Fanboys: The Geekscape Review

Well here we are. After a long and arduous journey, Fanboys has finally made its way into theaters. The film, whose plot revolves around die hard Star Wars fans trying to break into Skywalker Ranch in order to get an early peak at Episode One, has been on the geek radar for a while now and its struggle to make it onto actual screens has fueled an intense anticipation. This is a movie seemingly made for us and it’s an underdog. Who doesn’t love the underdog?

So was it worth the wait?

Well, the film itself is actually a pretty by the numbers teen road trip comedy. A group of buddies hatch a plan and hit the road but things don’t go as planned and they are lead on a series of misadventures (with celebrity cameos) during which they learn about themselves, mend broken relationships, and finally grow up. This tried and true formula is altered only by it’s immersion in geek culture. This aspect of the film is the reason the movie has gotten as much attention as it has but at the same time it holds it back from being great. It simply tries too hard at times. The movie is unable to go five seconds without including a forced Star Wars reference and these are generally very hit and miss. Fanboys would have benefited greatly from taking a cue from someone like Kevin Smith who is able to write geeky characters and have pop culture references without it ever coming off as forced or unrealistic. The characters in Fanboys are written as if there is literally nothing in their lives apart from Star Wars and as such seem unrealistic and unrelatable at times.

The pain of the occasional eye rolling attempts at Star Wars humor is relieved somewhat by the very likeable cast. There are lots of familiar faces here and they do the best they can with what they are given. The only real weak link here is Dan Fogler who is just plain annoying as Hutch. The character is written as the zany, immature comic relief that everyone loves. He is basically the Stifler of the movie. However, he comes off as someone you would never want to hang out with… ever. There is a fairly impressive collection of celebrity cameos here as well, which I won’t ruin for you in this review.

There is a major subplot in the movie that gained a lot of attention in the press because of studio pressure to get rid of it. This involves the character of Linus, as played by Chris Marquette, dying of cancer. This provides the motivation to the group for trying to see Star Wars early since he will likely not live long enough to see it released. Getting rid of this would have been a horrible mistake because it provides all of the heart the movie has. The culmination of this was enough to bring a tear to my eye.

It’s interesting that the movie takes place prior to the release of Episode One. It was a time where Star Wars fans still had hope. When their franchise had yet to be soiled. I remember sitting in the theater opening night of The Phantom Menace and feeling that something magical was taking place. I remember the moment it hit me, after years of anticipation, that I was finally going to see a continuation of the series that helped define my childhood, that helped shape me into the person I am today. It’s hard to think about now, but Star Wars was important. Unfortunately, we live in the future and as super smart future people we know what ultimately happens. This knowledge gives Fanboys a similar feeling to something like “Titanic”. We are scared for these kids. We know this boat is fucking sinking.

However, the movie deals with this fact in a very clever way. Instead of focusing on the quality of the movie they desperately want to see, it shows that the movie doesn’t really matter. It’s the anticipation, it’s the thing that brings friends together, that lets you dream. It’s movies like Star Wars, good and bad, that created this culture that has enriched our lives, that have brought us together, that are the whole reason sites like this exist. And in those moments when Fanboys isn’t desperately trying to prove to you that it knows Star Wars by throwing references out of its ass, it successfully taps into this love.