Hey folks, Harry here... It's nice to hear I kickass in this film. I should kickass. I'm fucking Harry Knowles. Asskicker. Ahem. - Actually the real reason I'm an Asskicker in this film is its screenwriter, Ernest "Airwolf" Cline - a long term and good friend of mine. The below review reflects the current "cancer-free" cut of the film... Not surprisingly - it seems to have resulted with a heavily faulted middle of the film. Shock. On the otherhand, it sure does seem to have left this "fanboy" happy as hell... Actually - given that Lucasfilm is opening the new STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated film on August 15th... it'd be cool to have the Weinsteins open this film the week before... as an appetizer for us Star Wars geeks, eh?

Red Redding here with a review of FANBOYS.

To get it out of the way, I am a big Star Wars fan. I am not an Uber fan by they are films that I really enjoy. So this made my experience much more enjoyable. If you do do not like Star Wars or only marginally like them, THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR YOU. With that out of the way here is the review with minor spoilers.

It starts out with the star wars theme music and roll setting up the picture with a clever quip at the end. The story starts off in 1998 where a party is being thrown. At the party is Zoe (Kristen Bell) and Eric (Sam Huntington) who bump into each other and she is surprised to see him. Cut to Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel) and Linus (Chris Marquette) entering as Darth Vader and two storm troopers. Next scene is with the Hutch, Windows, and Linus having a good time outside when Eric stops by. There is bad blood between Eric and Linus because Eric abandoned the group and doesnt hang with them anymore because he is now living in the "real world." In order to win back their friendship, Eric decides to reignite their plans to go to skywalker ranch and steal Episode one that they all had been planning since they were in 5th grade and thus the story is set and the road trip begins.

There is a person that they are meeting in Texas that is Windows' cyber girlfriend that has the plans to skywalker ranch. So they hop in Hutches tricked out Star Wars van and off they go. While they are sleeping Hutch decided to take a detour to Iowa and stand on enemy (Trekkie) ground at the future site where Kirk will be born. While they are there they run into a group of "Trekkers" and start a scuffle because Han Solo gets called a bitch. There is a fight and the boys leave and head for Texas. When they get there, they realize that Windows' girlfriend is a 10 year old little girl who..... wait for it.... is Harry Knowles niece. Harry beats the shit out of them, but gives them a hookup in Vegas to complete their quest. On their was to Las Vegas, a cop pulls behind them and they use "light speed" to get away but end up caught and thrown in jail. Zoe comes and bails them out and they are let go. They head to Vegas and meet the contact who i will not spoil here. Once they get the plans from the contact they go to skywalker ranch and break in.... fun ensues throughout the house until they get to George Lucas's office and start watching Episode 1.... guards interrupt them and they again are let go. They go back to the van and Eric produces a burnt copy that was in the PC drive... they start watching it, but it has no special effects or any post work done and they decide to wait the six months. They camp out six months later and the movies ends right as Episode 1 begins.

What Worked:

If you are a Star Wars fans, there are in jokes galore and they come non stop in the first half hour. The cast chemistry was great and i think all of the characters were pretty believable. I didn't spoil any cameos because they are all perfectly placed and they are all for Fanboys and they help bring the laughs. The first 30 minutes are hilarious and so are the last 30 minutes. Overall, there are really funny moments in this movement and there were some great hearty laughs.

What Didn't Work:

Keep in mind it is always easier to point out a movies flaws. My first big problem is that they movie seriously drags in its second act... pretty much all of Las Vegas didnt do it for me... at all... The cameos were funny, but it was more for shock value than anything. Another problem is that there is this completely pointless love subplot between Zoe and Windows which is extremely forced. The underlying theme of "quit being a geek and go until the real" is kind of forced and i wish that they would have kept the original kid has cancer theme and it would have been a much better story overall. If there were no subplots in this movie, it would have been much funnier

Conclusion:

This is a star wars fans wet dream. i think i stole that from someone, but who cares. If you are a star wars fan, this movie is a great experience and you should see it with fellow star wars enthusiasts. The audience seemed really responsive and enjoyed it as well. Normally for this type of movie this would be an automatic 6.5 or 7 out of 10, but if they fix some problems in the middle it can be a come a great comedy. Just because it is star wars based my rating is 8/10