Fanboys

Although this product is far from inventive, or full of carefully orchestrated comedy. It is by no matter of means, slow and boring. If anything, it makes the time fly.

The humour is rather stupid and vulgar, but if you're even close to being a sci-fi geek yourself, or able to appreciate how hilarious this kind of archetype can be. You won't be disappointed.

However, there is a failed attempt at adding heartfelt drama to this movie, no doubt trying to inspire people to follow their dreams and remind them that the time for doing so, is limited. Which isn't a bad thing to do, obviously. It just seemed a little bit out of place. On that note; I have no clue as to why drama and crime are added to this film's genre, you might as well add romance and sci-fi.

Disconnect your brain and laugh your aches away!

If you're a geek this movie is for you. If you're a Star Wars geek this movie totally is for you. Basically it's a movie about Star Wars geeks made by Star Wars geeks for a target audience of Star Wars geeks. If you are not into all things Star Wars this movie may well miss the mark with you. And even the most rabid of Star Wars fans would have to concede that the movie is certainly not anything spectacular. It's fairly charming and reasonably amusing but never really riotously funny. But it works. More or less.

The movie is set in the autumn of 1998, a time before Jar Jar Binks had been foisted upon the world. Four friends, major Star Wars geeks all, decide to drive across the country, break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a rough cut of The Phantom Menace. The major motivation for this journey is that one of the friends has cancer and will not live to see the movie released. But once that is established the cancer storyline is basically put on the back burner and this turns into a mostly predictable wacky road-trip comedy. Some of the wackiness works, some of it falls flat. There are a bunch of celebrity cameos thrown in, some of which are inspired and some of which are rather random and pointless. So it's a movie which has its ups and downs. But it's enjoyable more often than not and the movie breezes by in a nice, tight, well-paced 90 minutes.

None of the actors playing our gang of four really stand out in any memorable way. Dan Fogler's character is a little more outrageous than the others but that's about it. But the group works together well and they are ably supported by the varied cast of characters who pop up throughout. Seth Rogen's portrayal of a pimp is one of the standouts. Of course this ode to Star Wars fans wouldn't be complete without taking some shots at Trekkies. So there's room for another funny turn by an actor portraying Admiral Seasholtz, an uber-Trekkie. Who is the unrecognizable actor memorably bringing this character to life? You may have to wait until the closing credits roll to figure it out. And in this Star Wars geek universe there's room for one girl and Kristen Bell is both charming and funny in the role as her character gets swept along for the ride. Could the movie be a little more consistently funny? Most definitely. But the movie about Star Wars geeks will probably leave you with a smile on your face. Especially if you're a Star Wars geek yourself.

There are is lot of mixed review floating around this movie, a much of which is calling for a lower rating than what is now around a 7. Most all of them agree though, that this movie provides some laughs, has decent acting, and is decently done. From what I can tell, all those factors add up to an above average movie, which should earn it a seven. Now, it is no masterpiece, and it may not be groundbreaking in any way, but it is an all around solid film. Really, what could have been done to this movie to make it much better? A few things here and there could have been changed, but nothing major. The movie is called Fanboys, about a group of overly zealous Star Wars fans, everyone harshing on the dialogue should realize that a movie about Fanboys would do well to use a script emulating Fanboy lingo and cheesy jokes. Some people say that this movie survives on the cameos. If that is the case, then they must be some good cameos, and maybe that's all they are, just well used cameos, and not a crutch for the movie like some people claim. Give Fanboys a shot and make your own opinions, plus, this movie didn't hit theatres, so don't compare it to films that are out of it's league. Even though I find this much better than some of the garbage gracing the silver screen today.

Four childhood friends and Star Wars fans decide to go cross-country to steal a copy of 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' before its release from George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. Eric (Sam Huntington) is on the cusp of real responsibility with the family car dealership. Windows (Jay Baruchel) has an online fling with a girl who says she has plans to Skywalker Ranch. Linus (Chris Marquette) is really sick and Hutch (Dan Fogler) is the loud-mouth idiot. Zoe (Kristen Bell) is Windows' co-worker at the video store. Seth Rogen plays Admiral Seasholtz, leader of the Trekies, and pimp Roach.

This is definitely best for sci-fi fans. There is a lot of references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and quite frankly various other franchises. The movie just won't work if you don't know any of the references. Of course, there are all sorts of cameos from those series. Not all of the road trip works well. The roadside biker bar isn't that funny. The fight with the Trekkies is much better. When Zoe rejoins the group at the midpoint, she has a lot of fun with the geeks. Probably she should have been the fifth road tripper right from the start. While the constant referencing is funny, sometimes it needs a break to work more on the relationships.

A surprisingly funny movie about a group of geeks who set off on a mission to break into Skywalker Ranch and view a print of the as-yet-unreleased latest installment in the "Star Wars" saga, "The Phantom Menace."

This is a road trip comedy of the fairly standard variety, with trips to jail and Vegas, some drug use, some Internet hookups and some prostitutes thrown in for good measure. The film looks like it was made for about $20 and certainly doesn't break any new ground. But the cast of actors is game and look like they're having a ball -- there's an especially hilarious sequence that features Seth Rogen in disguise as leader of an army of rival Trekkies. I can't really imagine anyone who doesn't have a pretty thorough knowledge of "Star Wars" trivia enjoying this film, because virtually every shot and line includes some sort of reference to the George Lucas series. But since I'm a "Star Wars" fan, I thought it was a hoot.

Grade: A