Spaceballs

When I was a kid, I loved Spaceballs. I think I even saw this movie before I even watched the Star Wars movie for the first time. But I haven’t watched it in a long time since then, so I was happy to rewatch Spaceballs again and see if it still holds up to this day. And I would say that I do think it still holds up, as it’s pretty funny and does a good job satirizing the Star Wars movies. I feel like you can still enjoy this movie without knowing everything about Star Wars. While yes, it satirizes the Star Wars trilogy, I still feel like the story and characters hold up on its own. The characters, while still making fun of the original Star Wars characters like Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, etc., are still funny and likeable. Even Lord Dark Helmet is one of my favorite characters because while he’s supposed to be the villain, he’s just a loser who’s always getting hurt, so the audience just ends up laughing at him. I also like that the elements of Star Wars movies are parodied too, like the insanely long spaceship shot in the beginning, having “ludicrous speed” instead of hyperspeed, and the Stormtroopers all being related so they’re equally as dumb. It takes all the elements of Star Wars and takes them to the extreme to the point that it’s very funny. I forgot how great this cast was. Of course, we have Rick Moranis as Lord Dark Helmet and Mel Brooks himself as President Skroob and Yogurt. But I forgot that Bill Pullman, John Candy, and Joan Rivers were in this movie as well. They’re some of my favorite actors and comedians, and they contribute to this movie being really funny. There’s some jokes that don’t land for me, but that’s okay, because there were others that did make me laugh. I”m a little concerned about how they’re going to make this sequel without John Candy and Joan Rivers, because I feel like this movie wouldn’t be complete without them. I also find it interesting that Spaceballs in a way predicted how ridiculous mass merchandising would be, not just with Star Wars, but in general. Like it’s just crazy with the amount of Star Wars merch we see, and it keeps getting more and more ridiculous after it was acquired by Disney and we see a lot more merch with each movie or tv show coming out. I wonder how the sequel is going to take the parody of Star Wars even further ever since it was acquired by Disney and is now blowing up more in popularity with The Mandalorian and other Disney+ shows. I hope that Mel Brooks kinda says “fuck you” to George Lucas and finally makes Spaceballs merchandising become a reality since he’s almost 100 years old. Overall, I don’t think this movie is as funny as some of Mel Brooks’s other movies, but it’s still a good movie nonetheless. And this movie really held up well in terms of making fun of how huge of a franchise Star Wars would end up becoming in the future. Star Wars fan or not, I think anyone can enjoy this movie. I’m really curious to see how the Spaceballs sequel is going to go without John Candy and Joan Rivers in it, but I still plan on seeing it when it comes out.