Wing Commander is ultimately let down by some bad casting and a weak third act. Prinze was a rotten choice for Blair, undoubtedly selected to give the film more attraction to a younger target audience, but his inclusion feels like the film is trying too hard to project to that particular audience. With such a fine supporting cast (Karyo, Prochnow, Warner) it's a shame the leads are a real let down.
Unfortunately the plot is cliché-city with some poorly drawn characters (Maniac, Vagabond, Hobbes, Flash and Hawk were a far more interesting bunch in the games), but I feel this can be forgiven to an extent given the film's attempt to mesh more with classic war films than contemporary sci-fi. Of course, the film hardly accomplishes this, but again, with little other than Picard's continued adventures and the awful Star Wars prequels to compare with, Wing Commander at least deserves a little credit for trying. The film also feels like its struggling to find a satisfying conclusion. Obviously with the tight budget there's no room for a sequence par the climactic battles of Return of the Jedi, but even so the film needed a much tighter and more satisfying third act. As it stands, the final 40 minutes feel like sand bagging to hold the weak ending off for as long as possible.
The more cost effective advent of computer generated graphics has seen a shift in space stories to the arena of television productions (Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Space Above & Beyond, Galactica, DS9 & Voyager), so it is at least nice to see a space story on the cinema screen outside of regurgitated Trek offerings. The effects are quite reasonable and the battles entertaining, again taking a lot of WWII influences such as the torpedo battle between the Tiger Claw carrier and its opponent at the film's climax.
Yes, it's a weak, poorly acted story, but there are some interesting visual elements to the film; the costume and production design are superb and there's a reasonable amount of energy and tension in the battle sequences. I like that Wing Commander tries to create its own unique style of sci-fi universe. A few decent performances from the elder statesmen of the cast boost its credibility a little, and ultimately while the ingredients are all a little below average there's enough of interest to make the film entertaining and worth some more praise than it's earned.
6 stars.
Unfortunately the plot is cliché-city with some poorly drawn characters (Maniac, Vagabond, Hobbes, Flash and Hawk were a far more interesting bunch in the games), but I feel this can be forgiven to an extent given the film's attempt to mesh more with classic war films than contemporary sci-fi. Of course, the film hardly accomplishes this, but again, with little other than Picard's continued adventures and the awful Star Wars prequels to compare with, Wing Commander at least deserves a little credit for trying. The film also feels like its struggling to find a satisfying conclusion. Obviously with the tight budget there's no room for a sequence par the climactic battles of Return of the Jedi, but even so the film needed a much tighter and more satisfying third act. As it stands, the final 40 minutes feel like sand bagging to hold the weak ending off for as long as possible.
The more cost effective advent of computer generated graphics has seen a shift in space stories to the arena of television productions (Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Space Above & Beyond, Galactica, DS9 & Voyager), so it is at least nice to see a space story on the cinema screen outside of regurgitated Trek offerings. The effects are quite reasonable and the battles entertaining, again taking a lot of WWII influences such as the torpedo battle between the Tiger Claw carrier and its opponent at the film's climax.
Yes, it's a weak, poorly acted story, but there are some interesting visual elements to the film; the costume and production design are superb and there's a reasonable amount of energy and tension in the battle sequences. I like that Wing Commander tries to create its own unique style of sci-fi universe. A few decent performances from the elder statesmen of the cast boost its credibility a little, and ultimately while the ingredients are all a little below average there's enough of interest to make the film entertaining and worth some more praise than it's earned.
6 stars.