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There are rumors bouncing off the walls of Hollywood that this, the ninth
installment of the Star Trek Legacy, is the last we will see.  If this is
the case then I think this is an appropriate ending to a long series of
movies.

Plot Overview
Captain Picard (Patrick Steward) and the crew of the Enterprise are faced
with a delima, allow a Federation/Son'a alliance to remove the peaceful
Bak'u people from their planet and re-locate them to another planet without
any re-juvination abilities or defy orders and protect the Bak'u from
relocation.  Picard and crew (naturally) decide to go against orders and
defend the Bak'u.

As the show develops Picard falls in love with the Bak'u woman Anij (Donna
Murphy).

Review
Writing

Rick Berman and Michael Piller did a great job of crafting a fun, funny, and
light-hearted action movie.  I found myself laughing at almost all of the
jokes in the movie, especially an exchange between Doctor Crusher (Gates
McFadden) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) when Troi was commenting on how
the radiation of the planet was making her "boobs" firm up.

The plot-line of Bak'u v.s. Son'a was well crafted with an unexpected twist.
I also liked the way the show gave us a glimpse of a darker side in the
Federation.   Dispite the strong points in the main plot there were a few
weaknesses, like the way Berman and Piller decided to leave Data's emotion
chip out of the episode, a definite backstep in his characters evolution.

The sub-plot relationship between Picard and Anij was stronger than the plot
and left me wanting more, much more.  I got the impression from the movie
that the romantic sub-plot was once the plot of the show but at one point
they decided to change the focus, possibly in post-production.  The sub-plot
was the shining jewel of the entire movie.

On final note, I also liked the scenes between Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and
Troi.   They were cute, fun, and I feel like their relationship was a
longtime coming.

Acting
The performances in this movie were polished, a pure joy.  Patrick Stewart
played his role flawlessly, with an ease that was developed over more than
ten years of playing the same role.  F. Murray Abraham played the role of
Ru'afo with the malicious talent that he showed in Amadeus.  The stunning
Donna Murphy (Anij) was equally polished, it is easy to see why she won her
Tony Awards.

As for the secondary characters, Johnathan Frakes, Michael Dorn (Worf), and
Brent Spiner (Data) all delivered great performances once again.  LeVar
Burton was good in the movie but he wasn't given much time on the screen to
really shine.  Marina Sirtis was fantastic once again, I just wish they
would use her more often since she seems to steal most of the scene's that
she is in.  Unfortunately Gates McFadden (Crusher) wasn't given much screen
time, in fact, some of the Bak'u secondary actors were given more screen
time than McFadden.

Directing
Jonathan Frakes did another great job in directing this movie and it is easy
to see why he has been tapped to direct Total Recall II.  There was a time
in the film where he used a moving camera shot that seemed to distract from
the scene.

Sound
The sound effects were good (dispite not being filmed in THX).  The movie
sountract was not particularly memorable and there weren't any new theme's
in the film that stayed in my mind.

Effects
The special effects were better than most films.  There were a few times
where I could tell the effects were computer generated.  The stunts were
also well done, although once again there was a scene where the stunts
looked contrived (when the villagers were blown off of a bridge).

Recap
I really enjoyed this movie and plan on seeing it again.  The nature of the
movie (i.e.. a lighthearted adventure) didn't allow me to walk away with a
lasting emotional impression and that is the only real flaw with the movie.
I think that if they had focused more on the relationship between Picard and
Anij this flaw would have been resolved.

I think fan's of Star Trek will enjoy this movie more than non-fans.  This
is mainly because the fans finally get to see Picard fall in love and the
relationship between Troi and Riker is  growing again (yahoo!!!).
My only real disappointment with the movie was the way they got rid of
Data's emotion chip.  I have the impression that either Berman or Pillar
didn't like the idea of the emotion chip and want Data to de-evolve into a
character trying to discover his humanity again.

Personally I think this is a mistake.

Score: 4.5 out of 5