Spaceballs

Struggling

Spaceballs is not one of the better efforts from legendary comedian Mel Brooks. As with so many comedies, the material is not enough to sustain the running length. As a result, the few really good jokes are overwhelmed by weak connecting material. I remember loving Ernie Fosselius's Hardware Wars, another jab at Star Wars, but one that wisely clocks in at a scant thirteen minutes. Curiously, Fosselius is also credited as a sound editor on Spaceballs! There are excellent moments in Spaceballs, but they are most often jokes about movie-making in general and not any movie in particular.

Spaceballs is also hurt by its lackluster cast. John Candy has occasional bursts of brilliance, as in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, released only five months later. Both movies supplied Candy with a grating personality, but in PT&A it was somehow charmingly so, especially by the end. His "mog" routine is totally uninspired, and there's no parody of Chewbacca after the costume. Bill Pullman looks a little like a young Mark Hamill, but he doesn't act like one. And now that I think about it, rolling Han and Luke into a single character was a big mistake. Rick Moranis is hampered mostly by bad writing. It would be much funnier to see someone of his size still managing to project a menacing aura, instead of always running around in a panic.