Galaxy Quest Review

Galaxy Quest is a 1999 science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Sam Rockwell. It is one of the most original comedies I’ve seen.

The film stars the cast of a popular science fiction television show. A leader of an alien race arrives and asks for help from the cast, believing their adventures were real. That is the plot of Galaxy Quest and it’s a pretty unique one. It is such an original concept that intrigued me from the moment the film started. Those first scenes were fantastic and I loved them. The whole first act is so inventive and authentic while also hooking you into the story wonderfully and making you laugh many times.

I am talking about the first act being good in particular because unfortunately the movie never again achieves that level of entertainment and sophistication later on with the second and especially third act being disappointing. The film succumbs into the usual action-oriented territory which is satisfying to a lot of people, but never to me. I expected more story and especially more characterization as it really needed those.

However, the characters are still quite good for this kind of film. Jason is a typical protagonist and although I usually disliked these arrogant heroes, I still liked him for the most part as he was genuinely funny at times. Gwen is very disappointing as she is so underused and not that strong of a female character. She has her moments, but is still not great. Alexander Dane is excellent because his personality wonderfully counteracts the other members of the team. His cold and cynical view softens near the end, but his relationship with Jason and his snarky remarks are priceless. Fred is also solid and Guy is really good and has a couple of great moments. Laredo is underused, but Mathesar is quite good and Sarris is a fun villain.

The acting is great. Sigourney Weaver is really good in her role which is all the more frustrating that she is so underused here. Enrico Colantoni is also good while Sam Rockwell is phenomenal and so funny at times. He is such a good actor and always delivers. It’s such a shame that he’d never got a career he deserved. Alan Rickman is great as well. He is an excellent choice from the casting director as he fits this role perfectly. But he not only manages to sell his funny jokes and cold nature, but he is also great in the more emotional scenes which is great. Tim Allen is the highlight here and gave a stupendous performance with a lot of humor and evident charisma.

Galaxy Quest is visually great with some excellent special effects, terrific for its time. It isn’t particularly well paced, but is well acted and solidly directed. The score is also solid, but not that memorable. And the originality is definitely evident here from the very first moment as the premise is fabulous and the movie is thematically rich as it wonderfully makes fun of Star Trek and its fans in particular. And although it can be too specific, it can still be enjoyed by everyone and not just by the fans of that show.

The humor is very good. I laughed a lot at certain moments as they were so clever and very well delivered. The acting in particular helps the humor a lot as it is superb and some lines are so good. However, the movie loses its steam as it progresses and the humor isn’t as good in the second half. Yes, the film uses too much action in the second half and that ruined it for me. The story, characters and humor unfortunately take a backseat to action and special effects spectacle and that is the biggest problem this movie sadly never managed to overcome. But it has a solid dialogue and is very entertaining to watch with its heart also being in the right place. It is one of the best and most original comedies of the nineties without a doubt.