Film review by Kevin Patterson
Stargate * * 1/2 PG-13, 1994 Directed by Roland Emmerich. Written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Starring Kurt Russell, James Spader.
Let's start with the good news: I was fascinated for the first half of "Stargate." The story, involving a mysterious portal discovered among the ruins of ancient Egypt that turns out to lead to another planet halfway across the galaxy, unfolds against a backdrop of outstanding visual design that led me to believe that we were headed for a mystical sci-fi trip a la "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "Contact." The eccentric but brilliant Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader), seemed to possess just the right mix of childlike enthusiasm and raw intelligence to lead the way. When Jackson and a military unit led by Col. Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) cross through the stargate and arrive on the alien world, they discover exact replicas of the Egyptian pyramids as well as a race of humanoids who, according to Jackson, seem to be practicing ancient Egyptian culture.
Unfortunately, after building up this atmosphere of mystery and awe for the first half of the film, the screenwriters then give us a solution to the mystery that is only mildly clever at best and lacking in any greater insight beyond its immediate effect on the plot. What's even worse is that its immediate effect on the plot is to turn the movie into Indiana Jones On Another Planet; director Roland Emmerich pretty much abandons the tone of mystery and intrigue, opting instead for a run-of-the-mill "fight the bad alien" scenario. The last half hour of the movie, while entertaining at a basic level, is really nothing more than standard action sequences and explosions. "Stargate" also makes use of quite a few cliches towards the end which, although of relatively minor significance plot-wise, are still noticeable enough to be annoying.
"Stargate" does not quite deserve to be panned (as it has been by many critics): at its best, it is an enthralling science-fiction mystery, and at its worst it is still an average action movie. Some movies set their sights too high and come off looking ridiculous. "Stargate" has the opposite problem: with this premise, it should have set its sights higher. As it is, I find myself assigning a two and a half stars to a movie that probably could have had three and a half.
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