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| The Enterprise crew violates orders for the sake of conscience. |
THE PLOT
Picard receives a transmission from Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe). The admiral is in an isolated region of space known as "The Briar Patch," home to exactly one inhabited world - Inhabited by a single village of approximately 600 people known as the Ba'ku. They have a primitive, agrarian culture, which Starfleet is observing from a "duck blind," a cloaked observation post. Data has been temporarily reassigned to assist - but Dougherty tells Picard that he has gone berserk, disabling the duck blind and holding the various scientists and officials hostage in the Ba'ku village.
Picard is able to draw Data out and disable him - but analysis shows that he malfunctioned only after sustaining gunfire from the So'na, Dougherty's allies, who are led by the amoral Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham). After repairing Data, the Enterprise crew investigates further - and discovers a cloaked vessel inside which is an exact recreation of the Ba'ku village. Dougherty and Ru'afo planned to mass beam all of the Ba'ku into the cloaked ship and relocate them - a plan thwarted only by Data's interference!
Dougherty does not deny Picard's accusations. The planet has a rejuvenating effect on all of its inhabitants, which can be shared with the entire Federation using a So'na device that will greatly enhance the effect - but which will also leave the planet uninhabitable. He tells Picard that the Federation Council has authorized the Ba'ku's removal, and orders the captain to depart immediately. When Picard refuses, violating orders to try to lead the Ba'ku to safety, Dougherty is shocked, and the villainous Ru'afo is pushed to increasingly harsh and desperate action!
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| Picard experiences a moment of perfection. |
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Is outraged when he learns of Dougherty's plans, dismissing the admiral's point about 600 lives against the entire Federation by storming, "How many people does it take, admiral, before it becomes wrong? A thousand? Fifty thousand? A million?" He sends Riker to plead the Ba'ku's case with the Federation council, noting that "It's too easy to turn a blind eye to the suffering of a people you don't know," and trusting in his first officer to put enough of a face to the Ba'ku to change the council's mind.
Riker: When the So'na attempt to intercept the Enterprise, Riker uses the clouds of volatile materials pervading the Briar Patch to his advantage, using his ship to detonate the various gasses. A "B" plot shows the planet's effect on Riker, as his amorous feelings for Troi are rekindled. After their relationship re-starts, he worries that those feelings may disappear once they leave the Briar Patch. Worf is the one to reassure him: "Your feelings about her have not changed since the day I met you, Commander. This place just let them out for a little fresh air."
Data: One of Michael Piller's earlier (frankly more interesting) story pitches was modeled after Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, with Picard forced to hunt down a rogue Data. That story was rejected, but the idea of Data going rogue was retained as a hook for this story, with his apparent malfunction bringing Picard and the Enterprise to this planet to uncover its secrets. Outside of that, Data's role is much less here than in other TNG movies, largely relegated to a subplot in which he bonds with a Ba'ku child.
Worf: Brought back to the Enterprise by... Well, we don't really know because the movie doesn't care. As he explains his presence on the ship, foreground conversations completely drown him out, because we all know he's really there to be a popular part of the ensemble. He does get a good supporting role again, working with Picard to disable Data in the first half of the movie, and vigorously defending the Ba'ku villagers from attack in the second half.
Pompous Space Bureaucrat of the Week: Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe)'s belief in making sacrifices for the greater good is made weaker than Picard's belief that there is a clear line between right and wrong. This is in part because Dougherty is so weak-willed. Every time there is any unpleasantness, he has to be convinced all over again by the silken-voiced Ru'afo. The ever-reliable Zerbe manages to infuse enough dignity to keep Dougherty from feeling like a stick figure, but he's clearly just there to mark time until the true villain takes over...
Villain of the Week: Ru'afo is a one-note villain, motivated by spite and hate. F. Murray Abraham, a fine actor, clearly notices the lack of nuance - because he goes straight for the ham, right down to crying "No!" as he blows up at the end.
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| Picard vs. Dougherty: An imbalanced debate. |
THOUGHT VERSUS ACTION
Star Trek: Insurrection has a premise for a character drama tinged with the kind of ethical debate that Star Trek does so well. We have the regulars effectively discovering the Fountain of Youth, with Picard rejuvenated, Geordi regaining his eyesight, and Worf undergoing a second Klingon puberty. At the same time, Picard is put into conflict with his superiors over what amounts to a debate over the well-being of a single village versus that of an entire civilization.
Unfortunately, this is forced into an action movie mold. The story wants to explore the argument over the welfare of 600 Ba'ku versus the entire Federation... But it also wants to get to the next set piece, so the debate boils down to Picard vs. the untrustworthy Dougherty. Every one of Dougherty's arguments are straw men designed to be shredded under the weight of The Picard Sledgehammer.
There's a moment in which Picard tries to satisfy both the Ba'ku and the So'na. He observes that there is plenty of room on the planet for both the Ba'ku and the So'na, and proposes allowing the So'na to occupy a different region. This is brushed aside by Dougherty, who says that it would take a decade for the So'na to experience any benefit. The script might as well be begging us to forget the planet curing Geordi's blindness in a single day!
A more interesting path was open here. What if Rua'fo had accepted this proposal, revealing that he really did just want to save his people? What if it had been Dougherty who pushed the situation into open conflict? It would have been internally plausible - In the face of Dominion War losses, the admiral just isn't willing to let go of such a strong advantage for the Federation. Then Picard would have been left to lead a genuine insurrection against Starfleet forces, rather than simply battling evil latex-faced baddies.
But that would have been less safe. And - much like Star Trek: Voyager, which was around the midpoint of its run at this time, Insurrection's biggest sin is that it wants to play as safe as it possibly can.
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| The Ba'ku village comes under attack. |
QUESTIONS, ANSWERS, AND COMPLICATIONS: THE FIRST HALF
For all the movie's faults, the first half works remarkably well. Mysteries are raised and their solutions lead to more mysteries, until we get to the revelation of the cloaked ship. That leads to the film's primary conflict. It's fast enough to maintain interest, particularly as it becomes clear that much more is going on than was initially evident. Since the investigation involves spending time in and around the Ba'ku village, there is plenty of opportunity to explore the rejuvenating effects of the planet and to introduce Picard's attraction to the attractive Anij (Donna Murphy) without slowing the pace.
Writer Michael Piller neatly folds the Dominion War into his story. At the start of the film, Picard is on a diplomatic mission to bring a new race into the Federation. He and the others comment on how fast this is happening, with this species having only barely achieved warp flight, and it's acknowledged that their government is trying to make up for the losses to the Borg and Dominion by bringing in allies as quickly as they can get them.
Ru'afo, in F. Murray Abraham's best scene, delivers a stinging assessment of the Federation's current state - One that carries more than a hint of truth:
"Federation support, Federation procedures, Federation rules! Look in the mirror, Admiral. The Federation is old. In the past twenty-four months, they've been challenged by every major power in the Quadrant: the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion. They all smell the scent of death on the Federation. That's why you've embraced our offer, because it will give your dear Federation new life..."
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| Picard has an explosive confrontation with Ru'afo. |
GOING FOR THE SET PIECE: THE SECOND HALF
Ironically, it's as the movie becomes purely an Action Film that it starts to feel both small and slow. There are only so many ways to watch Picard, Data, and Worf lead the Ba'ku toward the mountains around So'na attacks before that starts feeling repetitive, and an extended stay in the ever-familiar Star Trek cave set reinforces the small-screen feel that pervades the entire movie. With any pretense of genuine moral dilemma stripped away, all that remains is relatively mild action, with our heroes facing villains who are too one-dimensional to be interesting and too bland to be threatening.
It ends as Riker returns to announce that the Federation Council has rescinded its orders to relocate the Ba'ku. Riker must have made a stirring presentation, with some strong moral arguments about what Starfleet and the Federation are meant to stand for. A pity that happened offscreen. Ah, well - doubtless that would have been much less interesting than watching Patrick Stewart and F. Murray Abraham chase each other around an orbital doomsday weapon.
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| Geordi watches the sunrise. |
OVERALL
Star Trek: Insurrection opened well at the box office, showing that the enthusiasm from First Contact was still there. It fell fast, though, as word of mouth spread that it was basically just a TNG episode stretched out to feature length.
As I've indicated, I think the real problem lies in the mismatch between concept and execution. In many ways, it's a retread of the Star Trek V situation. That film was damaged in part by trying to force a serious concept into a comedy mold, an ill-conceived attempt to replicate the success of the comedic Star Trek IV. Here, a contemplative moral drama is forced into an action movie mold to try to match the success of First Contact.
This film isn't as bad as Star Trek V. Writer Michael Piller works hard to strike a balance between what the film should be and what it's forced to be. For roughly half the movie, he succeeds better than should have been possible. But the second half becomes increasingly simplistic, until what's left is just another mediocre action movie, made all the more disappointing by how much potential was there for something more.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
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