Family Guy has reached the slippery slope that The Simpsons has established as the recognizable drop-off point: bland repetition. Truth be told it reached that point a long while back, but there are some who are highly tolerant of Seth MacFarlane’s fascination with jokes that stretch on a minute too long or which recur once too often. After Blue Harvest, Family Guy’s first feature-length Star Wars tribute recreating A New Hope, it was inevitable that success meant they’d make a sequel. And it’s here in the form of Something, Something, Something, Darkside. Before you Family Guy haters completely turn up your noses at the thought of watching this, you ought to know that there are two potential versions of the film: the feature itself (for those still loyal to Family Guy) and the pop-up trivia version which is decidedly funnier than any of the main jokes.
Ever wondered what it was like to watch The Empire Strikes Back on fast forward with Seth MacFarlane offering a running commentary? (Granted Seth MacFarlane didn’t actually write this, but it’s the brand of comedy he established.) Wonder no more. Taken as is, it’s about as clever in its commentary on the Star Wars saga as the film Fanboys is, which is to say that it’s a medley of jokes that your average 14-year-old Star Wars geek could think up after a case of Mountain Dew and rewatching the film three times in a row in their basement on a hot summer afternoon. It really is nothing special; in fact it even recycles a few Star Wars inspired clips from earlier episodes in the series. However, if you’re a diehard fan of the series and think seeing the old creepy popsicle guy popping up as the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi is the funniest thing they’ve ever done then eat your heart out.
Peter Griffin (MacFarlane) regales his family with the next installment of the Star Wars saga after yet another blackout leaves them without a television. Casting himself as Han Solo, Peter has Lois (Alex Borstein) play Leia, Chris (Seth Green) play Luke Skywalker, Stewie as Darth Vader, Brian as Chewbacca, and Meg as…well, you’ll see. The story follows the track of The Empire Strikes Back exactly with only the slow, suspenseful build omitted (you know, that element which helped make it a masterpiece).
For the rest of us, however, the meager 54-minute runtime will be all but unbearable as is. Which is why they added the “Family Guy Fact-Ups”. Using the pop-up video style, a hilarious running commentary keeps track of the number of characters voiced by MacFarlane, random facts as they pertain to certain scenes, and pieces of humorously altered Star Wars trivia. It’s technically an extra feature, but it easily surpasses the main feature as the best part of the disc, so if you get ten minutes in and just aren’t satisfied with the level of comedy, go to the menu, turn it on and get ready to laugh.
Some people don’t quite understand why Blu-ray is a great format for animated features. It boosts the colors of every frame and gives the soundtrack an extra whallop. With live-action features you don’t always see the bump in picture, but with animation it’s almost immediately noticeable, this time even more so due to the heavy use of 3-D models used in the scenes.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Compared to the “Fact-Ups”, the audio commentary just seems useless. It’s nowhere near as funny and amounts to little more than a couple of Star Wars fans talking about why this was such a great idea and who they had to talk with to get rights to certain gags. “The Dark Side of Poster Art” shows the work that went into recreating the iconic poster for The Empire Strikes Back with Family Guy characters. The level of respect intoned in the artwork speaks volumes for the reverence the crew of the show has for the original source material. If you’re curious about jokes that were in the script but cut from the final draft you can sit through the 50-minute table reading session, and if that doesn’t sate your Family Guy hunger there’s an additional bonus segment from the table reading for the upcoming Star Wars parody. A digital copy of the feature rounds out the packages features.
"Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" is on sale December 22, 2009 and is rated NR. Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Television. Directed by Dominic Polcino. Written by Kirker Butler. Starring Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Seth MacFarlane.
