Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild

More enjoyable than I had anticipated.

I do watch the Ashens YouTube channel, so knew I'd probably like this to some degree after watching. It in fact beat my expectations, as it's a film that I actually had a fun time watching.

Stuart Ashen's acting is better than expected, while Dan Tomlinson makes for a decent sidekick. 'Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild' also features a few well chosen minor cast members too, whilst having noteworthy people like Warwick Davis and Robert Llewellyn appear.

The plot is solid, the pacing is good and it brings humour with it. A pleasant surprise, this.

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.

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.

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.

Stuart Ashens (Ashens) may be a guilty pleasure of some... Not as popular as some of the American YouTube Stars such as PewdePie or Markiplier but he is definitely a hit... Especially with UK audiences.

And like many more he has produced a movie... Whats it like? Well actually its pretty fun!

Do not expect ground breaking effects from a man who reviews complete cr*p for a living - But marvel at the amazing number or Pop culture references he manages to squeeze in... Squirm at the obvious little "nods" against political correctness (People not being able to say 'Don't get your knickers in a twist' is so stupid but so fun!!!)

And ask yourself the question everyone is asking - How the bloody hell did he manage to get Warwick Davis and Robert LLewellyn to do Cameos in such a low budget production???

So, yeah! This is your typical, low budget, slightly off the wall film...

But damn its good! It has just the right level of humour and cheese to make it truly watchable.

Its hard to pick a favourite point, as its just one of those films that relishes being what it is... Ashens reviews Tat and made his film to be Tat... And its that which gives it such a unique flavour and makes it work so well.

While it will not win any academy awards or even BAFTA's... Crikey it would be lucky to win a Grammy and everyone and their dog seems to be able to get one of them... It is a fantastic piece of work and well worth watching.