WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!I still can’t quite figure this one out. Much in the same way that Star Trek IV straddled the line between clever and stupid, Star Trek: Generations wanders along the fine line between being endearing and just plain silly.
It starts off with Kirk, Scotty and Chekov being on hand for the maiden voyage of the Enterprise-B Federation Starship. They are in their twilight years in service to the Federation and are merely on the bridge as a matter of ceremony. Along the virgin trip, a distress signal comes in and Kirk urges the new captain to spring into action. During the attempted rescue of two ships from a bizarre energy field, the Enterprise-B is damaged and Kirk lost into space. Among the survivors is Malcolm McDowell, a long-living scientist who plots to return to the energy field he had been stuck in.
Flash forward nearly 80 years and we’re smack-dab in the middle of Star Trek: The Next Generation territory. The Enterprise-D, under the leadership of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, receives a distress call from a science outpost. Sure enough, McDowell is the lone survivor of what appears to be an attack by the Romulans. But, McDowell is actually working with a rogue group of Klingons seeking his star system-destroying technology (seems old habits die hard with the Klingons).
McDowell is destroying star systems to lure this traveling energy field he was pulled from (called the Nexus) to a location where he can re-enter it. Picard tries to stop and ends up inside the Nexus as well. There he finds bliss and joy as he is able to live out everything he ever dreamed of. But he realizes this is all a lie and recalls that one Captain Kirk also happens to be caught up in the Nexus as well. They meet, team up and cross time and space to save the day. An interesting homage to the original series films is played out regarding Captain Kirk. That’ll make sense if you paid attention during the other films. Otherwise, enjoy the cheekiness this movie is full of.
The scenes with Shatner are juts odd. He certainly seems to be having fun with the part one last time, but some of the lines he delivers and actions he does (the horse scene anyone?) are just a bit too campy for their own good. There is a subtle theme of sacrifice throughout the movie, but it never really grabs hold and makes its presence felt enough to list it as an asset. The effects are more or less caught up with the times, but the whole package is still dumbed down to the level of aw-shucks-who-cares-if-it-looks-silly that has pervaded the Star Trek series from day one. Hardcore Trekkies will be able to overlook this stuff, but I’m a movie guy- it’s either there or it’s not. This time it’s not.
I wouldn’t say this film is much better than the last few Trek offerings, because it certainly isn’t much of an improvement on anything, but it does have a few redeeming qualities and enough feel-good fun to make it a perfect example of a sci-fi guilty pleasure movie.
RATING: 2.75 out of 5
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