This episode marks the first Nostalgia Critic episode in nearly six months, dating back to Aug. 14. That episode, no. 222 "Scooby-Doo," essentially "killed off" the character, though it's actually non-canon; the canon ending of the Critic occurred during the Channel Awesome movie, "To Boldly Flee." Walker ended the Critic's 200-plus episode run, feeling the character had peaked, he grown tired of the character and wanted to try new ideas. After a couple of those new ideas did not pan out, Walker decided to bring the Critic back, starting with the special, "The Review Must Go On," the title taken from the Critic's musical number in the hit episode, episode 189 "Moulin Rouge," which in and of itself is take off of Queen's "The Show Must Go On." So popular was the song that Critic's new theme song is a remix of "The Review Must Go On." Now, with that background out of the way, on with the review.
We start with something new for Nostalgia Critic reviews - an opening title sequence. Older episodes (which I have provided examples of in the Video Box and in my last two entries) always started straight to the Critic's opening catchphrase. For the return of the series, there's a new opening sequence featuring a montage of moments from past Critic episodes and some good effects work. I actually like it; it gives a feeling of "things just got real."
Another change is in the selection of movie. Walker had a rule for Nostalgia Critic episodes that he wouldn't review anything that wasn't at least 10 years old. He made exceptions for this, such as his 100th episode reviewing "Battlefield: Earth," and the Critic's review of "The Room." As revealed in the special, "The Review Must Go On," Walker has tossed out the old rule, saying that he wouldn't review anything in currently theaters and that wanting to see anything again after a month certainly qualifies as nostalgia.
***SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT***
After the catchphrase we getting a brief synopsis of the movie and then ... a really flat joke. Yeah, I don't get why he went with the "cat-killingly bad" joke either. Follow that up with a really flat and forced reaction and it's not a very good beginning to a comeback.
The second joke, a skit at around 3:00 comes off a bit better. Rachel Tietz does a good job playing off Walker as the teacher A lot of us know that friend from school (maybe even currently in school) who tried to use some sort of "loophole" answer, trying to B.S. our way into getting credit for wrong answer, so I can relate, though the end to the skit is it a bit weird and seems more like a tie to the movie than the skit, which comes off as odd in context. Plus notice the hat Walker's wearing - it'll make a second appearance in this episode.
The third big joke comes at 4:57 and it's the return of the ? Cap from the previous skit, as worn by Malcolm Ray. This skit is actually the best one so far. The actor does a great job of overacting for comedic effect and the writing's pretty funny, ending much better this time around with a "walking away" sting made popular in Looney Tunes cartoons.
The next big joke comes in at 7:16 involving what I call a"sight joke," a list of "Horrible Pieces of Human S---." Walker employes a lot of sight jokes, which are jokes that usually come with a visual representation of the joke to help drive it home. TV uses this kind of joke occasionally, movies rarely, but it sees a lot of use on the Internet, where editing software allows textual edits in videos. As for the joke itself, I would have included the whole cast plus the director and producer of this schlocky movie, but that's just me.
8:31 - yet another sight joke, this time involving a legal pad with some "crazy" scribbling on it. A good lead in to the joke and the joke itself earns a little giggle, but more because it's tied in with the "Looney Tunes" theme. In past retrospective videos and conventions, Walker has admitted the Nostalgia Critic character borrows heavily from the cartoon character, Daffy Duck, so many of his videos will involve jokes and gags that borrow from Looney Tunes. Sometimes they work, and sometimes not. It was used more effectively here than earlier, though the joke loses some freshness since we just had a sight joke about 75 seconds prior.
9:47 - the Critic describes this movie in a nutshell. One thing I've always liked about Nostalgia Critic reviews is that between the gags, running jokes and memes, there is actually thoughtful analysis to be had.
10:49 - this is the best gag in the review at this point, and one of the better Nostalgia Critic skits I've seen in a long time, along with a nice visual gag at the end. Well-timed, well-written and well-edited to match the expressions of the character from the movie, the only thing missing is Walker crying at the end. That kind of humiliation would make any man cry.
12:50 - "Let's play 'politicians'." Some times, the best joke is the one the movie makes for you. All you need is some clever editing and BAM - a joke is made. Finish the joke off with classic Nostalgia Critic rage and scene.
14:20 - we break for a commercial and go into a Saturday Night Light mock commercial skit with Tietz and Ray. We start out with the use of schadenfreude, pleasure from the misfortune of others, and the actors do a great job with their expression; it's just the joke that's written awkwardly. However, that's all set up for the big joke of the episode - Chia Child. Whoever invented Chia Pet belongs in the "Dumbest, Commercially-Successful Ideas" Hall of Fame, right along side the Pet Rock and Star Trek V. A funny bit that segues right into the actual commercial break.
17:58 - back from commercial and now we have some clever editing and some overacting that actually got a chuckle out of me. I wish I had a magical pencil that shines with divine power.
18:34 - a creepy joke followed by the return of the sight joke from 7:16. There's nothing wrong with reusing jokes as long as you don't overdo it, unless, that is, you mean for it to be a running joke (which can still be annoying if executed badly). Right after that, the creepy factor is ratcheted up by plugging some audio from James Cameron's "Titanic," and a great example of how take a bit of dialogue and turn it into something disturbing by changing the context. I face-palmed as I laughed the first time I saw and heard this joke.
By the way, this movie, this atrocity of cinema. If I didn't have this review to keep my mind occupied, I wouldn't mind seeing every print of this film burned and every digital copy erased from existence. Even with this review, this movie is still painful to watch. Whoever wrote this dreck needs to be smacked with produce, preferably oranges.
What? Orange-u glad I didn't say cement blocks?
28:35 - We start a classic, two-minute long Nostalgia Critic rant full of screaming and cursing that for some comes off as whining, but for others like me, it's that feeling of schadenfreude that gets a kick out of watching this guy lose his mind (or pretends to). He ends the rant with a thoughtful counterpoint, leads into the catchphrase and that's a wrap.
How was the Nostalgia Critic comeback show?
Well, the average fan rating on the host website is over 4.8 out of 5. Granted, I didn't go over every joke, and there were smaller nuggets of jokes and sarcasm. Does it deserve the high score?
Not really, no.
The jokes come quickly and often enough, though, with an abundance of jokes, some are bound to come off as flat. The skits with Ray and Tietz come off fairly well and add a nice change of scenery with some acting that might actually be better than Walker's. The problem lies more in the source material.
There's bad and then there's BAD. This movie is so bad, it's not even funny-bad - something so painstakingly horrible that you actually find humor in just how badly the cast and crew screwed the pooch. A movie so bad, I didn't even know it existed and I'm sure very few people I know knew existed either, and that's part of why this review falls a bit flat for me. Bouncing jokes off of something that's just too bad to find to find the humor within just leaves you wanting to laugh, but you just can't. Still, I can't fault Walker's writing (mostly); the Chia Child skit did leave me laughing. Is it so close to a full "5 out of 5" rating? No, but it's still good and deserves a watch
Final Rating: 4 Chia Children out 5
Come back later tonight as I list My Favorite 12 Nostalgia Critic episodes in part four of The Review Goes On.
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