Fanboys, the movie
Well, I haven’t been posting much and I sincerely apologize. When you work for yourself, sometimes doing the actual work takes priority over personal things like, I don’t know, blogging. So what tore me away from my meal ticket, why Fanboys of course. If you are reading this you know what a fanboy is and are probably one yourself, but you may not be aware of Fanboys, the movie. I first heard about this cinematic masterpiece in 2007 when its original release date was pushed back due to the unbelieveable event of additonal funding. Director Kyle Newman was given more funding to shoot additional scenes that the original budget did not include. Which is really cool if you think about it. Most fan movies barely have enough funding to be shown on YouTube, but this one actually had George Lucas’ seal of approval and even had Kevin Smith begging for a cameo. So, learning about all this I was willing to wait until 2008 for it to be released in a theater near me, but the movie was again pushed back because the reshoots could not take place before December 2007. These reshoots were directed by Steven Brill and not by Newman, so some of the critical plot points were left out– this caused internet unrest with fans of the project. Ultimately the movie was recut and finally released in the US in February of 2009, but only in limited markets & my local theater not being one of them. This was not too surprising considering that most critics didn’t get it, and a lot of fans didn’t either. The good news? A quick release on DVD– May 19th, 2009 to be exact. Unfortunatley due to a missing Netflix rental, I did not receive a copy until more than a month later.
I must preface my next litte bit here by saying that I am not a die hard Star Wars fan, I am a fan of the franchise (and many others) but my fanboyishness can not be defined by Star Wars, but I get it. This is the root for my post. I loved this movie. It hit home. I really got everything I expected out of it, and more. I am not going to give a play by play of the plot here– if you want that, go to IMDB and you can learn all you need to know, but I am going to share my thoughts on the film and those who just don’t get it. With the recent explosion of pure geek couture films with die hard fan bases (and more on the way) you expect to have purists who just won’t be happy with anyone elses’ translation of the thing but their own (or the original). And there in lies the issue. Sure movies are made to entertain the masses, but they are purely based on one individual’s perspective. Now Fanboys was not a remake of another movie or an interpetation of another media, it was a thing all by itself. It doesn’t really matter what you are into, but we can all relate to being obsessed with something at some time and I truely believe that this movie captures that. It is irreverent, and pokes fun at not only other franchises (Star Trek for one, BTW I have no issues if you call me a Trekkie) but also at Star Wars itself. And even with all the dick and fart jokes, it still holds true to the culture that George Lucas started back in 1977 and in no way takes away from that.
So, if you are expecting a Party Monster for the Star Wars scene, this is not it. But it is a great movie that was never to be taken too seriously (even with its’ serious undertone) It has some great Actors & hottie Kristen Bell to keep you entertained, along with some unexpected cameos by fans and Star Wars Alum as well. So my final word is give it a try, and by all means don’t take it too seriously.