Reviews WebVideo / To Boldly Flee

All Goods Things Most Come to an End, I suppose

Like a lot of Internet junkies, I am a fan of the reviewer's website 'That Guy Withthe Glasses'. Oancitizen, Cinema Snob, Mike J, all are funny and charming. However, this anniversary special indicates that the muse of the aforementioned critics is to leave us. I cannot describe how saddened I am by this revelation. The Nostalgia Critic has provided me with countless afternoons of unproductive frivolity. He can't go, he must not go, he... I'm starting to sound like Film Brain, aren't I? No matter, for if this is to be the Critic's farewell, it is a more than admirable one.

After the slightly-too-juvenile 'Kickassia', 'Suburban Knights' impressed us with it's more sophisticated structure and wit... but it still couldn't shake off the terrible truth that it was a feature-length in-joke that possessed little artistic merit outside of it's memorable cold-open. 'To Boldly Flee' is possibly an even bigger in-joke (indeed, part of it's plot essentially compresses 'Revenge of the Sith' and the original Star Wars trilogy into roughly thirty minutes of screentime), but it's a far more impressive and original one. Intergalactic spaceships piloted by an assortment of deranged Internet celebrities and General Zod (as well as Turell from 'Battlefield Earth'), an odyssey to a literal plot-hole, a Death-Star built by studio executives, the Critic on the moon of Europa (which looks suspiciously like a field in California) whilst clad in the armour of Judge Dread shooting rows of faceless henchmen? It's an assault of great ideas and inventive concepts. And the witty SOPA satire just sweetens the deal.

However, 'To Boldly Flee' gets real marks for the drama. If you are ever doubting he acting ability of Mr. Doug Walker, look no further than this special to hang your head in shame. I never knew I could actually empathize with such a psychotic, whiny twit as the Critic, but Walker really gives the character a type of humanity that makes you realise that he really is just a guy trapped in a world that demands he be miserable. But Walker is not the only impressive player; Rob Walker has a ball as Emperor Pal- I mean the Executor, Jim Troken is the slimiest businessman since John Daggett, and Brad Jones' voice is caramelized ecstasy.