STAR TREK: INSURRECTION
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
Data, a.k.a. Lt. Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner), goes haywire in the ninth
theatrical release of the STAR TREK saga, called STAR TREK:
INSURRECTION. Flying solo in his spaceship, Data fires on his comrades
in the Federation. Rejecting all orders to stand down, it takes the
singing of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera by his leader, Capt. Jean-Luc
Picard (Patrick Stewart), to trip him up.
Yes, it is time again to go back to one of science fiction's longest
running soap operas, STAR TREK. Its fans will likely love this latest
episode. Lesser devotees, like this reviewer, will probably be
entertained but slightly confused. Although most of the movie is
relatively straightforward, some sections play like a foreign language
film without benefit of subtitles.
The story this time concerns the Ba'ku, a people who have "warp
capability" but who have rejected technology. A pacifist race, they
live an agrarian life. The story revolves around a sort of fountain of
youth that they've discovered and that others want to steal from them.
In a bad latex suit, F. Murray Abraham plays the nefarious Ru'afo, who
wants the Ba'ku's regenerative secret for himself and his people. He'll
stop at nothing to get it, and Capt. Picard is willing to risk a
court-martial to thwart him.
The intelligent but talky script mixes in some nice doses of humor.
Data, in one of the funnier scenes, reveals that he was designed to
become a flotation device in the event of a water landing. He then
proceeds to demonstrate this ability, providing a nice little sight gag.
Too often director Jonathan Frakes, who plays the part of Cmdr. William
T. Riker, has a sense of pacing that borders on the glacial. Data, for
example, has a long dialog with a 12-year-old Ba'ku about the meaning of
childhood. This is one of many soporific scenes that would have been
better eliminated or at least trimmed significantly.
Although the story has a nice twist toward the end that almost everyone
will appreciate, the movie seems designed to please STAR TREK fans while
not caring much about the casual viewers. Taken as a whole the movie is
fun even if it does contain several long, dull passages.
STAR TREK: INSURRECTION runs 1:43. It is rated PG for sci-fi violence
and sexuality and would be fine for kids around 9 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 9, said that he could not compare this one to other
STAR TREK movies since this was his first one, but he really liked it
and gave it ***. His favorite parts were the action sequences,
especially those using the phasers and the other guns. He said that the
movie was frequently confusing about exactly who were the good guys and
who were the bad and what each was up to.
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Have I Seen This Movie: Yes
