The Blockbuster Buster

Eric Rodriguez created a homegrown masterpiece that was the equal of every other major American youtube reviewer in 2011. I discovered his work around 2014 or so, and it helped get me through a rough period of under-employment and unemployment. I think it's unfair how he's never really been appreciated, and he deserves far more than a 5.7 IMDB rating for his show.

The work he puts into the show's production and writing, plus his natural comic talents really shows in every episode. I like how he tried to improve the show and try different things, even if viewers didn't appreciate it. Many of shows had me rolling on the floor and laughing my off- especially when he would conclude them with the "busting" of a DVD of the movie he was riffing on.

I hope "ERod" continues his show. I know my viewing of it hasn't been as regular since about 2018 or so as it used to be. He truly possesses incredible amounts of "badassitude."

Remember the old days when Erod used to do 22-30 minute film reviews and show clips of it? Well that's gone now. Nowadays his new "reviews" consist of traveling to a movie universe, beating characters up, and pointing out their flaws. They are not funny, or interesting to watch. When he does make good videos, you have to sign up on the patreon site in order to watch some of them. This is the problem I have with reviewers today. You have to sign up on another website just to watch a blasted video. I miss the old Erod.

The Blockbuster Buster is among my favorite reviewers of Channel Awesome, right up there with the Nostalgia Critic, Linkara, the Cinema Snob, and Chris Stuckmann.

At first, his videos dating back to 2010 are in somewhat poor quality due to him starting out, as his voice is somewhat more quiet and his outbursts are more reserved and look rather awkward. But overtime, he's grown in both acting as well in special effects (which seemed to improve even more when he joined the Channel Awesome crew.)

Although there are times of where the jokes don't work, that being evident in his Phantom Menace review, the humor in his reviews is really good and there were some moments that had me pause the video for a few solid minute just to regain my breath.

I honestly can't wait to see what he has planned for the future and here's to see what he does next.

Join the legion, suckas!

He doesn't do his research at all, often getting information blatantly wrong. He states he isn't a fan of fart jokes yet he held a vote to pick a reaction joke for when a character farts in a film he is reviewing.

His website looks outdated, his put-on "serious voice" is embarrassing like a child trying to do a voice-over. He adds too much plot to his reviews and takes as long as 5 minutes to actually get to starting some reviews. He voices commonly stated opinions on films. His editing is terrible and every episode has a black box around the edge, leading me to believe he uses moviemaker to edit as when processes videos sometimes it adds a black box.

As for positives, he sometimes brings up some new criticisms for the reviews and his intro theme and animation is quite well executed.

Finally, one of us is taking a stand against all the bullsheit Hollywood and TV executives have spewed out in recent years.

Eric Rodriguez plays an angry fanboy who is sick of his favorite franchises (i.e. all of them) being killed by poorly-made sequels, prequels, adaptations, and his arch-nemesis Michael Bay. Donning the guise of the Blockbuster Buster, he strives to bust these bad movies and see to it that they are buried and forgotten.

But ERod doesn't always bust the stuff he reviews. He keeps an open mind about his material, which can range from "okay" in the case of Atlantis: The Lost Empire to such awful horrors as M. Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender.

Part of what makes the series work is that you know about most of the stuff he reviews. You've heard of a lot of these movies; heck, some of them aren't even a year old yet (at the time of this review, his most recent victim was a Men in Black/Good vs. Evil knock-off called "R.I.P.D."; look it up). You know that a lot of them sometimes get good reviews from movie critics despite the betrayal they've wrought on us fans.

As with Doug Walker's Nostalgia Critic, it's not perfect. This is less a comedy series and more like a satire of an epic quest. But one thing that ERod likes to pile on is the badassitude, and I will always be a loyal member of his Legion because of it.