The History of Nostalgia Critic Sneak Peek

Ten years ago, on July 3^rd of 2007; an illustrator from Chicago uploaded a small video onto YouTube; a two-minute review of the Michael Bay film, Transformers. Inspired by James Rolfe and his unique style of videos; the man would become an iconic figure in the history of online filmmaking. He would later inspire content creators such as Lewis Lovhaug (aka Linkara), Eric Rodriguez (aka Blockbuster Buster), Mat Brunet (aka AniMat), and myself (aka the creator of this video). To this day, this man has achieved fame, stardom, and a loyal fanbase that grows by the second. To the average viewer, I bet you are wondering “who is this guy?” This man can only be summed up with one phrase: “I remember it so you don’t have to.”

              Before we dive into the history of Nostalgia Critic, let us take a moment to explore the backstory of the man behind the character. On November 17^th , 1981 in Naples, Italy; Douglas Darien Walker was born. He was born to parents Barney Walker of the US Navy; and the late Sandra Walker, a former opera singer and therapist). His grandfather was a pioneer in the frozen food industry, responsible for inventing a pie filling that could be frozen without the worry of the sugar crystallizing. On top of being from a family of innovators and military men, Walker was also born as a descendant of composer Heinrich Schutz. As a child, Walker was always intrigued by the art of cinema, along with many of the franchises young boys were enamored with in the 1980s such as Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (both of which would become subjects for many of his iconic reviews).

Little is known about his childhood, aside from him being bullied in the ‘90s due to his name being similar to a certain Nickelodeon character. He would finally pave the path to his destiny when he started attending Northern Illinois University, majoring in film and communication. After his college days had run their course, he would start a career as a simple illustrator. It was at this moment Walker and his brother (Rob Walker) would start paving the way towards Nostalgia Critic’s conception.

              According to a post on the forums of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, Rob Walker stated:

 "It was sort of organic. Not really spur of the moment, nor totally planned either. Before he did any of this, Doug went through like a mid-midlife crisis. He got big into all the things he watched as child, including ordering a DVD of old 80s commercials. Of the shows and movies he tracked down, some still held up. Some did not. Some things I didn't recognize at all, but there was a two year age difference, so occasionally we saw something the other missed. Point being, he made it his quest to track down old things he remembered and I constantly made fun of him for it. Finally, I asked when this whole freaky phase was gonna pass, and he said, 'Now. I think I'm done. I'm all out.' So that nostalgia thing was DEFINITELY there…”

              Doug was far from done. This obsession with his childhood would not die; matter of fact, it kept growing stronger by the minute. He wanted to relive his childhood and express his opinions to the world; the question is, how was he going to do so? This is when a fledgling site known as YouTube became a major player in shaping Mr. Walker’s destiny. In 2007, YouTube was still in its infancy (only being live for two years prior), as well as the “streaming video” industry as a whole. Very few innovators came before Walker, one being the legendary James Rolfe (aka The Angry Video Game Nerd).

Walker’s first series of videos was known as Five Second Movies, a series of short videos which summarized a film in a severely truncated (and comedic) amount of time. This series paved Doug’s path to stardom, and allowed him to express his opinions on movies in a satirical way. An effect of this set of videos created a trend amongst other content creators, as many began to create their own “Five Second Movies”.  The trend would later catch the attention of The Times and unfortunately, YouTube’s copyright system. Doug Walker instantly became a YouTube icon from something he merely considered a “hobby”, simply by combining humor with his love for cinema. He knew he wanted to raise the bar and see if he could do that while actually being on camera, so the viewers could see the true extent of his humor.

According to Walker himself, “At the time, I wanted to see if I was actually funny; (you know, not my Five Second Movies and my editing) I wanted to see if I was actually funny, so I came up with this character that was betrayed by his childhood. He actually felt really p****d off that his childhood wasn’t as good as he remembered it, and gets really angry at it and annoyed.” The character he intended to create was inspired by icons such as Daffy Duck, Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, Bill Murray, as well as infusing aspects of himself for a personal feel. After the character was conceptualized and given a “halfway-professional” appearance, it was time for Mr. Walker to start work on his first review. This begged the question, “what was going to be his first review?” Of course, his first review on July 3^rd 2017 would be an adaptation of one of his childhood favorites; the 2007 Transformers movie.

The Flash Season 3 Episode 17: Duet!

I will admit it right here and now, I have a massive soft spot for musicals. As a result, I was excited when I learned of a musical crossover episode between CW’s The Flash and Supergirl. Unfortunately; since I am busy at the time the episodes air in their first run, I had to wait until the current seasons arrived on Netflix to watch the episode. Upon watching said episode, I came to a few conclusions. First, I felt the premise of Flash and Supergirl being trapped in a musical film was admittedly “tacked-on”. Second, I think the reason they made this a musical episode was to make it a Glee reunion (Melissa Benoist, Grant Gustin, and Darren Criss are all Glee alum). Finally, the overall premise of the episode felt similar to Batman: The Brave and the Bold’s Wrath of the Music Meister; replacing Batman with The Flash and Supergirl. 

              The episode’s premise follows Barry Allen (aka The Flash) and Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl) as they are put in a comatose state by Music Meister (played by Glee alum Darren Criss) and forced to act in a musical. I have two theories as to why this episode was created. My first theory is the writers were desperate for an episode and thought “let’s make this episode a Glee reunion; maybe give Darren Criss a role”. My second theory is this episode was a partial promotion for the home release of La La Land (I doubt this was the case, as these two were not released around the same time; they were released a month apart). Despite having a weak premise, this episode significantly contributes to both shows’ storylines. The character arc between Barry Allen and Iris West is progressed further, along with Mon-El and Kara’s arc in their own series. Overall, this episode had a story as weak as La La Land, and the weakest link is undoubtedly where La La shined; the musical numbers.

              In musicals, the songs serve the purpose of advancing the plot. The work would not be able to survive without these songs, as the latter serves as a backbone. Musical plots are written around the songs. That is not the case with this episode. I understand Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, and Darren Criss have musical talents, and I admit they were amazing by utilizing these talents. However, the songs in this episode are totally unnecessary. The episode could have worked without them, and it could have relied solely on the plot. The songs were nothing more than a “shoehorned” gimmick. They were mostly unnecessary, save for the finale. Aside from the episode’s final song, I cringed at the lyrics for most of the musical numbers; especially Superfriends (even though it was a brilliant reference to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name). On a positive note, I will admit the songs are an excellent example of utilizing the chemistry between Gustin and Benoist, as the two fantastically worked through them. 

              While the plot and music were as bland as unbuttered toast, this episode shines in developing characters and world-building (or “multiverse building”, as Flash and Supergirl hail from two different universes). Utilizing Music Meister as the main antagonist was a fantastic choice, as he is one of DC’s lesser-known rogues. I hate to say this (as I was never a fan of Glee), but I begrudgingly admit Darren Criss was the perfect choice for this character. He nailed the role, and I cannot imagine anybody else as Music Meister.

              Overall, I would give this episode a seven out of ten. While the musical numbers and premise were weak, it was excellent in progressing the shows’ plots and adding significant amounts of character development. Since this episode is important to the plot, I would unfortunately advise against skipping it. However, if you have to watch this episode on your Netflix binge (assuming you have Netflix); I would suggest letting this episode play in the background or skip to the end after watching the beginning.

Wonder Woman (2017)

The DC Cinematic Universe, (or DC Extended Universe; as it’s now called, which I think is a dumb name) has been driving along a bumpy road since its conception. Originally, this universe was going to start with the 2011 Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds. Unfortunately, due to the film being a massive failure; it was later considered a standalone film (and the butt of various jokes from Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool).

In 2013, the cinematic universe officially started with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. The film served not only to reboot and retell the origin of Superman, but it also served as a launching point for a shared universe (similar to what Marvel had been doing since 2008’s Iron Man). Man of Steel received mixed reviews such as a 55% on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic (I certainly liked it, but I can understand the flaws it had), but it was a box-office success for Warner Brothers. As a result, plans for a sequel were underway only months after the film’s release.

The sequel was finally released in 2015 under the title Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The purpose of this film was to introduce Batman and Wonder Woman to the DCEU, along with paving the path for the oncoming Justice League movie (the latter of which I am looking forward to when it releases in November of 2017).

The film achieved the intended purpose, but I feel it was released a bit too soon since the only previous movie was a Superman solo film. I feel this movie should have come later in the series, and if you have seen it you will know why (but I digress). The film was praised for Ben Affleck’s role as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, but it was slammed by critics for the sluggish pacing, lack of action sequences, various plot holes, depressing tone, and the overall mischaracterization of Superman. However, as the film was once again a “box office success” for Warner Brothers and DC, another entry would soon follow.

In 2016, it was time to let the villains take the lead in Suicide Squad. This movie (despite winning an Oscar for Best Makeup), is considered the worst entry in the DC Extended Universe, thus leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fans and critics. As a result, the future of this franchise was uncertain until July 2, 2017… the release date of Wonder Woman.

At the time of this review, this film is being heavily praised by fans and critics; earning a “Certified Fresh” stamp on Rotten Tomatoes, and single-handedly redeeming this dying Cinematic Universe.

Similar to Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Wonder Woman is told through a storytelling device known as a “frame story”. For those who are unaware, a frame story is a plot essentially told in flashbacks and bookended with segments set in the story’s future or present day. While the beginning and end of the movie are set after the events of Batman v. Superman, the flashbacks are set in the distant past to explain the origin of Wonder Woman. As for the origin story, it seems to borrow many elements from the New 52 incarnation of the character; something I shall not explain further to avoid spoilers.

The origin was also done much better than Superman’s in Man of Steel; it is better structured and more linear than the aforementioned film, thus making it easier to follow. However, my only complaint towards the plot (albeit an extremely minor one) is that some elements of the story (such as how the plot is handled) felt like they were ripped directly from Captain America: The First Avenger. I will not say which ones (once again to avoid going into spoiler territory), but if you have seen both films then you will know what I am talking about. I understand both films pertained to the two world wars, but I wish DC was a bit more original in that regard. Matter of fact, it seems one of the main characters was modeled after Steve Rogers aka Captain America.

Speaking of characters, I commend DC for sticking to the source material in terms of characterization. Gal Gadot’s interpretation of Diana/Wonder Woman felt like she leaped right out of an issue of the New 52 run of the character, while containing some elements from before that infamous run.

She nailed the character’s personality and mannerisms, and was totally dedicated to the role (even going so far as to participate in reshoots while pregnant). By far, she is the best actress that has portrayed this character; beating out her predecessors Lynda Carter and Susan Eisenberg. She had an excellent chemistry with her co-star, Chris Pine, who played Steve Trevor. Overall, Gadot did fantastically! However, I have some things to say about Pine’s character in particular… and some of it is actually not so positive…

To start, I felt in some aspects he was somewhat of a “Copy-Paste” of Steve Rogers; aka Captain America. While their personalities are not 1:1, I found some traits to be quite similar (except Pine’s character was a bit more snarky than Evans’); even their respective actors and characters share the same first name! There was also a scene pertaining to Steve Trevor towards the end that felt eerily similar to a scene from The First Avenger.  (Try to guess which scenes if you have seen both films)

As for the film’s main villain, it follows the previous formula established back in Man of Steel; a larger than life villain that initially seems impossible to defeat, and has some relation to the protagonists. (Can Diana manage to defeat Ares and turn the tide of The Great War? Watch the movie to find out!)

Ares has an amazing design; fitting for his character. I really liked his armored design that is faithful to his comic counterpart, and I liked his overall connection to Diana and her origin (again, you know the drill since I always say it, no spoilers).

Overall, this film is an excellent sight to behold! Unlike the two previous films, I was glued to the movie screen for every second of Diana’s journey to fulfill her destiny. This movie is indeed a significant improvement over the previous installments, as DC has finally learned from their previous mistakes and actually applied what they learned.

It is actually so much better than the movies that were released before Man of Steel, such as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. I would highly recommend this movie to all fans of cinema, Wonder Woman, and comics in general. Diana of Themyscira, I welcome you with open arms in your theatrical debut, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing her, Batman, and Superman return in Justice League.