Noobz is the first gamer comedy about the competitive circuit that I’ve seen and while at times it can be fun, it’s a mess of a film like gamers tend to be which is both good and bad, as gamers can very well attest.
Noobz follows the Reign clan featuring members Cody (aka Rumple4skin-Blake Freeman), a middle aged white guy who just lost his job and whose hot wife is leaving him, Andy (Jason Mewes), a video game store clerk who really wants to compete, Oliver (Matt Shively), a sexually confused bro that’s convinced he isn’t gay, and Hollywood (Moises Arias), a severely asthmatic teenager who needs constant care. After Andy manages to rally the troops, the gang heads to California to compete in the Gears of War 3 Cyberbowl Championship in hopes of winning the $400,000 prize. This is where the plot should stop, but there’s more. We are introduced to an old millionaire named Aramagreggan who hasn’t let the 70s go as he dons a giant mullet, a ‘stache, short gym shorts, and has a desire to return to the competitive gaming world to compete in Frogger like in his prime. On top of that, there is a romance between Andy and a girl named Rickie who he likes yet has never actually met before. Oh, and Casper Van Dien makes a small but hilarious cameo in the movie.
In the film, everyone has ridiculous gamertags like Fraggit and Rumple4skin, which has already made me rethink my current xbox live tag for something much more comical. On top of that, the personalities and scenarios these guys get themselves into before even picking up the controller is insane, yet hilarious. Jason Mewes, Matt Shively and surprisingly Moises Arias deliver most of the laughs, even if they are very spaced out. Blake Freeman gets a chuckle here and there but his character is a complete douche and, to my bewilderment, his douchey personality never changes as the film progresses, a rarity in films.
Despite some very funny scenes, much of the movie is about Cody bitching about his life and it starts to wear on the audience to the point where you wish you could be taking shots with the gang so that you can ignore him. There are more than a few things that don’t make any sense and the actual gaming competition takes a matter of 7-10 minutes which doesn’t feel like enough for a movie about gaming. Also, anytime Aramagreggan is on screen you get this urge to press fast forward because of how irrelevant he is.
While there are laughs throughout the movie, the one thing I got a kick out of was the DVD art (see image on top). They put a big breasted girl on both the front and back of the DVD box, but what’s funny is that she isn’t even in the movie and, if she is, she’s in it for thirty seconds max. What a great marketing ploy to get a few more horny gamers to rent this one on DVD. I actually will say I was a little disappointed she didn’t have a role, I was praying she’d be one of the guys’ love interest.
Overall, Noobz isn’t a great movie by any means, but it’s the perfect film to watch when you want something light, stupid and funny when trying to kill time. It helps if you’re a gamer because then you can understand exactly what’s going on and if you love Jason Mewes it’s exciting because he’s finally in a leading role again.
The Disc
Special Features
Blake Freeman and Jason Mewes Audio commentary
One on One with Jason Mewes-He talks about his favorite scenes cut with footage from those scenes (1:00)
Meet director Blake Freeman-He plays Cody as well-talks about not being able to fool gamers since he was one himself. He also discusses the importance of making it realistic and hopes that people like it (1:12)
A Chat with Casper Van Dien-Pretty funny quick interview, acts cocky yet says if you see this movie “you’ll still know I can’t act” (0:58)
Fun with Matt Shively –Plays Oliver/Fraggit-talks about his sexuality and the lip stick scene which he didn’t know about when he originally signed on for the role (1:28)
Movie Rating: An immature movie for immature gamers (4.3/10)
DVD Rating: The Casper van Dien feature is the only one that’s worth it (2.5/10)
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