Review of Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) by Lenny S — 18 Sep 2014

What can I say? It's a feature-length film based on a popular Web series. It's really impressive that filmmaker and lead James Rolfe accomplished so much with such a shoestring budget. The fact that he was able to finance the entire film through his fans makes it all the more noteworthy. It stands out among a lot of other first features because it favors action over dialogue--although I'm not so sure I can say the same for its plot, which at times seems all over the place.

Traditionally, the Nerd episodes take place in Rolfe's basement (otherwise deemed the Nerd Room), so the film takes the foul-mouthed character out of his familiar four-walled surroundings and puts him in an actual world, very similar to Wayne's World in the 90s. For fans of the Web series, it should be refreshing to see him interact with his obsessive fan base, as well as discover more about the character's background, such as where he works when he's not actually reviewing bad games.

The opening scene gives us the backdrop for the rest of the story, which uses the Atari landfill as its central plot device. A fictional (and vulgar) game company plans to release a sequel to the Nerd's most hated video game of all time, EeeTee (based on the E.T. video game for the Atari 2600). Their strategy is to purposely mire it with flaws to get the Nerd to endorse it, claiming that "bad is the new good." Pressured by the fans to review both games, the Nerd, along with his friend Cooper and a fellow nerd, Mandy, take a road trip to the New Mexico desert to debunk the myth...and a bunch of zany comic book-style events ensue. Aliens, robots, giant death gods, you name it. If you're a fan of old-fashioned monster movies or sci-fi flicks, you'll feel completely at home with this.

However, if you watch this movie with no knowledge of video games or the Nerd character (and why would you?), it's fair to say that you'll be lost from frame one. It doesn't try to re-establish the character, assuming that you're already one of the Nerd's loyal fans.

In all honestly, everything is fine until the characters get to the desert. That's when all the pandemonium breaks out. We get introduced to the film's main villain, a cliche military nut-job named Dark Onward. Onward is too over-the-top to even be called a clever plot device--although in a fast-paced car chase through the desert, it's fun to see several Nerd references.

The next hiccup is when the characters split up. At this point, the film becomes a little unbalanced. I felt the film should have just focused solely on the Nerd at this point, and there are just too many plot threads to keep track of that distract from the Nerd's main quest--simply debunking the myth of the Atari landfill.

I'll also say that there are more positives than negatives. There's plenty to like here. The video game references are joyous and plentiful, and it's fun to see a lot of cameos from fellow Web personalities. It also has a kickin' soundtrack thanks to the film's composer, Bear McCreary.

Rolfe takes a relatively insignificant myth and crafts a sci-fi story around it, only making the actual legend that much more interesting.

The highlights for me are the film's opening title sequence, which feels more like your typical Nerd episode, where fans from all walks of the Earth systematically urge the Nerd to review E.T.--as well the ending, which has a definite payoff.

This is one of those movies that you just need to see with an audience. Unfortunately, if you weren't able to make it across the country to see it in limited theaters, the only other option you have is to buy it on Vimeo's On Demand service.

It's also a movie that gets better over time. It's only been out for two weeks, and I must have sat through it half a dozen times. Each time, I find something new I didn't notice through my initial run, and the plot does make a little more sense the more I watch it.

The final verdict: it's a really enjoyable flick crafted by one of the most passionate aspiring filmmakers of the day. This is a film that had a lot of passion behind it, and it shows.