Mel Brooks takes direct aim at George Lucas’ space saga, but with a rifle filled with far too many blanks. There are a few good gags here – you’ve got to love the Millennium Falcon being replaced by a Winnebago with wings – but most of it is juvenile, corny or both. The random cast includes Bill Pullman as the Han Solo/Luke Skywalker stand-in, Lone Starr; John Candy as his Chewbacca-like friend, Barf; and Daphne Zuniga as the princess who would be Leia. Rick Moranis also is on hand as Dark Helmet, and his blundering as a Darth Vader look-alike with an oversized mask provides some of the strongest laughs. The rest is mostly tired Brooks shtick, including the bit in which combs are used when Helmet’s minions are ordered to comb the desert. The only glimmer of the sparkling wit of Young Frankenstein come in the jabs at Lucas’ ubiquitous merchandising and the moments when Brooks breaks filmmaking’s fourth wall. At one point Helmet ‘rents’ the Spaceballs movie to find out what he should do next. It worked for his purposes, but you might want to make another selection.
