In Perfectlandia, where the perfect people live their perfect lives, the outside world upsets perfection when a damaged Data reveals a Federation spy mission. The Federation is working with the Sonâa, an aggressive species that violates many Federation rules, to screw with the perfect folks. Captain Picard and company must discover why Data was damaged, what he was trying to protect, and what The Federation and Sonâa are attempting to achieve.
Star Trek returns to its roots: An exciting science fiction tale that exists to wrap a message. The message this time deals with the problems of colonizing and taking the lands of âless powerfulâ peoples. The point isnât made subtly, but is no less effective. And the personal stories are more than normally moving. It is the most romantic Star Trek film.
Insurrection is just a nicely done TV episode, and how you feel about that will determine how you would rank it. It tries less to be a big action epic, and more to be about ideas and character. It does not try to do anything radically new. Iâd have liked it to be more than it is (but only The Motion Picture really tried to be something grander, and more isnât better if you fail), but for what it is, it is pretty good. The focus on explosions gets pretty tiring in Star Trek films, so I am happy to relax with a quieter film that is the only Next Gen film not to mutilate the charactersâthe number of embarrassing things they do is way down from First Contact and miles away from Nemesis.
People who like their Star Trek to be loud tend to rank Insurrection much lower. This is the least flashy Star Trek film, but that appeals to me.