Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle

There were many times I saw this movie on DVD and almost bought it. But I'm sure glad I didn't! This is the worst satire ever. I couldn't even watch the whole thing. It's way too long and never funny. Princess Leia with Danish pastries on her head might've gotten a couple laughs in 1978, but by now it's a tired and worn out joke. And what's the point of having the characters as thumbs? It has nothing to do with the humor (or lack of). I love Star Wars and fan films, but this is just bad news!

Ace Ventura director Steve Oedekerk is all about overblown physical comedy and Thumb Wars, a Star Wars parody, is in no way an exception to his style. It is a half hour's long spoof of the old Star Wars trilogy (not the Phantom Menace, as the title suggests) in which thumbs are used as characters. You may think you have the good taste not to see this, but I assure you that some of the jokes had me in stitches when I first saw it and I am still quoting this film today, years later. However, you most definitely need to be a Star Wars fan and/or well familiar with the films in order to appreciate the gags that Oedekerk attempts.

Oedekerk has snapped up on all of the already silly things and the poor writing in the original Star Wars saga, and taken them to the extreme by making them twice as silly and overblown. Take the borderline whiny attitude of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker; in Thumb Wars an opportunity to make fun of this is never missed and the character has this whiny voice and complains about everything. It starts with Luke living at his uncle and aunt's house, much like the original saga, and confronting them one day with: "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM INSIDE! YOU NEVER HAVE! I'M GONNA RUN AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK EVER! " (*storms out crying*) And so starts his adventure to overthrow the empire. Oedekerk also points to the things that George Lucas simply never bothered to explain. Like, Leia (or Princess Bunhead, as she is appropriately called here) once in the empire ship: "I escaped somehow. Let's go." Priceless.

Sometimes, the observant viewer can tell that a lot of thought has been put into some of the lines, like the thumb of Han Solo constantly making references to Harrison Ford's movies. While other times, the lines are so random that you just have to laugh out loud. It's also freaky how much thumb Obi-Wan Kenobi sounds like Alec Guinness, the real Obi-Wan. Pay attention to details like this and remember not to take things too seriously. Thumb Wars isn't flawless and there were one or two gags that I thought could have been removed completely, but the awesome dialogue usually makes up for this. I've seen all of the thumb parodies (Blair Witch Thumb, Thumbtanic, etc) and this is my favourite.

Spoofs are a very hit and miss thing type of movie background. When done right, it can be a zany adventure that you seem to have a permanent smile whacked on your face from start to finish like Flying High, Miss. Cast Away and to a much lesser extent, Scary Movie.

But when spoofs are done badly, it really shows. They can go from being an enjoyable film that makes fun of other films to being one reference of movie after movie with stupid pop culture references that are vomit inducing (Friedburg, Seltz).

This is a great spoof, it has zany humor, accomplishes what is promised and best of all, has the smile on face factor that makes this type of movie, however stupid the humor is, very, very enjoyable.

This is, by the way the first in the 6 part series of Thumb movies and this is probably the best (Maybe not as good as Part 6, Thumbtanic) and is an all round good way to spend 21 minutes. It is worth a watch for fans of the art of spoof.

Overall, give it a try, and if you cant find it on DVD, it is on Youtube.

I rate this 69%.

Thumb wars is an excellent adaptation of the Star Wars trilogy, brought down to a little under 30 minutes and made funnier than seems possible. Thumb wars is laugh out loud hilarious and worth seeing more than once. An avid fan or a relative Star Wars new comer will both find it hysterical.

From KUNG POW!: ENTER THE FIST director, Steve Oedekerk, comes yet another spoof of the Star Wars movies. Only with thumbs as the actors. There is not much to be said about this short film except that this is one of Oedekerk's 'Thumb' movies to be forgotten. It is not as funny as his later works, but it is still good for a laugh. It is a definite must-see if you are a fan of the Star Wars movies. I am not, but I still found it amusing.

THUMB WARS: 3/5.