Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild

When it comes to films made by Youtubers most of them are pretty rubbish. Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild is one of the few decent ones. It had internet style humour and cameos from internet personalities so it was made for fans, but there were still some good jokes in the film. My personal favourite was the Stormtrooper disguise. It also helps that the film was directed by a professional filmmaker instead of a Youtuber pretending to be Spielberg, so Gamechild looked pretty decent and Ashens is a quick-witted and doesn't resort to screaming like some other Youtubers.

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.

I really wanted to like it, but there are so many videos made on youtube that didnt cost anything to make, that are way more humorous. Its alright if you like ashens (like I do) but too many jokes are just forced and poorly timed. Most of the actors are not very good, though ashens is the exception in this case. I get some people will like it but giving it an honest watch I just wasnt one of them. Only masterpieces deserve 9 or 10 stars and this is faaar from it so I dont understand the other reviews.

//If you haven't heard of or even seen Steward Ashens work yet, your reaction to this may be mixed.\\

Ashens and the quest for the game child was not something I was expecting to come out. When the first video about it came out, I thought it was just a joke but little did I know that it was actually serious... and that the movie would be a fun movie that makes fun of itself in the progress! Egg my house because I'm not British, but I'm proud to say that I loved watching Ashens look for a worthless video game console for one hour and 30 minutes, and without spoiling anything, the ending made me both happy and odd feeling. However, the jokes are for the most part funny, yet not all of them were very funny. Some jokes were references to some British shows I've never seen, and a few others won't be very funny if you don't get the reference. But that's this movie's fatal flaw: if you don't get the references, you won't be laughing that much. While I do recommend Ashens and the quest for the game child it has a big star sign that clearly states that this movie is not for everyone. I also thought it the claymation scene was cool, and I instantly caught on to the fact that it was done by Lee Hardcastle. The plot was a little hit and miss, sometimes it caught onto something I hadn't thought about, but most of the time it was being silly just to mock itself later. I liked the plot when it was being silly but by the time it got serious I just facepalmed. I liked it when it mocked itself but sometimes I was just left with a 'what just happened' face.

So overall do I recommend Ashens and the quest for the game child? It really depends on if you get the references or not, but overall it's still very funny, and a good effort for a bit of a low budget film.

(also the films now on DVD and Blu-Ray, but that's only in the UK)

Pros: +Often funny plot +Funny... for the most part +Ashens is a good main character

Cons: -Jokes rely too heavily on references -Ending kinda lost me -Sometimes hit and miss plot

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.