Star Trek: Generations – ***1/2 (of 4)

The Star Trek folks could have concocted all sorts of crazy schemes to

bring Captains Kirk and Picard together. It could have been bad, very

bad.

But it turned out to be very good. Screenwriters Ronald Moore and Brannon

Braga came up with the “Nexus” energy ribbon to bridge the cosmic

generation gap. Thankfully, they make no attempt to explain this

phenomenon. They don’t pull any quack astronomical excuses out of their

hats. Like Halley’s comet, it just flies around the universe with a snap,

crackle and pop. It’s a zen phenomenon – it just is.

With lengthy and embarrassing pseudo-science out of the way, the film

shines with the true strength of the Star Trek zeitgeist: the characters.

Seeing Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart emote alongside the Hollywood

campiness of William Shatner is a startling lesson.

As Captain Picard, Stewart commands the screen with his dignified manner.

As Captain Kirk, Shatner swaggers through the role with “Burt

Reynolds-as-The-Bandit” glee. Together, they create rare and beautiful

moments, answering years of Trekker “what ifs” with grace and aplomb. Their

meeting could not have been better choreographed. Is it silly? Of course it

is. But nobody tries to deny that, so it works.

Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is nowhere to be found inGenerations. The

story focuses more on the “Next Generation” era. While it would have been

nice to see what the old fellow is up to these days, I didn’t actually miss

him while watching the film. Data (Brent Spiner) fills the “Spockish” niche

quite well.

In one of the film’s major subplots, Data decides to use the computer chip

which allows him to experience human emotions. This makes for most of the

film’s comic relief, with the traditionally emotionless Data laughing at

every joke that was ever told to him.

This harks back to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when Mr. Spock

decided to experiment with profanity to better fit in on 20th century

Earth. It works better in the new film, however. It is more logical,

plot-wise, for Data to seek emotions than it was for Spock to want to “fit

in.”

Attention to other “Next Generation” characters could have also improved

the film. Commander Ryker (Jonathan Frakes) has some good macho battle

scenes and La Forge (Levar Burton) is integral to the plot, but their

on-screen time is sparse. Worf (Michael Dorn) is sorely under-used, as are

the major female characters, Deanna Troy (Marina Sirtis) and Dr. Beverly

Crusher (Gates McFadden).

The best thing about Star Trek movies is that fans often get to see the

beloved Enterprise blow up. Generations destroys the Enterprise in

the most spectacular fashion to date. The effects in this sequence are

stunning. To paraphrase an old slogan, “You will believe a starship can

fall.”