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Movie Review Monday: Star Trek - Generations

stgenboxThe film this week is the seventh iteration in the Star Trek film franchise; Star Trek: Generations (1994), starring two Enterprise captains, William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I'm going to just start off by saying I wasn't a huge fan of this film. I'm trying to watch, at least, all of the Star Trek films, having just wrapped up The Next Generation's (TNG) TV run recently. I've seen a few of The Original Series' (TOS) films also, having enjoyed Wrath of Khan especially. I had high hopes for this movie but it fell apart quickly for me. There were many sub-plot threads that seemed needless, the stakes weren't that high, the action was lackluster, and it just overall seemed like an overinflated episode of the show. If this movie was a typical episode of the show, shortened down and focused, it would be great, but with a roughly two-hour run time, it just was a bit of a bore.

Star Trek at its best is when it is able to have stories about ethics, morality, loyalty, values, friendship, and diversity. This movie had none of the above. It does seem that all of the Star Trek movies I've seen tend to just default to sci-fi action movies, which can be fun, but never really capture what makes the television show so special and beloved, and that's saying a lot from a diehard Star Wars fan.

This is a rare negative review so I recommend you pass on Star Trek: Generations. Just go watch Star Trek Into Darkness on Netflix if you want a better Trek flick that's streaming right now.

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