So, it’s a documentary about George Takei, all the way from his childhood in a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II to his current internet stardom. The film is entertaining in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t have the energy it should have. And it’s too long. It’s clearly a passion project of Takei’s, but there is far too much time given to Takei’s co-writing and starring in a theatrical musical about the Japanese internment camps. Though, wow, Lea Salonga is frigging gorgeous. Drop dead, I mean. There are definitely good things here. The relationship between Takei and his partner, now husband, of twenty-five years is hilarious; their bickering is one of the great pleasures of the movie. I enjoyed the section of the film about Star Trek; the interviews with Nimoy and Shatner were particularly priceless. Shatner comes off as a Grade-A jerk. Shatner repeatedly waxes on about how he doesn’t consider Takei a friend and that they really don’t know each other at all, having only briefly been professional colleagues; smash cut to Takei: “We did three years of television and six movies together.” There are funny bits, certainly, but the film as a whole is just really languid. Actually, no, I’d almost say inert. And when your subject is George Takei, there’s no excuse for being low energy. I’d recommended against seeing this one. Very much average. 2 stars.
tl;dr – there are certainly interesting and fun moments to be found, but the film’s listlessness and inertia is sure to irritate Takei fans and non-fans alike. 2 stars.