Star Trek: Insurrection Review
by Michael Redman (redman AT indepen DOT com)December 17th, 1998
Another day in the Trek life
Star Trek Insurrection
A Film Review By Michael Redman
Copyright 1998 By Michael Redman
**1/2 (Out of ****)
Ever-expanding civilizations run into a problem eventually. The Roman Empire had its external enemies, but internal problems are what finally defeated the massive state. The government had fallen into a state of disrepair, the infrastructure couldn't stand the weight and it all collapsed into itself. The "barbarians" at the gate were merely finishing off what had already been accomplished.
Some critics of modern western civilization compare it to Rome just before its downfall. They say that it's too complex and the center cannot hold. We'll see.
In the far-flung future of "Star Trek", the United Federation Of Planets, spanning hundreds of planets, could be slowly falling apart. The Borg and Dominion are pressuring it from without. More importantly, the Federation High Council seems willing to abandon its most sacred rule for a shot of rejuvenation.
As the third Next Generation "Star Trek" film opens, an investigatory team of Federation and their new allies the Son'a are spying on a peaceful Ba'ku village. Android Data (Brent Spiner), on loan from the Enterprise, goes berserk for some reason, attacking his teammates and exposing them to the Ba'ku.
Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) is determined to destroy Data, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) demands a few hours to rectify the situation. When he arrives at the planet, he discovers that the android is the least of the problem. In apparent violation of the Prime Directive, the Federation is attempting to secretly re-locate the Ba'ku because their world is the fountain of youth.
As anyone with any Trek knowledge would know, Picard decides that the civilian population is being wronged. Casting aside direct orders from a superior officer, he and the rest of the Enterprise officers beam down to save the innocents.
"Star Trek" has a remarkably long history in terms of popular culture. The television program debuted 32 years ago and has spawned several sequel series and nine films as well as nurturing a substantial subculture of Trekkies and Trekkers. This movie, as well as previous ones, is for them and they'll love it.
The "Next Generation" series has been off the air for a while and the films are the only opportunity to watch new adventures of Picard, Data, William Riker (Jonathan Frakes who also directs), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden).
For the rest of the audience, the film is a mixed experience. It is a well-done new episode in the future history of the Enterprise crew, but it isn't anything spectacular.
Showing the new "Star Wars" preview before the film might be a mistake. After the breathtaking scenes from what will surely be next year's blockbuster, "Insurrection" pales by comparison. Trek has a history of an odd style of storytelling. There are very few moments of high drama. Most of the scenes take place in small rooms. There's a whole lot of talking and rarely a sense of danger.
The big battle on the planet's surface involves the Federation and Son'a tracking down the fleeing Ba'ku and shooting them -- with little darts. When they are hit, they are teleported up to the orbiting ship. It doesn't come across as real combat, but more like a futuristic game of paintball. Get shot and you're out of the game.
The space battles aren't much better. Most of the action is offscreen. Word has it that some of the effects didn't work and scenes were cut. When Riker uses a video game joystick to steer the ship, it laughable not exciting.
Even the sinister Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham), leader of the Son'a, is underdone. Abraham is capable of a fine performance, but we don't get much here. Ru'afo will not rank in the list of great "Star Trek" villains.
"Star Trek" also has a long-standing tradition of recycling old stories and ideas. It's obvious when the camera pans over the Ba'ku village and shows them to be beautiful people living in harmony with their environment, that they're soon to be in big trouble. The Son'a are hideous, confirming the problems with too many facelifts. Guess who are the aggressors.
Disobeying the Federation to do the right thing is so common that we don't even see Picard agonizing over his decision. I kept awaiting the "insurrection" in the title but it's nothing that we haven't seen before.
Heavy handed allegories are also a Trek convention. The Ba'ku being relocated for their natural resources is a reference to any number of historical events especially the plight of Native Americans.
Picard's romance with the Ba'ku Anji (Donna Murphy) follows his trend of falling for strong women but never following up. Murphy is a nice touch in that she's a sensual intelligent woman who's not a Hollywood 19-year old drop-dead beauty. Riker and Troi renew their romance and end up in a bubble bath drinking champagne although in the chaste world of "Star Trek", you suspect that they're wearing swim suits under the suds.
Some of the humor works. Commenting on their rejuvenation, Troi asks Dr. Crusher "Do you feel your boobs starting to firm up?" Data's follow-up is hilarious. And some of it doesn't work. Data singing a tune from "H.M.S. Pinafore" is just goofy.
Although the theme of the Federation's aging is never explored, it does leave possibilities for future films that go a bit deeper. "Insurrection" is enjoyable for the Trek fan and not too bad for the general audience. Maybe one day we'll see that marvelous "Star Trek" film we've been waiting for.
(Michael Redman has written this column for over 23 years and has been a Trek fan for even longer -- although he's discovered that "Babylon 5" leaves it in the dust. Trekkies can send hate mail to [email protected].)
[This appeared in the 12/17/98 "Bloomington Independent", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at [email protected].]
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