The good news on "Wing Commander" is that you don't need to be familiar with the popular computer game series on which it was based to enjoy the film. The bad news is that being familiar with the computer games won't help much, either.

While technological advances allow game whiz-cum-director Chris Roberts to establish a new level of cutting-edge-cool visuals, they are no help (and often a hindrance) to creating an interesting story or involving characters.

In this regard, "Wing Commander" has much more in common with "Starship Troopers" than with "Star Wars." As the movie opens, an evil alien race has declared war on "the Confederation" and the fate of planet Earth hangs in the balance.

In yet another futuristic movie that treats war in some very old-fashioned ways, Freddie Prinze Jr. appears as the romantic pin-up poster boy, while Matthew Lillard does another round of his wacky, adrenalized shtick.

It shouldn't be surprising that the man who helped hype the notion of "interactive movies" has created such a thin, uninvolving film.

While Roberts is given director and "story" credits, there is no screenplay credit, and after watching the movie, it seems like no one wrote one. Relationships spontaneously develop, characters inexplicably disappear and reappear, and a war is waged while hardly ever seeing, much less getting to know, the enemy.

The next "Star Wars" can't get here fast enough.

'Wing Commander'

Starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard

Directed by Chris Roberts

Released by 20th Century Fox

Rated PG-13 (adult situations, mild violence)

Running time: 100 minutes

Sun score: **

Pub Date: 3/12/99