Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), directed by Jonathan Frakes

When Commander Data (once again) goes wacky and starts attacking hidden Federation observers on a pre-contact planet, Captain Picard and crew are able to rescue and repair him, but their investigation uncovers a Federation conspiracy to commit dirty deeds. Picard isn't having that and aims to misbehave.

If I were insurrecting I think I would have kept the Sovereign-class starship on hand rather than sending it home with a message.

When I saw this in the theater I thought it was pretty weak, like an average episode of the TV series. I like it a little better now, just because it is good to revisit the characters and feel at home with them again. It is a leisurely paced adventure.

The good:

• Riker and Troi light it up again.

• The invisible observation post is a clever premise, adapted from the series.

• Nice touch: the return of the children, aged and unrecognizable.

• Anthony Zerbe fan club!

The unfortunate:

• Roddenberry-inspired survivor-utopias are always beige and brown clothed folk, happy to work at their appropriate technology crafts in sunny and pleasant if suspiciously Californian-looking terrains.

• The villains look really villainous. (Gregg Henry is nearly unrecognizable. F. Murray Abraham is the chief baddie).

• The Gilbert & Sullivan trick. Data being cute with the kid. Strained comedy.

• Picard's romance subplot is tepid. Maybe just as well.

• The very special manual steering joystick.

• At the end, Picard sounds like an ad for an outpatient clinic: "The healing process has begun".

Jerry Goldsmith score.

Available on Blu-ray with a commentary track by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis. They shout out names and laugh a lot. He remembers everything, she not so much. Neither knew what "parricide" meant.