Movie of the Day – Fanboys

Alright so this is movie panders to my nerd side and it succeeds.  Sure this movie was that great, but as a nerd who loves nerdy jokes, this is really for me.  I can’t fault my own love of the culture to dismiss a movie, more so I must embrace it and learn to appreciate that these sort of a movies are cherish-able.  So this is a road trip movie for nerds, one that has a lot more sight gags and geek centric jokes, which I love.  So taking it easy today with the post, I decided to just feed my sensibilities and pick a movie that doesn’t require to think about, but mainly just sit back and enjoy an entertaining comedy about some nerds want to see the first cut of the Star Wars Phantom Menace.

Basically the plot boils down to a group of friends are wanting to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal the new prequel film The Phantom Menace and see it before everyone else.

See, simple enough plot and story.  The issue though is that is not the original plot.  Yes the crew of friends were going to steal the film, but they weren’t just stealing it to be douches, rather they were stealing it for a friend who had cancer and wanted to see the movie before he died.  I find it ironic since the movie itself is bad enough that it would kill him before the cancer did.  LOL.  Anyways, Fanboys had a lot of issues just getting it to theaters.  It was slated to be released back in 2007, then additional budget was given for new scenes and shoots, cast scheduling delayed the movie late into the year, and the movie was recut to exclude the cancer plot.  So after testing the film and basically making the character seem like assholes for wanting to see the movie before anyone else, the movie got re-edited with the cancer plot line added and and shown in 2009.  Sigh, a lot of work for nothing since the movie tanked at the box office and critics really didn’t like it.

I have gone on too long about the myriad of problems that plagued the movie, but lets focus on the good things.  The sight gags and nerd centric jokes.  This is a basically a cavalcade of iconic nerd films and personalities and it may seem more pandering than anything else, but it works for me.  Hey I am a nerd, so this is for me.  The Star War’s centered jokes are great and while you may have seen them done a million times, they just have this likable quality about it from the young comedic actors.  It lampoons Star Trek and pits different groups of nerd against one another, but it does it with love and not some misguided hate.  You have to really be a fan of these things to make it enjoyable.

Overall, this is a geek’s road trip movie.  While the story is just a vehicle for the jokes and it lacks the impact it should have, I just like sitting back and enjoying the jokes and comedy of the movie.  I don’t have to think a lot about the movie or subject matter since I revel in it.  I would recommend the movie if you are in the mood for a geeky laugh and just have some time to kill.  Don’t think too much about it and enjoy it for what it is.