STAR TREK: INSURRECTION
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: In a relatively minor STAR TREK
story, the "Next Generation" crew stop a
miscarriage of justice against a group of six
hundred people living a sort of idyllic existence
on a magical planet. Beautiful special effects,
but a somewhat lackluster story. Rating: 5 (0 to
10), low +1 (-4 to +4)
New York Critics: 6 positive, 3 negative, 7 mixed
Maybe STAR TREK is growing up and what we are seeing with STAR TREK: INSURRECTION is really a good thing. For once the Next Generation crew are not out trying to save the universe from a mad man trying to destroy it. The basic issue being discussed is one that gets seen in American courtrooms every year. The issue is one of eminent domain. Does the Federation have the right to relocate a group of six hundred colonists from a planet and turn that planet into a boon to the entire human race? Do the colonists have a right to say they do not want to give up their planet at the expense of the greater number of people? It is an important legal point. Certainly there are examples in the past when relocating people has been a great injustice. What is at stake are the principles of the Federation. But do we really care, given that we are living in a decade when many large institutions seem to be betraying their founding principles? The idea that the Federation of Planets may be no better than many of our own government agencies is hardly shocking today.
This principle of possession is an odd basis for what is in large part an action film. It certainly is a complex moral issue. Or it could have been a complex moral issue if the writers had the courage to leave it ambiguous. But not surprisingly they did not have that courage. Rest assured that when the movie is over--and in fact from very early in the film--the viewer will know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. And what is more--I doubt that this is a spoiler--it is the pretty people who will be the good guys and the ugly people who will be the bad guys. So if the themes are a little more sophisticated than usual, the approach is not.
The Ba'ku are an advanced race who have abandoned their advanced technology and returned to a simple life in which they can do simple, pleasant, creative tasks all day long. They have found themselves a planetary Shangri-La that keeps them forever young. It is the kind of non-technological utopia where everybody has nice creative tasks like baking bread or making pottery and nobody within range of the camera has to do laundry, scrub mildew stains, or clean toilets. But another race, the Son'a, are plotting to get control of the Ba'ku's planet so that the Federation can analyze the magic of the planet. The Son'a people look like they were inspired by the Katherine Helmond character of BRAZIL. They look like they started human looking but have had too many facelifts so the flesh is pulled too tightly over their skulls. It is a kind of nightmare that people must have in affluent neighborhood of Los Angeles. There is also something of The Shadow in them as they and the Federation were able to build a large observation station within yards of the Ba'ku encampment, all the while clouding Ba'ku minds so they were never detected.
The Enterprise crew get involved on the side of the Ba'ku, defending their right to monopolize the positive effects of their planet. Curiously this film almost directly contradicts the theme of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN in which Spock tells us that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
The actors playing crew of the Enterprise do their standard competent acting job. It may take a little while to get up to speed remembering the personalities of each of the characters as one viewer told me. But they step through their roles with performances that are equally without flaw or excitement. Even the former great Patrick Stewart is a competent but pedestrian starship captain. Rejoining the crew is Michael Dorn as Worf who manages to be assigned to the Enterprise or to Deep Space Nine, whichever this agent prefers at the moment. F. Murray Abraham is the alpha Son'a, but even he cannot put much passion into his role. The actors are much upstaged by the usual exquisite Enterprise effects. Views of the old starship tacking in and out of nebulae where this film shows its real artistry.
The STAR TREK: INSURRECTION might make a decent episode or two of the TV-series, but it has hardly the makings of a classic film. It just is not sufficiently involving. I give it a 5 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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