Insurrection among Trek fans against crappy movies
Last night I watched "Star Trek: Insurrection" which I hadn't seen in awhile. I picked it up really cheap recently.
I'd forgotten how lame it is overall.
First of all, the plot is so tired. It feels more like an episode than a movie. In fact, it was an episode. The whole "relocate the indigenous population via holodeck without their knowledge" thing was lifted directly from the episode "Journey's End" (which is a mediocre episode at best, although it ended up being momentous for providing background for the Maquis and the culture which produced everyone's favorite Maquis, Commander Chakotay). I mean, come on. This is trite Trek fo sho. An idyllic settlement of peaceful, pretty, anti-technology people with the wisdom of the ages beset by the ugly, technology-obsessed outsiders? Gee. So original. And gee, do you think the pretty people have a SECRET (dun dun dunnnnnn)? And do you think the Starfleet admiral is up to no good? And will Picard and his noble crew be the only ones to see the EEEEEEEVIL afoot?
Yawn.
They tried to provide an exciting "hook" with the whole Data-on-a-rampage thing, although the explanation for WHY he was on a rampage was really thin. I also kept wondering why the heck he was there in the first place. Doesn't he have enough to do in his own job without supervising other people doing theirs? So his higher functions are all kersplat and he's down to his ethical/moral subroutines, whatever that means, but Picard is able to what, just talk him out of it with some Gilbert & Sullivan? That doesn't make ANY SENSE. Even if Brent got to sing, which seemed like it was the real point of that sequence.
The whole thing just feels really inconsequential. Nods are given to the stuff going on in the quadrant that's actually exciting, like the Dominion War (which wasn't over yet at this time; DS9 was still on the air when the movie opened). Think we could have, oh, tied the movie into some of that stuff? No, let's make a two-hour episode instead.
Then there's Worf. The issue with the films has always been how to get Worf involved since he went to DS9 after TNG went off the air. The way they got him in for "First Contact" actually made sense. For this movie, they basically just have him show up and say "I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd help out with whatever adventure you're about to have."
And barf, the Riker/Troi stuff. I never liked that pairing in the first place. I'm sure for shippers it was GREAT, but I never got any decent chemistry vibes from them. They just felt like pals to me. I had to turn away during that whole shaving-him-in-the-bathtub thing. I never understood what prompted the change, either. What, after ten years she just suddenly decided it was time to get herself some sweet Riker lovin' again?
I won't even talk about all the continuity errors. Trek's never been so terribly good at that.
I WILL talk about the bastardization of previously-developed characters for cheap humor. Poor Troi has to act flirtier than she ever has in her LIFE just for some schmoopy romance. And Data is really raked over the coals. Are we really supposed to believe that he doesn't know the word "boobs" and that HE DOESN'T HAVE THEM? And let us not ever mention the travesty that is the "flotation device" joke.
Okay, after all that bile, there are a few things I like. The camaraderie amongst the crew feels a lot more mature and realistic than it ever did in the series. These felt like people who'd been working together for ten years. And I LOVED that Beverly and Deanna got to pick up phaser rifles and shoot stuff. And I do believe this was the first time EVER we'd seen Data out of uniform (not counting holodeck escapades).
There is one moment that I really love, because of what it says about Picard. During the whole sequence when he and Worf are chasing Rampage!Data in a shuttle, Picard distracts Data with HMS Pinafore while they lock onto his ship with the docking clamps. Once Data realizes they're on him, he starts crazy flying to shake them off. Worf's all "we're all gonna die pretty soon" and it doesn't look good. What does Picard say?
"I'm not letting go of him."
Picard's not leaving his officer, his friend, behind. He wouldn't leave anyone behind. He knows something's wrong and Data needs his help. He'll happily risk his own life (and Worf's, but who cares about that anyway) before he'll give up. He won't let go of him. It was a reminder of much better movies when Picard went back for Data in "First Contact."
So we have a new crop of Sci-Fi shows coming up. I watched "Eureka" last night. It was meh. The most exciting thing for me was the presence of Salli Richardson, who played Alison the DOD agent. She provided the voice of Elisa Maza on "Gargoyles" and I'd never seen her in the flesh, but the second I heard her voice I was all "Elisa! Where's Goliath?"
I'm more interested in the two upcoming shows that were advertised, "The Dresden Files" and "The Lost Room," coming in October and December, respectively. I know many of y'all were all about the BSG promo but I sadly don't really watch BSG.
I'd forgotten how lame it is overall.
First of all, the plot is so tired. It feels more like an episode than a movie. In fact, it was an episode. The whole "relocate the indigenous population via holodeck without their knowledge" thing was lifted directly from the episode "Journey's End" (which is a mediocre episode at best, although it ended up being momentous for providing background for the Maquis and the culture which produced everyone's favorite Maquis, Commander Chakotay). I mean, come on. This is trite Trek fo sho. An idyllic settlement of peaceful, pretty, anti-technology people with the wisdom of the ages beset by the ugly, technology-obsessed outsiders? Gee. So original. And gee, do you think the pretty people have a SECRET (dun dun dunnnnnn)? And do you think the Starfleet admiral is up to no good? And will Picard and his noble crew be the only ones to see the EEEEEEEVIL afoot?
Yawn.
They tried to provide an exciting "hook" with the whole Data-on-a-rampage thing, although the explanation for WHY he was on a rampage was really thin. I also kept wondering why the heck he was there in the first place. Doesn't he have enough to do in his own job without supervising other people doing theirs? So his higher functions are all kersplat and he's down to his ethical/moral subroutines, whatever that means, but Picard is able to what, just talk him out of it with some Gilbert & Sullivan? That doesn't make ANY SENSE. Even if Brent got to sing, which seemed like it was the real point of that sequence.
The whole thing just feels really inconsequential. Nods are given to the stuff going on in the quadrant that's actually exciting, like the Dominion War (which wasn't over yet at this time; DS9 was still on the air when the movie opened). Think we could have, oh, tied the movie into some of that stuff? No, let's make a two-hour episode instead.
Then there's Worf. The issue with the films has always been how to get Worf involved since he went to DS9 after TNG went off the air. The way they got him in for "First Contact" actually made sense. For this movie, they basically just have him show up and say "I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd help out with whatever adventure you're about to have."
And barf, the Riker/Troi stuff. I never liked that pairing in the first place. I'm sure for shippers it was GREAT, but I never got any decent chemistry vibes from them. They just felt like pals to me. I had to turn away during that whole shaving-him-in-the-bathtub thing. I never understood what prompted the change, either. What, after ten years she just suddenly decided it was time to get herself some sweet Riker lovin' again?
I won't even talk about all the continuity errors. Trek's never been so terribly good at that.
I WILL talk about the bastardization of previously-developed characters for cheap humor. Poor Troi has to act flirtier than she ever has in her LIFE just for some schmoopy romance. And Data is really raked over the coals. Are we really supposed to believe that he doesn't know the word "boobs" and that HE DOESN'T HAVE THEM? And let us not ever mention the travesty that is the "flotation device" joke.
Okay, after all that bile, there are a few things I like. The camaraderie amongst the crew feels a lot more mature and realistic than it ever did in the series. These felt like people who'd been working together for ten years. And I LOVED that Beverly and Deanna got to pick up phaser rifles and shoot stuff. And I do believe this was the first time EVER we'd seen Data out of uniform (not counting holodeck escapades).
There is one moment that I really love, because of what it says about Picard. During the whole sequence when he and Worf are chasing Rampage!Data in a shuttle, Picard distracts Data with HMS Pinafore while they lock onto his ship with the docking clamps. Once Data realizes they're on him, he starts crazy flying to shake them off. Worf's all "we're all gonna die pretty soon" and it doesn't look good. What does Picard say?
"I'm not letting go of him."
Picard's not leaving his officer, his friend, behind. He wouldn't leave anyone behind. He knows something's wrong and Data needs his help. He'll happily risk his own life (and Worf's, but who cares about that anyway) before he'll give up. He won't let go of him. It was a reminder of much better movies when Picard went back for Data in "First Contact."
So we have a new crop of Sci-Fi shows coming up. I watched "Eureka" last night. It was meh. The most exciting thing for me was the presence of Salli Richardson, who played Alison the DOD agent. She provided the voice of Elisa Maza on "Gargoyles" and I'd never seen her in the flesh, but the second I heard her voice I was all "Elisa! Where's Goliath?"
I'm more interested in the two upcoming shows that were advertised, "The Dresden Files" and "The Lost Room," coming in October and December, respectively. I know many of y'all were all about the BSG promo but I sadly don't really watch BSG.