List of Nostalgia Critic episodes (2015)

The Critic reviews the first installment of The Matrix (1999) to prove to its fan base, represented by Agent Schmuck (Walker), that it is not as good as they say. Though he acknowledges that it has some good ideas and action, he feels that some of the effects and fashion haven't aged well and criticizes the plot holes, acting, characters, obvious symbolism, pacing and derivative elements. Special criticism is reserved for the fact that, in reality, the machines wouldn't need the Matrix at all if they're just using humans for power. However, he gives credit to the film for the impact it made on cinema.

During the review, he's saved from Agent Schmuck by Malcolmus (Ray) and Tamity (Chambers), members of a resistance who don't like the film, and joins them in the end.

The Critic reviews The Animatrix (2003). He considers it a fairly solid anthology, with some strong ideas and excellent animation, feeling that they redeem even the weakest stories.

The Critic reviews the second installment of the franchise, The Matrix Reloaded (2003). He admits to having liked it more than the first film when it came out due to it going all out with its content, but now feels that, while the first film at least had a central focus, this film is all over the place and the excessive scenes of dialogue and action get in the way of it making any sense, in addition to all the flaws from the original being present. Special praise is reserved for the fight with the multiple Agent Smiths and the freeway chase for still holding up, while special criticism is reserved for the scene with the Architect and the ending for being incoherent.

During the review, Agent Schmuck returns for revenge, and the Critic meets the supposed creator of the series, Black Willy Wonka (Ray), who hints that Malcolmus (Ray) and Tamity (Chambers), who's randomly fallen for the Critic like Neo and Trinity, might not be trustworthy. He also hints at the biggest problem of Revolutions by suggesting a far better ending than what is given.

Note: The film previously appeared at #3 on his "Top 11 Films I Like But Everyone Hates" list.

The Critic reviews the third and final installment of the franchise, The Matrix Revolutions (2003). He claims that this film focuses more on dull and repetitive dialogue than actual action, criticizing the scenery, the overlong scenes, what action there is for being as dull as the dialogue, and characters not showing much emotion. Special criticism is reserved for the final fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith as the Critic considers it underwhelming compared to the "burly brawl" between Neo and the Smith clones in Reloaded along with the boss fight against MegaSmith in the video game The Matrix: Path of Neo, while special praise is reserved for Smith's hilariously over-the-top laugh, as well as his line "Cookies need love like everything does". In the end, he feels that, while not good, the series still had a big impact on cinema and none of them, not even the third, is awful.

During the review, Agent Schmuck has revealed to have taken control of Malcolmus (Ray) and Tamity (Chambers), but in a strange twist, it is revealed that Agent Schmuck is actually a character from Dark City, who, after that flopped, made the series and later manipulated the Critic into making it popular again by reviewing it, much like what the Critic tried to do with Foodfight. Schmuck, however, is then defeated when Chester A. Bum gives the Critic a needle that allows him to ruin anything.

The Critic reviews Mamma Mia! (2008), much to the irritation of Rob, Malcolm, and Tamara, who refuse to take part in the review. After insisting that it is possible to make a good chick flick (citing A League of Their Own, The Princess Bride, and Titanic as examples), he considers it a prime example of how bad chick flicks can get, heavily panning the plethora of chick flick clichés, lack of story and character development, bad singing performances (particularly from Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan) and large number of song and dance numbers that have little to nothing to do with the story, even going so far as to say that Moulin Rouge! is a superior film for actually tying in the songs to the story the movie was telling. Special criticism is reserved for the film′s insulting portrayal of and overall attitude towards women. The only major positives he notes are the cinematography and the scenes between Amanda Seyfried′s character and her three possible fathers (Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård), though he adds that the latter actually illustrates the movie′s main problem, as they′re used to pad out the gaps between musical numbers instead of the other way around. After the review, the Critic finds everyone outside and learns that they′re so convinced that no one will ever watch the review, and that they convince him to say something awful to the fans, only for his words (which we don′t hear) to result in all of them being brutally beaten.

Note: Doug Walker posted on his Facebook that his brother said that Mamma Mia! is one of the top 3 worst movies they′ve ever reviewed for the Nostalgia Critic, putting it close to The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.^[6]

The Critic reviews The Haunted Mansion (2003). Considering the surprise success of Pirates of the Caribbean earlier that year, and the multitude of possibilities left by the ride, he finds it to be a massive waste of potential, which starts with the decision to give the lead role to Eddie Murphy, heavily criticizing his and the rest of the performances, particularly Jennifer Tilly (who he considers to be a poor replacement for Eleanor Audley as Madame Leota) and Terence Stamp (though he gives Stamp credit for clearly having fun with the role and going all-out with it), as well as the plot, characters, effects, comedy, and portrayal of elements from the ride (particularly the Singing Busts). In the end, he hopes that Disney will one day attempt another movie that′s more loyal and all around better.

The Critic reviews Daredevil (2003). He considers the film to sum up just how bad some of the superhero films of the early 2000s were, as it uses all the clichés that superhero movies (like Blade, The Punisher, Hulk, Spawn, and Constantine) used at the time (like the brooding superhero who loses a loved one at a young age and a soundtrack made up of techno-pop songs) without adding anything new to the table. He also goes on to criticize the writing, acting (particularly from Ben Affleck) and direction. However, he praises the visuals of the main character′s sight and some of the fight scenes, and finds the performances of Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell as the villains to be hilariously bad. Special criticism is reserved for the lack of consistency in Daredevil′s powers, and his overuse and lack of understanding of the word ″justice″. Sketches in-between parody the superhero movies of the period by featuring Belisle as the brooding superhero Angst, Tamara as his girlfriend Angstine, and Doug as the over-the-top villain Target.

The Critic reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) alongside his former arch-nemesis, The Angry Video Game Nerd, after learning of a supposed threat to the franchise from Santa Christ. While they both agree that it is not the worst thing related to the franchise, or even the worst live-action Turtles film (both considering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III to be far worse), they criticize Michael Bay′s involvement, the writing, characters, and overuse of CGI (particularly the look of the turtles and the design of Shredder′s suit). However, they admit that the acting, while not great, is overall tolerable (among which that of Megan Fox), are surprised by the lack of the usual Bay trademarks (a relatively strong female protagonist, ironically an infamous damsel in distress, and only one explosion at the end), and acknowledge that it has some enjoyable scenes. Special criticism is reserved for the villain′s motivation being becoming richer than he already is.

During the review, they embark on several quests reminiscent of other Ninja Turtles incarnations: saving April O'Neil (Chambers) from Krang in the original cartoon, saving a dam reminiscent of the NES game, fighting Shredder (Ray) in a nightclub, being offered an adventure in ancient Japan – which they quickly refuse – and ultimately forming a band, before learning that this was all a plot by Santa Christ to sell toys, as that was what the franchise started out as (with the characters ignoring the fact that the franchise started out with a one-shot comic that gained a cult following for its bizarre premise and far more violent characters, which was typical even of most other comics of the 1980s, and which later lead to not only more issues, but toys and TV series, etc.). This makes them realize that, far from being insulting to the franchise, the film is just another one of many versions, each of which bring something new to the game, though they still insist that it is not good.

The Critic reviews Demolition Man (1993). After questioning whether it is a clever commentary or a dumb action flick, like most movies of the time, he′s surprised to find that it holds up even better now than when it was released, as its depiction of a perfectionist future versus a barbaric past can draw parallels to the Internet culture – a running gag compares the futuristic society to Tumblr – and the 2010s society. He also praises the writing, ideas, commentary, and even the relatively solid acting, though he finds the action rather dull and the clichés overdone.

The Critic reviews The Legend of Zorro (2005). He considers it a dreadful sequel to one of the best action movies of the past few decades, heavily panning the story, severely toned down content from the first movie, the actions of the characters (particularly the title character spending most of the first act drunk and making a fool of himself, leading to many parodies of the theme song from the 50s show), the fact that no one seems to learn anything by the end, and the comedy, drama and action. Special criticism is reserved for a scene in which the main character′s son gets into a sword fight with his teacher, using rulers before fleeing out the window, and for the complete hopeless nature of Nick Chinlund′s character, even going so far as calling him the most useless villain ever.

The Critic reviews Fantastic Four (2005). He criticizes the plot, clichéd characters (particularly Doctor Doom, whose surname makes it obvious he is the villain), effects, actions of the characters (even finding the unreleased Roger Corman film to be more credible), action, and lack of any actual crime-fighting. Special criticism is reserved for the fact that the main characters don′t seem to do much in the film that benefits anyone but themselves, as well as Jessica Alba being overly sexualized. Sketches have the Critic, Tamara and Malcolm parodying the film by getting less-than-spectacular powers and not using them, instead just sitting on a couch and watching movies.

The Critic reviews The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005). Though he considers it touching that director Robert Rodriguez made this in dedication to one of his son′s ideas, he finds it a serious error in judgment for such a great director, criticizing the plot, acting, 3D and visual effects, pointless moments, and insulting message. However, he acknowledges that it has some good ideas and finds the performances of George Lopez and Jacob Davich as the villains enjoyably over-the-top. Special criticism is reserved for an effect during the final battle, in which the villain′s head is engorged to a massive size, which scares the Critic so bad that he calls himself twenty minutes in the past to warn him.

The Critic reviews Jupiter Ascending (2015). He considers it to be a film that fails in every attempt at delivering an epic. He criticizes the acting, the confusing storyline filled with ridiculous setpieces, the acting of the villain played by Eddie Redmayne (although the Critic considers that when Redmayne gets over-the-top, it provides some entertainment value), the large amount of long scenes of dialogue, and the number of films and scenes the movie rips off from. Special criticism is reserved for the character of Jupiter Jones, for her ridiculous name (leading the Critic to call her Duck Dodgers), and propension to being a damsel in distress who gets kidnapped a lot.

The Critic "reviews" Jurassic World (2015), breaking his rule of not making episodes on films currently playing in theaters, in protest to Universal Studios taking down the reviews on their movies from YouTube, including the other Jurassic Park films. Thus Jurassic World is recreated with improv sets, costumes and re-enactments, instead of scenes from the actual movie. He criticizes Vincent D'Onofrio's character, the romance subplot, and the typical stupidity of the human characters (despite admitting that the acting is decent). Special criticism is aimed at the appearance of the dinosaurs themselves for looking like a mix of animatronics and CGI, the overall design and name of the Indominus rex, which he states its nothing more than an oversized raptor, and the decision to simply leave the other tourists trapped in a warehouse. However, he heavily praises the appearance of the titular park, the intensity of the pterosaur attack scene, and the final battle between the T. Rex, the Velociraptor and the Indominus (to the point of convincing Jon Bailey to narrate the fight in order to emphasize its awesomeness), even declaring that all three factors more than make up for the film's flaws. He ultimately concludes that the film is the second-best of the Jurassic Park movies, but given his views of the other sequels, that such a distinction is not all that great, and that it is ultimately up to the individual moviegoers to decide whether or not the film is truly worth watching. He then considers reviewing Fifty Shades of Grey next, though Tamara strongly objects when she realizes that Critic and Malcolm want to have her re-enact scenes from that movie for the review.

The Critic reviews Tim Burton′s remake of Planet of the Apes (2001). The video begins with an Honest Trailer of the show, which also mentions the several removals of Nostalgia Critic videos from YouTube. After that, the Critic encounters a time traveller (Chambers) from the year 2001, and assigns Malcolm to bring her up to speed on recent trends in movies, particularly ″re-imaginings″. In the review, though he commends the film for being one of the first re-imaginings of a classic and praises the ape makeup (even considering it better than the effects from the later Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), costumes and attention to detail in their movements, he considers it altogether to be a terrible film, criticizing the characters, inconsistent acting (some are good, others are ridiculously over the top, particularly Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter, while Mark Wahlberg and Estella Warren are criticized for being wooden and unconvincing), annoying homages to the original, dialogue, creepy love triangle, and unfocused setting, science, and symbolism. Special criticism is reserved for the infamously confusing ending. During the review, a spoof ″Thade for President″ advert is shown, with Terl (Antweiler) shown as his running-mate. At the end, the time traveller leaves to explore the world of 2015, and in a spoof of the ending of the 1968 original, discovers that Jem and the Holograms has been adapted into a film.

Channel Awesome Tag: Tim Roth as General Thade: ″Do you have a towel?″

The Critic reviews the live-action/animated film Osmosis Jones (2001), which has a similar plot to Pixar′s newest smash hit Inside Out, all the while watched over by manifestations of his emotions, like the latter (Ray, Kay, Elderkin, Tamara and Taylor Chambers) and a Chris Rock-esque character like the former (Harrison). Although he praises the setting of Frank′s body, some good ideas, the design of the main characters, and especially the film′s gorgeous animation, the Critic criticizes the immature comedy of the movie, such as toilet humor, overused cop clichés, puns that Osmosis Jones makes, content too violent and scary for kids, live-action scenes and the story itself. Special criticism is reserved for the apathetic and emotionless performance of Bill Murray as Frank.

Channel Awesome Tag: Bill Murray as Frank Detorre: (whining) ″Shane!″

While shooting a fake, gritty, humanized, yet somehow more loyal to the source material, version of Garfield directed by the Coen brothers (referencing the misunderstanding that got Bill Murray into the role), the Critic reviews the live-action/CGI-animated film adaptation of Garfield (2004). He states that it is the first time he actually hates anything in the Garfield media, heavily panning the plot, acting, effects, jokes, product placement, romance and the fact that the title character is the only one in the movie that resembles his comic strip counterpart. Special criticism is reserved for the scenes in which the audience is completely impressed with Odie merely bouncing on his hind-legs, as well as for a scene in which the villain reveals that he hates lasagna, which he felt was completely pointless, seeing how it adds nothing to the plot and is never brought up again.

The Critic reviews Pixels (2015). It opens with Doug (as Adam Sandler) singing "The Adam Sandler Song", a song about his career and asking why he is not as popular as he once was. The lyrics mention that he was loved on Saturday Night Live, that his films were hit-and-miss, that he did a few serious films (He notes that audiences did not get them but he was praised) but he would rather stick to crappy plots that were popular back in 1998, and that he only makes movies to get Rob Schneider work (An animated Schneider appears, thanking him for that but notes that Sandler did not put him in Pixels. Sandler then replies that Schneider would not do blackface for him.). The song ends with a guy in the audience (Doug in a different role) telling him that his audience has grown up but he has not and that he needs to start trying harder instead of using his films to go on vacation. Unfortunately Sandler takes it as a sign to be more predictable, more unfunny, and more racially insensitive, asking Rob Schneider if he could do redface and Schneider replied that he could, leaving the audience member discouraged.

Like the Jurassic World review, the review for Pixels has scenes acted out by Malcolm, Tamara, Doug, and other cast members since the film was in theaters at the time. The Critic criticizes the film for its dialogue (especially since it is an Adam Sandler film), emotions of the characters, and the cast themselves (especially with Kevin James playing the President of the United States). He also takes time to address the controversy surrounding the story for ripping off a Futurama episode, but addresses that other films have done it before and that it only matters what they do with the story. However, he offers mild praise to the visual effects and for a few jokes that were actually funny. Special criticism is reserved for the second half of the movie, especially the bits with the final battle and the romance between Josh Gad's character and a video game character. In the end, the Critic says that while the film is bad, it is not the worst Sandler film of all time, and he agrees with audiences that there have been so many bad Sandler films recently that enough is enough, and he wants Sandler to go back to his roots instead of being on autopilot.

The Critic discovers Andre the Black Nerd in a closet, who he accidentally locked into and forgot about for several months after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles review, and is forced to review Sony Pictures Animation′s film adaptation of The Smurfs (2011) with him to avoid charges. They criticize the designs of The Smurfs and the fact that their names are based on their individual personalities (even though both are loyal to the source material), the comedy of Gargamel (Hank Azaria), the setting of the film being in New York City, the plot holes such as why Papa Smurf is afraid of onions, the visual storytelling by Raja Gosnell, the director of Home Alone 3, Scooby-Doo (both of which had previously been reviewed) and Beverly Hills Chihuahua, elements ripped off from other movies of varying quality (from Enchanted to Masters of the Universe), and the product placement scenes, such as the one in which the characters play Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Special criticism is reserved for the fact that the majority of the movie revolves around Neil Patrick Harris′ character, and his struggles as an advertiser and becoming a father instead of The Smurfs themselves.

The Critic reviews Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and compares it with the other three films. In the beginning of the review, the Critic states that he feels that while he likes Fury Road, he believes that Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome was the best film in the franchise for its writing, characters, and storytelling during the action while he states that Mad Max 2 was his least favorite since Mel Gibson was more of an observing character than the main character. Eventually, the Critic begins to like Fury Road even more when he realizes it is similar to the Roadrunner cartoons which contains various chase scenes yet has no dialogue attached to it.

During the review, which is a play on Fury Road, the Critic is captured by Impractical Joe, who is upset that the Critic did not think Fury Road was the best film in the series. After escaping and falling into the car driven by Curiosa, a satire on Furiosa who explains and calmly argues with Critic about Fury Road and the other movies, he is quickly pursued by three groups; Impractical Joe, 'Meninists' who believed that women in Fury Road should not be given action roles and want Fury Road to be more manly, and Tom Hardy Fangirls (led by Hyper Fangirl) who think Hardy is the best actor in Fury Road for being handsome. The Critic is able to defeat Impractical Joe by making him drive into 'Weirdass Guitar Guy' who shoots shark-explosions out of his eyes. He makes Curiosa stop the car to confront the last two groups. The Meninists are unconformable being around her and are soon given a stern lecture by one of Joe's henchman, who was picked up by the Meninists, and grew to hate them because of their hatred. Barack Obama, played by Malcolm, appears and announces that the women in the military are to be taken out due to the Meninists overwhelming outrage and to be replaced with said Meninists. The Critic takes down the Fangirls by saying that Tom Hardy is a method actor and that doesn't sit well with them, seeing as how he can turn fat for a role. They instead choose to pawn over Joe's henchman. In the end, like the movie, Critic and Curiosa go their separate ways after sharing a farewell glance.

To start off this year′s Nostalgiaween, the Critic reviews Event Horizon (1997), wondering why the film has a cult following. He criticizes the film for the CGI, the plot, the characters not knowing basic space science despite them being astronauts, and elements of the movie ripping off Alien and Doom. Special criticism is reserved for the fact that the film is portrayed more as a non-scary comedy film than an actual horror film like it is supposed to be. In the end of the review, the Critic talks about the gore scenes that were removed and censored before the film came out, and felt that those scenes could have made the horror aspects better.

In his annual Stephen King film review, the Critic reviews Children of the Corn (1984). While he praises Isaac as being a entertaining villain and the performances of the child actors, the Critic criticizes the two main characters′ anti-religious stance, the members of the cult being weak, such as being defeated when the main character just shoves them, and corn being the scare factor of the movie. Special criticism is for the anti-climatic ending, in which the monster of the corn field is depicted as an explosion cloud with a face, and for the movie abruptly ending with a cult member girl being defeated by getting shoved in a car.

The Critic reviews Disney′s Hocus Pocus (1993), though he doesn′t actually show clips or discuss it at length, just like his review of Mad Max: Fury Road. Although the Critic admits he likes the visual effects and how funny the witches (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker) are in their performances, he understood how the film is considered to be a guilty pleasure during Halloween. Special criticism is for the jokes surrounding male virgins, which is depicted by Malcolm′s character of a 90s kid.

During the review, the Critic and the 90s kid are chased by the three witches while trying to stop their evil plan of hypnotizing people with their nostalgic value. In the end, the 90s kid uses the spell book from Evil Dead 2 to summon Kiki, the Witch from Kiki's Delivery Service, to defeat the witches, only to find out that the leader was Isaac and Malakai from Children of the Corn in disguise, while the other two witches were from a medieval fair.

The Critic does his annual nostalgic commercials review.

Commercials reviewed: ShowBiz Pizza Place promoting Dragon's Lair, Tiger Talkboy, Zest, SpaghettiOs, Bedtime Barbie, McDonalds "For Foods, Folks and Fun", Jared Fogle's Subway Ad (skipped), Bill Cosby's Pudding Pops (skipped), Ayds, Segata Sanshiro Sega Saturn campaign, A Troll in Central Park trailer, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers toys, Superman Peanut Butter, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Pokémon Red and Blue, Super NES Super Scope, Workplace Safety & Insurance Board Sous chef accident PSA, Slim Jim featuring Randy Savage, Telephone Tammy

Special criticism is reserved for the Canadian PSA of when the sous chef gets into a horrible accident, which the Critic finds it absolutely horrifying compared to the other Canadian PSAs, causing the Critic to finally snap and tell off Canada, calling the nation "sick" for its bad PSAs.

After a commercial for A Troll in Central Park passes, with him criticizing it some more, the Critic is constantly interrupted by Don Bluth himself, who says that he′s waiting to ″see what [he′s] going to do″. At the end of the video, the Critic has had enough of Bluth′s sudden appearances and begs him what to do to make him stop. The video cuts to black with a To Be Continued, suggesting that the thing will be revealed next week.

After destroying the world with his love for Christmas (While parodying the giant Animal scene from The Muppet Movie), the Critic starts up his annual string of Christmas related reviews by looking at We Wish You a Turtle Christmas (1994) and recommends to watch the special just to see how cheesy and bad it is. He criticizes the bad costume designs of the Turtles (most notably the mouths) and Master Splinter, the terrible song choices, the large amount of filler, especially for a program so short, and how uncomfortable the children are in various scenes. However, he finds the movie very entertaining because of how bad it is. Special criticism is reserved for how the special tries to meet the 22 minute requirement such as Master Splinter singing the 12 Days of Christmas and the Turtles having a 30 second conversation in front of a black screen after the end credits.

The Critic reviews Christmas with the Kranks (2004), which he considers one of the worst Christmas films out there. He heavily pans the obnoxious acting, the humor, the weirdly timed music with certain scenes, the mob mentality of the neighbors, and the plot twists at the end of the film. Special criticism is reserved for the neighbors ganging up on the Kranks because of the Kranks' refusal to hang up a Frosty decoration.

Throughout the review, the Critic goes back in time to 2007 where he revisits his original format of no budget, no background actors like Malcolm and Tamara, and forced memes. However, when the Critic returns to 2015, he sees his past self appalled at the clipless reviews, new formats and tries to use the original format from pre-2013 Nostaglia Critic for a review of The Last Airbender, but the finished video is met with intense backlash, prompting the Critic to exposit on the nature of change being a natural part of growth and evolution - something he felt the film was trying to repress.

Note: This was the last appearance of Sandra Walker, as she passed away on September 8th, 2016.

The Critic and Cinema Snob review Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and for the third time, have scenes acted out by Malcolm, Tamara, Doug, and other cast members since the film was in theaters at the time. Although they like the new effects and characters and ultimately consider the movie good, they criticize the similarities to the original trilogy, underuse of talented actors like Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow, the design of Supreme Leader Snoke, and the predictability of a certain character's death. Special criticism is reserved for how underwhelming the final climax is as it relates to Poe trying to destroy the new Death Star and Rey's battle with Kylo Ren.

Throughout the review, the Critic and Cinema Snob do the review in the style of The Star Wars Holiday Special, by staying at the special's Wookiee house (except the Wookiee family is replaced with a family of Gungans) and reenacting several bits from the special, with the Critic's idea that they can make a holiday special great if they do this holiday special exactly like the past holiday special. This causes both the Critic and Cinema Snob to realize that the whole thing with the movie's similarities to the original trilogy is not a problem and actually makes sense, as it proves that even though some things are too similar, the filmmakers can make something loyal and faithful to Star Wars, and the idea of repeating plot points in one movie will allow for new stuff to happen in the next movies.

At the end of the review, the Critic announces that January 2016 would be Shyamalan Month.