This is the second Trek movie by Nicholas Meyer, fan-favorite writer and director of "The Wrath of Khan". It has the same strengths: a plot based firmly in pulp history, some good action scenes, and a fairly serious tone. It also shares the same weaknesses: dull direction and photography, rampant militarism, and clichéd dialogue.
Kudos to the writers and producers and whoever for adding the political allegory. The Klingon Empire is collapsing due to a disaster of some sort, and it presents the Federation with a perfect opportunity, either to finally defeat their old enemies, or to turn over a new leaf and make friends. If you've seen The Next Generation, you'll know the outcome.
The problem is that this is all rather tawdry. It turns out that the 23rd century is a lot like the present day, with politicians and military types and conferences everywhere you look. Remember the days when the Enterprise explored space and encountered exciting new alien life forms? None of that here. This is a much more old-fashioned adventure, with Kirk and Bones framed for assassinating the Klingon leader and shipped off to a prison planet while Spock and the gang try to solve the mystery of exactly what the heck happened.
The middle third of the film moves slowly. The prison is full of aliens but otherwise a bit drab. The villain is not revealed as such until late, and doesn't get developed at all. The mystery is never as convincing as it should be because it always seems like Spock already has all the answers -- a technique Nicholas Meyer learned from old Sherlock Holmes films, though not from the genuine Holmes stories. Those stories are quoted along with an awful lot of Shakespeare; the Klingon in charge of the prison lifts his intro speech direct from "Bridge on the River Kwai". The climax is pretty sharp, with a decent space battle. (Actually, the battle consists almost entirely of the Enterprise getting repeatedly shot at by a Klingon ship while Christopher Plummer spits out random Shakespearean one-liners; it's a wonder the scene works at all).
So it's not a bad film, it just feels a little small. Galactic politics don't carry enough weight to make a really good movie, and there's not enough fun or adventure in the rest of the story. As usual, the unwieldy plot tends to crowd the characters out of the film, even though this, the last movie with the original crew, is where we really want to see each of our heroes get a good send-off.
Kudos to the writers and producers and whoever for adding the political allegory. The Klingon Empire is collapsing due to a disaster of some sort, and it presents the Federation with a perfect opportunity, either to finally defeat their old enemies, or to turn over a new leaf and make friends. If you've seen The Next Generation, you'll know the outcome.
The problem is that this is all rather tawdry. It turns out that the 23rd century is a lot like the present day, with politicians and military types and conferences everywhere you look. Remember the days when the Enterprise explored space and encountered exciting new alien life forms? None of that here. This is a much more old-fashioned adventure, with Kirk and Bones framed for assassinating the Klingon leader and shipped off to a prison planet while Spock and the gang try to solve the mystery of exactly what the heck happened.
The middle third of the film moves slowly. The prison is full of aliens but otherwise a bit drab. The villain is not revealed as such until late, and doesn't get developed at all. The mystery is never as convincing as it should be because it always seems like Spock already has all the answers -- a technique Nicholas Meyer learned from old Sherlock Holmes films, though not from the genuine Holmes stories. Those stories are quoted along with an awful lot of Shakespeare; the Klingon in charge of the prison lifts his intro speech direct from "Bridge on the River Kwai". The climax is pretty sharp, with a decent space battle. (Actually, the battle consists almost entirely of the Enterprise getting repeatedly shot at by a Klingon ship while Christopher Plummer spits out random Shakespearean one-liners; it's a wonder the scene works at all).
So it's not a bad film, it just feels a little small. Galactic politics don't carry enough weight to make a really good movie, and there's not enough fun or adventure in the rest of the story. As usual, the unwieldy plot tends to crowd the characters out of the film, even though this, the last movie with the original crew, is where we really want to see each of our heroes get a good send-off.