Review of Stargate (1994) by Adam F — 07 Jan 2013

"Stargate" has a few inventive moments but it feels bland. The character designs are interesting and the sci-fi egyptian aliens work but the special effects are hit or miss. The writing is where the real problems lie; the characters are thin (James Spader plays a typical nerd who nobody takes seriously and Kurt Russell is the no-nonsense tormented soldier that follows orders to the letter), the love interest has no personality whatsoever, the comical sidekicks are introduced purely for phoney dramatic purposes (when there is real peril you can easily tell what is going to happen to them) and the villain is incredibly bland.

"Ra" seems to have no motivations for enslaving a giant population of people besides staying alive, punishes his loyal minions harshly (as all comically written villains do) with an incredibly bizarre device that makes no sense and when he decides to unleash his doomsday weapon, it isn't at the earliest convenience or for maximum damage potential, but when the plot demands that he does.

The action sequences don't make up for the rest of the film, which is mostly dull and often seems to make little sense so even if the concept sounds like a lot of fun you're better off skipping this one.

(Dvd, January 5, 2013).