No “What I Bought Today” Today + The Review Must Go On

Well, there is no “What I Bought Today” today on account of the fact that I didn’t buy anything today. Why? Because I didn’t leave the house. Why? Because it’s FUCKING FREEZING OUT THERE!!! One of the downsides of living in a port city in Canada, you see. It gets really, REALLY cold here in January. Don’t worry though, I WILL eventually pick up Nightwing #16 to give my thoughts on it.

In the meantime, I thought I’d give my thoughts on a little mini-movie released by Doug Walker yesterday called The Review Must Go On. For those who haven’t seen it, The Review Must Go On tells how Doug Walker receives a movie in the mail so horrible that he rants on it, finding himself feeling like he did when he first started writing the Nostalgia Critic. After going back and forth on it in his head, arguing with a subconscious projection of the Critic, he finally admits to himself that he really does want to bring him back and goes through with it. Meanwhile, in the world of Demo Reel, Donnie DuPre finds his friends disappearing one by one until he’s confronted by a bright flash of light, revealing itself to be the Plot Hole. His friends return to tell Donnie that the world he’s been living in is a sort of purgatory and that he needs to return to his former life. The Plot Hole returns his former memories to him, revealing that he is, in fact, the Nostalgia Critic. Critic is furious at first, having been a terrible child actor whose mother was destroyed by the Hollywood system and leaving him to grow up embittered and making horrible movies with no one understanding his intentions. However, the Plot Hole reveals to him that this was all a lesson for him, as now everyone he criticizes from now on has a face, and that while he’s free to criticize, he now knows what it’s like to be on that side. Critic’s friends from Demo Reel see him off as they can’t go with him, but tell him they’ll be there if he needs them, and he finds himself in a room designed to look like his old review table, his old clothes there as he suits up and prepares to start again, a little wiser from his experiences.

So, my thoughts…I will say that I understood why Doug ended the Nostalgia Critic before. However, the points brought up in this movie, that Doug had so many things going on in his life that of course he would get sick of it and that there are ways around it all, they make sense and I can understand why Doug would go back on his decision. I actually really enjoyed Demo Reel, but I’ll be fine with it being gone so long as Doug can keep Nostalgia Critic fresh. My only issue, really, is that Tacoma and Rebecca and the others really grew on me, and I’m hoping that I’ll see them again someday.

The fallout since The Review Must Go On from the fans has been HILARIOUS. No really, I’ve been laughing my ass off. I haven’t seen fan fallout this funny since the first few episodes of Power Rangers Samurai aired. First they were upset that Critic was done, then they were upset about Demo Reel, NOW they’re upset that Demo Reel is done and Critic’s coming back. Okay, I suppose that IS a generalization, but it still sorta feels like that’s what’s happening. This is one of those occasions where I’m kinda glad I’m NOT Doug Walker, because I get the feeling the guy feels like he just can’t win sometimes.

I think my favourite parts of this movie were the cameos by the other producers, from Lewis Lovhaug believing that Pollo and Harvey are real, to Lindsay Ellis sending Nella to stop Doug, only for that to backfire when Nella misunderstands what she wants her to do, to Brad Jones basically not giving a shit one way or the other. It really does show that these guys can do a movie without having to use the characters from their shows and still have it be hilarious. Oh, and one other awesome moment, we see that Douchey McNitpick has taken Critic’s place in the Plot Hole. That is both awesomely hilarious and makes TOTAL sense, given the character. Plus, it creates new ways to get him involved in videos in the future.

Now, I should address that there are gonna be some changes to Nostalgia Critic, as shown in a scene where Doug, after admitting he wants Critic to come back, lays out some ground rules. The first, and probably most important one, is that reviews will come out every two weeks. Perfectly understandable, given that Doug is a married man now and his personal life is more important to him than ever, plus he still wants to do a bunch of other new things like Sibling Rivalry (which has been AWESOME, btw). The second is that there will be no more cut-off dates, though he’s assured that he won’t review anything currently in theatres. Again, makes sense, given that nostalgia and bad movies aren’t limited to a specific time period and that he’s ventured outside of it before. The last condition listed is that Critic will be reviewing the movie that inspired Doug to bring him back: The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Basically, to prove that even something forgettable and horrible can still inspire something creative.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts on the matter. Post a comment to let me know what you think, if you agree, if you disagree, though PLEASE no arguments. Ja né!