"What you had to do. What you always do: turn death into a fighting chance to live." - William Shatner and DeForest Kelley
With the rip-roaring success of The Wrath of Khan, the studios greenlit the third classic Trek film with Spock himself as the director. The problem is, with the way the last film ended, Spock couldn't be in the actual film. It was only natural that the next step in the series was to bring Spock back; hence, the search.
The Search for Spock starts off a bit brooding, but quickly taps into the right adventurous spirit as the Enterprise crew becomes renegades and gives the Federation a hilarious slip. From then on, with bad run-ins with Klingons, the stakes are raised very high, and the struggle becomes quite epic. A few scenes stand out as being fairly epic and jaw-dropping. It is an entertaining thrill ride overall.
My only beef with the film is that it still feels very small-scale. A lot of it might be because pitting the Enterprise crew against one small greedy band of Klingon rogues, led by a rather flat one-dimensional villain, just doesn't compare to everything we've already seen in The Wrath of Khan. Let's face it, Khan was too good of a villain, and nothing Captain Kruge does can outstage that. Not even the constant raising of the stakes, and confrontations with death, are able to elevate the film above and beyond the limited confines of its own plot.
Despite those quibbles, the film still does the best it can to one-up most things, and still deliver the best story it can. The classic Trek crew remains a fun, endearing, and well-rounded group of characters, and their adventure follows a solid plot structure. Themes of rebirth, initially introduced in the last film, are reinforced here.
This film boasts solid, steady photography and editing. Acting is not bad: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and the other classic Trek cast members reprise their roles with good nuance, and with a little more tongue-in-cheek attitude. Christopher Lloyd plays the villain quite memorably, even if the character is a two-bit scumbag. This production has some really good-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects. The music score has more of the same from the last film, and that's not bad.
On its own, this film is fun and satisfying, but understanding its story may rely pretty heavily on seeing The Wrath of Khan first. As such, it's best recommended as an immediate follow-up.
4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Very Good)
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