

Latest _Trek_ Boldly Goes Nowhere

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION

Review by Victory A. Marasigan
http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~vmaras1/reviewsidx.html

It's hard to believe it's been nearly five years since "The Next
Generation" crew gave up their top-rated syndicated TV series "to explore
new worlds and new civilizations" on the big screen. What's not as
difficult to believe is the ebb of rich characterizations and fresh
storylines their infrequent adventures have necessitated. _Star Trek:
Insurrection_, the crew's third feature, sadly rings more like a _Return
to Mayberry_-type reunion than a thrilling further adventure.

This time around, the Enterprise and her crew must travel to a remote
planet, where one of their own has apparently gone renegade and taken
people hostage. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and crew manage to subdue
their comrade and beam down to investigate, only to find a small colony of
youthful Ba'ku living in an eerily tranquil, unchanging paradise. The
actual threat to these humanoid people is a group of stretchy-faced aliens
called the Son'a (led by _Amadeus_' F. Murray Abraham) who, under the
sanction of the Federation, have devised a sneaky plan to steal the planet
-- and its rejuvenating resources -- right out from under the Ba'ku's
wrinkle-free noses. 

The planet's virtual Fountain of Youth is a thinly-veiled excuse to show
Our Gang acting uncharacteristically giddy and energetic, a la the
break-dancing old geezers in Cocoon. Counselor Troi and Commander Riker
(Marina Sirtis and director Jonathan Frakes)  rekindle their early TV
series romance. Worf (Michael Dorn) goes through Klingon puberty all over
again. Geordi LaForge (Levar Burton) gets to see for the first time. And
Picard finds love with a sweet (and improbably unattached) Ba'ku (Donna
Murphy). It's too bad the planet's powers can't work true miracles, like
subtracting the pounds some of the crew have gained during their two-year
hiatus (Is it just me, or is Commander Riker prematurely showing the
famous Captain Kirk lovehandles?). 

The temporary augmentations brought about by the planetary anomaly only
highlight a failure of the new movie voyages so far. After three films, no
major changes in the characters' lives have occurred, barring Picard's
Ahab-Moby Dick awakening in _First Contact_. Beloved personalities like
Troi and Worf have become mere caricatures of themselves. And the
pasty-white android Commander Data (Brent Spiner) has had nothing to do
but plod along and "discover" yet another strange facet of humanity -- in
this case the concept of adolescent fun (Really, after almost a decade on
the Enterprise, you'd think he'd have learned the meaning of "fun" long
ago).

Much of Insurrection's self-aware script plays off the fact that these
characters know each other so well, they can predict exactly what the
other is going to do in any given situation. Their familiarity with each
other is sort of a private joke, albeit one which seasoned viewers of the
series will eat up. It's all too apparent that writers Rick Berman and
Michael Piller were trying to duplicate the virtues of their last film,
the enjoyable _First Contact_. But all the eye-winking humor and
space-chase action they packed into this outing can't mask the fact that
the story is silly, dull, and ultimately inconsequential to the _Star
Trek_ mythos.  Unless the Enterprise breaks free of the orbit into which
it's currently locked, the hit-or-miss legacy of the franchise will likely
continue. 

GRADE: C+

Reviewed December 9, 1998 at RC Eastpoint, Baltimore, MD.