Decent parodies have been few and far between the last couple of years. Sure the first two Scary Movie's were awesome but after that, they ditched the R rating which resulted in less mature humor and was instead replaced by stupid puns and slap stick humor which turned the series into a lackluster comedic performance as opposed to laugh out loud, raunchy jokes of its former self. So it is with some pleasure that I was able to see an actually decent parody that didn't have the R rating which is really the backbone of most parodies these days. Instead what you have is a mostly funny, drawn parody based on the Star Wars franchise, which is filled with tons of sexual innuendos and puns which are sometimes hit or miss depending on the situation.
Make no mistake, this is a genuine Mel Brooks film, between the seemingly ridiculous and sometimes awkward character impersonations, to the seemingly redundant idiocy of the main villain, Dark Helmet, played by the ever popular (at that time), Rick Moranis. While Moranis does a mostly adequate at capturing the Dark Vaderish feel (capturing both his serious imposing side, along with a more clumsy comedic helplessness) something about the role just didn't feel quite right. Maybe its the fact that I see Moranis as the wimpy, geeky wannabe ghostbuster, who never in a million years would have the confidence or drive to command his own fleet. Maybe this is a harsh criticism, but for me at least, it kind of made the film less immersive and amusing. This also came up for me one other time with the main hero Lone Starr, who is played by the once famous Bill Pullman. Again, although felt Pullman had a solid handle on who is character was and how he was supposed to act (slightly arrogant although seemingly badass in his own right), my mind once again wandered to his in a previous film Casper the Friendly Ghost. Try as i might, I couldn't help but see Pullman as that friendly, fatherly figure, as opposed to the badass, fearless hero which he attempted at in the film. However even with this unfortunate train of though, I still felt that both of these characters could have been cast better with someone a bit more believable and less awkward. Nevertheless though, each of these characters put on a solid performance that still makes the film fairly comedic but a bit underwhelming at times.
Story wise, Mel Brooks was aptly captured that sci-fi Star Wars feel, while crafting a superb environment for the characters to act as seemingly stupid and ridiculous as possible. Unfortunately, as with most parodies, the story takes a back seat to the overall parody of the film that it is portraying. Which is appropriate since a parodies only real job is to mock the film that came before it, but still it would have been nice to see this parody follow the star wars universe a bit more parallel instead of just following back on the actual story every now and again. The ending isn't even really worth mentioning, its pretty much you'd expect from a typical parody and doesn't really change here.
Dialogue is usually well written, with clever puns and sexual innuendos literally occurring in every other sentence. While this is the films strength, its also its weakness because after the while, the puns are no longer clever and funny, but more expected and just plain stupid as the film goes on. The sexual innuendos have a bit more staying power but eventually follow the same fate, especially when the light sabers are inevitably used as large penis' (come on, who didn't see that one coming). Still though, these jokes definitely do have their place in the film as a whole and can be a welcome relief from the sometimes awkward acting of the main characters.
In the end really, this a Mel Brooks film through and through and nothing more. Thats not necessarily a bad thing per se, it just simply means that this type of film isn't really going to be enjoyed by everyone who aren't fans of ridiculous puns, and who know little about the Star Wars universe. Nevertheless, this is definitely one of the better parodies out there, and is worth look if your booth a huge Mel Brooks fan and are strongly familiar with the Star Wars Universe. Just don't expect anything ground breaking or outwardly memorable from this overrated parody, because like me, you'll be underwhelmed and slightly disappointed.
3.5/5.0
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