Fanboys

Fanboys

Fanboys - Directed by Kyle Newman, starring Sam Huntington, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, and Kristen Bell - Rated PG-13

Breaking the rules here a bit since this is not a perfect film, but I can't pass up the chance to award a Vader to a Star Wars fanboy movie.



Fanboys is a movie for Star Wars fans, plain and simple. I believe there could some enjoyment from a regular audience, but only Star Wars fans will really get into this one.

The story takes place in 1998, a year before The Phantom Menace is released. Four friends, one of whom has cancer, decide to go to Skywalker Ranch (home base of George Lucas) to watch the rough cut of the movie before it's released and before their friend dies. This might sound like a bit of a downer of a story (a factor which pushed back the release date of this film about a hundred times), but it really adds emotion to an otherwise outright comedy.

This is basically a road movie filled with Star Wars references. Hutch (Dan Fogler) drives a van filled with memorabilia (complete with an R2-D2 replica sticking out of the top) featuring sound effects comparable to the Millenium Falcon at times, not to mention the Chewbacca roar for a horn. The references, along with the cameos (Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Kevin Smith, William Shatner) make this an extremely enjoyable experience for the fans. Oh, and for those of you who don't care for Episode I (I like it, myself) or Jar Jar Binks in particular (not a fan, really, but I don't hate the character or anything), there some great jokes dealing with the expectations of that movie compared to subsequent critical beat down the movie took upon release.

Adding to the fan service is a subplot about the battle between fanboys and trekkies. The absurdity of the idea of Star Wars and Star Trek fans engaging in physical combat is quite hilarious, and it helps that the trekkies are led by a nerded out Seth Rogen (one of three roles for him in this film).



Now about the delay for the release of this film. I can remember seeing previews for this almost three years ago. What happened was that there was a positive buzz going for this film, so the Weinsteins decided to throw some money at it and re-shoot some scenes to make it friendlier for mass audiences. At one point a new director was even brought in to change the scenes dealing with the cancer plot (apparently mainstream audiences would have refused to watch this movie if the word cancer was involved). Some of the footage that director (Steven Brill, Without a Paddle) shot is still in the finished film actually, but I only know that from doing a little research, so it didn't ruin the film or anything. If you're wondering, the scene I'm talking about is when Danny McBride is interrogating the group. So the battle over the cancer plot waged on, with the original story remaining intact. But by then, the studio didn't want to put much support behind it, so it was released in a handful of theaters and finally released on DVD a couple weeks ago. So that's the behind the scenes story about the movie made for Star Wars fans. It's ridiculous that it took this long to release this film, but thankfully the long wait is over because this is a very entertaining comedy.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

Fanboys — 8

Prepare to nerd out with this movie. If you are a fan of any sort in the world of Star Trek and/or Star Wars, YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE! I did not think that i would enjoy it as much as i did, but it was awesome!

The only downside to this movie was the really really slow beginning part of it, but once they get in the van and start on their journey to Skywalker Ranch that’s when it starts to get amazing.

The other really great thing about this movie is the sheer number of cameos, nerd and un-nerdlike alike. William Shatner playing himself, Seth Rogan is the leader of the Star Trek nerds, Carrie Ann Fisher (Princess Leia), Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissien), the list goes on, and the thing is that these cameos do not even seem a bit out of place. Its like they should be there.

Another thing that I noticed a bit through the movie is that Fanboys almost parallels Star Wars. All of the main characters of the movie are similiar to each of the main characters of Star Wars. For instance Dan Fogler who plays Hutch is supposed to be Hans Solo, Jay Baruchel who plays Windows is C3P0, and Kristen Bell who plays Zoe is Leia.

All in all this movie was genius from start to end, its just getting past the first part is slow and boring, but its worth the return if you stick with it.

Base Score = 7/10
-1 for a slow beginning
+1 For massive cameos
+1 for the nerd factor
= 8/10

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Last updated: 2010-01-12 01:45:12 by Tolll

Fanboys

I’ve been seeing trailers and previews for this thing for about 2 or 3 years now, but I don’t recall it ever being released in theaters. They say good things come to those who wait, though, and that is so true with this film.
As a Star Wars fanboy myself, I found myself a little torn about the subject matter. I mean, the idea of taking a trip across country in 1998 to see the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace never crossed y mind, but now that I think about it, may not have been a bad idea.
Parodies such as this one give me conflicting emotions. Not all of them can be as good as the Robot Chicken versions. Luckily, Fanboys, doesn’t suffer that fate.
The fanboys are true fanboys (and a girl). They are your typical nerdy guys who live in their with their parents (even though they should have left years ago), no girlfriends, and know everything about the Star Wars universe down to the color underwear Harrison Ford was wearing when he auditioned for the part of Han Solo.
The actors that play the boys aren’t household names, as a matter of fact, with the exception of Eric, this is the biggest role most of them have had.Let me take that back, they’ve been in major films, but none have had major roles. Its good to see a film where the major characters are all new faces, but as I was looking at these guys I was thinking that had this been made a few years earlier, they could very well be Judd Apatow’s boys (Jonah Hill, the McLovin’ kid, Michal Cera, and someone else they get off the street).
Kristen Bell is hot as always, even her smaller role, but she has a bit of teen angst. Its kind of like she took her character from Heroes, Elle, and used her as a basis for this character, without all the evil intentions. Guys, admit it, you’re just waiting for those final scenes when you get to see her in a Princess Leia costume.
There are a ton of cameo in this thing, from Carrie Fisher (who isn’t playing a nurse for once), Billy Dee Williams, and Ethan Suplee to Kevin Smith, Jason Mews and Seth Rogen (who plays two characters).
It is quite obvious the lvoe the filmakers and actors have for the lore of Star Wars. Something that seems to have been forgotten by George Lucas himself as he keeps pimping out and adding stuff to what is already perfection, but I won’t go into that here.
With the almost non-stop laughs in the film, there is a serious subplot involving Linus having cancer, which is indirectly responsible for the whole trip in the first place. I know that there are those that feel this should have been touched on more, rather than just mentioned maybe 2 or  3 times. You guys can just get over it. This isn’t some Lifetime Movie of the week, its a comedy, that means the focus is supposed to be on making people laugh, not depressing them with a kid who’s about to die.
I love this film, not just becuse I’m a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise, but because I can can actually relate to the characters. I guess I’m just a big geek when all is said and done, and belong in a group like these guys. My recommendation is for Star Wars fans to run out and see it ASAP. It is hilarious. Everyone else can enjoy it too, but some of the humor may be lost on you unless you’re an aficionado.

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