Truly Dreadful Film

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

First of all I have to confess that I'm a total newbie to the Angry Video Game Nerd. I didn't follow his output and so I'm not familiar with his cosmos and also probably not the core group the movie is aimed at. Nevertheless a good movie in my opinion should always be capable of carrying on at least part of its charm also to outsiders. "Angry Video Game Nerd - The Movie" unfortunately doesn't manage to.It is all settled around the character himself who refuses strongly to review the "worst game of all times" (E.T.) and is tricked into dealing with the topic by a clever company fresh-woman that gives him an opportunity to prove all the myths around the game as lies. Unfortunately, they're not only true but only the starting point to much more sinister and stunning reveals.At times, the movie can be with some right called a slapstick comedy. Sadly, it is more slapstick than comedy, with old gags, mediocre attempts to steal a laugh and absurdity that at some times amuses, at other times just seems strange. Further on, I don't understand the sidekick. I don't know if he's a regular part of the show but in the movie his only task seemed to be to go on the nerves of almost everyone.All in all this was a big homage to a YouTube star. The whole world loves him in this movie, even before he literally saves it. That's maybe a bit too much, even though indeed many people love this guy. It's those people that could like the film. I can imagine if you have a stronger bonding to the character, you probably have more fun with this one. Some of the ideas and gags are actually quite entertaining and you'll probably be willing to forgive more. So if you're a fan, go for it, you will anyway, if not rather pick something else instead.

If there's something to be said for "Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie", it's that charm and passion can go a long way. And I think that's something that far too many people forget- or just ignore- when it comes to films.A film can have a lot of issues. It can be rife with clichés. Confusingly edited. Even problematically written. But if the actors on-screen are charming, if there's clearly passion poured into the production and if it's coming from a pure creative place, a lot can be forgiven. It's why films like "Hudson Hawk", "Rocky Horror" and most Troma releases have gone on to attain a cult status despite decidedly mixed (even sub-par in some cases) quality. Charm and passion for the project that rubs off on the audience.And I think that's the best way to describe this film- it's a film that oozes charm and passion, despite its issues. And those issues are numerous, I will admit. But I still smiled throughout it's somewhat bloated running time, knowing I was seeing someone pursuing their dreams to tell a story on the big-screen. And there's something to be said for that.James Rolfe reprises his iconic web-character the "Nerd", who has become somewhat disenchanted by his going-nowhere-quickly life. In particular, he's put off by his fans constantly begging him to review "Eee Tee" (obviously a riff on the infamous "E.T." video game), which is said to be one of the worst games of all time. After some contemplation, he joins his cameraman Cooper (Jeremy Suarez) and the beautiful Mandi (Sarah Glendening) to go on a road-trip to try and debunk the popular internet folktale that Atari buried thousands of "Eee Tee" cartridges in the desert. However, the Nerd doesn't know that Mandi is actually a mole for a video-game company making a sequel to "Eee Tee", and is just using the journey as a way to get some cheap publicity. Things are further complicated when the army intervenes and it quickly becomes apparent that there is a much bigger and more sinister story at play...The film is messy. And that's where the film loses the most points. The script is more of a barrage of sub- plots and episodic "misadventures", and the various scenes are only tenuously connected. Much more akin to a series of TV-episodes strung together than a singular cohesive narrative. Although I wasn't too bothered by this. It's almost video-gamey in a way. (Like levels) And it really isn't until the climax that things go really off the rails, but by that point, you've been won-over by the likable characters and silly presentation. But still, I can see the messy structure being off-putting to some.The humor is also very, well... unfunny at times. It's hit-and- miss to the extreme, which is where a lot of people seem to be having issues. This isn't quite the same as the standard "AVGN" episodes you see online, where the humor organically comes only from the character. There's a lot of attempts at broader slap- stick humor, some meta- jokes poking fun at itself and some bizarrely specific references. And it doesn't often land. When it does, it's great. But when it doesn't, you're just kinda left scratching your head. Once or twice, I even had to stop and question if some of the jokes were deliberate attempts at anti-humor because I just didn't... get it.But, those two major complaints being said... I still liked it. I still had a good time. And it was thanks to those charm and passion factors.Every aspect of this film comes across as loving tribute and homage to things writer/directors James Rolfe and Kevin Finn hold dear, and you can tell they're having the time of their lives. The best moments of the film- the convoluted Sci-Fi angle that is introduced early on, the laughably (and purposely) bad miniature- model work, the shoddy effects and the general silly atmosphere... they're just so much fun to watch. There's no way to see a kitchen-strainer being used in a miniature model and not crack up at the reference to cheesy old Science Fiction B-movies.Then there's the cast, particularly in Rolfe and Glendening, who are great in their roles. There's also a very amusing over-the-top baddie in Stephen Mendel, a fun "quirky scientist" character in Time Winters and some great cameos including "E.T." creator Howard Scott Warshaw.And there's also the fact that Rolfe and Finn are actually pretty good in terms of their visual direction. It's a competently constructed film, with a keen sense of shot composition, flow and tonality. They almost never fall back on the old-traps first time feature directors often succumb to, there's no over- reliance on shaky-cam nonsense, and they convey the story and themes in a very solid way. I'd honestly like to see them get more work, or be given the chance to direct a bigger-budgeted feature to see how they'd handle it.Honestly, I think that with the material they have, if they just edited the film down and trimmed the fat so-to-speak, a lot of the naysayers might have enjoyed it a lot more. There's a lot of delight to be had with the elements at play... it's all just a bit too convoluted and the jokes just a bit too hit-and-miss at such a needlessly long runtime. I say cut it down about 15-20 minutes and it'd be a lot better.Whether or not you'll like this film really comes down to how much you're willing to forgive. I personally found so much fun to be had with the material and the performers that I could forgive a lot.Is it a flawed film? For sure. Is it objectively bad? Probably. But is it charming? Absolutely.I give it a slightly above-average 6 out of 10. See it with an open mind.

Here's the too long didn't read version:Film is based entirely on James self-aggrandizing himself, with nearly every scene showing fans drooling over him. There are also politically correct characters that make no sense (random black guy shows up and a gamer girl who have no connection to the AVGN character or the web show) as well as actions such as in the end when a black guy kisses a white girl. That has NOTHING to do with an angry nerd who plays video games. This movie is awful.Here's the full review:I really think James overdid the AVGN movie. It should have just been a fun comedy movie starring the nerd, Kyle, and Mike. It shouldn't have had all these special effects, giant monsters, and other nonsense. The "girl gamer" and "token black guy" ruined the movie.The movie was made for a 97% white male audience. Stop. Suppress your pavlovian response for a moment and please see the absurdity and unfairness of this. The two main characters were politically correct tokens inserted by some producer, and it ruined the film. AVGN is about Mike, James, and their guests. I still don't know why this side kick just appeared out of no where to puppy dog James around. Why didn't you put Mike here instead? Someone that was actually in the AVGN videos? Instead he's downgraded to a small barely noticeable cameo while some nobody that no one has ever seen or cares about takes his place. If Mike didn't want to do it, then get the guitar guy to be your side kick. At least he was in some of the videos. It makes just as much sense for a partner for James to come along on this adventure. It just reeked of James, and Doug for that matter, being in a meeting and someone going..."look you need to diversify your audience". Which is cool, I could dig on a black dude and a woman side character if they had any history to the nerd and the show. But they didn't. We got them shoved down our throats for the entire film. And COMEDY. James turned this into a B movie action flick. Yes stuff blows up and action is present in AVGN episodes but that's just an afterthought. This entire film is about chases, blowing up stuff, and strange plots instead of video game reviews and how angry he is with game developers and his gaming experience.I was enjoying the first half, but then they brought in this retarded looking green puppet and giant monster out of no where for no logical reason within the plot. The plot went from being silly to entirely nonsensical on a whim because they didn't know any restraint or focus much on the writing. As soon as the general nukes the mountain(again for no reason once so ever), that's when this movie spirals straight downhill. They just crammed in as much as they could for the sake of special effects... kind of like the modern CGI movies he's bashing in the first place. The plot should have shown more restraint and just used a guy in an alien suit with no magical out of no where giant monster senselessly smashing around. But James, loving godzilla, couldn't help but try to make a monster movie as well, even when it doesn't belong in the movie he went through all the trouble of shoving it into.The WORST parts about this film? The parts that make me CRINGE?? Here are a few:In the beginning, when James is at the video store, a gamer guy comes up to him and James refuses to sell him a crappy game, so he spits on it. Then, the gamer guy gets all giddy and says "I can't wait to tell my friends I bought a game that AVGN spit on." Come on now. Are you that concerned about inflating your ego so much? This was awful.At the end, when the black kid kisses the white girl and the politically correct crowd goes ga-ga. Uh, this is not a rom-com or some take your gf out movie where there's a happily ever after. This is a movie about an angry gamer who wants to rant. Why is this scene even here? It's a real shame Kevin Finn was allowed to co-write the film and tamper with what the plot was going to be. Finn totally ruined what made the show so good by trying to make it go Hollywood.

I have never written a review before. Maybe it is because I have never been emotionally involved in a movie. With the Nerd it is different. His Youtube-series was fun, innovative and really took me to places of nostalgia. I always thought the best episodes of AVGN weren't those in which he swears and sh*ts on games rather than those in which he talks about the memories of our childhood, the feelings we had about the NES and goofy movies like "The Wizard". One of the best episode I think is the Atari Quest show. Watching it really took me back to the past. And now: The Movie. A lot of bad reviews have been written about the AVGN movie. All try to find out where James Rolfe did go wrong. And wrong he did go! Nothing of the originality, the mayhem, the comedy from the web-series is in this movie. First you are presented with characters you do not care about. Who is that black sidekick? Who is the girl in glasses? Who cares! Second you wait for a game review. ANY game review. Instead: boredom. The Nerd has a nightmare. The Nerd at work. The Nerd drives a van. Yawn. Other Reviews have stated the obvious: There are story arcs that go nowhere, too many cameos for the sake of cameos, no character motivations, unnecessary side-plots, and bad effects. I say that all these things would not count that much if the movie was interesting and entertaining. But it is not. Flaws like these and a runtime of over 2 hours make the movie feel like a trip to the dentist with the handbrake applied. And it does not help that the Nerd is characterized as a kind of messiah to gamers. What is surely supposed to be comedic comes across as arrogance. And as a final note: after this horrible movie I have noticed that James is fed up with the Nerd character. His newer web episodes lack the originality and care he put into the older ones. No more visits from game characters like Bugs Bunny and Batman, no more fights with robots, no more glimpses into the past. Instead we get a static camera and James running through the things we expect of the Nerd like swearing and drinking. It is hard to say for me, but this is one former James Rolfe fan sadly returning his badge.