Reviews WebVideo / TheUncannyValley

WebVideo Some thoughts on The Uncanny Valley

So the 5th TGWTG anniversary ended and despite Suburban Knights and To Boldly Flee remaining my favorites it was an enjoyable ride. In detail:

• Dragonbored has the best production value, it's also pretty well written/acted/etc. for what it is... which is not original or groundbreaking, but at least fun.
• Dragged in is easily my favorite short in this anthology, despite a drastic drop in production value, thanks to the combination of my cat mania, fondness of B-Movies, and high pun tolerance. So if you miss any of these qualities, it might not be for you.
• The Reviewers ... This is a series pilot not a self-contained short, which is deeply disappointing. Yes. I didn't like it much... and the infuriating thing is that I could. It has an interesting setup, characters etc. but the format is not good for it, in my opinion.
• Internet Dating and Me I'm not really into Rom Coms but this managed to be funnier than I expected somehow (maybe I have a thing for British humor or had low expectations).
• The Dark Side of the Internet is one of the best "Don't be a jerk on the net!" / "The internet is a tool don't misuse it!" PSAs I ever saw. It's MADE OF ANVIL but Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped, I guess.
• Honorary mention: The Webmaster and the Meditation Guy! Didn't matter what I thought about the particular short, these two always made my day.

WebVideo Dragonbored: Good, but not great

I thought that "Dragonbored" was pretty good. But, it was by no means great.

The overall premise was cliche and overdone, but still good. The whole "Fictional character comes to the real world" thing has been done a million times (hell, Doug did it in "To Boldly Flee"), as well as said fictional character usurping someone's life. Now, don't get me wrong, it was still presented with a bit of originality by making it centered around an MMO, and showing how they can destroy people's lives if you obsess over them.

The acting was the standard fare from Doug and his crew of friends: there was the hammy acting from Doug, like always, and the more subdued performance from others, like Uncle Yo. Everyone did an excellent job, and they delivered their lines great. The acting is probably the best part of the short.

The writing was pretty good. The script had a pretty good direction, and they managed to turn in a decent, yet very unoriginal story. I did feel that a lot of the jokes fell flat, but there were some great bits in there. I can't really name any specifics, but there are definitely humorous bits. I can tell this was supposed to be a combination of a serious story and comedy, but the comedy was lacking. Although some of the little nods and shout-outs were clever (such as making fun of Bethesda's quality control process, as well as the Skyrim in-jokes) .

The effects (what little were utilized) were also the standard Channel Awesome fare. There weren't a whole lot of them, as they weren't really necessary, but when they were utilized, they were pretty good. I also like that they used Skyrim to represent the game, which I figured would occur. I did notice that they also incorporated some of the mods for the game, too.

Overall, "Dragonbored" was a decent start to "The Uncanny Valley", but could have been a lot better. It honestly felt like a below-average episode of "The Twilight Zone" done in modern day. It's by no means bad, but it certainly not Doug Walker's best work.