Uninvolving ‘Wing’ Flies to the Big Screen

Among the few differences between “Wing Commander” the movie and a high-concept thrill ride is that nobody tells you to keep your hands inside a moving vehicle. You won’t feel dizzy or shaken up either. You won’t feel anything. Period.

Oh, maybe bored or disoriented by the inside jargon and alien references that will be comprehensible only if you happen to have played the computer game on which “Wing Commander” is based.

For the uninitiated, the movie and the game are set in the 26th century, by which time mankind has colonized more than a few solar systems, through all manner of wormholes and time-space jumps, and now finds itself at war with (what else?) a bloodthirsty alien race named the Kilrathi.

In this particular round, the Kilrathi--who are seen only intermittently and look like (what else?) green wart hogs in suits of armor--have figured out the coordinates to bust through some space wormholes and come within miles of Earth. The only thing standing in their way is a star-spanning version of an aircraft carrier that ferries the best darned fighter squadron in the universe.

The leader is sultry, steel-nerved Jeannette “Angel” Devereaux (Saffron Burrows), who takes no guff from anyone, especially the two renegade pilots who become part of the squadron after delivering orders from Adm. Geoffery Tolwyn (David Warner).

One of the pilots, Todd “Maniac” Marshall (Matthew Lillard), is a hot dog with no inner voice telling him to be careful. The other, Christopher “Maverick” Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.), is a brooding navigational genius haunted by the death of his parents in another galactic war.

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Only a romantic would call any of these types characters and, though there is talk among these freedom fighters and by the enigmatic Paladin (Tcheky Karyo) about feelings and emotions, what you get instead are stock sentiments in spacesuits.

Though its military bravado has echoes of “Starship Troopers,” “Wing Commander” is pretty much a gentler, kinder variation on the intergalactic war subgenre. Fans of “Troopers” may wish for grander, grosser effects than the ones displayed here.

Despite some racy moments between Maniac and a pretty, but doomed, pilot, this is a kid-friendly project with dialogue that’s several kernels below “Star Trek” in corn content.

And it succeeds in making you at least curious about what the game is like. But that may be because you feel so uninvolved in what’s on the screen that a joy stick or a mouse would be the only thing that would arouse your interest.

* MPAA rating: PG-13 for sexual references and sci-fi action/violence. Times guidelines: Some racy dialogue and a few stretches that might scare really young kids.

‘Wing Commander’

Freddie Prinze Jr.: Christopher “Maverick” Blair

David Warner: Adm. Geoffery Tolwyn

Saffron Burrows: Jeanette “Angel” Devereaux

Matthew Lillard: Todd “Maniac” Marshall

20th Century Fox presents a film by Chris Roberts. A Digital Anvil, No Prisoners and Carousel Picture Co. Production. Screenplay by Kevin Droney. Producer, Todd Moyer. Executive producers, Jean-Martial Lefranc and Romain Schroeder, Tom Reeve. Director of photography, Thierry Arbogast. Production designer, Peter Lamont. Editor, Peter Davies. Art direction, Simon Bowles. Costume design, Magali Guidasci. Based on Origin Games Wing Commander CD-ROM series. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

In general release.