Suburban Knights

You know what's hilarious about Doug's anniversary flicks? Everything! The fact that the production quality and acting ends up surpassing some of the high budget films he reviews.

I also find it funny that the same reviewers that accuse Doug for not being in the right mindset to review kids films also pick on his work that they're clearly not in the right mindset to see either.

I think the film is a wonderful accomplishment. You see these (That Guy With The Glasses) characters make fun of other people's work weekly, and once a year they come together to make fun of themselves. It just doesn't get any better than that.

When professional actors (such as Bruce Campbell) attempt self-parody, it looks silly and even sad. You can tell that they have exhausted themselves and are doing it almost out of desperation. When TGWTG team does it, you can tell they're having as much fun as the target audience.

Well, I'm not even entirely sure what I expected, but this was not it. Considering the fact that all these reviewers pretty much had a huge 'elements of a bad movie' list in the back of their minds and they totally blew it (by cinema standards), I was a little disappointed. I do like the references they make, though they do kinda over do it at times. This is definitely more of a cult following movie, and realistically, I wanted to like it. But somehow, it dragged on. I was disappointed, and that sums it up well. I guess if you like internet reviewers/gamers (and I certainly do) you can get into this, and there's no problem with it either. But for me, this is kinda a letdown.

There's a far more prominent narrative structure to this follow-up that surpasses its predecessor in almost every way, ranging from absurdist comic gold to brief moments of bogged down exposition. The film is at its best when it explores and brutally parodies the classic tropes of the adventure fantasy genre, from frustrating plots to ridiculous costume, and in doing so it stands not only as a harsh critic of those stories but as a charming love letter to parody as a film genre.

For me, the one thing that plagued the last film TGWTG did ("Kickassia") was that after the second part, it just went no where. "Suburban Knights" on the other hand actually progressed into a film that had an interesting beginning, an enjoyable middle, and a satisfying ending.

There are quite a few jokes taken from other movies (and some added upon in ways that sort of ruin them) but mostly it brings its own bag of laughter throughout. Of course it's nothing spectacular as this is clearly a low budget movie, but it's a watchable film.

The acting is fair, the special effects are low budget but acceptable, and I hope they improve upon this one and do an even better anniversary film next year.

7/10

If you're a fan of the Nostalgia Critic, or any of the other Channel Awesome critics, the chances are you will like this pretty well. This movie is filled with jokes and it's one big satire of multiple movies. The Nostalgia Critic (Doug Walker) gets together all the reviewers of Channel Awesome to search for a treasure in this big role playing game put together by a nerd named Chuck Jaffers (Rob Walker). With all the reviewers dressed as fantasy characters and almost non-stop in-jokes, Suburban Knights pretty much spoofs the fantasy genre, and eventually itself. You really have to be a fan of Channel Awesome to get everything, but if you are you'll most likely find this incredibly funny. I highly recommend this to the fans.