June 13: Galaxy Quest

"The alumni cast of a cult space TV show have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help."

Tim Allen has a very, very, hit and miss career. Sure, he has the Toy Story films under his belt but he really has not made a lot of quality live action films. Galaxy Quest is one of those rare outings as his role was pretty much written for him in mind. He plays Jason Nesmith, a full of himself actor who starred on a long running Star Trek-esque TV show in a role paralleling William Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk. He's at home in the role and embraces the cheese and over-the-top machismo he tries to exude. And, it's hilarious. Not to mention, Allen is accompanied by an out of this world (pun intended) cast that includes the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shaloub, and Sam Rockwell, each playing their own, dumbed down characters clearly inspired by Star Trek as well.  

And a very hilarious performance by Enrico Colantoni

The story follows the cast of Galaxy Quest, a long canceled TV show that has developed a cult following, as they find themselves wrapped up in a real galactic war. When Thermians (an tentacled alien race that disguises themselves as semi-humans) request that Nesmith aid them in a war against the evil Sarris, thus saving their people, Nesmith takes them as die-hard fans of the show and nothing more. When he agrees to "perform" for them, he realizes that it is all too real and that he is actually caught up in a space battle between two warring alien species. Nesmith at first finds the idea to be too obsurd, but then realizes it's his chance to be something important again and recruits his old cast mates for the adventure as well. The Thermians actually have designed their space ship after watching reruns of the Galaxy Quest, thinking it is actually "historical documents" depicting the crew's adventures. So, it's up to the fellow TV members to fall into their respective roles (for real) and save an entire alien race from being wiped out completely. A lot of pressure for a bunch of washed out actors that only make a living off of convention appearances and electronic store openings. 

However, I could only imagine how awesome it would be to see William Shatner at the opening of a Best Buy

I would definitely recommend Galaxy Quest. Satire films are usually done in a very bad way, so whenever one succeeds in not only being funny but spoofing its source material as well as this does, it's worth a watch. The cast alone makes the film, and seeing Professor Snape in his version of Doctor Spock is magnificently brilliant. Keep in mind, Galaxy Quest is in no way, genius in its comedy but it's simply dumbed down just enough to enjoy it fully without having to tear it apart. It's fun, entertaining, has surprsingly good special effects, and is a nice nod to the complexities and love of a sci-fi super fan. 

The Good:

a solid cast with each actor owning his/her respective role

The Bad:

satire is still satire and while many of the jokes hit the mark, a couple just try a little too hard

The Ugly:

wondering why Tim Allen has had such a hard time capturing his "Tool Time"ness on the big screen and why he can't make more things like Galaxy Quest

Overall: 7.3/10

Trailer: