|
|
GALAXY QUEST
|
As a concession to David, Nancy graciously consented to see GALAXY QUEST on our anniversary. We both had a great time.
"You can't appreciate Shakespeare until you've read him in the original Klingon," says Christopher Plummer to Shatner's James T. Kirk in one of the Star Trek movies. Well, last weekend I was at a genuine sf convention (*not* a Star Trek convention, there were only two people wearing capes), and there is was, HAMLET in Klingon (with the English translation on facing pages).
Now, this illustrates a key attribute of sf fans in general, and Trekkers (don't call them Trekkies, they get mad) in particular. They *know* that their world-view is a parody waiting for reality so they can play against it; thus a parody of Star Trek is self-referentially entertaining. And yet they return, weekend warriors, to relive old episodes. Why? Because belief, and hope, and inspiration, are charming and uplifting feelings that we want to have no matter how ludicrous the premise that inspires them.
The healing power of belief is the theme of GALAXY QUEST. The old Galaxy Quest cast drags their sagging butts from one convention to another, saying the same lines endlessly to the point where the Vulcan-equivalent doctor (Alan Rickman) threatens to kill the next fan who quotes it at him. ("I was an actor once," he moans into his dressing room mirror. "I played Richard the third." "Five curtain calls," the other cast members wearily finish his rant from him.) At a con, they are accosted by four smiling humanoids who have 'viewed the historical documents' and come to Earth so the GQ crew can rescue their planet Klaatu from the evil oppressors ....
And off we go, in a way that was predictable from the first moment, but -- and this is essential -- anticipating the story makes it more enjoyable. We are safe to allow ourselves to want them to succeed because we know this is a fairy story and they *will* succeed. In fulfilling the tropes, they let us feel the dream. And, of course, because sf fans have high IQ's, along the way we have a funny story. The actors are *encouraged* to chew the furniture. Tim Allen (making the Steve Martin journey from comic to actor) does a wonderful essence-de-Shatner, Sigourney Weaver takes her revenge on Ripley by playing a voluptuous blonde, and Alan Rickman is a world-weary Nimoy.
If you have ever seen Star Trek and know all its dramatic conventions, such as the red-velour-shirt character (who beams down to the planet along with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, never has a last name, and is killed -- "He's dead, Jim" -- before the opening credits), the movie is a scream. Even if not, it's funny ... and because sf always drives on story, and heroic story, this wispy little entertainment sucks you in with a tale of Danger, Heroism, and Unexpected Courage.
At one point a female alien (who has a tendency at moments of emotional excitement to regress from her human form into an octopoidal glop) is making out our engineer (played by Tony Shalhoub). They are lip-locking and sink offscreen, where we get a reaction shot from another crew member. "Get a room," he first says, and then, as a pink tentacle swoops briefly across a corner of the frame, "Oh, that's not *right*."
Go see it.