Overview
Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves at odds with the renegade scientist Soran who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme...and he's been dead for seventy-eight years.
The film was planned as a way to expand the Next Generation saga onto the big screen, and was also used as a way to officially ‘hand-over’ the reins to the new crew (well, new-ish…they had been running on TV for the better part of the decade). Starting off with the launch of the Enterprise-B, overseen by special guests Kirk, Scotty and Chekov, an emergency rescue call sees the unfinished and inexperienced ship encounter a strange energy ribbon. Kirk, being Kirk, helps out and in doing so is caught in a section of the ship which gets destroyed by the ribbon, and is presumed killed.
Almost 80 years later the Enterprise-D receives a distress call from a solar observatory. On investigation they find that all but Doctor Soran (played magnificently by Malcolm McDowell) are killed, the station having been attacked by Romulans. However, Soran is up to something dangerous which threatens the lives of many, as he is conducting some experiments which he hopes will draw the energy ribbon back to him and allow him to re-enter ‘the nexus’ – a personal paradise contained within the ribbon.
As said, the film is an excuse to get the TV crew onto the big screen, and in doing so they perform adequately. If any criticism could be levied it would be that the majority of the crew, such as Worf, Beverly, Deanna, and even Riker, are side-lined for most of the film as the focus is on Picard and Data. This would be a grave criticism if it were not for the fact that Patrick Stewart delivers a remarkable turn in his role – which sees him grieving over the loss of a nephew, and later on encountering his perfect life with a family of his own. In these moments we see a frailty, and a lifetime of regrets at always being career focused, how his devotion to service has left him feeling that he missed out on personal life. At the same time, Data implants the emotion chip he received from Lore in the TV series, giving Brent Spiner a chance to really let himself go as the android experiences the wide range of emotions through the film (and also results in one of the truly genuine funny moments as the ship begins to dive towards the planet surface in the third act). Data had always been the straight man in the series, now on film he has been given a change of character which lends well to the big screen.
But there is a further flaw. The film seems like an expanded episode of the TV series, and the inclusion of Kirk is unnecessary, feeling a little forced just to have the two captains meet. It does have an ending that makes you ponder why, if they could leave the nexus at any point, didn’t they go back in time further and stop Soran’s plan right from the start? In fact, there are quite a few holes scattered throughout, which if you dwell on them can be a tad frustrating. But they don’t prevent the film from being a fun ride, and a bold first step out for the TV crew. The film closes with a destroyed ship, and a nudge that there will be another ship called Enterprise. This was a film made for the fans, and it is they who will appreciate it most. For non-Trekkies, the next film would be their entry point to this new crew.