Suburban Knights (2011 Video) User Reviews

Friends having fun, but not true to their standards of cinema.

[pick_bass · 6/10 · 25 September 2011]

It is fair to say that the reviewers of TGWTG are above average when it comes to cinematic knowledge...nostalgia and what makes a good movie overall. Most of them have provided us with their own Top 10 Movies and give clear reasons for each title. But for a group of people who make a living off of reviewing movies and explaining what needs improving, it surprises me how little of this advice they use on their own work, practice what you preach. It would also be fair to jump to the conclusion that the team just make movies for the comedy and not exactly for the art of film-making as a whole, however this should not be used as defence...although movies are a business, I would not believe for a second that at least a few of the movies these guys have criticised in their reviews were also made for the sake of comedy or fun and not the art of cinema.

The first act shows hope...we get to see all of our familiar friends in comical fantasy outfits...a couple come as a pleasant surprise but each character comes with a joke...and note that I said 'a' joke...not plural. Over the course of the whole movie we have to endure the same character-specific jokes, perhaps told in a slightly different way. It does not help that many of the reviewers are not experienced actors and thus makes the movie slightly cringe-worthy to watch at times.

Storywise I suppose that it has some originality to it, and the villain has good dialogue, a decent performance, martial arts skills and a surprising lack of screen time which makes us want to see more of him given that he is our most interesting character...but sadly this all falls flat when the actual character goes against everything he is fighting for, just for the sake of a joke in the movie (he is passionate about his hatred of technology yet it is revealed that he uses an i-phone).

Now you probably think that I hated this...but I actually enjoyed it, and looked forward to seeing each part the next again day upon release. It is just that as a whole it is not something i would have wanted to sit down and watch the full version of, because of its simple-paced plot and forced repetitive jokes. It really did just seem like a movie which was more concerned about seeing everybody from the website on screen together (including other cameos) more than it was focusing on making a watchable movie. Very average camera-work, bad sound quality and cheap effects...but all this aside, actually check it out! Its fun to watch if you are a fan but from a production side of cinema it is very poor.

Better Than Kickassia

[TheFlyingMustache · 7/10 · 26 September 2011]

For me, the one thing that plagued the last film TGWTG did ("Kickassia") was that after the second part, it just went no where. "Suburban Knights" on the other hand actually progressed into a film that had an interesting beginning, an enjoyable middle, and a satisfying ending.

There are quite a few jokes taken from other movies (and some added upon in ways that sort of ruin them) but mostly it brings its own bag of laughter throughout. Of course it's nothing spectacular as this is clearly a low budget movie, but it's a watchable film.

The acting is fair, the special effects are low budget but acceptable, and I hope they improve upon this one and do an even better anniversary film next year.

7/10

Some of the Walker Brothers' Best Work

[wisemantonofski · 6/10 · 13 September 2019]

There's a far more prominent narrative structure to this follow-up that surpasses its predecessor in almost every way, ranging from absurdist comic gold to brief moments of bogged down exposition. The film is at its best when it explores and brutally parodies the classic tropes of the adventure fantasy genre, from frustrating plots to ridiculous costume, and in doing so it stands not only as a harsh critic of those stories but as a charming love letter to parody as a film genre.

Nope

[patrick-green · 1/10 · 24 September 2011]

The TGTW...TWGTG...Team Whatever guys seem to have enjoyed their little Kickassia stint and have come up with yet another...film? Internet movie? LARP video? I have no idea how to call this, except maybe a fanw**k vid.

In Suburban Knights, Doug Walker reveals his love for playing dress-up as he and his minions embark on a quest to find a magical item (hint: it's the Powerglove, duh). The quest sadly requires the main cast to put ridiculous costumes on and go prancing around suburban back-yards and woods pretending to be a bunch of fantasy heroes. From then on comes a deluge of terrible acting, terrible jokes and terrible gimmicks of the same breed as those that plagued Kickassia.

It comes as no surprise that Suburban Knights quickly begins to look like a clown car stuffed with TGTW's contributors regardless of their actual usefulness (or acting talent). Then again, what did I expect? They're reviewers, they're supposed to review stuff, not star in their own "movies" or whatever that thing's supposed to be.

There is also nothing more depressing than seeing Benett "The Sage" "acting" out his part with the same skill as a rotting vegetable, all while he's wearing an ugly brown thing that looks like a Lion King costume got dynamite stuffed into it.

What lurks in the cellar must stay in the cellar.

What do you expect? It's for their fans...

[hellview_666 · 8/10 · 9 February 2012]

Having read a collection of reviews for this movie, I have come to the conclusion that those who gave such low marks are trying to mark this as standalone material. While yes it can be seen this way, they are never really made with the intention of that (especially when they are uploaded in parts on the TGWTG website).

So from the view point of that of a fan, this is a throughly entertaining movie, and even then you are reintroduced to the characters.

I can only say to those who mark this low; "What do you expect? It's a movie for their fans..."

Not What I Expected

[nickcluxton · 3/10 · 4 December 2011]

Well, I'm not even entirely sure what I expected, but this was not it. Considering the fact that all these reviewers pretty much had a huge 'elements of a bad movie' list in the back of their minds and they totally blew it (by cinema standards), I was a little disappointed. I do like the references they make, though they do kinda over do it at times. This is definitely more of a cult following movie, and realistically, I wanted to like it. But somehow, it dragged on. I was disappointed, and that sums it up well. I guess if you like internet reviewers/gamers (and I certainly do) you can get into this, and there's no problem with it either. But for me, this is kinda a letdown.

They keep getting better!

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 8/10 · 14 April 2012]

Lured by false promises, the internet reviewers find themselves summoned to suburban Illinois to embark upon a quest for a powerful gauntlet. They have to LARP in order to have a chance of finding it, which is where the second word in the title comes from, and they're split into two groups, so it doesn't grow stale. But is it entirely safe? And who is the mysterious sunglassed, leather-coat-wearing black guy who keeps appearing…? If you are not already a fan of the people involved, this is not for you, simple as that. It devotes no time to explaining who they are, and this is not produced to show off talents, but to have fun. And both they and us do. Since the trailer gives away who they choose to portray, I will do the same: Spoony is Gandalf(and the Gatecleaner, his take on Nightmare, the VHS-driven boardgame, and acts as the RPG nerd), NC is Link(from Zelda), Joe is Inigo Montoya(you killed his *insert incorrect family member here*, prepare to die!), Linkara is King Arthur, Nostalgia Chick is Arwen(Elvish princess of LOTR), Benzaie is Conan, Sage is Aslan(from Narnia), Phelous is The Rock Biter(Neverending Story), MarzGurl is Princess Mononoke, FilmBrain and Luke Mochrie are Harry Potter(the two are rivals for Doug's favor), CS is Indiana Jones, Obscurus Lupa is a fairie tale princess(probably Disney's Snow White), 8-Bit Mickey is Peter Pan, and the second size-joke of the duo has Handsome Tom as Willow(literally a small role, he doesn't want to act that much... on that, the performances vary greatly), Paw is Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons, Todd is Dread Pirate Roberts(Princess Bride) and JewWario is David Bowie from Labyrinth. This uses all of them some, no one is "forgotten", and it plays to their strengths. A lot is gained from the interpersonal dynamics of these characters and the… roles they take on. Finally, the team get into arcs! There is nice use of Mati of Captain Planet, whom none of the others like, and it builds up to its well-earned epic climax. The battles are awesome, and get increasingly grand in scope. Choreography, execution and FX are very well-done. This treats the theme of science vs. magic, and both are treated with respect(whilst they also have fun with it... similar to Charmed), and this has some of both, rational explanations and superstition. Backstory and plot are interesting, thought out well, surprising and add up well. This is paced well, the roughly two hours fly by. It has very different kinds of comedy in it, with clever, silly, wordplay, parody and pop culture references. There is some disturbing, violent and/or sexual content in this. I recommend this to every fan of the TGWTG crew, and no one else. 8/10

Pseudo-intellectual movie reviewers can't make movies.

[sigginike90 · 1/10 · 25 September 2011]

What is more ironic then a an Internet movie reviewer that fails at acting, directing, comic timing, editing, special effects, regular timing, scenery, comedic events and putting two movies together for hundreds of thousands of Internet money?

Nothing.

Why these people would show off how untalented they are is beyond my imagination. I can't even grasp why any of these individuals thought it was a good idea to use their real names and be forever connected to this crap.

Maybe they are going to be Internet reviewers forever? Maybe they think this is some way to jump start their "careers" or maybe their ego is so inflated that they actually can't see how abysmal this is....

It's a different kind of funny.

[jack_orange_18 · 10/10 · 1 October 2011]

This isn't for everyone. You won't find it funny if you don't usually watch content from TGWTG. In fact, unless you know a lot of the in jokes from all of the reviewers, it won't be nearly as enjoyable. Basically, if you don't watch tgwtg.com material really often, it won't be enjoyable. It got silly gags. Obviously. Were people expecting anything else? I wasn't expecting a rom-com. I was expecting a funny silly comedy. The people behind this were catering to their audience, which for the most part is 18 or younger movie fanatics. And people claiming that they don't know how to make a movie considering they bash on movies for a living is ridiculous. For one thing, they've never claimed they CAN make a movie. I pretty sure only a few of the reviewers on this site went into any sort of film study in school. And I couldn't tell you who that is, or how long they were studying. Plus, I have a feeling the script was somewhat of a group effort. I bet everyone put their two cents in, not just the credited script writers. Another thing, it doesn't have a big budget. So no, there aren't top of the line effects and award winning acting. IT's cheesy. Yes. It's basically just friends goofing off. And if you're a big fan of these reviewers like me, you'll enjoy it.

Expectations Met

[enilenis · 10/10 · 26 January 2012]

You know what's hilarious about Doug's anniversary flicks? Everything! The fact that the production quality and acting ends up surpassing some of the high budget films he reviews.

I also find it funny that the same reviewers that accuse Doug for not being in the right mindset to review kids films also pick on his work that they're clearly not in the right mindset to see either.

I think the film is a wonderful accomplishment. You see these (That Guy With The Glasses) characters make fun of other people's work weekly, and once a year they come together to make fun of themselves. It just doesn't get any better than that.

When professional actors (such as Bruce Campbell) attempt self-parody, it looks silly and even sad. You can tell that they have exhausted themselves and are doing it almost out of desperation. When TGWTG team does it, you can tell they're having as much fun as the target audience.

A Good Second Try

[QteCuttlfish · 8/10 · 9 July 2020]

Suburban Knights is the second movie Channel Awesome made, and it is a definite improvement on the first one. There is a bit more of a plot, and some of the characters have greater depth than they had in the first one. Most of the humor involved is very reliant on pop culture references, but I like that humor, so I enjoyed it.

I do think you need to at least have some familiarity with the internet personalities involved in order to really be invested in this, especially Nostalgia Critic, or I can see how it would be harder to get into it.

For all of that, there is a charm to this low-budget production. It's fun to watch, and I like the humor.

Full of Jokes for the fans.

[ofpsmith · 9/10 · 28 December 2015]

If you're a fan of the Nostalgia Critic, or any of the other Channel Awesome critics, the chances are you will like this pretty well. This movie is filled with jokes and it's one big satire of multiple movies. The Nostalgia Critic (Doug Walker) gets together all the reviewers of Channel Awesome to search for a treasure in this big role playing game put together by a nerd named Chuck Jaffers (Rob Walker). With all the reviewers dressed as fantasy characters and almost non-stop in-jokes, Suburban Knights pretty much spoofs the fantasy genre, and eventually itself. You really have to be a fan of Channel Awesome to get everything, but if you are you'll most likely find this incredibly funny. I highly recommend this to the fans.