

GALAXY QUEST
                    A film review by Christopher Null
                      Copyright 1999 filmcritic.com
                             filmcritic.com

     Just when you thought "high concept" couldn't get any lower....

     And just when you thought lowbrow humor couldn't be funny any
more....

     That's right, it's an amazing double negative that hasn't
successfully been pulled off since SOUTH PARK:  A movie that's
incredibly stupid yet fall-down funny.

     How stupid?  Here's the plot:  Washed-up actors from a 1960's
sci-fi TV show called "Galaxy Quest" are mistaken for a real starship
crew and are whisked to the stars to do battle with an evil entity.

     How funny?  Well, it's not SOUTH PARK funny, but it's frankly one
of the better comedies of the year.

     "Star Trek" fans -- you are being mocked.  But don't take it
personally.  If you can laugh at your inner geek, you'll find GALAXY
QUEST immensely entertaining and enjoyable.  I was a STAR WARS fan and
didn't really grow up with "Star Trek," but I got a real kick out of the
self-loathing of the likes of the tired character actors played by
Rickman and Shalhoub.  However, it's Sigourney Weaver who strikes her
most memorable character since Lt. Ripley of ALIEN's Nostromo.  As the
blond and buxom "Tawny Madison," she owns the part and every scene she's
in.  While pairing her with goofball Tim Allen is liking casting pearls
before swine, Allen does redeem himself with a spot-on Shatner homage.

     Getting inside the twisted mindset of the 'Trek geek is much more
fun than you might think, and GALAXY QUEST plays all the genre's clichés
out to the hilt.  In this case, that's a good thing.  Just pray that we
don't see a sequel.  But knowing "Star Trek,"....

RATING:  ***1/2

|------------------------------|
 \ ***** Perfection             \
  \ **** Good, memorable film    \
   \ *** Average, hits and misses \
    \ ** Sub-par on many levels    \
     \ * Unquestionably awful       \
      |------------------------------|

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Dean Parisot
Producer: Suzann Ellis, Mark Johnson, Charles Newirth
Writer: Robert Gordon, David Howard
Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell,
Enrico Colantoni, Sam Rockwell, Missi Pyle

http://www.galaxyquest.com/

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Christopher Null - [email-masked] - http://www.filmcritic.com