Awfully Good Movies: Wing Commander (Video)

July 21st 2017, 9:20pm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Wing Commander (1999)
Director: Chris Roberts
Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows

Today marks the return of director Luc Besson to the world of sci-fi adventure with VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS, so Awfully Good Movies is about to fly to the galaxy of a less exciting intergalactic voyage: 1999's WING COMMANDER, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard! Yep, it's another adaptation of a video game series, but what made this one stand out above all the rest is that it was directed by Chris Roberts, the creator of the video games. But unfortunately, the games' all-star live-action cast of Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell and Thomas "Biff Tannen" Wilson didn't come back for the movie as well, as they were replaced by…the lead actors of the SCOOBY-DOO movies. Hey, who needs Luke Skywalker when you've got…Freddie Prinze, Jr? Yeah, look, I think we can all tell this one's going to end up on the growing garbage pile of movies based on video games, and after you suffer through its wooden acting, grindingly dull exposition and cheap CGI effects, you'll be wishing for the fast-paced entertainment of the STREET FIGHTER movie instead. At least that movie had Raul Julia going for it; all WING COMMANDER had going for it was that it had the theatrical premiere of the STAR WARS: EPISODE I trailer before the movie. "Boy, that Jar-Jar Binks sure looks like he'll be hilarious," we all said to ourselves. "George Lucas is gonna give us the best STAR WARS ever!" Little did we know, though…little did we know…