Over the next few days, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens will finally be released across the globe. But let's not go crazy with excitement just yet. Some will remember a time when we got excited about a new Star Wars movie nearly twenty years ago. There is a movie that captured our excitement and disappointment back then in Fanboys. Like the Ghost of Star Wars Past, I'm going to take us all on a journey.
The year is 1998 and Eric Bottler (Sam Huntington) is working for his father as a car salesman. At a Halloween party he runs into his old friends Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel) and Linus (Chris Marquette). They bring up an old idea they had of breaking into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal a rough cut of the The Phantom Menace. Bottler dismisses the idea, but after Hutch and Windows come to him with the revelation that Linus has cancer, Bottler decides to help him with his dream. Together with their friend Zoe (Kristen Bell), they drive across America to fulfill every Star Wars fan's pre-prequel dream. Along the way they meet a whole bunch of colourful characters, including super geek Harry Knowles (Ethan Suplee), Seth Rogen as a Trekkie and drug dealing Star Wars fan and pimp and William Shatner as himself.
Fanboys is filled with deep cuts references to Star Wars fandom. The guys have debates about whether or not Luke and Leia actually love each other in a romantic way despite being siblings, actual merchandise from he era and the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek fans. The film even features Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. All the main characters have equivalents from the movies. While the jokes may seem very basic, but funny if you're in the right mood. The funniest sequence probably comes when they encounter The Chief (Danny Trejo) who gives the guys guacamole laced with peyote. This scene also has an emotional aspect to it as The Chief taps into the fact that Linus has cancer.
The lead actors here aren't the best but that's not the focus of the film, it's more in the smaller roles. This film has some of today's biggest comic actors before we knew how big they would become. Seth Rogen had only marginal fame before he did this. Watching him fight himself is a great scene to watch. Danny McBride features as well as Joe Lo Truglio, Will Forte and Craig Robinson. Ethan Suplee plays actual nerd Harry Knowles, but a little more aggressively than the actual man. Veteran actors William Shatner, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams all have cameos.
The last line of the movie is uttered by Bottler just before they sit down and watch The Phantom Menace and it's "What if the movie sucks?" I guess what the purpose of this review is for us all to be mindful like our favourite Jedi. We have had new Star Wars movies in the past and been disappointed, so let's not be too upset if we're disappointed by J.J.
Fanboys is filled with deep cuts references to Star Wars fandom. The guys have debates about whether or not Luke and Leia actually love each other in a romantic way despite being siblings, actual merchandise from he era and the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek fans. The film even features Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. All the main characters have equivalents from the movies. While the jokes may seem very basic, but funny if you're in the right mood. The funniest sequence probably comes when they encounter The Chief (Danny Trejo) who gives the guys guacamole laced with peyote. This scene also has an emotional aspect to it as The Chief taps into the fact that Linus has cancer.
The lead actors here aren't the best but that's not the focus of the film, it's more in the smaller roles. This film has some of today's biggest comic actors before we knew how big they would become. Seth Rogen had only marginal fame before he did this. Watching him fight himself is a great scene to watch. Danny McBride features as well as Joe Lo Truglio, Will Forte and Craig Robinson. Ethan Suplee plays actual nerd Harry Knowles, but a little more aggressively than the actual man. Veteran actors William Shatner, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams all have cameos.
The last line of the movie is uttered by Bottler just before they sit down and watch The Phantom Menace and it's "What if the movie sucks?" I guess what the purpose of this review is for us all to be mindful like our favourite Jedi. We have had new Star Wars movies in the past and been disappointed, so let's not be too upset if we're disappointed by J.J.
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