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Wing Commander

1999, Movie, PG-13, 93 mins

Wing Commander: Review

WING COMMANDER
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More movie than you'd expect from one based on a video game. The year is 2654, and the Concordia Federation -- which includes our island Earth -- is engaged in a bitter deep-space war with the alien, human-hating Kilrathi. Both sides zip through space via various pulsars, quasars and black holes, which serve as portals through which spacecraft are transported across light years in a flash. The trick is knowing exactly where these gateways are, which is why Earth's sophisticated computer navigation hardware must never fall into Kilrathi hands. Once it does, you've got a premise that will sustain a routine but pretty sharp looking sci-fi action flick. In order to prevent the Kilrathi from entering Earth-time and putting the kibosh on the whole human race, two fresh-out-of-the-academy starship troopers, Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and loud-mouthed Todd "Maniac" Marshall (Matthew Lillard), and a crusty civilian space scout named Taggart (Tcheky Karyo) are sent aboard the carrier Tiger Claw with an encrypted communique advising the crew of its mission: Save the earth! Director Chris Roberts takes a unique approach to some pretty conventional material, filming much of it as though it were an underwater submarine adventure, rather than relying on the now-cliched aerial dogfighting of STAR WARS and its many imitators (casting DAS BOOT's Jurgen Prochnow as a testy commanding officer was truly inspired). There are a few surprisingly good actors on board -- in addition to Prochnow, David Suchet appears as the captain of the Tiger Claw -- and the film's "hold on to your humanity" ethos is nice. But the script too often sounds like an encrypted communique itself, and it's tiring trying to keep all the nonsensical space-jargon straight. The effort is more demanding than hanging onto a joystick, and not entirely worth the effort. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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