In this 10th installment in the popular and long-running Star Trek franchise, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (Le Var Burton) is dispatched to the planet of Kolarus II where he finds pieces of a dismantled android. Once re-assembled, "B-4" turns out to be a prototype of the Enterprise's own Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner).
Then Captain Picard (Patrick Steward) and his crew are ordered to the Neutral Zone where he is to meet with the new leader of the Romulans, fierce enemies of the Federation who are now claiming to be interested in a peace treaty. Imagine Picard's surprise when he discovers that Shinzon (Tom Hardy) is a human replica of himself bio-engineered by the Romulans years ago to be used against the Federation. After slaving underground in the mines, this clone has found a protector, the Reman Viceroy (Ron Perlman), and they have destroyed all their enemies in the Romulan Senate. They possess a weapon of mass destruction and are willing to do anything to prove their power.
Stuart Baird directs Star Trek: Nemesis from a story by John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner. The drama derives its most interesting moments in the battle of wills between Captain Picard and his clone Shinzon. Whereas the younger man is bitter and angry, convinced that he has no choice but to destroy his enemies, Picard argues that to be human is to aspire to be better than the cards he has been dealt. Their struggle is one we all face as we square off against the shadow side of ourselves and make choices about who we really are.
This theme is repeated in the relationship between B-4 and Lieutenant Commander Data. A sidebar plot deals with the recent wedding of Officer William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). The close-knit family of the Enterprise crew is about to be broken up. The values that have held them together through countless adventures and perils again come to the fore in this story — courage, self-sacrifice, and patience under pressure.
