Review of Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) by Matthew T — 01 Sep 2014

I've been closely following Angry Video Game Nerd videos since 2 years ago, and ever since AVGN announced a movie, I've been waiting. I've been closely following its behind the scene production. I've seen and read the hardwork and efforts, the complains, the push by its creator James Rolfe through his website, and to finally see it coming out on the big screen in the USA is really satisfying. And thanks Nerd for renting to the rest of the world via Vimeo. Money well spent.

That said, this movie is purposely done in a B-grade tone, where the action scenes, background, and cinematography is so clearly done via miniature and very little CGI was used. Even the CGI is done in the B-grade tone. Many scenes pay tribute to the horror and sci-fi films of the early 80s, just what James Rolfe always loved.

The score also pay tribute to the 80s movie scores and rock songs. The most evident one is the theme for the villain, which sounds very Raiders of the Lost Ark.

As for the plot, it is stupid. AVGN fans will definitely expect it to be stupid. The tone of the plot reminded me of Kung Pow: Enter The Fist. Yet, looking deeper into it, the plot is really about the fans of AVGN, and the movie is a way of saying thanks to all the fans around the world. And therefore, I have no complains.

There's only one thing I can conclude after watching this movie - it is made solely for the love of all AVGN fans all over the world, James Rolfe's style. The heart and soul being poured out for the fan is just so evident in this movie.