Reviews

I'm not usually one to pay attention to Internet celebrities or web series. But I fairly recently discovered the Nostalgia Critic, and all I could think after watching a few of his reviews was, where has this guy been all my life? I could watch his videos for hours.

The Nostalgia Critic is best known for ripping apart movies and television of the 1980s and '90s that he finds corny or otherwise badly written/acted/executed, but recently he's branched out into the 2000s or even something currently in theaters. Chances are, at some point he's going to take a big steaming dump on something you love, pointing out all of its flaws. Even so, I can't argue with most of the points he makes, especially if I'm in tears laughing. He's known to be very loud and profane, and I admit that sometimes he goes overboard with the screaming and hysterics. But I think he makes up for it with clever writing and editing. He's not just a guy yelling at a camera. A lot of thought and effort goes into making an NC episode, and there are plenty of behind the scenes videos to prove it. It also helps to know that the Critic is just a character that Doug plays and he's not really that angry in real life.

Recent NC episodes have featured some sort of subplot with supporting characters, which fans seem to either love or hate. I personally find the subplots hit or miss. Sometimes they're funny and entertaining, and other times they just detract from the review. I think I will always prefer the older episodes with just Doug talking, but it's nice to see the chemistry between Doug and his Channel Awesome co-stars.

The Critic offers more than just exaggerated bad reviews. Sometimes he'll positively review something, and his editorials and top 11 lists are entertaining and insightful. My personal favorite material of his outside of reviewing movies and TV shows are his commercial specials. It was a brilliant idea to review TV advertisements of the '80s and '90s. Watching the commercials for those products you begged your parents for feels just as nostalgic as watching your old favorite Saturday morning cartoons.

To sum things up, I love this guy. He's hilarious, talented, intelligent, and just plain endearing. If I could spend a day making fun of laughably bad movies with anyone in the world, it'd be Doug Walker.

Dumb and Dumber To was not a masterpiece by any means, but that's okay because I wasn't expecting a masterpiece. Like many others, I went to see this sequel because I'm a huge fan of the original film and was curious and nostalgic. I was mostly just itching to see Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels back together after that god-awful prequel we'd all rather forget.

I was totally okay with D&D2 being almost a complete rehash of the original, because it was exactly what I was expecting and I think that's what most of the fans wanted. Honestly, was anybody REALLY expecting a sequel to a 20-year-old Jim Carrey movie to pick up exactly where they left off and start an entirely new story line? The callbacks were fun, from Billy in 4C to the Shaggin' Wagon. It's always fun to feel like an insider of sorts; you really had to have seen the first movie to get most of the jokes and references. However, I, like most of the theatre I sat in, really could have done without the raunchiness being cranked up to 11. The original had just enough innuendos and toilet humor to make your inner child giggle, but the sequel had it on overkill throughout. This time around, Harry and Lloyd spent most of the film acting either like 9-year-olds or obnoxious frat boys, as opposed to simply being naive and slightly immature. A lot of the gags were just plain disgusting.

One thing I am extremely grateful for is that the writers didn't litter the script with dated, tacky pop culture references. It seems that Hollywood all too often tries to "update" classic characters by engaging them in current fads as if to remind the audience that quite a bit of time has passed since their big break (remember the 2012 Three Stooges movie with the cast of Jersey Shore? *shudder*). I am beyond thankful that the Farrelly brothers opted not to go that route. Harry and Lloyd and the girl they're chasing have cell phones now, but that's about it.

I must also note that much like its predecessor, D&D2 has a fantastic soundtrack. It was fun to hear some music from the first movie, but the new song choices were great as well.

Overall, it's pretty common knowledge that sequels are ever quite as good as their original. But if you're a fan of Dumb and Dumber, you'll enjoy Dumb and Dumber To if you take it for what it is; a 20-year Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels reunion. It's a fun little nostalgia trip, albeit heavy on the potty humor at times. I'd round up to 5.5 stars if I could. Make sure to stay through the credits!