What I can say? They all are great! Some are better than others, but still is very enjoyable, why there is so mixed reviews about it? I can understand some specific complains, but that dosen’t make it bad.
I feel like that’s the Trek films in a nutshell - from a critic’s standpoint, they’re not necessarily all great, but they almost feel like long Star Trek episodes that you enjoy anyway.
Here’s my thoughts on each film:
- Generations: Honestly, I think pretty good with a solid overall plot. I loved Data’s arc - I feel like they did a great job not taking the comic relief too far. The fight scene was delightfully campy, and the “Time is a predator” stuff is so memorable to me.
- First Contact: I think it was a fun film. It’s almost the Wrath of Khan of the TNG films - a lot more action, with some Trek - which is probably why it’s considered the best. Personally, I prefer Generations, but this is still a good watch.
- Insurrection: There were a lot of fun moments, but the overall plot wasn’t that great - Picard’s new love interest that we never hear about again, the weird theme about “being in the moment” that I feel didn’t integrate into the plot all that well, etc.
- Nemesis: I think Nemesis had a lot of great things that didn’t quite land at the end. I think Shinzon did a great acting job, but could have been written better. They made him more irrational than I think he should have been, and the whole plot with “blowing up the earth” and “conquering the galaxy” felt way out of line for someone who is the product of and survived imperialism. As for B4, I feel they didn’t address the ethical concerns of throwing Data’s mind in him. At the end, blowing up Data didn’t help, but if the rest of the movie had been written better, I might have been fine with this choice, Chances are, whether through B4 or a Search for Spock-esque plot, we would have gotten another film where we got Data back.
Generations is one of my favorites. Frequently underrated, imo. I honestly might place it above First Contact but I love all of Gene’s children equally.
I honestly think Generations gets hated on more than it should because the Enterprise D is destroyed. People love that ship.
My sad take is that I felt like I noticed a shift in the opinions of fandom after that infamous Red Letter Media review in 2012. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love those reviews and think they’re hilarious, but a lot of Redditors (and Lemmy-ers) seemed to look at the Plinkett character as someone worth emulating instead of despising.
I thought the crossover element of Generations really brought it down. The original cast had a far better farewell in Star Trek VI, and I don’t think the writers of Generations had enough to say about Kirk’s character to justify the tortured story logic that brought him in.
Give me a Kirkless cut and I’ll be so much happier. All the pure TNG elements work fine for me, McDowell is great, and the D looks beautiful with cinematic lighting.
I just watched First Contact again a few days ago, and I honestly don’t understand why it is the highest rated TNG movie. I didn’t think it was very good.
Generations is a fun movie, but I demand an edit where Picard uses the Nexus to go back and save his nephew from burning to death and then uses his foreknowledge to defeat Soren easily.
Why is it okay to go back to save millions of Veridians but not to save Remy and then the Veridians by extension? Either way you’re messing with the timeline. Soren already won.
