SPACEBALLS (1987) *** Mel Brooks is one of the all-time masters of Hollywood satire, perhaps, as he would assure you himself, the master of them all. It's not just how he gives himself the roles of both head bad guy and head good guy...it's not just the vacuum shaped spaceships...it's not just the clever characters like Pizza the Hut and my personal favorite Prince Valium. There are many genuinely irreverent and happy and genius aspects to this work. Content to mock Star Wars for the most part he sprinkles a spice of masters into the mix down the stretch. Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet is casting for the ages, Daphne Zuniga overplays her every line beautifully as Princess Vespa (the Druish princess with a big blow-dryer, a white wedding dress, and Brooklyn attitude). Nothing and no one, not least Brooks himself is spared the...um...rod of humor. Contextual celebrations of Jewish culture abound, side by side with lovable cross-bred human/dogs (John Candy, obviously, with a very big strong tail), intergalactic truck stops, Hollywood commentaries that would be scathing if they weren't so heartfelt affectionate, mobsters in pepperoni, and glorious puns well in excess of the intergalactic statutory limit.
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