WING COMMANDER by DeWyNGaLe Rating: F
A few months before the release of Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace, 20th Century Fox decides to release another space film, that is a complete rip off of Star Wars. What is the point of this? I do not know, but I wish it hadn't been done, considering Wing Commander is definitely the year's worst film so far. To attract people to this horrible movie, they attached the full trailer for The Phantom Menace. Wing Commander will draw large crowds, because this is the only film where you can find The Phantom Menace full trailer attached at this time. The trailer for The Phantom Menace was certainly the best part of the movie experience I had tonight.
Many people do not know that Wing Commander is based on a Star Wars computer game. I found this very interesting, considering this fact almost says that Wing Commander is a Star Wars movie. It is nowhere near the level of the Star Wars films though. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars in the film as Christopher Blair. Wing Commander was a huge mistake for Freddie. This was definitely his worst performance to date. After January's She's All That, I actually saw a good actor in Freddie, but now all those visions have been crushed. (For now anyway.) Christopher Blair is a pilot who is a part of the battle to stop the Kilrathi, a group that is trying to destroy the earth. Blair's parents also fought in the space battles, and also died there. His parents were pilgrims, so many people disrespect him because of this. Blair is under the command of "Angel", played by Saffron Burrows, and he is friends with another pilot, Todd "Maniac Marshall", played by Matthew Lillard. Matthew Lillard seems to play the same role in every movie, and he does in this one too. His character as Stu in 1996's Scream (A+), was a great one, but now, it seems like that same role is being played again, only in a space movie. The three are just a small part of a large group trying to stop the Kilrathi before they take over earth. This plot is very flimsy, and doesn't give a whole lot to work with at all. This explains why Wing Commander drags on, seeming like there is no point to any of the events that are going on.
The acting is horrible in Wing Commander. Many lines seem out of place, and are completely meaningless. The acting and dialogue was so terrible, I even found myself laughing at it. The other things which are very bad about Wing Commander are the special effects and the music. The special effects are very unrealistic. When looking at two ships flying side by side, it is simple to tell they are hanging and a blue screen is behind them. The explosions look very unrealistic as well. A ship will be blown up, but there will only be fire present four about one half of a second. This is very unrealistic. Music pretty much accompanies the film the entire time. The music also felt like video game music, and it was very corny and annoying sounding.
After we are given the plot, the film repeats itself for another hour, without any plot twists, interesting scenes, or anything important to the film. Blair is forced to make jumps over other planets, and he must also fight against the Kilrathi aircraft. For the entire length of the movie, it takes place in space. It is truly like you are in a video game, because you are just watching people shoot at each other in ships for a long, extended period of time. It's not much fun to watch at all. If I wanted to watch people shoot at each other in ships, I would go watch Star Wars at home. At least Star Wars pays attention to people, myth, feelings, and has some real plot to it.
The Bottom Line- Bring on The Phantom Menace 20th Century Fox!
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