Today’s quick review: Spaceballs. When Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) leads an army of menacing Spaceball troops to kidnap Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga), Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his sidekick Barf (John Candy) set out to rescue her, claim the reward, and pay off their debt to Pizza the Hutt (Dom DeLuise). Their allies include Dot Matrix (Joan Rivers), Vespa’s robot assistant, Yogurt (Mel Brooks), a mystical mentor, and the Spaceballs’ own incompetence.
Spaceballs is a science fiction comedy from director Mel Brooks that parodies Star Wars and other sci-fi classics. Spaceballs is a comedy through and through, with only a token plot and gag characters. Drawing from Star Wars and Mel Brooks’ own imagination, the spoof has plenty of material to work with, and it is bolstered by memorable performances from Rick Moranis, John Candy, and Mel Brooks.
Spaceballs is one of the goofier incarnations of Mel Brooks’ signature sense of humor, with sight gags, meta humor, and a dash of slapstick. The parody skewers Star Wars at every opportunity, from its suspiciously similar characters to the franchise’s penchant for merchandising. Many of the jokes are too blatant to be really funny, but the more pointed jabs really hit their mark, as do the more elaborate comedic sequences.
Watch Spaceballs if you are a Mel Brooks fan or are looking for a more comedic take on the sci-fi genre. The humor can be hit-or-miss, but Spaceballs has enough going on to be worth checking out. Skip it if you’ve found you don’t like Mel Brooks or you weren’t that interested in Star Wars.
7.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for a few great jokes mixed in with a fair number of weak ones; the ratio and your score will change according to your sense of humor.