PLEASE TAKE NOTE! I am a huge 'Star Wars' fan, regardless of whether how much they've made from this universe is good or bad. To be quite honest, the whole original trilogy could have been on this list (headed by 'Empire', of course), and even 'Rogue One' had a shot since I consider it the best side story, along with it having by far the best space battles (seriously, watch it again!), best Vader scene ever, best connection to a previous film and much more that overshadows the much-complained about use of CG. In truly thinking about encapsulating the 'Star Wars' spirit in a film, however, I did land on 'Fanboys' quite easily. Being a fan, myself, I can really appreciate this collective of nerds and their mission. I was also present on that fateful day in 1999. The memory consists of my friends and I skipping school to see an afternoon show, knowing everyone would be busy with work and school. We were ultimately successful, and my general opinion of it was... it wasn't terrible, but it didn't feel right. No really, allow me to admit that there are some bits and pieces I can appreciate about 'Episode I'. Also, what 'Star Wars' fan alive didn't like the Obi/Qui-Gon/Maul lightsaber fight? It, like many 'Star Wars' films to follow, would be an example of something I would dislike more and more over time... but still not really hate. Anyway, this film encapsulates the hyper 'Star Wars' fandom of five geeks during the time in 1998 when we all knew 'Episode I' was coming and were all champing at the bit for it. This particular story involves Linus (Christopher Rodriguez Marquette), a young man who has been diagnosed with cancer. As a sort of "bucket list" maneuver, he, along with hyper-geek, Windows (Jay Baruchel), Rush super fan, Hutch (Dan Fogler), ex-friend trying to do right by him, Eric (Sam Huntington) and eventually the "token" female geek, Zoe (Kristen Bell - who I really like here) decide to take a road trip to storm Skywalker Ranch, and sneak a peak at a (hopefully) complete 'Star Wars: Episode I'. I suppose in some ways, I'm sort of cheating with this as it doesn't really count as a 'Star Wars' film. So let it be known that the original trilogy is sort of piled in with this. I selected 'Fanboys' for a number of reasons, but the first and foremost probably being that there is some real humanity to this film. This isn't just a great road trip movie, but it's also a great "bucket list" movie, especially for someone who can relate to these guys on some level. I probably would have been solid friends with Windows and Linus, would have a lot of fandom agreements with Hutch, and... well, Zoe's awesome, as I mentioned. Eric is the odd one out here, however, as he's sort of trying to get away from the geekdom and "grow up", which is actually another thing I love about this movie. The character personalities are such a great range! The thing about Eric's character here, and the whole "growing up" thing speaks a lot to me because it's seemingly everyday society and his father (of course) who want him to move on from his fandom. You CAN tell that there's a part of him hesitant to do so, and it's a solid example of on-screen speaking to people in the same boat. Speaking for myself, I take the film's message from Eric as basically a "be yourself" sort of thing, along with "Don't forget who your real friends are". Linus furthermore ends things with his own amazingly solid message about 'Star Wars' itself. Any non-'Star Wars' fan could watch this and the fandom we see portrayed may seem like a bit much, but Linus (and Eric in his own way) sort of reminds us all that 'Star Wars', to us fans, is a way of life. It's not just some sci-fi flick. Remember, whether you like it or not, 'Star Wars' changed the face of sci-fi forever. Now, one may very well wonder what's to be said about 'Star Trek' in here, since the only thing the two fan bases have in common is that they don't want JJ Abrams near their franchises anymore. Well, here's the thing about it. Does it poke fun at 'Star Trek' a lot? Yes. Are the 'Trek' geeks portrayed as way over the top? Indeed. But bear a few things in mind while watching, all the same. One, I know a few 'Trek' fans who still love this movie. Two, Seth Rogen cameos here as both a 'Trek' fan and a 'Wars' fan. And three, there's one genuinely great 'Star Trek' cameo here that almost ends up being the best part of the movie. However, my favourite part will always be the last few minutes of it. I won't spoil it, but it ends on what is probably my favourite punchline to the end of any movie. I haven't even mentioned the numerous cameos that pop up here that would satisfy anyone who likes a good comic book convention. Just check out the IMDb page. As far as this being a recommendation of any kind, I would probably suggest that it mainly targets my age group, or at least anyone who remembers being a super 'Star Wars' fan circa 1997 (when the 'Star Wars Special Edition' films were released) to 1999 (when 'Episode I' was released). This was an era when you could not enter a store let alone a toy store without seeing 'Star Wars' merch everywhere. As for everyone else, it'll be hit or miss. There's some low-brow humour, and it's very, very 'Star Wars'-reference-heavy (which I'd think would be expected) so it's not gonna be for everyone. But I still say this movie has a special sort of heart to it, and I can watch it any time I need some cheering up, and to know that my geekdom isn't without its peers.
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It's sort of hard to imagine at this point that there was a time when the superhero genre was still struggling. You had your good ones, but they were few, and even looking back on some of them now, they were more "good for the time" (like 'X-Men') But things were kind of hit-or-miss, and for whatever reason, despite the box office success of many, they weren't taken very seriously. Something about a lot of them was, in a word, "off". Thankfully, in 2008, 'Iron Man' would come along and pave the way for today's oversaturation of superhero material. Now, let me be clear on this - I'm all for this oversaturation because for someone like me, it's like taking vanilla ice cream and putting chocolate sauce, sprinkles, chocolate chips and peanut butter cups all over the top of it. I fit into the geeky category that these films cater to, and I'm afraid it's gonna be a while until I'm ultimately sick of it all. I can discuss Marvel fan theory until I'm blue in the face. But back on topic, 'Iron Man's post-credit scene featuring Sam Jackson as Nick Fury provided the spark to something much bigger that has now lasted about 14 years! It's ridiculous to think about nowadays, but during the time between 2008's 'Iron Man' and somewhere between 2011's 'Thor' and 'Cap', the very idea of them being able to pull off an Avengers team-up movie was kind of beyond comprehension. In fact, many critics would insist that it could not happen. I don't pretend to understand why, but I'm sure it had a lot to do with the budget it would take, and attempting to balance an ensemble cast. History has shown a solid flop or two when it came to ensemble superhero movies, like 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' or, perhaps better recognized, 'X3: X-Men United'. But one thing I've said during this time that still holds true today - "never say never". Eventually, after a few years of build-up, 'The Avengers' was released with damn near perfect timing for yours truly. I won't get too deep into this, but my Dad had just been diagnosed with Cancer at the time and, in a way, this provided an interesting sort of metaphorical escape where I could watch a team of heroes take on what was plaguing New York City - in the form of an alien race, lead by Loki, the God of Mischief. It was something I very much needed at the time. As cliché as it probably sounds, 'The Avengers' provided something of a ray of hope for me. And even though we all knew how things would go, and it was a hard struggle for us all, this helped me stay strong during my Dad's illness. Now, just to get away from the sad and deep part of why this made the list, let's get into something a little more positive. Besides it being an unprecedented team-up movie, a few years in the making, one of the biggest deals about it was that it did it right! One thing the 'Avengers' did that a lot of previous comic-based movies didn't do was (at least in my mind) basically open a comic book, point out a bunch of fantastic, impossible illustrations and say "we need to make it look like that". Even if you hate this stuff, you can't really deny that the first 'Avengers' movie has been a complete game-changer in the superhero genre... of course, if you DO hate all of it, that's probably also why. This one also counts as one of the most fun theatrical experiences I've ever had. It was a lot of fun to watch with an audience of fellow geeks on opening night, all cheering, laughing, and having the best time. This event was sort of like a next-generation 'Star Wars' opening night as far as its popularity went, and it might be one of the last movies I remember actually standing in a lineup for (although I'm probably wrong about that). But I'll never forget being so captivated by the scene involving a single shot, panning through Manhattan, and seeing all of the heroes do their thing in the fight. That was the scene where everything clicked for me and I fully realized that superhero movies would never be the same again. To narrow everything in the MCU down to one stand-out movie is almost as impossible a task as making this "30 Favourite Films" list to begin with. I have mentioned 'Civil War' and 'Infinity War' as the all-out coin-flip between my personal favourites in the MCU. But the original 'Avengers' just means so much more than anything that follows when you really think about it. This team-up of individual heroes opened the door wide for geekdom to come spilling through, and, at least for the time being, we geeks pretty much rule, and I couldn't be happier about it. It has been a long time coming, but I do think our time is coming to an end sooner than later. In the meantime, I think it's safe to say that I now see 'The Avengers' as the overall classic title of the MCU, and I will hold it close to my heart forever - even after the superhero era fades away one day. |