Rating of
2/4
KLINGON CHRISTOPHER LLOYD!
Drive-In Massacre - wrote on 12/30/09
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock comes right after what most trekkies and movie fans alike consider the best Star Trek film by far: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, and it precedes another one of the most highly regarded films in the series: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The 3 films together make a trilogy of their own, while all the other movies are separate stories from each other. So in a way, this is sort of the Empire Strikes Back or Back to the Future II of this Spock trilogy...but it doesn't meet the standards of those films by any means. In fact, the only reason I probably give this movie any credit is because it's part of a bigger, better story.
To be honest, at of all 11 films, this is the one I have already forgotten the most. Yes, Insurrection is probably the most forgettable and passive as a single movie on it's own, but again, Search for Spock is part of a bigger story and in the Star Trek Trilogy it's really hard to remember what moments come out of this one. The movie is directed by Leonard Nimoy, who I think was one of the better directors of the series, but in this film the direction seems so generic and so basic that all you can really say about is that it's not a strong point of the movie. The direction certainly doesn't help the film. Some of the more obvious flaws in the movie, is the way they forced Spock back into the film. From the very title we know that not only is Spock alive, but the whole movie is about Spock in some form or another. That on it's own ruins Star Trek II on a small level, especially the ending.
Even though this one is also forgettable, it's very fast-paced and moves fairly quickly, it's more exciting and more fun to watch than Star Trek V, Stark Trek: TMP, Nemesis, and Insurrection and although it's poor casting, I still really enjoy Christopher Lloyd as the main Klingon villain. He doesn't act any different being a Klingon than he does as in his non character-actor roles. I'm serious, he's basically himself. He never makes you believe he's anybody other than Christopher Lloyd, but that's what's so great about it...HE'S KLINGON CHRISTOPHER LLOYD!
