Review Memoirs: “Kickassia” and “TGWTG Year 1 Brawl”

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MartialHorror discusses his reviews of “Kickassia” and the “TGWTG Year One Brawl”.

I wasn’t in the best shape while making this. I was running out of time, wasn’t feeling well (I have a cold, so my throat is messed up) and it just seemed like I kept messing things up. Nevertheless, this Reviewer Memoirs episode turned out fine. Sorry for the brain fart. Dunno how that happened…:(

Amusingly, this wasn’t made in response to the release of “To Boldly Flee” but was chosen as a random selection.

Points I forgot to mention

1) The Glitch: For some reason, every time I would download the year one brawl, it would become glitchy with my video editing software. So a piece of the audio was removed. Don’t know why it kept doing that.

My original review of “Kickassia”: WARNING, IT SUCKS.

My original review of “TGWTG Team Brawl”

THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT!

Well, Suburban Knights is coming out this week and I decided to just go ahead and review the TGWTG Year 1 Brawl, because I haven’t finished watching Suburban Knights.
Before crossovers, cameos and yearly anniversaries became common place, there was the original TGWTG year 1 Brawl.  We thought AVGN and NC crossing over was something, but those guys plus all these other guys? It was innovative and exciting.
–And naturally has become a cliché. Many people just want their reviewers to stick around in their own show, reviewing. Not fake fighting. But this was made before that became a convention.
So naturally, the brawl has dated somewhat. Many have grown tired of the extreme mugging, cursing and campiness. Many have grown tired of a lot of these people. Furthermore, no one in this short really has a lot of screentime so Angry Joe fans might end up wishing there was more Angry Joe, or Paw fans might wish for more Paw. Because these guys got bigger roles in Kickassia, it may make this whole venture seem pointless by todays standards.
– Yet I do believe it’s Doug’s greatest directing triumpth.
For one, it is far more exciting. Something always seems to be happening and it continues to top itself in its action sequences. Kickassia and Suburban Knights, good or bad, are both kind of awkward in their pacing. I mean, Kickassia is so riveting with its…standing around and talking….Sometimes they will sit, or yell, epic…Or how about Suburban Knights which has people…walking and talking…..an improvement. Year One at least has people talking while fighting.  But let’s face it, your either going to find it funny or annoying. One thing I think Director/writer Doug Walker is good at is making everyones styles blend in pretty well. AVGN’s crude humor feels right at home with the Critic’s hammy mugging. While I think Kickassia is more of a success in this regard, the year one battle does use everyone pretty well. Even the bad actors seem to have their standout moments. For me, the ones that stood out besides the Nerd and the Critic, were Little Miss Gamer whose funny because she can keep a straight face throughout all of this. I liked 8-bit Mickey, Linkara and Goggles a lot too. No one else really stood out for me, other than the Aussie guy, mainly because I’m pretty sure that after making this, the TGWTG crew took him out and executed him..But no one annoyed me or felt criminally underused either. Yet, as I said, if you don’t think these people are funny, you won’t like this.
– But I do believe you should respect it. To a point, anyway.
One thing that I think Doug trounces everyone at in directing- from the nerd to the hack- is a sense of irony. Just look at the camerawork. The camera is always moving and positioning itself in dramatic angles, making things intense. Even better, the music arrangement goes perfectly with the proceedings, amplifying the intensity. Just look at this sequence here and basque in its awesomeness. These elements give a sense of aethentiticity. Doug is homaging badassery in general and he doesn’t just spoof it, creates. But what makes it ironic is the actors facial expressions or their lines during these badass sequences. If you watch that same scene but study the reviewers actions and expressions, you get the comedy aspect. Their silly, funny or stupid depending on your opinion and these make the perfect contrast to the badassery. That is the irony, and that is what I love about the Year One brawl.
– Now, I think Kickassia succeeds at this, but also has more downtime. So you’d think Doug would learn from his mistakes with Kickassia and improve everything for Suburban Knights. Right? Right? *credits* Sort of. No, but it’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be. Spoiler for next week.