I don't know exactly what I expected from this film. The concept of an angry man playing video games while talking to a camera isn't the most adaptable concept in the world. James Rolfe early said that it wouldn't be anything like the show, rather it would be about the Nerd himself on a quest to find a video game to review, and that is exactly what it is about in the end.
For anyone who has followed James Rolfe, the creator of AVGN, as much as the AVGN series itself knows that he's long been interested in films. His website, Cinemassacre.com, is filled with films and webseries. Even going as far as making a film called "Cinemassacre 200" all about the 200 short films he's made over the years. Taking this into account, I was quite excited about the prospect of an AVGN film. Not only was the beloved Nerd getting a feature length story to develop himself, but it was going to let James Rolfe make a larger budget feature film, something that was interesting just in itself. World quickly spread that he had worked on a script for a film for a few years, trying to make it as good as possible. Fine tuning it and bringing on others to help him finding out what it should be. It all sounded good at the time, but it just lead to the film being more disappointing than it had to be.
First things first, James Rolfe has stated several times that he enjoys films that are so bad that they are good, he's also a big fan of mid-20th century monster films. Several aspects from these loves has appeared in the Angry Video Game Nerd series before, so it wasn't entirely out of the question that they would again for the film. I just wish they had been executed better. One of the biggest problems the film has is the inconsistency in its special and visual effects. It doesn't just stay to one kind of visual style, instead there are some sequences that are entirely made out of miniature models, and some that are just actors on poorly keyed green screens. I can appreciate the miniature models. They're charming, they're old-school, and they get the point across that you don't necessarily have budget for big visual effects. But bad green screens says just one thing, you didn't have good enough equipment. There's no real charm in seeing slight bleed on a green screen shot. There's nothing old-school about noticing the differences in lighting between the actors and the backdrop. It just takes you out of the experience, making you lose your place until it happens again. You especially notice it in some parts when there's green screen shots for locations they'd previously actually shot at. They needed pick-up shots but hadn't the money to travel back, so they just shot them in a studio. It doesn't look too good.
More importantly, though, is the narrative. I get why Rolfe did a lot of the things he did, but I wish he'd done it better. For starters, there's two new "main" (ish) characters in this film. Cooper and Mandi. A film with just a lonely video game nerd can become boring, difficult, or uninteresting, so I understand the need to add more elements. But it should have been more thought through. Cooper was fine enough for what he was, comic relief, a sidekick. He got some laughs when he needed to, and he helped push the Nerd to do what he needed to throughout the picture. But Mandi didn't really do anything. The only thing she was responsible was an opportunity that lead to the Nerd going on his quest. An opportunity that could've been easily replaced with something else, or they could've just limited her character to exactly that, but instead they made her a bigger part of the film. She ends up having so little to do, that a few ways through the film they literally just get rid of her. They let the bad guys take her, and the Nerd and Cooper don't even try to get her back. Mandi contributed nothing to the film, and it's a shame since she's one of few female parts in a male dominated film. The other big female part, Sergeant McButter, was a tad better. She was funny when needed to, and she stayed out of the way enough for her not to feel forced. Sure, it would've been nice to see her in a bigger part, but at least she didn't drag the film down by being out of place.
They managed to get the feeling more right for the ending segments, however. I won't talk too much about them, but they really got to grips with the balance between special and visual effects, and the balance between seriousness and absurdity in the story. If the entire film had had the same type of feeling and theme as the last half hour or so it would've been a much better film. One that I would watch over and over again. If only to re-experience how crazy it was.
Overall the film was completely okay, as someone who enjoys the webseries. If you haven't watched the webseries I highly doubt you'll find anything of any real entertainment from the film, other than the borderline campfactor. It's not quite bad-good enough to warrant a watch solely for that, and it's not quite good-good enough to warrant a watch based on that. The only thing of real entertainment was the cameos from other online reviewers, and the ending segments. Nothing more. If you really want to watch a feature length film based on an online show revolving around reviewing old junk you're better of watching "Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild" from 2013. Manages the balance a lot better.
No comments:
Post a Comment