Marty Michaels

People like to talk about how when it comes to Star Trek movies, the even numbered movies are great and the odd numbered ones are not so good. I can only imagine this “rule” came into being after The Final Frontier (which I kinda like, to be honest) and when The Undiscovered Country turned out to be awesome and Generations turned out to be mediocre the rule was cemented into the minds of Trek fans across the globe. To be honest, it is kinda true, the odd numbered films do tend to be less awesome than they might be, but it’s definatley not the case when it comes to The Search For Spock, which, in my estimation, is at least as good as the film that followed it and almost as good as the film that came before.

After TWOK and Spock’s death, Nimoy swore he was done with Trek (kinda like his sucessor Zachary Quinto has done) but after seeing TWOK he wanted to play Spock again (after fighting tooth and nail to get him killed off – is this guy never satisfied) and agreed to appear in the film and also to direct. The producers agreed and production went ahead. The plot is about as predictable as your expect it to be with a title like The Search For Spock: Spock, before he died, placed his “katra” into Bones and, upon finding out, Kirk and co. “borrow” the Enterprise to go find Spock’s body on the Genesis planet and take it to Vulcan where his katra and his body can be reunited. This’ll bring him back to life, apparently. It’s best not to ask too many questions. Along the way, Kirk experiences yet more personal tragedy and all manner of great adventures are had.

As with TWOK, the cast are on fine form, especially Shatner with the scene where he finds out the his son, whom he only only met for the first time in TWOK has been murdered by the Klingons being a standout moment. The grief Kirk feels is palpable and offset nicely by the matter of fact (and very Vulcan) way Saavik gives him the bad news. In a nice moment two films later, Kirk reveals that he has never forgiven the Klingons for killing his son despite the fact that he avenged himself upon the murderer in quite spectacular manner. Nimoy, keeping himself behind the camera for most of the film doesn’t get a chance to do much exept raise his eyebrows in the last scene, but DeForrest Kelley and the rest of the Enterprise crew play their parts well. It’s also cool to see Mark Lenard Sarek again after his initial apperance in TOS. The only misstep is the casting of Robin Curtis as Saavik. I’m not sure why Kirstie Alley didn’t reprise her role (maybe she wanted more money or something) but it’s a shame they cast an actress as bland and uninteresting as Robin Curtis to fill the gap. Speaking of filling gaps, the script kinda suggests she and Spock get it on at some point, but let’s not go there.

Villain-wise, there’s nothing to compete with Khan; how could there be, but they did score a hit with the main villain, the Klingon Commander Kruge played by a pre-”Great Scott Marty” Christopher Lloyd. At that point probably most famous as Revernd Jim in taxi, Lloyd is great as the evil Klingon with the wierd looking dog, and brings a Khan-esque air of theatricality to the role. His crew are pretty much stock Klingons with nothing much to identify one from the other, but even if they had been well written parts, Lloyd would’ve towered over them. When I think of Klingons, I think of Michael Dorn as Worf, Christopher Plummer as Chang and Christopher Lloyd as Kruge.

The main draw for TSFS was, obviously, the return of Mr. Spock from the grave and it’s handled quite well in the film. Nothing seems implausible and it all kinda-sorta makes sense, although you’d think at some point Spock would’ve previously mentioned the whole katra thing to Kirk or McCoy in case he should meet an untimley end. But Spock’s return from the dead isn’t the only “surprise” in store here. Just like how Spock’s death was the worst kept secret in Hollywood at the time of TWOK, it was also no secret that Kirk would destroy the Enterprise in TSFS; indeed, an early trailer for the film has a narrator intone “witness the destructon of the USS Enterprise.” Turning epic fail into a fighting chance at win, Kirk tricks the Klingons onto coming aboard the(abandoned) Enterprise which is set to self destruct. As it streaks across the sky, Kirk stares up at it and you relaise that he’s lost his best friend, his son and his ship, but is he gonna give up? Is he hell. This is James fucking Kirk we’re talking about here.

The ending is as predictable as you’d expect, yet still has a single manly tear running down the cheek of many a Trek fan. Overall, this is a great film and sets up the third part of the Spock Trilogy nicely. If you haven’t already seen it or still put any stock in the odds-evens rule, check it out. Just don’t get those “Klingon bastards” to babysit while you do.

Tags: random movie review, star trek, the search for spock