are a lot of fun in a grisly-but-tame kind of way. As a special effects-laden blockbuster (the CGI is incidentally pretty good), this movie is action-packed enough to appeal to both fans and non-fans of the series, and a lot of fun to watch - just don't expect anything too heavy.