Fanboys is a film that is made for the Star Wars fans out there that would have dreamed of a similar road trip. Although the overall plot of a bunch of males going on a road trip for some sort of grand purpose in which male bonding ensues, is nothing new I rather enjoyed the story that was laid on top of this typical plot line. Fanboys while nothing special ended up being quite the enjoyable movie and did a great job at making me laugh throughout.
The acting in this movie is nothing overly special, but each character fits there role perfectly. Sam Huntington is perfect in his role and ends up being the most endearing even believable characters as most of the others are entirely over the top. The part of Huntington's portrayal that is the most intriguing to me is the parallel between his character and Luke Skywalker. Huntington played the inner conflict over the decision to pursue his own dream which would be far riskier versus following what his father would expect of him.
Director Kyle Newman pays some nice homage to George Lucas and obviously Star Wars throughout the movie. The infamous side wipes that Lucas uses to transition in those movies appear a couple times and the security at the ranch resembles the uniforms from THX 1138. The writing also pays homage by inserting famous quotes such as "never tell the odds" when appropriate and even one of the funniest scenes in the movie when the gang ends up in George Lucas' trash.
Nearly all of the humor in the film is related to the original epic trilogy and while casual fans will understand most of the references, a portion will go over their heads. A lot of the laughs come from throwbacks to iconic moments like the malfunctioning hyperdrive on the falcon/Hutch's "lightspeed" on the van failing to function, to the cameos scattered throughout the movie. The cameos make for some great moments, the cameos seem to be happening in every other scene. Danny Trejo, Seth Rogen ( in not one, but three parts), Ethan Suplee, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewesm and a few cameos that I will not spoil here for those who will see the movie, the best cameo being the "inside man" who supplies the information for breaking into Lucas' ranch.
I am going to straight up admit that I may be biased because of the fact I love Star Wars. I really enjoyed the road trip aspect and I though the plot to steal a final copy of Star Wars Episode I before its release was fun and what every die hard movie fan would love to do before the big movie releases. I am giving Fanboys three and three-fourth buckets of popcorn out of five. While non-Star Wars fans may not love this movie, it is a fun movie for the Star Wars fans. I know this will eventually become a part of my DVD collection.
-The Movie Man
