FAN-MAN
Web site

review written 12/2/2003

This film opens in Spider-Man style. I actually really enjoyed that. I liked the character, too. My kind of guy. I want one of his anti-drug t-shirts.

I don't think you can be a Star Wars fanboy of my level of patheticness without just grinning.

I thought, though, that the character was too aware of being filmed. Making gestures and comments to the camera was distracting at times.

But holy crap, he's got an R2-D2 dome on his freakin' car.

One lousy music edit later the fan is confronted with the harsh realities of life. The sound needs work. At least the filmmakers had the decency to cut out parts where no location sound was needed, but perhaps a dissolve in the audio might have been a better. Something. It was awkward.

On the other hand, I liked the hand-held camera work employed throughout all this, free without being jerky.

Lightsabers ensue. I love the main character's Yoda line, and his first rush toward camera, sword in hand. One gag just plain doesn't work. But then some very cool special effects come in, and though they're far from flawlessly executed, they're pretty good for a comedy. We even get the first spoof I've seen of Jango's death. But the film really doesn't go anywhere with all this stuff, and the formlessness cuts down on the enjoyment of the experience. Even when Spider-Man is brought back into the mix, it seems random and unfitting, despite having seen the motif used before.

Can't complain about the dancing stormtrooper, though.

The first two minutes of this movie are pure enough geek-joy to say it's worth a watch. The Fan-Man character is doing and living things I can't get away with, and I both envy and salute him in equal measure.