fanboy starwar forever

comedy for both Star Wars fans and Star Trek enthusiasts, Fanboys about is four enterprising fans, who try to steal The Phantom Menace so their dying friend can see it.
In what amounts to a pretty entertaining road trip movie interspersed with clever jabs at both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, the much delayed comedy Fanboys finally gets a chance to shine on the big screen, after a long and winding road through the Weinstein editing monster.
Fanboys Synopsis
It is late fall 1998, and a group of friends are discussing their love of Star Wars during a Halloween party. One of the five friends, Eric (Sam Huntington, Superman Returns) has fallen out of touch with his old buddies, namely Hutch (Dan Fogler, Balls of Fury), Windows (Jay Baruchel, ), Linus (Chris Marquette, Freddy Vs Jason) and Zoe (Kristen Bell, TV's
When Eric finds out from his friends that Linus has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has only a few months left to live, Eric seeks to catch up on lost time, and reconnect with his former best friend Linus, by finding a way to realize his buddy's dying wish: to see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The only hitch: the movie doesn't hit theatres for another 6 months, and Linus probably won't live to see it.
And so, with the help of some online sources, some resourcefulness of their own, and an insider at Lucasfilm, the group goes off on a road trip West, to try and break into George Lucas' famous Skywalker Ranch, in order to steal a print of the much awaited sequel, so their friend may die a happy man.Read more at Suite101: Though this plan may appear foolproof, these travelers find themselves into more trouble than they bargained for.
Fanboys Overall Analysis
This film got more ink in its production process than in its eventual release this weekend. The main reason for this unbalanced coverage, was a widely reported issue with the storyline. Seems the Weinstein Company felt shouldn't involve a cancer subplot. What resulted was a pointless adventure with friends heading for Skywalker Ranch with no apparent motivation, a revised premise which scored badly with test audience.
And so, with director Kyle Newman attempting to recut the original storyline back in with only days to spare, the result is mixed at best. Typically a road trip filled with various Star Wars related jokes, as well as a handful of forgettable "blink-and-you-miss-them" cameo appearances, the audience can almost see the inside jokes and catchy pop culture references scotch-taped together.
While it seems a real marketing coup to have gathered such marquee names as Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, William Shatner and Seth Rogen, with the exception of the Rogen most of them barely get 30 seconds on screen (if even that, Kevin Smith is barely on screen 8 seconds), resulting in somewhat of a cheat for fans who based their interest in what they saw in the movie trailer.
Seth Rogen is a relatively bankable star of late, and so his involvement in this film (which goes back to early 2007), seems dated, but useful considering his current appeal to mass audiences.
The main cast of relatively young actors is unevenly matched, but manage to deliver their witty Wars and Trek lines with enthusiasm. Dan Fogler, last seen chewing up the scenery in Balls of Fury, overdoes it here, resulting in a quasi-poor Jack Black emulation.
The only real soul from this film, comes from the complex relationship between Linus and Eric, two former friends who now have very little time to regret their differences, in light of Linus' terminal illness.
Other than that, though this critic is an avowed fan of both franchises, it must be said that Fanboys is sorely disappointing. It's really unfortunate that, despite such delays in ensuring fans get to see the finished product, that said product would suck so badly (not unlike how many view Episode I, ironically.)
You don't need to see their identification. These aren't the fans you're looking for. Move along, move along....
6 out of 10, for shameless exploitation of marquee names in the trailer, and for unjustifiably drawing on popular franchises, for laughs. Read more at Suite101