Tenth entry in the series, if, that is, you can regard the adventures of two distinct starship crews as somehow connected and continuous. The one episode of overlap, Star Trek Generations (thanks to a spot of time travel), makes it harder to argue for separation. But an argument could be made all the same. The reunion of the original crew on the big screen, and the resumption of their exploits a decade after their TV cancellation, was something quite unique, and for a while quite vital. To attach them to their parasitic successors is to tarnish their legacy even further than they eventually tarnished it themselves. Granted, one of the nice things about a science-fiction "franchise," whether you look at it as one or two, is that the cast of characters is not just cannon fodder to be sacrificed to some ravening alien, as in most cinematic space operas. And this installment makes use of that fact to reach for an emotional payoff equal to that of The Wrath of Khan -- if, again, you can feel the same for Picard and Data as you once could for Kirk and Spock. Even if you can, you still might not feel that this one is as clear as that other one in either thematic development or cinematography. ("Can you learn to see in the dark, Captain?") Patrick Stewart, confronted on this occasion with a youthful clone of himself (Tom Hardy) who more strongly suggests a clone of Mike Myers's Dr. Evil, is his usual commanding self. And Brent Spiner is a thicker layer of makeup over an increasingly cracking façade. Directed by Stuart Baird. (2002) — Duncan Shepherd