Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Sadly Over-hyped

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I never really got into "Star Trek" the tv show even though I've probably seen every episode. I never really cared about "Next Generation" when it was on. But I did see a couple of episodes here and there. I certainly wasn't a fan. That said, I'm a fan of the movies. I really enjoy both the original crew and the Next Generation films. But "Insurrection" doesn't scratch the inch like the other ones. For the first half of the movie I feel like an outsider. LIke, I'm not a real fan. That I should know the relationships better. Then it get's stuck in second gear way too long. When it finally starts to shift up, it gets wildly entertaining. I'm sure I will like more and more after repeated viewings. But right now, it feels like an okay dinner followed by an extra long dessert.

I don't usually write review unless it's really good or really bad. This obviously falls in the latter category. Having watched all the movies in the series, I don't even bother with how the special effects of movie made in 1998 is worse than Alien which was made in 1979. But it's the stupidity of the story that drove me to write this review.I actually sympathize with the villain, the Admiral in this movie. If there is a way to benefit everyone in the galaxy, why wouldn't you? Just because few people found the planet first? They get to keep something as powerful as immortality for themselves? Just because Picard fell in love with the 300 year old woman he deny billions of people from benefiting from it? I wanted to punch Picard's face throughout the movie.And no one else on the Enterprise object to this? Because it's an order? Everyone in Starfleet so disciplined? But then Picard has no problem disobeying direct order from Admiral.The people of the planet also. They posses something everyone desired for centuries. Immortality. And they don't bother with any form of defense. Even tho they have the technology, they just think pacifism will save them.Story is very immature.

Oh my God, this was for me a terrible flick and hard to watch because what the hell has this to do with Star Trek and the effects were sometimes done with cheap CGI so it was easy to spot when spaceships were made of pure CGI. Here we do have it again, humor added to the story with for example the Klingon and his pimple on his face. Total crap. And the love added to the story even makes it more laughable, you don't need that in a Star Trek flick.I can understand why those second generation flicks weren't made with a lot of money. Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

About half-way through Insurrection, I was somewhat expecting "To Be Continued" to pop up on the screen. It felt like one of The Next Generation's two- part episodes as opposed to a movie. It's hard to blame the writers for taking this approach with the Enterprise-E crew. While the Borg was an incredible villain, most of the TNG series was introspective, examining the human condition and artificial intelligence. This perspective played very well throughout much of the series, but the problem is that is doesn't translate into film. And this might be the downfall of the Next Gen crew as the holders of the movie franchise. The previous film, First Contact, wasn't very philosophical, it instead focused on Picard's struggle with vengeance against a powerful and personal enemy. It made for an exciting Star Trek film with both action and intrigue with the Zefram Cochran warp-speed plot. Insurrection fails in its ability to deliver both of these.First of all, giving credit where it is due, it was interesting for Star Trek to examine the sad cases in history of the forced removal of peaceful people. Though it was a little annoying that this group of people were entirely beautiful and white. Did the filmmakers think that this would make the audience have more sympathy for them, that it was ironic, or were they just not thinking? But these same people were also very dull. Sure, it was cool to see Picard have an age-appropriate (sort of) girlfriend, but otherwise it was difficult to feel much sympathy for the Baku. They should not have to lose their land and culture, but shouldn't these people find a way to share this "fountain of youth" with society in order to help prevent disease?Maybe the Baku would have had more time to discuss this with the Enterprise crew if they didn't have a petulant baby trying to capture them. The film's villain, Ru'afo, has to be the most annoying bad guy in the entire film franchise. He's also less sinister than Sybok (sorry to bring that up). Heck, he's less sinister than the whale-loving space probe, at least that could destroy the planet Earth. Basically, a whining brat is trying to get everything he wants while getting a facelift from stylists in tight-fitting clothes. There's nothing scary about him; disgusting, but not very threatening or interesting. Without an effective villain, the Next Gen crew's conversations about youth and forced relocation end up slowly dragging the film.The effects are very high quality, as the studio gives more and more money to the franchise, and it is funny to see all of the crew revert back to adolescence. But the plot, villain, and pacing makes this feel so much more like an episode of the series rather than a film. In fact, the film might be much more enjoyable if the viewer stops half-way through and finishes it up a week later. That might be something worth trying, but for someone else because I don't think I can take watching Ru'afo ever again.Some final thoughts: Worf going through Klingon puberty might be worth its own film. Jonathan Frakes, how long have you been waiting to have scenes like that with Marina Sirtis? Also, how did a movie with such a simple plot get so convoluted with those three space ships at its climax? I must have missed something as I was zoning out. And you would think that the Federation would not get so easily used by such a screaming idiot as Ru'afo. Oh well, the scenic shots were nice.*My film rating follows the soccer player rating measure of 6 as a baseline: you did what was expected of you. This film is a 5 because it attempts to hold to what made the Next Generation series successful as it confronts the horrible act of forced relocation, but its complete lack of a compelling villain makes the plot feel too dull and the strong acting and effects can't carry the movie.