Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild

Seeing the cover and subject, I though I'd be in for a nice little indie treat with 80s nostalgia and some laughs. However, this didn't have much of either (a little bit of nostalgia, zero laughs). Normally I wouldn't have cared enough to write a review about this, but because of all the other reviews giving it great scores I felt I had to give another perspective so people wouldn't get their hopes up.

I've never seen the YouTube series so I didn't know what to expect, but this film wasn't entertaining at all. I seemed like it was trying to be funny, but I couldn't really tell. I guess that's how bad the humour was, since it didn't even really register as humour. I don't remember laughing once. The story wasn't that great either. It was just things happening to move the plot along, but failed at doing it in an interesting way.

In the end I could only get through about half of the film before I had to stop due to lack of any entertainment whatsoever. I'm baffled at why there are so many good reviews. Perhaps friends of the crew? If not, then I'm happy they could find some entertainment in this since I certainly couldn't.

Don't say you weren't warned. I've seen good indie. This isn't it.

I watched this after Polybius but it did not matter. I liked it overall, but Polybius is way better. There are plenty of nice and funny moments, but I really preferred the ensemble characters of the other. Also as a woman the female characters here were lacking. So you have the crazy one and the nice but a bit dull one which doesn't do it for me, in fact I am scared to think men could see women in these two categories alone (like the Heartbreak Kid and The Wrong Missy, both so awful). I have looked at the Ashens channel on YouTube and it is very different to the films being just a pair of hands and his voice. He has a good voice though. I would really advise to watch the second one by preference.

I had the opportunity to see this recently, having watched Polybius. I have to say, I do think Polybius is better, but this is a lot of fun and there's tremendous skill already on display here.

Stuart Ashen holds the whole thing together, a special skill of his that can be overlooked when accolades go to quirkier actors. There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments and a few gorgeous cult-movie in-jokes. One on a flight of stairs had me in stitches, it was so unapologetically random.

Ashley (Millie Reeves) was wonderfully OTT. The stuff of nightmares, but in a good way. Chef Geoff (Dan Tomlinson) was just the right level of helpless and clingy, which made him great fun to watch. I thought Marian (Kerry Gilbert) was a bit lacking, especially if the character was based on Marion Ravenwood. I don't know whether it was the way the part was written and directed, or a bit of a misfire in casting. Nemesis (Chris Kendall) had many excellent moments, but I thought he suffered from being another Jim Carrey zany-type without the necessary grounding and presence which gives such characters longevity.

As with Polybius, there are some great cameos, not least from Warwick Davis, Victoria Broom and Fawn Mead.

Overall, very enjoyable.

I must admit that after seeing the initial trailers, each focused on an individual character, that I was slightly worried about the final product. I was worried that Chef Excellence was too much of a departure from the Tesco Value gin drinking Italian we all know and love. I worried that the film would be overloaded with secondary characters that would detract from the film. I must confess to also being worried that Stuart would be a bit wooden in the acting department.

So when it was released I sat down to watch the film ready to be disappointed... but then I laughed. And again. I laughed virtually from beginning to end.

My fears were completely blown out of the water within a matter of minutes. From an absolutely brilliant Bond-inspired intro sequence to the very last post-credits scene this really is a gem.

Despite my initial hesitation regarding Stuart's acting ability I was pleasantly surprised. Aside from a couple of moments of woodenness on the whole he is great. He really comes across as a very likable lead and his comic timing is perfect.

The rest of the cast are just as good. Dan Tomlinon played a very different Chef Excellence than we have seen before but it is a change that works. He flirts from sad to manic all in a second and his rivalry with a certain other chef is, er, brilliant. From Guru Larry and Crabstickz to Warwick Davis and Robert Llewellyn the film is full of memorable parts. The brilliant thing is that none of them outstay their welcome and slow the film down. The film always remains focused on our unlikely hero and his even more unlikely sidekick.

With a script that references everything from 'The Goonies' to 'Indiana Jones' it really is a cracking film.

I would even say that I enjoyed this more than recently released 'The Worlds End', which is a real testament to everyone involved with the film.

Well done lads.

If you have no prior knowledge of Stuart Ashen, this film isn't going to make a lot of sense. It's well filmed, and it ties in with the themes from his other work. The jokes probably won't make any sense if you are watching this as a stand alone film....they are very dependent on seeing his YouTube series.

Personally, I think it's pretty good for what it is. It's quite amazing what can be accomplished with a tiny budget. There are things in it that could have a wider appeal, but I'm not sure it's about that. I don't believe he's looking to be the next Simon Pegg, more just trying to do something to the best of his ability that resonates with his existing audience. It achieves that and a bit more....so it will be interesting to see how it develops.