Yes, yes. I chose my title based on a throwaway line with no build-up that isn't that memorable. Sue me, I'm a Muppet fan.
So, we start with trees and is it just me or are their just a metric fuckton of faux-atmospheric nature shots in this thing? Seriously. We get it. Trees are awesome. Moving on.
So, Willow Tom asks Nostalgia Link...fuck it, if you can't remember who these folks are it's your problem. Tom asks Critic if he's sure he's reading it correctly, and I half-expect him to be holding the thing upside down and they have to turn back. Fortunately, the map is apparently a list of locals and distances rather than...y'know, a map...so Critic reassures Tom that they are where they should be, surrounded by trees. Really? I hadn't noticed! (Also, has he been counting footprints in his head and holding conversations? If so, the Critic's got mad focus.)
Poor Mickey. He's trying so hard. Critic isn't taking this seriously at all, is he? He's not very "engulfed in wizards and shit" or whatever he said yesterday, and clearly the costume isn't helping him at all.
Mickey finally picks up on what we've all known since yesterday—that Phelous is out of his goddamn mind—though granted the music really helps sell it. Where do they find this stock music? Also, love that Mickey's taking the Freakazoid approach to flying (as opposed to, I dunno, flapping his arms or something.)
Not really familiar with the Conan movie, so I can't say how good Benzaie's voice is. Sounds vaguely Schwarzenegger-ish though, and I'm pretty sure he's Austrian, so Benzaie's probably going a good job.
Lupa's got a great fairy-tale voice, and that's not the crush speaking; it's quite a bit higher than we're used to and her face in these moments is good too.
Lupa's question about the "best story" would make sense if we knew how tale/tail was spelled on the map, but then it occurred to me that Critic can't spell worth shit, so even though the path undoubtedly says "tail" as we'll soon find, it doesn't matter.
Yes, you all called it. Linkara sings. I can't complain, even if his song choice is a bit dodgy. (They're all from musicals, probably, though I only recognized the one from Grease.) For some reason, "Andrew Lloyd Fucker" made me chuckle (and, yes, so did the Spamalot reference), as did Linkara starting to sing again even after Chick claimed to have a migraine. Yeah, changing the song will totally get you around that. I was kind of hoping Linkara being left their would become a plot point, but no, he gets up in the background of the next scene. Him still trying to carry a song is funny, though.
And, Bennett's costume being shit is not a running gag! Yay! Don't get me wrong, it was funny the first time, but no one wanted that scene again, did they? Anyway, either the picture quality sucks or I'm a moron because that tail totally looks like a shadow and the fact that anyone noticed it at all is insane.
Bennett takes the Sphinx approach to wisdom, apparently. I like the Critic's line here even if it is kind of obvious. Mickey's follow-up is just great. He's keeping such a good, straight face while advocating nad-nailing, and doesn't come off as sarcastic as all. Also, we get it, Phelous is insane, moving on.
Okay, the tail moving just raises more questions. Is the prospect of animals living in the woods off Chicago bike trails so implausible that it must be a clue? I mean, I'd get if it was just a tail. Someone could've left it as a marker. But it's alive. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that there's an animal there? Really?
And, it's a puppet. I'm as big a fan of conventional effects as the next guy, but c'mon, Critic, you're budget wasn't that small, was i—oh, it's supposed to be a puppet. Okay then. I don't know what Lambchop Sing-Along is, but Critic's delivery of that line is great.
So, Big Mean Carl's retarded half-brother starts talking about how they're looking for something that could destroy all humanity. I do like that it's actually a puppet, which means Critic can easily write him off as a nutbar and keep disbelieving in magic and we don't have to worry about whether or not we should be rooting for these guys looking for this power and keep assuming they'll just sell the thing once they find it. (Incidentally, any cheap shot at Jeff Dunham okay in my book.)
How'd it know that? I can only assume it's because his puppeteer had ears and these guys talk quite loudly. That, or it's one of the riddles they have to beat, but that's just silly.
"Only those who are true of heart"—Ma-Ti's going to get it. I'm calling it right now.
Oh, Chick. Don't you know that all mystical characters must speak in redundancies?
I like the name-taunting scene, though really shouldn't the blame go on his parents?
Yay! The Muppet Show reference! Followed swiftly by a castration joke. Heh. Wait, why would a puppet have balls? Moreover, what's stopping them from just continuing onward? Ah, well. Fight scene time!
Wow. I was expecting something akin to the Killer Rabbit scene in Holy Grail. I honestly did not see this coming. Awesome.
So, it takes down Critic and Linkara first. Which is nice, y'know? I like that we get to see the others in a fight scene. Seems like those two have them all the freaking time.
I like to think the puppet POV shot is a homage to the boomerang POV shot from the first brawl. Poor Mickey's nose.
Lupa's smart. Quando Omni Flunkus Mortati! Of course, all else hasn't failed yet, but it will. It's always good to take precautions.
I like that Phelous is still together enough to snark about the puppetmaster getting his nose. Really, though, they're both within nailing distance of his nads, so why are they just standing there?
Best use of human shield ever. Also, I love that we're continuing the Kickassia tradition of Bloodless Carnage even with bladed weapons.
I'll admit it. I said "MANIMAL" in a deep voice over Bennett and the puppet's hiss-off. But c'mon, so did you.
Did Willow do anything in the movie Willow besides stand around and say his own name? Surely he had some sort of special attack he could use. I like that it did, in fact, momentarily distract the puppet, and that the puppet and it's master continue to act semi-seperately.
There was a moderate-size deal made on the forums yesterday about what I like to call the Nostalgia Cleavage, and the camera's supposed focus on it. I didn't catch it yesterday, and now that the Chick has a line I have to say I'm not seeing the big deal now either.
I'm sure I'd find the Arwen montage funny if I'd seen Lord Of The Rings. Ah, well. I did spend a moment confused about what just happened—did she make him see the montage somehow? Did everyone else see it? Was there magic involved? But then I decided it must work on the same logic as her Big-Lipped Alligator Moments and left it at that.
Blatant potshot is blatant. Is that Mickey's thing now? Take That!s? His read of that line was pretty wooden, too.
Heehee. It's funny because a kiss is what woke Snow White in the original story, and it's being done by pervs. I only just caught that now. I thought it was just another lowbrow joke, but it works on a fairytale level too. See, this is why I write these on the second viewing. It's so easy to get caught up in the dick jokes and ignore the fact that there is some subtly to this. Like Linkara, a feminist, being a knight from the times of chivalry and apparently being the only one who's not a rapist. Lupa wakes up on her own.
I love it. Critic, you're the one who said to be in costume because being a character makes finding clues easier somehow. Stop getting pissed at people for being fucking characters.
"I want to find this treasure just as much as the rest of us..." So, not at all? I mean, if you're so into it why'd he have to blackmail you?
Lupa's awesome, but c'mon. We all know what's next. It's the perfect context. All together now: "WELL EX-CUUUSE ME, PRINCESS!" Since when is the Critic concerned with being douchey?
Ah, that's the spirit, Critic. Love that last gag.
Onward, to part two of part two! (Seeing as the installments don't have titles, who else is hoping the title cards will be gone on the DVD and you can watch it as one coherent piece? I don't think they did that for Kickassia, though my DVD's a little dusty so I may be misremembering. I do remember something about the DVD setup pissed me off.)
More translation gags. I'm cool with that. At least it's not the exact same joke.
Paw...? You are aware that Irons had other lines, right? No wait, Doug and Rob wrote it. Doug and Rob...? You areoh forget it.
Joe's line would probably be better as "Woody Woodpecker of the undead thing going on", rather than "Woody Woodpecker thing of the undead going on", but I'll forgive it because I'm loving the undead Woody image it planted in my mind.
And more Brain/Luke rivalry. I think someone on the boards called Luke being unaware of/indifferent to Brain's anger and just trying to be friendly and helpful. I also find it hilarious that Brain, the older one, is the most immature. The second he calls Luke a pea you just know there's a dick joke coming, but it's set up really well and I like Luke turning it around on him. Everyone's reaction is priceless, especially Joe's. Poor Brainy.
Love the Snob/Jew Wario scene. Everything about it is perfect, except one thing—Joe brought a freaking machine gun on board but Snob couldn't bring a whip? What the hell? (Also, he got in costume after the Critic told him to, with no prior knowledge of the quest, so wouldn't he have had to buy the whip after he was in Chicago? Ah, well. It's funny anyway.)
"You belong in a museum!" It's funny because he's so outdated that the line almost makes sense, but it's still mostly nonsensical.
Marz Gurl is a much better actress in Japanese.
I love Spoony half-assing the wise-man speech pattern. "We no speaky the Miyazaki..."
So, I'm guessing either that voice was dubbed in or that's not the Last Angry Geek. Given, as I mentioned in comments yesterday, that Liz is one of them but doesn't have top billing and yet Brian does, I don't think he's one of the hooded guys. I certainly hope he's not, anyway. I'd love an actual, in-earnest Geek appearance. Okay, here's a question: Liz and Team NChick were kind of footnotes in the news, and Liz is one of the robed guys, so why can't that fat one be Nella?
(A side-note with regards to the following scene: normally, I'd be pissed at how long it takes everyone to catch on that these guys are the real shit, but in truth the scene is too funny for me to care.)
I love their justifications for being worthy, as well as how freaking ANGRY the Snob's line sounds.
Luke? You're a moron. Why does everyone keep asking the obvious questions?
I love how confused the Cloaks are by Spoony's course of action here. I have to admit I, too, took a minute to catch on. And I love the condescending tone Spoony uses on these guys once he slips out of character. Times like this I wonder why I stopped watching The Spoony Experiment. Actually, I stopped watching all but Atop The Fourth Wall and occasionally Todd In The Shadows once school got too hectic, but I've been marathon-bingeing on these guys over the past three days (specifically, Obscurus Lupa Presents, Bad Movie Beatdown, Phelous, The Cinema Snob, The Nostalgia Chick and The Nostalgia Critic, in that order). So I guess what I'm really wondering is why I haven't had a Spoony marathon yet. I'll fix that tonight.
Back on topic. I really have nothing to say about this scene, snarky or otherwise. It's just great. Top-knotch Spoony being Spoony, the reaction shots, the way the Cloaks respond, etc.
WOAH! They have the power to turn day into day-for-night! Terrifying! And it gives us another great Spoony reaction.
Joe? They just made the sky dark. If you have any chance at all, wouldn't you have a better one with your machine gun than your sword? And again, how do you get that line wrong? It's said like fifty thousand times over the course of the movie! (I like that the Cloaks have either seen the film or are internet nerds.)
Yay! Paw said something non-rage related! Well, he did before too, but I was too busy being a Spoony fanboy to take note.
Joe and Paw are idiots. No other explanation for why they're not fleeing the guy conjuring a ball of lightning! Okay, these guys are proper villains. Not like that idiot Orlando plays. The lead says just little enough to maintain his air of menace and the other two's stupidity is intentionally funny, unlike yesterday.
Good thing everyone ducked at the exact right moment. Oh, and Paw, way to grin like a maniac while being scared shitless. And Marzgurl's the crap actor?
Heh. Todd's awesome.
Yay! Orlando! And he's not saying anything! Double yay!
Hope you enjoyed. See you tomorrow, folks.
Comments
◊ I didn't have a problem with the line since it was part of my childhood too.
