WebVideo A series frozen in the 2010's
Ah yeah, NC was teh awesomez when Doug Walker's series first came into my view back in 2012. I was in the Army at the time and I was starved for entertainment because cable was expensive and I only had internet.
He started reviewing series from the era I grew up in - the 1980's and the early to mid 1990's. It was a fun romp.
Back then "some guy in his basement/bedroom with a camera" could make review.
The problem was that - as some have pointed out- Doug's comedic skills are limited and the whole "angry reviewer" thing is Condemned by History for a reason.
The jokes at the time were mean spirited but many cartoons and movies Doug and the TGWTG crew reviewed were only known to geeks, older properties or were just forgotten.
Over time he did review more Gen-X pop cultural milestones (e.g. Heavy Metal) but then the wheels started to come off.
I get that the man had some ambitions, but the Walker's and the management of the site wrote checks their talents couldn't cash.
- The first "film" was just a big mock brawl that would have been fun as a one off but then they had to repeat it.
- The second film was So Okay, It's Average - but just doesn't have a rewatch value. "To Boldy Flee" was fine when I first watched it but is cringe now.
- There are some videos Doug has pulled from circulation for a good reason. I won't go into examples, but let's just say that the Franchise Original Sin was laid in some of the reviews he pulled. The reviews that stayed started to decline in quality.
Unlike SFDebris or many other Youtubers who's videos I'll watch again and again, many of the Nostalgia Critic's reviews after 2013 were "meh". The skits and the extra cast didn't add anything. After 2018, quality started to take a dive.
His reviews of many sci-fi and fantasy movies are funny and his Arnold Schwarzenegger movie reviews were NC at his best.
In short, if you want to see the The New '10s internet culture, watch NC videos from 2009-2013. I no longer view them as much as I used to but the good ones are still funny.
If you want a trainwreck or are a masochist, watch the NC reviews after 2018.
WebVideo I Still Remember It, and That's OK
Nostalgia Critic has always been a curious case to me. I started watching him shortly after I discovered Angry Video Game Nerd, and honestly? It's good content. Not always quality, but consistently entertaining.
Now I don't always agree with Doug's opinions or jokes, but that doesn't necessarily invalidate him as a critic or entertainer respectively, crazy I know. Not only that, but the fact that he can acknowledge good aspects of films he otherwise doesn't like (something that I know very well a LOT of reviewers on this platform have overlooked) easily puts him above most typical online reviewers. In fact I would say while his old reviews are fun and entertaining in their own right, there's a lot to be said with his modern content too, where in addition to "classic" formula reviews he also puts out more methodical and analytical videos which better shows his abilities as a critic.
Whether you enjoy or hate his content, Nostalgia Critic is a presence worth having around.
WebVideo Overly hated but for a good reason/he's okay
Seeing as most people are contentious about the oh so controversial Doug Walker here's my 2 cents he's okay :P Pros: He can be pretty funny, the reviews arguably take rather unpopular opinions but he does enough to explain why he thinks that way (not THE Wall/Sailor Moon fuck those videos) Commercial Specials are a fairly fun once a year thing to look forward to when I'm not bankrupting my family on thanksgiving, the skits not from the skitless reviews almost always have something to do with the review and somehow do work (well for me), he was always doing skits in reviews it was never a problem that started in the reboot, they're fun rapid fire ways to watch movies that you couldn't care less about/are controversy bait eg Ghostbusters 2016/Jem and the Holograms, Disneycember is pretty chill for the most part, the newest spinoff Dark Toons was good Cons: It's very clear the pre-Reboot era was when it was actually more than okay, when a joke dies my god it dies harder than most jokes, some jokes go on far too long, (equally a problem in pre-reboot and reboot, the CGI is awful like damn for a big budget production it looks like a knockoff mockbuster I'd buy at Dollar Tree, I'm not too keen on any of the lore from any era its too confusing, his "movies" shouldn't even be called movies they make the avgn movie look like Avatar, The Wall/Sailor Moon "reviews" were borderline inexcusable wastes of time that came off more as meanspirited jabs to the fans who liked those things, they addressed nothing of #Change The Channel and chose to ignore it entirely (I dunno could have made the infamous Freddy Got Fingered reviews storyline be around addressing the controversy and at least half-heartedly saying we are bad but at least we aren't this movie's level of mean) If you literally have nothing better to watch or want to watch a rapid fire movie review/don't want to watch the movie for any reason Nostalgia Critic is overall passable entertainment. 7/10 Aaaaand there's a missile headed straight for my house.
WebVideo Neither great nor terrible
TheNostalgiaCritic is occasionally funny but when he’s not it’s painfully so. DougWalker is a decent reviewer but when he’s TheNostalgiaCritic that’s not really the case anymore.
TheNostalgiaCritic in his video on the remake of Ghostbusters is actually genuinely funny because he manages to make fun of every side in the culture wars and so the humour comes from the film being arbitrarily controversial instead of from a rant about it. Likewise his video on TheLastAirbender was an AffectionateParody of the source material at least as much as it was a review of the movie. Also when he counted down the top 11 Avatar episodes his interaction with DanteBasco is funny.
The problem is, I find, that quite often, his efforts to review the movies in question take precedence over the RuleofFunny and in my opinion TheNostalgiaCritic reviews tend to overly rely on a tendency to AccentuateTheNegative which isn’t the case for DougWalker’s Disneycember reviews. So I neither love nor hate the Nostalgia Critic.
WebVideo Broken Pedestal
Where do I begin with this guy? I discovered him back in 2011 when I was going through a rough patch in school. I watched a video on his scariest childhood moments and from then on I was hooked. I watched the nostalgia critic, all the way up to his last review, the Scooby doo one. Afterwards I felt sad that it was over, but happy I had seen it. Then in 2013 he returned, making me a happy guy. Over time, I began to realize that while his new reviews looked nice, there was no heart and soul behind them. They were also very preachy and starting from 2016 onwards, had unfunny political jokes. I used to be Doug Walker’s biggest fan, now with the recent news that he is complacent in running his company, I wouldn’t even spit in his direction. I will always hold the classic era close to my heart, but now he is dead to me. RIP nostalgia critic: 2007-2012
WebVideo The Review Must Go On: A Review
This is probably my favorite video done by Doug Walker and That Guy With The Glasses.com. It's funny yet somewhat deep without taking itself too seriously. For those of you out of the loop, Doug Walker recently ended the Nostalgia critic after the website special To Boldly Flee. Cancelling the Nostaglia Critic because he didn't want the series to get too stale, and also because he wanted to try new things. Most notably Demo Reel, which had a very mixed reception from the fan base. The special starts off like an episode of Demo Reel where Doug Walker's character Donnie Dupre, finds that each member of his studio crew never actually existed. Just as its about to reach the climax, we cut back to Doug Walker as himself writing the demo reel script. He seems to be suffering from writers block, not sure where to go on the next demo reel episode. After a mix up in the delivery system he finds himself in the possession of a copy of the Odd Life of Timothy Green. After watching the movie he has a very Nostaglia Critic-esque episode ranting about the film. The bulk of the episode more or less consists of call backs to To Boldly Flee and a few cameos from other reviewers as Doug comes to grips with the fact that he wants to bring the Nostagia Critic back. Not going to spoil the entire episode, but the Nostagia Critic will be back in Feburary.
Watch the episode for yourself to see how it all happens.
WebVideo How to make your own Doug Walker video
(I used to be an admirer of Doug, by the way.)
1. Yell in a high-pitched voice as often as possible. Who could ever find this annoying?
2. When you see an opportunity to reference, talk about or dress up like Batman: seize it. Nobody will ever assume you're obsessed.
3. Assume that flashy special effects, costumes, melodramatic storylines, pointless cameos and saccharine aesops, all stretched out to 45 minutes are superior to your original, more sparse and to the point 15 minute shorts.
4. When uninspired: spoof something. Dressing up as pop culture characters and recreating scenes shot-by-shot is inherently funny in itself.
5. Claim to be a reviewer of "nostalgic media", even though many of your present videos are about films hardly a few years old or - in some cases - still in theaters at time of recording. The only thing that resembles an actual review (not just riffing) should appear briefly at the end, almost as an afterthought, with typical vague lines like: "The story makes no sense, the characters aren't interesting,...",
6. Never do any research, even when you're discussing a work or examining a viewpoint in your "editorial". Point out plot holes that are often explained in the work itself (if you'd pay attention) or stuff that you don't know, understand or misinterpret , yet could've easily looked up (if you'd actually take the effort). Make countless ignorant mistakes (I could make a list!) that give newcomers bad info and irritate those who are educated in the matter. Never wonder why you're talking about topics you clearly don't fully understand or bother to do proper research about?
7. When discussing something: just Leave the Camera Running and spout some incoherent thoughts. Never edit or trim anything down. Bring in your brother too, so you can shout over each other's words and crack bad jokes that distract you from the actual topic.Claim to provide an "in depth" discussion, while in the end hardly saying anything you hadn't said before in your NG video. Don't ever consider the people who have to watch the entire 45 minute video just for that.
8. Make editorials built around a seemingly confirmative question ("Is... as bad as they say?"), only to halfway say: "Not necessarily" and point out that it actually isn't. Come up with a simple-minded conclusion.Fill the video up with pop culture imagery that viewers will squee about, failing to realize they've been duped into clickbait again.
9. Frequently ridicule professional artists for "bad acting & writing, relying on cheap jokes and spoofs and not evolving with the times", while not realizing your own work suffers from the same problems.
10. Always treat any criticism of your work as "douchy nitpicking", even if it actually has a legitimate point to it. Refer to it in your videos in the most spiteful way possible, not realizing this makes you come across as a butt-hurt Man Child whose heroic fantasies have been destroyed by reality.
WebVideo Legitimately talented, misplaced at times.
I have a respect for Doug Walker that goes really deep. I've been watching his content since I was (relatively) young, and when I got to meet him and Malcom in-person at C2-E2 a month or two back, I was ecstatic, and overall, they struck me as really genuine people.
Yet, there's something about his new style that gets me less into NC nowadays. Doug's a good writer, and a decent actor, emphasis on "decent". As of, what, 2012-ish, he's been employing more skit-based comedy for his reviews, which, in-and-of-itself, isn't too bad. Maybe he went through a crisis, wants to try something new, can't fault him. But at the same time, I think I would have just preferred the minimalist approach? Not to diss Doug, Tamara, or Malcolm's talents, but being frank, I don't really come to NC for Hyper Fangirl or Satan. I'm there for the review, and whether it's deadpan or over-the-top, I can enjoy both, just let the well-written commentary take priority over shoehorning in half a video's worth of exposition as to WHY Critic's reviewing the movie. I can enjoy the sketches, just in smaller doses than now.
WebVideo An Inspiration
I'm not some super smart critic that knows the complex world of fiction as we know it nor am I a creative Genius. But, what I am is an average person and in the end, the average person's opinion is what counts. So, here's my review.
Now, relatively, I'm a new comer to the Critic's fanbase, being a part of it for about eight months. But, I have a lot of free time so I've watched quite a few of his reviews on Youtube so I think I have a general idea of his works. On one hand, you got bad spelling, swing and a miss jokes and rants that can get rather preachy. But, I say this makes him better, not worse. Why? Because it shows us that Doug and the Critic are flawed people and still have room to improve and grow, becoming better and better at what they do.
On the other hand, we got amazing humor, funny and creative sketches (Dodges various objects thrown at him), lessons hidden within the reviews, and, most importantly, a challenge to us to view the works of fiction, see beneath their skin and determine for ourselves whether or not they are good or bad, harmful or not while also giving us a guide on how to do so.
I'll admit, there are some parts I'm not fond of. Seeing the Critic being tormented and tormenting others was barely amusing at first and now rather pitiful. And I hope one day that Doug will let Critic grow as person once more. But, I'll have to say, considering all the goods and the bads, 8.5/10. Great but still got a lot of work to do.
And I's like to thank Doug and Critic for giving me the motivation to let my opinion be heard to the world. With that said, I only have one last thing to say.
Ahem...
"ZUUL, MOTHEFUCKER! ZUUL!!!"
Hehe, I've always wanted to do that.
WebVideo A shame to online reviewers
Let's ignore the screeching voice. Let's ignore the unfunny character antics. Let's ognore the toilet humour and lowest common denominators of comedy Doug Walker applies ad infinitum. They're trivial, because the very core is rotten beyond that.
First off, The Nostalgia Critic is not a critic, not anymore than YT commenters or the religious right are. What many people forget is that criticism is supposed to inspire people to improve their work and themselves. The NC started off his career as an angry brat hatefully demonstrating ignorance and spite for the sake of entertainment. That is not criticism, that is a clown's act. Over the years, he improved, he became more nuanced and tried to give off a fairer treatment. But:
- He relies on misinformation, either ignoring facts or presenting blatantly false statements;
- He is more focused on shaming the author than offering a constructive foundation;
- He cares less about critiquing and more on comedic sketches, which often distract significantly from the review itself (and, in some cases, blatantly showcase that he simply does not have much to say about the movie).
Upon his return, these problems became far worse. Now, he engages in bizarre, pointless sketches, and when he does criticise, his criticism is both incredibly inapropriate, unappliable, and actually more offensive than the material he reviews. When he isn't deliberately mean spirited, he is in an oblivious, Moral Guardians-esque moral indignation that makes most soccer moms blush. The fact that he was always an homophobic, sexist douche doesn't help matters: either before as an angry, frankly sex-starved looking manchild, or in a pretentious, prudish, higher-than-thou sex shaming manner.
Reviewing is every bit as much of an art as any other, and many reviwers revel in working with what they have. The NC, by contrast, basically is less interested in reviewing than using the review as a vehicle for other things, from unrelated humour to his own morality, and as such like with any artwork that commits such, he is productive solely in the realm of the gentile
WebVideo Not Bad, But...
He's not all that bad a reviewer, and for the most part, his videos are pretty entertaining. The "but" comes in when he finds a joke he likes, and won't stop making it. For example- when Avatar came out, he did a Bum Review of it, occasionally comparing it to...all the movies similar to it. Fair enough, pretty funny. Then another reference to it in one of his Nostalgia Critic reviews. Then, when Video Game Confessions: Duke Nukem came out, the entire video was a means to take another shot at the movie.
Even within individual episodes, this can be a problem. For a more recent one, take Bum Reviews: Red Riding Hood. Yes, the movie looks a whole hell of a lot like Twilight, but that doesn't mean we need 4 jokes in a 5 minute video comparing this to it. One in the title sequence, one right after it's over, two more in the actual video.
At times, the running gags get a bit annoying as well. Things like Chuck Norris, Bison's Of Course, Casper's Timing, all those things— get pretty irritating when there's at least one in almost all his Nostalgia Critic reviews.
The other problems are pretty minor- his acting gets iffy at times, sometimes in tandem with annoying voices, and 20 minutes can be a bit long for a review, but on the whole, he's decent. For all I don't like about the running gags, so long as you don't watch too many reviews in a row, you probably won't notice it. 7/10.
WebVideo Why does TV tropes hate him so much
Okay look, I get that Nostalgia critic's videos aren't as funny as they used to be and he can get incredibly preachy at times but despite that, his recent work is still solid. For every joke that misses the mark there is always one or more that hit the mark. As for his aesops, yeah a lot of them are corny but there are still ones that are well thought out such as his videos on hype and originality. People complain about the skits, He doesn't usually use them excessively and the majority of them are the right length. I also like his partners as they add an interesting dynamic to the show. In conclusion, even though he doesn't hit the same high notes as frequently as before, the series is still far from bad.
PS: If this review sounds disjointed then that is because I am better at writing things over a long term than a short one.
WebVideo Osmosis Jones- Get on with it!
One thing I noticed more about the newer episodes is that Doug likes to drag his jokes. Take for instance his "Pirate Palpatine" joke. It could have been a funny little one off, he didn't have to spell it out for us or bring back the joke. He also spends most of the review just pointing out cop cliches or Inside Out similarities. By the way, did the Inside Out tie-in even have to happen? He could have just said, "Thank goodness there is a good film that has a creative, fun take on what goes inside the body." I felt it was unnecessary and not very funny, it just padded the run time. I did laugh at the Simba and the corn chips bit though. I wish he got into the plot more, even if was cliche, and talked about Thrax as a character.
WebVideo Not Entertaining Anymore
I was only recently introduced to the Nostalgia Critic by my husband, at a time when the "last" episode that was a review of the Scooby Doo movie was already released. And I also have not watched Kickassia or To Boldly Flee since I honestly do not care whatever background he has created for this character. Watched him for reviews, not his background.
So when he returned, I had no big feelings about this. And while some of his newer videos are entertaining, I feel like since the video on Master of Disguise, he has severely gone down in terms of quality and entertainment. He seems too focused on bringing a lot of sketches into the videos, some even so long they completely distract from the review or were so unfunny they just stopped the entire flow of the video (particularly noticeable examples being in the Master of Disguise review). I have nothing personal against his co-actors, I just have a problem with the jokes and how the script was written.
Though while I do enjoy some of his older videos pre-renewal of the character, I did notice that he always had the issue of using misinformation or wrong statements in videos, some even flat out seeming like he didn't pay attention to the movie. (Look at his video on Quest For Camelot for an early example where he asked questions that were mostly answered in the movie)
But lately, his videos are not funny, his character is just mean, petty and angry - whether exaggerating it at the movie or because he's still angry that monetary issues (brought on by fans who likely stopped watching his videos after the Critic was finished) forced him to bring him back, the way I understood it, and just not fun anymore.
And his actions lately just seem to make things worse. For example, his review on Sailor Moon was disgusting, full of wrong information, focused on the wrong thing and overall seemed like a video he slapped together after watching only one episode, though he didn't want to watch it and had no interest in it at all. And yet, shortly after that review came out, Doug said he was gonna make Vlogs on watching Avatar the last Airbender. So apparently he can do that for one show, but not the other. If it's a matter of interest, why even make a video on something he honestly doesn't care about? He already had a list of "Things I won't review" so why not keep to it or even add things?
WebVideo Do we really need someone to remember for us anymore?
Holy shit, time flies. Must have been some, what, six-seven years since the a guy with a cap and a poorly-attached tie first sat down and made some jokes at the expense of a hideously dated and condescending anti-drug cartoon crossover. Though not particularly insightful, it was actually pretty damn funny, and saturated with infectious energy powered by the creator's genuine, if almost inevitably disappointed, nostalgia.
All of us have been there at some point; sitting down with some childhood film or TV show on some late Saturday evening only to find out that "Shit, I wasted my time on some pretty crappy stuff." Everyone can relate to that. And for a year or two, things were good. Semi-weekly deep-dives into the good and bad (definitely, mostly bad) memories of childhood. Non-committal, quick and easy entertainment, almost like the shows themselves.
Then something happened. No one really knows how or why. For whatever reason, the early bird of quirky, quasi-autobiographical internet personalities attracted others with belief, misguided or otherwise, in their own talent to become such. Combined with the usual inevitable quality decrease of a relatively-long running weekly episodic show, it became apparent that the NC shows were quickly devolving into a springboard for others to amass some of this fickle, pointless thing called "fame." And when something becomes all about motivators such as fame or money, chances are the soul of what made an original creation good in the first place goes away. well, whether it did or not, the NC was just never gonna be the same. It wasn't my show anymore.
Ain't watched NC regularly in years, only when a movie I've actually seen comes up. A few years back, heard Mr. walker retired the NC. "Good on him," I thought. It's good to know when to quit. Then he started doing it again out of nowhere. Huh. Nowadays, when our paths meet again on the glorious information superhighway, he looks bleary and bored. I can't blame him. You guys... you wouldn't keep having him do this if he doesn't want to... right? Think about it.
WebVideo Great Character, Wrong Direction
I really respect Doug Walker and his team of creative minds. As a previous reviewer has stated, Doug and his crew have done more as internet celebrities than I have ever done. If I find flaws in this series, then, it is not because I feel entitled to absolute perfection; it is simply that I have been watching long enough to finally address these flaws in a public place.
Essentially, the Critic is a great character with a great creator behind it. When Walker gets his groove going, the Critic is not only somewhat funny, but REALLY funny - an absolutely stellar comedian. Walker is simply a charismatic performer with great screen presence, and when he relies on his own sense of comedic attitude and timing, the character is just lovable and entertaining beyond belief.
I would personally say that the series has gone 'downhill' as a result of the Critic being marginalized. If the title of the show reflected what the series has truly become, it might be called 'Nostalgia Critic and Friends.' This review is not intended to sound stubborn and close-minded, but Doug's team members (ie, his fellow Channel Awesome reviewers)simply lack the fresh, charismatic appeal which used to define the series. Part of this may be charted up to individual personalities, but essentially the Channel Awesome team just represents a trite internet persona: the meme-quoting, politically partisan comic book types, fresh off their argument on why pot should be legalized everywhere.
It's not that every appearance from someone who isn't Doug ruins the episode - I actually like his regular cohorts (eg Malcolm/Tamara). The problem is that jokes from the Channel Awesome coterie have begun to dominate the show. Every other episode is like a miniature version of 'Kickassia,' which is NOT what long-standing fans like myself prefer to see. Perhaps it's a song everyone can go download on i-tunes (eg the 'T-Rex' song,) or perhaps it's a character so outrageous it will just HAVE to become a meme (eg 'Santa Christ') - but whatever it is, it keeps infiltrating the show more and more and more.
I'm glad for the Channel Awesome team. I'm glad they have found a niche. I think they're all intelligent and talented people. But I feel they have also pushed away what was (and still can be) the show's greatest strength - Walker being the Critic, by himself, no-holds-barred.
WebVideo He just isn't funny anymore
Nostalgia Critic's videos were perhaps some of the most addictive videos I ever got into watching. Together with Adam Buckley's excellently funny and cleverly constructed rants on his channel A Dose Of Buckley, Doug Walker's angry reviews of really poor movies were constantly hilarious, to the point of me watching them over and over again. And just like with Buckley, I never found his deadpan, negative style annoying because it was executed so well and always came off as humorously exaggerated. But sadly, he decided to change his style - and it's made me lose all interest in him.
The thing that I find most irritating about Doug Walker's newer material is how annoyingly eclectic and inconsistent it is. In a vast majority of his early work, he would only review and ridicule the absolute worst of the worst in film. His reviews were straightforward and very rarely went on for too long. Now though, he seems to review or talk about almost anything he can get his hands on. This has made him go from being a grumpy critic obsessed with exposing the flaws of terrible motion pictures, to a far nerdier, creepier and more predictable critic with way too much time on his hands and an overly diverse pool of video styles featuring an excessive amount of padding and skits. I don't find it funny at all - it's lowbrow, uninteresting and condescending, with loads of recycled, dated jokes included.
Another thing that irritates me about newer NC is how overly seriously he now takes movies and entertainment in general. It's natural to have a love and passion for a certain medium, but what made the Critic funny was how he actually used to mock snarky critics; in other words, he was self-deprecating and made fun of bad movies because that's what critics do. Now, though, he seems to have become his stereotype. For example, in his review for a movie called "A Cat In The Hat" he includes a cheesy speech about what's good for kids and what's bad for kids. This sort of thing comes off as awfully pompous and elitist. It's this sort of needless, over-serious melodrama that plagues too many of his reviews nowadays.
Though I'm largely sick of him, I can probably still enjoy some of his better older reviews. But very, very little of his new content is watchable for me. His character is tired, no longer convincing, and just doesn't make me laugh anymore.
WebVideo Star Wars Holiday Special ends with a cop out.
It's not a lot that Doug's videos disappoint me, but the review
of the Star Wars Holiday Special really let me down.
The Deus Ex Machina is totally blatant, the new character was unimaginative, and the song about him was trying way too hard to make him into a Memetic Badass. I watched the video to see Doug get emotionally beat up by the special. The only thing that can be said for the ending is that it's almost as pointless and random as the rest of the special, but the point of the video was that's a bad thing.
What they should have done is have that guy pretend to be George Lucas and help Doug go to town on the copy the way Doug did for Bebe's Kids.
EDIT: It's not about taking it seriously. It's about being funny. Some guy appearing out of nowhere and making it all better is not a joke, unless you are making fun of that. They played it straight, and ruined the humor of watching Critic getting emotionally tortured.
WebVideo Not a fan
Awful. The jokes are transparent, the insights are obvious, and, no doubt after he discovered the mighty power of the internet, the attempts at meme creation have become more pathetic than ever.
Imagine you’re sitting at home and someone is giving you a 20 minute plot summary of the Care Bears movie in a horrific, high-pitched wail that should not be able to come from a 20-something human male, while choice clips from the movie are played interspersed with clips of a man banging his head on his desk, screaming, and pulling out toy weapons to shoot the plot holes.
“WHY DOESN’T THIS MOVIE MAKE ANY SENSE!”
Because it’s Care Bears, Doug.
EDIT: Negative points expanded due to popular demand!
1: His “reviews” are actually plot summaries.
2: There is a stupid, pointless cameo in every episode.
3: Lame Jokes include: Badly acting during his opening catchphrase how depressed/angry/suicidal this week’s movie has made him.
“Well this movie just can’t get any stupider!” cut to stupidity.
That “Spiders!” guy.
The Bat Credit Card.
A tonne of overly long gags. Watch Rob’s Jeff Goldblum impersonation or the Santa Christ nonsense in Kickassia.
4: Stating the obvious: Care Bears: a completely arbitrary star thing appears, and Doug is like “wtf. That is like totally random! Did the writers just think “let’s be stupid here?!?”"
Lost World: Jeff’s weird daughter asks him to ground her and be more parent-like. Doug is all like “What kind of kid would do that?”
Lost World, again: Woman lets out a completely ridiculous scream Doug is like “What a ridiculous scream, lol!”
I already know these things. I can see them on my screen. A talented reviewer can use movie stupidity for humour. Doug just reiterates why it’s stupid. And you should have already figured out why that is before his voice cuts in.
WebVideo Funny, but inevitably grating
Much as I admire Doug Walker's ingenuity as an artist and a comedian, and did enjoy watching The Nostalgia Critic for a couple of years, I've realized now that I'm out of high school that it is kind of a waste of time. That's not to say I'm super busy or anything, it's just that I know there's more useful things to be looking at now.
My best friend got me hooked on his videos two or three years ago and I loved that there was a guy ripping on a bunch of dumb little movies I watched as a child (Surf Ninjas, Warriors of Virtue, 3 Ninjas, The Pagemaster, etc). I liked the guy's energy, keen use of cultural references, and the genuine nostalgia that the movies he reviewed brought out.
Though, like anything you watch religiously, you start to see the pros and cons of the material. The Nostalgia Critic is a lot like Family Guy and who knows how many other shows that start off really good but then kind of peter out the more popular it gets and greater the following it accumulates. The Critic himself began to project an Insufferable Genius image in my eyes, to an almost Tarantinian degree. I know it's been stated repeatedly that Walker and The Critic are two separate entities, but I don't really think see much difference. I've seen Walker's reviews when he's as himself, and it's really just The Critic except more relaxed (and just as prone to Suddenly Shouting) and with fewer visual aids or gimmicks. It's also the fact that I really just don't see movies the same way as he does, if that makes any sense. All of us critics come off as Smug Snakes after awhile, but it's never that fun when a guy seems to force his ego on you. When that started happening in as great a frequency as his astute commentaries I grew tired of it very fast.
Again, this review isn't meant as a Take That towards Walker or his online personas. The man, his brother and his wide circle of friends are all doing more as internet personalities than I have done ever. They should be respected for their enthusiasm, editing and imagination. Still highly recommend The Nostalgia Critic's first fifty episodes or so.
At the end of the day, there are better, less pretentious and more succinct critics out there. I guess watching a thirty-old man scream and get red in the face over movies primarily meant for sensitized children has just lost its luster for me.
WebVideo The Odd Life of Timothy Green
When I heard that the Critic was coming back I was excited. Now I know a lot of people question his return. I even heard from my brother that some TGWTG members themselves are against it though I'm not sure myself. And I admit that it felt unnecesary after to Boldly Flee came out, and he released a commentary, DVD exclusive reviews, and three Doug Walker countdowns to celebrate his retirement, but I didn't mind. I was positive he would still have the same quality. And I was right.
This review was hilarious. From his making fun of how they pretty much grew a child, to him insulting the adults, and the intro where he apparently flew into a blind rage and murdered an innocent cat after watching it, there were nearly no points in the review where I didn't laugh. I also felt as if this review was more elaborative than his other ones, but I could just be so happy that he's back that I amplify and over exaggerate everything he says, I may never know. And this review felt more simple than I would expect, without any crossovers, or a celebration for his revival series. I have a feeling that if he did that, it would probably make the episode a bit less enjoyable for me. But it is still part of some event.
There are some things I don't really like in this episode though. First, he says it's to celebrate something called 'the month of love' when he stated before it would only be one episode every two weeks. That would mean he'd only put one more review after this before the month of love ends. Also to me, while it shows enough reason why the movies bad, he doesn't show enough clips from the move itself to give me a grasp on the plot. Though it might not be a real con and the movie just doesn't show that much stuff. But if those are my biggest complaints, then honestly, it doesn't even matter.
Overall, this review makes me feel satisfied with the Critic's return, while he stil gives off a form of simplicity in the review. Is his return unnecesary? Well, maybe a little bit. Does that make the review bad?
An 8.5 out of 10. Welcome back Critic. We welcome your return.
WebVideo I Can't Decide
When I heard that The Nostalgia Critic was coming back, my reaction was mixed. On one hand, I was delighted that the Critic was returning, on the other, I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, it's just that I thought the Critic got the perfect send-off in To Boldly Flee, and it just seemed that the Critic will stay in the Plot Hole from now on controlling plot innacurracies. I just thought the revelation that the Critic was in a purgatory-like setting was just stupid. I mean there was no foreshadowing that Demo Reel was a Self Inflicted Hell for the Critic. Plus, with the Critic coming back, it leaves his sacrifice at the end of TBF and the passing of the mantle to the Chick as moot. I just hope that Doug Walker doesn't make a mistake with bringing the Critic back. Let's all pray on it. Here's to February.
WebVideo New Review
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is one of those family movies that is really painful to sit through. NC proved that in this review.
I'm glad he now reviews any movie, as long as its not in theaters. You'd run out of terrible movies pretty quickly if you just stuck with 19800-2004. The actual review was great, it had funny moments and was actually better then some of his other recent videos. The way the video transitions is better, too.
All in all, this is one of his video's you shouldn't miss.
WebVideo He and his Fellow Reviewers
I enjoy his videos. I think he's funny and his top 11 lists are very influential. The little movies that star him and other reviewers, like Kickassia and To Boldly Flee, are awesome. Heck, I even like his annoying, girly, shrieks. If it weren't for him, a lot of youtubers wouldn't be as good as they are now.
WebVideo Definitely better over time
I did recall the time I've become a fan of his works back in 2009. Looking back now, it is not just that the quality of the videos have gotten better, but over time he seems to be relying less upon the shouting, cursing and usage of memes and running gags (no doubt he still is using such things in his review, although they're not as frequent as in the past). Sometimes he does still tend to drag some jokes on, but quite a bit of his humor is pretty well-timed and I actually do find myself tuning in every tuesday for a new episode. My personal favorite episode would probably have to be the Langoliers episode, although I do like it when he suffers through cartoon movies such as The Care Bears movies, A Troll In Central Park or the Miramax cut of The Thief And The Cobbler.
Of course, one major hurdle in his later videos was the infamous Lets Play of Bart's Nightmare, that did fall into many traps of amateur LPers and showed that such a genre is not the right fit for a persona such as the Critic's (while it may be meant to be a parody, it's polarizing to say the least and Doug himself even admitted to not liking it even before releasing it).
All in all, he's still not without his flaws, but I do appreciate his newer reviews more than I do his older ones, because at his first videos he's trying to find a persona to stick to, then he stuck with the persona of a pathetic manchild (whereas the RL Doug is interesting to listen to and in fact less inflammatory towards most of the things he reviews (one exception comes to mind), some works of which were guilty pleasures that he grew up with or a few he may find enjoyable, such as Judge Dredd for instance), and then improving the character while not losing this pathetic-manchild characterization.
WebVideo The Good and the Bad
The Critic is a very polarizing figure, and that's partly because he sounds like a little girl when he screams, which is what really killed him for me. A rather extreme example is his laughter during his "Saved by the Bell" review. As he started calming down, he was at an even higher pitch than my female cousin in the middle of hot sex with her boyfriend. And if I have to hear him and Casper singing "Exposition, exposition—" one more time, I think my eardrums will break. The forced memes might not seem too bad, but when you start noticing them, they get irritating very quickly. Some of the caustic criticism also seems forced. This has been toned down in more recent reviews, I am told.
But the Critic isn't worthless. I like his Old versus New videos, Top 11 lists, and commercial specials. The commercials are funny and he's fairly entertaining when he's not being unnecessarily caustic. And what's common to all of those? Less screaming!
WebVideo A good series with funny humor.
I will admit that the first time I've ever heard of That Guy With The Glasses was in a Power Rangers messageboard. In a way, I'm glad that I am along for the ride.
Out of the website and Doug Walker's characters, I'm reviewing the famous Nostalgia Critic. While sometimes he wouldn't do the research, it still doesn't bug me too much. At least one funny/memorable part comes from all his reviews, be they the Bat-Credit Card from Batman And Robin or the Gainax Ending from The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.
And most of the reviews of the stuff we might have watched as a kid (come on, who doesn't remember watching Full House and not being aware of how sugar-coatingly crappy that was?) are spot-on. He even points out the things we might have missed, the hypocrisy of some films (Pokemon: The First Movie has him pointing out the "Aesop" and bashing it excellently—while that in itself was an echo to Dogasu's review of the same film, I will save it for another time), and how some parts are not made for kids with the Catch Phrase, "You know, for kids!" Also, I will give him props for, like The Angry Video Game Nerd and Linkara, reviewing obscure stuff—I did not know that there was an animated Titanic movie, a movie with all gross-out humor (The Garbage Pail Kids Movie), or a freaking concert involving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
If I had to find a hint of criticism, it would have to be this: it's worrying whether or not the guy survives with everyone requesting him to do horrible shows/films. While they do give him a break (I think Gargoyles might have been a fan request, but I really don't know for sure), some of the stuff were horrendously bad. It's a miracle that he manages to survive.
Overall, though, That Guy With The Glasses is a good web site, and the Nostalgia Critic is good at what he does—reviews (mostly) bad stuff from our childhood and remembers it so we don't have to. And, in my eyes, he succeeds.
WebVideo A More General Review
The Nostalgia Critic is an entertaining webshow, designed to appeal to the demographic of approx. 20-30 year olds regarding nostalgic movies. And it works. The humor stems from a character, played by Doug Walker, forcing himself to wholly review and suffer with terrible movies of the 80's and 90's and even sometimes mixes it up with Old vs. New videos and his personal top 11 favorites. You can tell from the timeline of episodes that the quality of his work has gotten better. He's able to have jokes go hand-to-hand with visuals, which instantly separates him from other half-lazy reviews from the standard schmuck trying to get fame from youtube with terrible video qualities. That I can appreciate.
While there are times some jokes falls through either by overacting (which I admit, is quite normal for the character), he's still entertaining to listen to and when he hits the mark with a good joke, you're left in tears. There will always be some sort of hit and miss, but that's quite common in any form of media, so it'd be a waste complaining.
From a reviewer's POV, I find the character polarizing and very entertaining. There's nothing wrong with being polarizing and in fact, it's one of his strong suits. His hatred for bad movies is done in both simple logic and suffering hilarity, and when he's found some sort hope spot in a movie or a begrudging chuckle of one joke in an entirely jokeless movie, you can't help but sympathize with him. He's a mixture of someone you hate and love.
Granted, I won't talk about his crossovers. I enjoy him interacting with fellow webshow hosts, but I prefer sticking with his reviews and individual videos. However, I found Kickassia a hilarious and interesting movie. It's not everyday a group of people merely famous on the internet try to take over a small micro nation in your own backyard.
A few of the cons stem from outside the series. Mostly the fanbase. Granted I've seen worse with the Spoony Experiment, but it's there. However, the Nostalgia Critic plays it off in very creative ways, like the crazy Internet Troll, Douchey Mc Nitpick. And his Top 11 F**k-Ups are designed to correct whatever mistakes that the fanbase points out, which shows he's not above admitting he's wrong.
Whether you love it or hate it, it's an original comedy show that's not going anywhere anytime soon.
WebVideo A Lovable Nerd
I often find the idea strange of reviewing a reviewer...but then again, it's a strange idea to gain internet fame by reviewing cartoons and movies from the last 20 years. Played by Doug Walker, The Nostalgia Critic is probably one of the famous nerds on the Internet. He regularly watches Cartoons, shows more love for the old versions of something than the new, and his only reviews of films from the past 5 years are presented by the character Chester A. Bum(Also played by Doug Walker). Oh, and he watches horrible movies while his brother (Rob Walker) records his reactions to it. I think his fame was made from the fact that he often tells how much he loves or hates things we like; I LOVE the Animaniacs while watching it on Nickoloden, and when he did a tribute three videos long WITH the producers and writers...It made me feel a connection with him. I also love the energy Doug Walker puts into his characters; His facial expressions and sudden outbursts of yelling often remind me of a child, who would probably react the same way we reacted when we were kids as well. The thing I hate the most about the Critic is how he will often do a joke that was kind of funny, but then drive it into the ground. The biggest offender is in the Junior Review, where there is a image of Arnold Swarzenager's face imposed on a child's face. The Critic reacts to it by spending 5 seconds screaming loudly at the image, running out of his seat, and into the bathroom and throws up for a good 20 seconds of the video. Thats pretty funny...He comes back, tries to continue with the review, and is shown the image again. It then cuts to A WHOLE MINUTE of Rob and a friend talking outside the door of the Bathroom, telling us how sick he is. 4 minutes for to joke about simple image is not funny. Occasionally it works if it calls for it, like the Rock Biter in the 3rd movie. The Critic spends a good 3 minutes detailing how great he is, but now looks like he is from a horrible sitcom, and most of his appearance is a song while riding a bike made of rock...in a fantasy world. THAT deserves 3 minutes of grief. But overall, the Nostalgia Critic has helped most of all by providing a home(That Guy With The Glasses.Com) for many reviewers to provide their love or grief on something they remember as a kid. Hell, he helped me discover this website and my love of cartoons again! Critic, we love ya.
WebVideo REDACTED
Doug Walker is not a very good comedian.
Like if i'm being honest with you here, his comedic writing is Big Bang Theory-quality at best and at worst it resembles those shit "parody" films that the Wayans Bros and Seltzer/Friedberg used to make. his choice of manic, random access comedy just does not work with the length of his reviews which, right now clock at around 25-50 minutes approximatly. Who can actually bear to watch a 40 something scream at a film for that long?!, I would rather get a testicle tattoo than do that ffs.
The "reviews" are sometimes not even actual critiques but are just parody sketches that like I said earlier make Seltzer/Friedberg look like Parker and Stone. Poor acting, bad greenscreen Chroma Key set design and shallow observations directed towards his review subject make watching the reviews a waste of time and resorce.
Peace out homeboyz "audible mic drop"