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The short version: Better than Insurrection. Fans will like it, non-fans will likely stay home in droves.

The long version:

Rather a wimpasaurus villain in this one, eh? OK, so he's a French clone with an English accent and a killer case of acid reflux disease, he's got a bad ship, a few pug-ugly henchcritters, and a serious attitude problem from being forced to mine dilithium for 20 years. Big fat hairy deal - if he had a lick of sense in his bald head, he would have simply put it in reverse after being rammed, backed up, then crushed the helpless Enterprise's bridge. Crew dies, you pluck Picard's lifeless body out of the vacuum of space, get the blood you need from the corpse, then proceed to Earth and wipe it out on schedule. No rocket science needed - game over.

And while I'm at it, was I the only one who thought that an "ultimate weapon" that takes 7 minutes to deploy is extremely lame? Must have been tech they stole from the "We are smarrrrrt!" Pakled.

At least Berman didn't have to pay Wil Wheaton (at the head table in the reception scene) outrageous union rates for a speaking part. Allah be praised (although they should have just put a cardboard cutout of Wesley Crusher up there and saved even more money) ...

OK, there was some cool stuff in this movie. The Reman's little Scorpion fighters were just the thing for those nasty traffic jams on the interstate, I'm glad I was sitting down during most of Marina Sirtis' scenes (especially in the white, sheer full-length nightie), and they killed off Data but really didn't in a fairly adept way. The Reman's redshirts are just as lousy shots as any other villain in a Star Trek movie though. And, with 350 years of human progress between the Federation and us, can't they come up with anything better than an ATV (with Bridgestone tires - I recognized the tread pattern) and eyeglasses (EYEGLASSES?) that would have looked at home on Lance Armstrong's brow? And what was this bullcrap about Picard "looking forward" to flying the Argo so much? Its a freaking shuttle with little wings on the side. Yaaaaaaawn. Go fly the Captain's Yacht next time, Jean-Luc - its the only ship we didn't see in the series.

I have a confession to make - I'm such a complete geek about this stuff that I almost screamed the name of the song that Riker couldn't remember Data trying to whistle the first time he met him (it was "Pop Goes the Weasel"). I laughed knowingly at Worf's reaction to being told that he was going to have to get naked at a Betazoid wedding (although he apparently had no trouble getting naked with the bride-to-be in the last Next Generation episode).

But I have to wonder - who did Gates McFadden piss off? The last three movies have featured her smiling wanly and generally just standing around doing nothing. Geez, marry her off and get her off that ship - they've got holographic doctors now anyway.

Anyway, go see the movie if you're a fan. Maybe Patrick Stewart will make enough from this one to get a decent weave.

Good analysis. I went home disappointed, but that's qualified by the fact that I expected to. It was one of those movies that keeps you waiting for the good part, the sequence worth $8.75, the meat, the climax, the stuff after the lead in, but it never comes, and you're left with an unimpressive final battle, and an ending far too abrupt and empty to conclude an entire series, let alone one movie. The title character was awful, didn't resemble Picard at all, and the picture showing cadet Picard that ugly and already bald left me with a sick feeling. It was strangely disconcerting to see the proud and untouchable Romulans at the 'mercy' of a bald-teenager (I already forget his name). I'm sick of corny superweapons, especially ones that turn their victims into stone. There are so many more imaginative ways to kill people that have never even been explored. Was Before a Soongh creation, and what was up with the the four-wheelers who chased Picard, Data, and Worf? Can't they think of a more inspired name for Riker's command than Titan. When two starships run into each other head on, they don't mangle and interweave; they blow up. I hated to see two ugly butterflies replace the old green double-wing warbirds(the best looking, most intimidating ship in ST). The slow, original-music flybys of the Enterprise were classic. What was the point of the Riker-Reman battle-scene at the end? To fill up time? Predictably and sadly disappointing, but worth seeing.

Great review! 7 minutes to activate the weapon DOES seem pretty lame. Would have been a really cool scene to see the ship de-cloak fully armed and ready!

Actually, when it came to the ramming thing, I didn't buy how easy it was for the clone to just back up and separate the two ships. I mean, the Enterprise wasn't going full reverse so how did the ships sepatate without the jaws of life? Wouldn't the Enterprise just be pulled along with the Romulan ship?

I wanted to yell out "POP GOES THE WEASEL YOU TWIT!" too!

For a really good look at Marina Sirtis, check out at movie called "The Wicked Lady" starring Faye Dunaway. Horrible movie, but you get to see A LOT more of her than in Star Trek. From the early '80s, IIRC.

FReegards!