Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014)

I almost gave up completely half way through it.

I hate how people make the excuse that this isn't too good because it has a low budget, like that's the best excuse they could come up with. I'm pretty sure you don't need a big budget to write a better script and that's the main problem with this movie.

The plot is fine, even if it is dumb, it's practically a goldmine for many good jokes. But the jokes fall flat, really flat. It's not too much of a shock seeing how I've really grown out of AVGN in the past couple of years, but man, these jokes are REALLY bad for his standards. The characters are so forced, the trying-to-be-witty dialogue is so forced... I would've preferred different actors or at least better delivery of some of the lines, because they're so bad that cringing isn't worth the effort.

There are many, MANY missed jokes. For example, AVGN brings a Record Player into the Nerdmobile and starts playing a bad song and Coop eventually sets it down because it's unstable and stops playing when he does. That's not funny, it could have been so much funnier if they had just made him throw it out of the window angrily or something. But no, he just sets it down.

Comedy is a difficult type of movie to tackle because of the many variables and the most prominent one being "jokes get dated", such as the movie Airplane! (which I find very dated) but to compare this movie to something else that's completely overblown like this, would be Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, which is a million times better (and funnier) than this.

The effects don't save this movie, not by a long stretch. Just because some amateurs slapped some effects together doesn't automatically mean it deserves a bunch of praise and "duuhhh, iz bnest movie ever!" That's why people keep watching Transformers movies, for eye-candy. But the effects are "okay" for a low-budget movie, not amazing. I can see they're trying to tell a joke with each really big effect but those jokes are just too obvious and good lord, none of them are funny.

It's a nice attempt, I'll give it that, but I just find this entire movie pointless and annoying. It was created at the worst possible time for people like me where I just find the whole AVGN stick very tiresome and jaded. Swearing and getting angry all the time is only funny for so long. Not to attack anybody, but it would be nice if the fans would give it a rest with acting like everything James says and does is perfect, oh well, what do you expect with a fan base that still finds an over abundance of swearing funny?

Fmovies: I know it is not a big production movie and I really enjoy that it knows it is a low budget film and makes fun of it, but it is just boring. It is slow, most of the jokes are not that funny, nor corny enough to make them memorable. Having a "Jar Jar Binks" didn't work for Lucas, and also didn't help The Nerd to have Cooper Folly. I think he could have done something different that would be more entertaining for that character.

Again, the effects are cheesy, but that is fine with me. I really like the location shots and I think they did a lot with their budget and the effects really matched the tone of the movie. The main problem is that it is too freaking slow. Probably I am being harsh because I watched Wayne's World a few weeks ago and I was expecting something more on that style, or probably their jokes were not over the top enough to be funny.

Honestly, I hope the nerd comes back to direct a movie and I really hope that this movies opens a lot of doors for him, but hopefully next time someone else will write it. Also, I don't see a bright future for the other actors.

As much as I love James Rolfe and his reviews, and with how long I've been watching his stuff, his first film suffered from some serious problems.

My first issue with it was how the first half hour of the film was all of the self-puffery. What I expected going into the movie was just the Nerd going about his usual day. A lot of immersion into his story was removed by the instant flood of "look how famous I am." Don't get me wrong, I'm really proud of Mr. Rolfe, and he deserves the credit for trying and working so hard, but it really put me off with how full of himself he seemed through most of this. He's the ANGRY Video Game Nerd, not the narcissistic.

It is James' character, so he's allowed to create it any way he wants, but it really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed so prideful.

Second... the dialogue is some of the worst I've ever heard, and the worst acted. I'm sorry, but it was just terribly corny. I know that it's SORT OF in the spirit of the AVGN, but he had a system that worked fine in his reviews that seemed a bit... tweaked in the movie to fit "mass appeal." I know James is a child at heart, but there's a difference between being youthful, and acting like a kid. In fact, I have a feeling that if I saw this film as a CHILD, I might like it better. As an adult, it was just bad. Really bad. Unwatchably bad.

I can't give James a hard time for the special effects. He's not a mega-millionaire and he had to work with the budget he had. Some of the effects looked well-done. Others were... embarrassing.

The story had potential to be amusing, but what killed most of the comedic value for me was the "black buddy" Cooper. He had no purpose in the film other than to crack bad jokes and annoy everyone. I don't know if his dialogue was written that way on purpose, but every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to punch it repeatedly.

Overall, I love AVGN reviews... but I think James should just stick to those, and hopefully never make a sequel. I applaud him for putting in all of the effort-- it's not easy to make a movie all by yourself with very little advice on how to do so-- and I can tell he tried really hard. It just was a massive waste of time and money.

I'd rather have a buffalo take a diarrhea dump in my ear than watch it a second time.

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie fmovies. Yeah, they should do it. Because it's the perfect example of how you can ruin a movie.

I have tried to enjoy it. My first experience was horrible. It was a total disaster and I felt bad for all those who have worked in it because they wasted their time. But the second time... oh, man, it was worse. It has been five months since that boring 2 hour day where I was tempted many times to shut down the computer. Now, after seeing that atrocity again, I can assure you it is the best option.

The movie was a great idea. If you tell the plot to your friends, they will be interested. Raiding for the lost "ET" cartridges? Evil scientists? Hot girls? Wow, this should be amazing! But no, It isn't. It's the worst movie I have ever seen. I have seen many. The Nerd isn't angry, he is just dull. Cooper, his partner, just disappears from mid movie until the very end. The nerdy-girl has a horribly choreographed fight, worst than Pamela Anderson's VIP series. The monster is completely absurd and pointless.

The jokes are not funny, the non-professional actors are lame and the "special effects" are annoying. The film is long and it suffers from it. Many scenes in the second half are unnecessary.

Why is this a total disaster? The acting is bad, yeah, but the directing is worse. They seem to have chosen just the first cut of each scene. Just because a scene had "special effects" is included, regardless of his uselessness. The plot was boring, and that is something that they should have understood before the filming, with lack of humor. And there are many phrases that send yo back to the episodes... but they don't work. Just an example: James raged in the TMNT 3 episode about the horrible fall of the evil character. Well, here he does the same. It was supposed to be funny? To copy a bad scene from a bad movie is funny? I tell you, it doesn't.

My personal view is that they knew this was bad and tried to maximize the errors so this would become a cult movie, such as the toxic avenger, for example. But even in that they failed.

The only thing worse than the actual movie itself is the fans praising it. Having been a fan of the AVGN and James Rolfe's films/reviews since 2006, I've pretty much grown up with the nerd. I started watching when I was around 13 and now I am 22. That being said the movie simply was a let down. For all the build up, all the hype, and the anticipation of the nerd reviewing what could be debated as the worst game ever created in "E.T.", it simply was not a good film. There were some enjoyable moments, like Nathan Barnatt's cameo, or Doug Walker's cameo, but aside from that there really isn't much too talk about. The jokes were the same things you'd see in your average episode of the webseries, the script was decent, but in the end juggled too many ideas and ended up being very convoluted. For what it's worth, with a budget of 300k there are worse movies out there, and if you're a fan you will find some enjoyment out of it. Personally his films like "The Deader the Better" or "The legend of the blue hole" were much more enjoyable than this. Maybe it's a growing up thing, maybe I've grown past the humor, or maybe it just feels dated, I'm not sure. The film left a very sour taste in my mouth, and I would have much rather seen multiple AVGN episodes as opposed to this mediocre film. Seriously though why do the fans have to ride his dick so hard? If you keep telling someone something is amazing when it's not, they'll continue to put out the same mediocre crap. It's out of criticism that they decide to work harder and put more effort into creating something great. To the fans that give this film 10/10, you need to learn to form your own opinions and not be another sheep in the heard. Don't ride his dick, look at this film honestly. Especially when he can be so critical of other peoples work, but doesn't have very many critics of his own.

AVGN episodes are a lot of fun. James Rolfe took all his frustrations, funny and odd moments one experiences while playing those old, retro games and created a series that not only old school gamers enjoy, but also the younger generations, because it introduces them, in a humorous way, how gaming used to be. It's a clever idea and executed in an efficient way. The show makes fun of the "so bad it's good" moments and, most importantly, feels genuine. The movie however... well where do I start?

Its not that much of a problem that the movie immediately feels amateurish. That is pretty much to be expected, after all this is a low-budget production and his first time at a project this big. The same goes for the plot, acting, writing, special effects etc. Some of it is deliberately that way. But even at the lowered expectations, I can't help it not to feel disappointed. The main issue here is that it tries to be so much more than it actually is. For a series that is about a guy expressing his frustrations on an old game (or movie) it sure strays far away form it. And this is where it loses all the charm that makes the series work. It never leaves enough room for the nerd to do what he always does. Too much of it is wasted on the build-up and on things that just aren't relevant to the series. His hilarious rants are replaced by incredibly cheesy dialog, lame jokes and bad slapstick. There isn't even an actual game in it, instead you get some imitation called "Eee Tee", which is understandable since they would have to get the license, but the let-down here is that the movie is all about getting him to review it, and not about the review itself. There isn't much game in it. What is kinda a saving grace for a movie like "The Wizard" is completely absent here.

It goes for the so-bad-its-good-humor, but being that the movie is so self-aware about it, it always ends up feeling forced like it deliberately lets something shitty happen and then just expects you to laugh it up. The first half of the movie drags on and almost bored me out. The second half was better, mainly due to the action, Godzilla-style scenes, which were fun, but ultimately are wasted because it ends absurdly quick with a poor conclusion.

So was the movie worth the wait and the sacrifices? Probably only for the die-hard AVGN fan(boy)s. Everyone else will likely agree that the amount of episodes he could've made in the meantime would've been so much more worth it. For James and his crew I hope it's a valuable lesson and that he stays humble about it. AVGN isn't exactly movie friendly material, so I at least can applaud his attempt. It is ironic that the movie thematizes the "shitty is the new good" idea yet tries to promote the same thing for itself, while completely failing to deliver any good laughs or at least make it feel authentic. The fun the crew apparently had while making it, never showed on the screen. Trash can be fun if done right, but that's not the case here. It's just so bad it's bad.