Television enemies the Borg have travelled back in time to prevent humans making first contact with aliens and ushering in a new era of peace and space exploration. Fortunately the plucky Enterprise is able to follow them to the 21st Century to ensure that history follows its allotted course.
Jonathan Frakes (who also plays Commander Riker) takes on directorial duties for this entry in the long-running film series. Despite capably staging explosion after explosion, he never builds suspense to a level where it's conceivable that our heroes may fail.
While some quality dark humour comes from the dominatrix-outfitted Borg Queen's (Alice Krige) attempts to seduce android Data (Brent Spiner), other attempts at lightening the tone seem forced and stiff in comparison.
Patrick Stewart believably plays Captain Picard as a man grappling with his own inner fears, and he and Spiner are clearly the most talented actors on display. While others try hard (Alfre Woodard in particular), their energies are dissipated in the broad storyline which switches uncomfortably between a running battle on board the Enterprise and an effort on the surface of the Earth to ensure that first contact is made on schedule.
Focusing more on action sequences than characterisation, the breakneck pace gives an unsatisfying result.
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