Fanboys is built around a very particular moment in time. It is 1998, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is still something fans are waiting for rather than arguing about afterwards, and four friends decide they are not prepared to wait for George Lucas to release it properly. Eric, Linus, Hutch and Windows are heading for Skywalker Ranch.
There is a more serious reason underneath the daftness. Linus is dying, and the trip is their attempt to let him see the new Star Wars film while he still can. That gives Fanboys considerably more heart than its collection of references, cameos and arguments about science-fiction franchises might initially suggest.
The road-trip setup is exactly what the film needs because it gives the group permission to keep stumbling into another pocket of geek culture. These are not casual Star Wars viewers who remember Darth Vader and quite liked the Ewoks. Their fandom is part of how they talk to one another, how they argue and how they understand the world. If that sounds exhausting, Fanboys probably isn’t going to convert you.
If it sounds familiar, though, there is plenty to enjoy.
The Star Wars versus Star Trek rivalry is an obvious target, and the film is quite happy to prod both sides. The joke works because this comes from an era when those tribal arguments could become remarkably serious despite everyone technically discussing fictional spaceships. Fanboys knows how ridiculous that is without treating the fans themselves as complete idiots.
That distinction matters. There are plenty of comedies where the joke is simply, ‘Look at these nerds.’ Fanboys is happier being one of the nerds.
Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler and Jay Baruchel work best when the film lets the friendship carry the comedy rather than relying on another reference. Fogler in particular has exactly the sort of energy a road movie like this needs, while Baruchel looks naturally at home in a group capable of turning a disagreement about Star Wars into a constitutional crisis.
The late-1990s setting also gives the whole thing a useful layer of nostalgia. The clothes, music and cultural references are not merely dressing. This is Star Wars fandom before social media, reaction videos and trailers being pulled apart frame by frame within six minutes of appearing online. The wait for a new film felt different because there were simply fewer ways to consume every scrap of it beforehand.
Then there are the cameos.
Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams turn up from the Star Wars side, William Shatner arrives carrying the flag for Star Trek, and Seth Rogen, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes join the wider comedy crowd. The film enjoys dropping recognisable faces into the journey and letting the audience spot them. It is shameless fan service, but on a film literally called Fanboys that feels less like a criticism and more like accurate labelling.
There is a danger that this sort of thing can become a celebrity checklist with a story awkwardly squeezed between appearances. Fanboys gets close to that line at times. If the cameos are the main attraction, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back arguably does the celebrity parade with considerably more confidence and a much higher tolerance for complete stupidity.
Fanboys works better when it remembers the reason for the trip.
Knowing that Linus may never see The Phantom Menace gives all the childish arguments and roadside nonsense a slightly sad edge. Nobody is pretending these men are undertaking an important historical mission. They are trying to do something important for their friend, and to them Star Wars is the obvious way to do it.
That makes the film easier to like than its fairly ordinary road-movie construction might suggest. It is not doing anything revolutionary with comedy, and viewers who have little interest in Star Wars are going to spend a lot of time watching other people enjoy references they recognise only vaguely.
For the right audience, however, Fanboys is an easy watch. It remembers when waiting for a new Star Wars film felt like an event, surrounds that memory with friends, music, sci-fi arguments and an absurd number of familiar faces, then sends everybody towards Skywalker Ranch.
Not every joke lands, and sometimes the film is so pleased with recognising its own references that you can practically hear it nudging the person beside you. But there is genuine affection underneath it. For a laid-back movie morning with a fondness for old-school fandom, it still does the job.
