FANBOYS

 

Fanboys tells the tale of a group of Star Wars-obsessed, er, fanboys who decide to take a road trip to fulfill a lifelong dream of breaking into George Lucas's Skywalker ranch so they can steal a copy of the first Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace before it's released in theaters so they can be the very first ones to see it. The movie itself pretty much follows the standard formula as other raunchy road trip flicks such as, um, Road Trip (with MTV's supposed funnyman Tom Green) and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (starring film director Kevin Smith who also has a cameo in the flick along with the guy who played Jay what's-his-face). What sets this "road trip" flick apart from those flick is, of course, the Star Wars angle. Of course, there's the obligatory scenes where the Star Wars guys fights Trekkies/Trekkers--that's Star Trek fans, for those of you who don't speak geek--and there's the obligatory cameos from Star Wars, uh, stars Billy Dee Williams (who, of course, played Lando Calrissian) and Carrie Fisher (who, of course, played Princess Leia). (What, no Mark Hamill?) However, the most interesting--and the most unexpected--cameo comes from none other than William Shatner (who--of course!--played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek) who hands the blueprints of the Skywalker Ranch over to a couple of the guys at a Star Trek convention. When one of the guys says to him, "Where did you get these?", he responds, "I'm William Shatner. I can get anything." When the other guy asks him, "What about Jeri Ryan's panties?', he again responds, "Anything." Overall, Fanboys is a fairly entertaining--although fairly raunchy!--"road trip" flick and will especially appeal to the geeky-at-heart. An added bonus is seeing actress Kristen Bell--who sports black hair instead of her usual blond--dressed in Princess Leia's by-now-infamous gold metal bikini from that by-now-infamous scene in Jabba The Hutt's lair from Return Of The Jedi (although you only get to see her for less than a minute, damn it!). May The Force be with you, indeed! (And, no, there's NOT a cameo from George Lucas in this film, although he reportedly gave it his blessing unlike--of course!--a number of film critics just like they did with The Phantom Menace itself. Oh well!) Best line in the movie: "How do you say 'I'll never get laid' in Klingon?" Second best line in the film: "Han Solo is a bitch!" A sidenote: William Shatner got into a little hot water with Trekkies/Trekkers some years back when he did his by-now-infamous skit on Saturday Night Live when he told a group of Trekkies/Trekkers--or, rather, SNL actors playing Trekkies/Trekkers--at a pseudo-Star Trek convention, "Get a life! It's just a TV show!" Actually, I found it pretty damn funny myself (but then, that's just me!)! As for what I personally think about the "debate" between Star Wars vs. Star Trek, which can sometimes get pretty heated, I am a fan of BOTH films and/or TV shows, though I will admit I slightly "favor" Star Wars over Star Trek since that's what I grew up with and didn't really get into Star Trek until later. I mean, at the end of the day, aren't both films and/or TV shows really about a bunch of guys--and gals--flying around in spaceships blowing stuff up? (And, like William Shatner, I know I'm going to catch some heat on THAT one!)