[JEDI JUNKIES is now available on home video.]
Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
Stop me if you've heard this one
before: a documentary feature on the weirdest, most extreme, way-out
and nerd-tastic "Star Wars" fans. Actually, you HAVE heard
this before. In fact, there exists a veritable, um, TARDIS-load of
documentaries about extreme-fantasy/sci-fi devotees, consumed by
their hobbies. There's the TREKKIES series, of course, not to
mention RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS, DARKON and Morgan
Spurlock's COMIC CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE. And in that
league of extraordinary gentlemen-with-no-girlfriends, there have
already been a handful devoted strictly to LucasFilm nuts - 2001's A
GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY probably being the best of the lot.
Finished in 2010 but only now showing
up on video (as Master yoda might say, beware outdated websites, you
must) JEDI JUNKIES doesn't bring much more to the Mos Eisley
Cantina table, but it entertains the home viewer with its parade of
dweeb-gasmic fans, each vying to outdo the other in a
can-you-top-this fashion.
LucasFilm actors Jeremy Bulloch (Boba
Fett), Ray Park (Darth Maul), and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) make
appearances at nostalgia conventions, Park being especially open and
gracious with his time (and stunt-athleticism) for filmmaker Mark
Edlitz (a prominent online journalist). And there is a fondly
recalled encounter with an offscreen Carrie Fisher. But the main
Forces are the fandom, who defend their obsession saying nobody
considers team-sports superfans or classic-car cruisers to be so
whacko in their analogous behavior.
Interviewees - besides a couple of
psychiatric professionals - include a New York City school for
light-saber fighting. There are hoarders of Star Wars toys, who own
entire production lines right down to minute variations in molds and
packaging. There's a metalworker who creates commissioned,
one-of-a-kind "Star Wars" weapons and props. This dude says
he is comforted that his creations reside in more collections
worldwide than had he pursued a standard art career (sorry about
those tuition loans you'll never earn back, Cleveland Institute of
Art kids - enjoy your summer break).
Continuing on, there are cosplay-girls,
belly dancers and ladies of burlesque who attire themselves as
Princess Leia in her metal "slave" bikini from RETURN OF
THE JEDI, and sexy actress Olivia Munn gives hopes to
misfit-outcast-virgin males everywhere by proudly affirming that the
she's a nerdy fan too, never mind her alluring looks (Yeah, right,
pretty girls dig STAR WARS, right. Reviewer's disclaimer: I
don't believe any footage of this part of the movie was shot in
northeast Ohio...no I don't).
But, claiming he actually scored,
thanks to his "Star Wars" connections, is a guy who
attained urban-legend status for building a full-sized Millenium
Falcon in his backyard. There needs to be a lengthy footnote,
however, that the Falcon was a crudely constructed, short-lived prop
for his "fan film," never meant to survive the weather. As
did TREKKIES 2, JEDI JUNKIES extensively addresses the
culture of fan films, with some most amusing extracts (conspicuous
via its absence: "TROOPS," the half-hour spoof that even
made an admirer of George Lucas).
There might also need a second
footnote: guys like the ones here never score, so please disregard
what this fellow brags about on camera. Well...maybe if Olivia Munn
somehow thought he was a big wheel at DreamWorks - or Disney.
I am given to understand that, thanks
to Disney's "imagineer" stormtroopers now owning the
franchise, we might be able to expect a new "Star Wars"
live-action movie every damn year now. Talk about clone wars; I can
see that getting tiresome pretty quickly.
Hence, the time may come when a viewing
of JEDI JUNKIES and its genre cohorts constitutes more solid
entertainment than the latest Skywalker antics assembly-lined out by
the Magic Kingdom (whose Lone Ranger reboot is bombing badly right
now). Or, as Obi Wan always says, I've got a bad feeling about this.
(3 out of 4 stars)
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