The People vs George Lucas is a surprisingly level headed exploration into the revolt of a fanatical fan base towards their messiah that is funny, insightful and just a tad silly.

Fanaticism is something found in all tenants of society. Religion has its fundamentalists, sports has its die-hards, and movies has Star Wars fans. The People vs George Lucas focuses on that fandom in rebellion against the creator of their universe.

Presented in point by point fashion, the films makes the case that George Lucas has sullied the Star Wars mythos with the release of those prequels and his constant tinkering of the original set of films that changed the landscape of blockbuster filmmaking.

Not as if many people needed convincing otherwise. Even the most casual of Star Wars viewer knows there is something rotten in Tatooine. Yet writer/director Alexandre Philippe expresses the views of the “people” with wit and detail, featuring plenty of interviews with varied figures such as graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and MC Frontalot (a nerd-core hip hop rapper).

The best parts of the documentary are the varied fan made films and re-enactments that are filtered throughout, expressing the passion and (let’s face it) downright silliness of watching adult men and women playing Star Wars dress up.

The passion expressed and displayed says something about the religiosity of the Star Wars fanbase. In the last Australian census 70,000 people identified there religious affiliation as Jedi. Whether serious or joke it spoke volumes about the profound influence Star Wars has had as a cultural phenomenon.

Philippe convincingly presents a moral argument that the changes Lucas made to the original Star Wars films is equal to Leonardo Da Vinci changing the smile on the Mona Lisa into a frown. While Lucas is the creator, his decision to change scenes and replace award winning effects created by a hardworking team with a digital makeover is borderline criminal, especially considering the first Star Wars is in the National Film Registry.

Worst of all is Lucas’s defiance to release the original print of the movie, which by all accounts is lost to the vacuum of space and time.

Star Wars fan or not, there are ethical questions in regards to a filmmakers control over his movie that should engage and enrage all kinds of cinephile. Philippe does a great job presenting the case against Lucas. Hopefully Lucas will hear the pleas of his people and respond in kind to those who made him.