Release Date: 02/06/09 (Limited)
Fanboys, directed by Kyle Newman, is the ridiculous story of 5 friends who plan to travel cross country to steal a copy of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from the Skywaker Ranch. Being a fan of the Star Wars saga you can relate with these super nerds as they really believe that Star Wars is their life, but even if you get all the inside Star Wars jokes this film still falls short of being a great comedy.
Set in 1998, the story begins with a Halloween party where a group of friends reminisce with one friend who has lost touch, Eric, played by Sam Huntington. We later find out that Eric’s old best friend Linus, played by Chris Marquette has cancer and only has three months to live. The other three friends Windows, played by Jay Baruchel, Hutch, played by Dan Fogler and Zoe, played by Kristen Bell realize that Linus will not live long enough to experience what has been on all their minds for years. The long-awaited theatrical release of Star Wars – Episode I, which is still several months away. Linus once again suggests to his friends what he’s been scheming since fifth grade: Breaking into Skywalker Ranch, this time to steal a print of the movie. But it might be the only way for Linus to see the movie before he dies. So as insane as it sounds, they take Hutch’s van and embark on a mission to drive across half the country to the Ranch. The ridiculous story is not the main problem with the film; the main problem is the 4 main stars. They never made me really laugh out loud, and the whole cancer story was never really believable.
Hutch was definitely the main problem; I just don’t think this guy is funny. The on-going jokes of him living in his parent’s garage just weren’t doing it for me. Don’t get me wrong this film has its moments. The funniest parts were when they would throw in a pop culture reference or inside Star Wars jokes. My favorite line probably being, “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since Schumacher put nipples on Batman.”
The most enjoyable parts of the film are when a cameo would come out of nowhere, and there were a lot of cameos. There were Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Willams, Ray Park, Jamie King, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Will Forte, Craig Robinson, Joe Lo Truglio, William Shatner, Danny McBride, and more. My favorite cameo though had to be Seth Rogen who played 3 characters, Admiral Seasholtz (a trekker), an Alien, and Roach (a pimp). He made for the funniest parts of the film and actually had a pretty big role in the end.
But, in the conclusion Fanboys doesn’t really come together as a complete comedy. Being carried by your cameos is not a good sign of a movie as a whole. Maybe for huge fanboy Star Wars nerds this might be hilarious, but any normal filmgoer should maybe wait until DVD.
IMDB: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%
Moviewiseguys: 6.5/10