

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION
A film review by Matt Williams

RATING: * 1/2* out of * * * *

The odd-numbered Star Trek film curse strikes again.  For those of you
unfamiliar with Star Trek lore, it has been maintained that the only
good Star Trek films are those with even numbers.  Perhaps in response
to this, Paramount stopped numbering their Star Trek films after #6. The
latest outing of the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Insurrection, is
the ninth film in the series...and like many of its odd-numbered
brethren, it proves to be an awkward misstep.

Once again, it is the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew which takes
center stage.  This time, they're embroiled in a plot that feels like a
leftover tv episode.  The peaceful Ba'ku people are in trouble, but they
don't know it.  Their idyllic paradise planet is being lusted after by
the evil Son'a race, who crave its fountain-of-youth properties.
Certainly the Federation wouldn't allow this warlike race to totally
eliminate another society, would they? Well, therein lies the problem,
the evil Son'a are allies with the Federation, and the Federation is
willingly assisting the Son'a in their efforts.

Enter Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and crew.  Brought in to disable
malfunctioning android Data (Brent Spiner), the crew learn of the plot,
and quickly take sides against their own beloved Federation in order to
save the 600 Ba'ku people.

The dialogue of Star Trek: Insurrection is easily the worst quality yet
seen in a Star Trek film.  Virtually every other line is either a quip
or a catchphrase.  The rest of the script is meaningless technobabble.
There are several good acting talents among the cast, and they all
deserve better than this.

The special effects are above average, though most of them are pointless
effects for effects sake.  The starship combat scenes are visually
impressive, but confusing and lacking urgency.  Apparently more time was
spent determining what would look cool, rather than worrying about
things such as pacing, or even common sense.

There's precious little, if any, character development here.  In fact,
several of the characters have seemingly regressed from the events of
the last several movies (for example, Data's emotion chip is nary to be
seen).  There are a few romantic subplots:  Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and
Troi (Marina Sirtis) rekindle a relationship, and Picard gets together
with Anij (Donna Murphy), a Ba'ku woman.

The villains are also rather bland.  The most interesting thing about
the Son'a is their obsession with obtaining eternal life through
technology (rather than the Ba'ku's "natural" methods).  However, their
leader, Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham) is all bark and little bite.

Star Trek: Insurrection isn't painful to sit through, but it adds
nothing to the Star Trek mythos, and overall is a complete waste of
time.

Copyright 1998 Matt Williams

- Matt Williams ([email-masked])
Reviewer for Cinematter: http://www.cinematter.com
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