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Reviews
Pryde of the X-Men (1989)
Has it's ups and downs...
"Pryde of the X-Men" was obviously an attempt to stay within the spirit of 1980s cartoons rather than bring the X-Men to life.
When considering the cartoons of the 80s, you have to think of the following things that EVERY hero cartoon (G.I. Joe, He-Man, She-Ra, early Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Superfriends, Transformers, etc.) did. The word "hordes" was used at least 400 times in each episode of each cartoon to describe the villain's army (even if the "army' only consisted of 5 people). "You'll regret this!" was shouted by each villain once or more in each episode. Every battle started with exactly ONE (1) corny line of dialogue, uninterrupted, from each participant, and the battle would continue with no further voicings except screaming when hit, or sound effects.
"Pryde of the X-Men" is the story of Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat and how she comes to join the X-Men. There's no real complaints with any of the X-Men's portrayals in the show, except for Wolverine... why, why, WHY did they have to make him Australian? Colossus sounds like a Russian stereotype, Nightcrawler is German (and seems to be rather "interested" in Kitty), Cyclops is the boy scout leader type, and Storm doesn't talk. Oh yeah, and Dazzler. "Leave this to the Dazzler!" Classic. The powers aren't consistent with the comics, at least, not entirely. White Queen throws glowing spears of some sort, Magneto seems to have super-strength, and Dazzler seems to fire a conventional laser gun.
If you like 80s cartoons, watch this, but don't expect a solid book to screen translation. Stan Lee could've done better (and did, in the 1993 cartoon on Fox.)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Possibly the best in the entire series...
After "Star Trek" movies especially, we get all kinds of people who complain about the feasability of portions of the action. They should be reminded that it is, in fact, a science fiction movie, which gives the creators license to make stuff up and put it in. With "Star Trek", since 1987 anyway, the screenwriters have done a good job of keeping the continuity going.
"Nemesis" is a gem in relation to the rest of the series. While the nay-sayers will point that it is similar to "ST II: The Wrath of Khan" in several key ways, I take solace in the fact that at the very least, it is much better performed than "Khan."
Patrick Stewart once again carries the load as Jean-Luc Picard, and reminds us why he is the best actor ever to be associated with "Star Trek." Tom Hardy also gives a convincing performance as the tyrannical Shinzon, Picard's mirror and villain.
"Nemesis" is decidedly more light-hearted in nature compared to other films in the series, with more humour inserted for both fans and non-fans. It also contains more action than we are used to seeing in previous films; it is up to the viewer to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
The biggest downfall of the picture is the amount of emotional sap that is written into it. Without giving anything away, the cast spends quite a bit of time giving "Goodbye, I love you" speeches to one another. It's noticeable, but not that bad.
The dogfight scenes are the best the series has ever offered. There is no question that this aspect defeats any ship combat ever offered before in any kind of "Star Trek" programming.
Overall, I would say that "Nemesis" is arguably the best chapter in the "Star Trek" series, with "First Contact" and "The Wrath of Khan" being the only other contenders. 9/10