Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Leonard Nimoy), 1984
With Spock out of the picture for most of its running time, Leonard Nimoy steps behind the camera and directs this next installment. It picks up directly from Star Trek II, and is in fact sometimes edited directly onto the end of that film by TV stations to create a near seamless double bill (the last scene of II is the first scene of III). That's not actually a good way to see it, however, since you'll be reminded how clearly the previous episode's final scenes telegraph every plot point of this one. Spock, though dead, has had his personality mystically transplanted into Bones. His body, meanwhile, is being regenerated on the Genesis Planet. Kirk and his crew must risk all to unite spirit and body, thus ensuring that Spock will be available for the next three movies.
The whole thing is pleasant enough, with Nimoy's direction competent and the special effects good (the purse strings had been loosened up after II). We get Klingons as villains for the first time, which has to be a good thing, even if they are led by an incongruous Christopher Lloyd. The time passes by easily enough, and there's nothing actually wrong with any of it (except maybe Shatner's performance, but that's a liability we by now take as a given).
But there's so little to this film: it just goes through the motions of the plot that had been so clearly signalled in II. Our heroes steal the Enterprise (which apparently can be crewed by only six people), fly to Genesis, blow some stuff up, and find Spock. There's no real science fiction premise except that of the Genesis planet, which is borrowed from Meyer's film. Without Spock, the crew aren't very interesting: the actors know their parts so well they can do them in their sleep, and often it seems that they're doing just that. The big variation this time is that Spock and Bones are inhabiting the same body, but it's the most wasted idea in the whole series. DeForest Kelley does well with what he's given, and could clearly have had some fun with this situation, but apparently the filmmakers thought this subplot of minor importance. Kirk's bland son and the Vulcan scientist Saavik get as much screen time. (Robin Curtis steps into the Saavik role originated by Kirstie Alley; the decision to continue the role without Alley seems odd, as the role could easily have been written out. The character of Carol Marcus has been, for example.)
You can amuse yourself, however, by trying to figure
out which of the Klingons is John Larroquette. He's in there somewhere.
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© 2005 by Stephen Rowley