Earth is in danger from an alien attack. But if its inhabitants are as boring as they are in this movie, maybe it's a good thing. While the game Wing Commander looks great from a computer monitor, it is uninspired and bloodless when magnified to the size of a movie screen. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard (both from She's All That) are a pair of freewheeling space jockeys who join the fight against the evil Kilrathi. It's difficult to be scared of aliens who look like shaved hamsters, and it's even harder to care about a movie that is so half-heartedly put together. Director Chris Roberts seems to have spent all of his inspiration creating the game. He sheepishly goes where many filmmakers have gone before. He also manages the unique feat of making skilled European actors like Jürgen Prochnow (Das Boot), Tchéky Karyo (La Femme Nikita) and David Suchet (Executive Decision) look like struggling amateurs. The ships have the novelty of shooting torpedoes instead of lasers. Nonetheless, thanks to a monumentally confusing storyline, Wing Commander resoundingly proves there was more to the Star Wars saga than dazzling special effects. (PG-13) Rating: 2

 Tchéky Karyo in Wing Commander.

© 1999 Twentieth Century Fox, used by permission.