The roflcopter soars to new heights...
Rating: *****
Creator: Jon Graham (http://joncjg.blogspot.com/)
Distributed by: Machinima.com (www.machinima.com)
Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYpremWTkC4
It can sometimes be difficult being a fan of Jon Graham, often a series that starts to show promise will be bogged down with an over complex plot which has to be hastily tied together (I'm thinking Hard Justice season 2 here) or becomes too zealous and preachy (season 3 of Arby 'n' the Chief is a prime example, especially the finale 'King'). However, the artist formerly known as DigitalPh33r (now the more professional Jon CJG) shouldn't be criticised for trying to insert an element of Internet commentary into his work, it's a noble and thankless task which sometimes hits the mark (much of my disdain for the COD perk Martyrdom comes from the season 1 episode of the same name). It becomes clear through Graham's blog that his work is a labour of love, a single artist who pushes out a frankly staggering body of work that only recently received the boon of other voice actors. He also talks candidly about his self-doubt and his previous issues with depression and alcoholism, in terms of personal investment I don't know a machinima creator who invests more of himself in both his public persona and his work. When Rooster Teeth make a blog it's about zany office antics or what song Geoff Ramsey is listening to ATM. For Graham it can be anything from a game review to a look back at the days he was swigging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle.
But over the last couple of years things have changed, the writing is getting sharper, the characters more varied, the dilemmas more pressing and the jokes funnier. Like a car being slowly renovated, each year Graham shaves of more of the rust covering the cherry red surface, the engine begins to purr and the suspension starts to tighten, ready to spring to life. Though again suffering from a slightly nonsensical plot, the second season of his quasi-autobiographical drama One Life Remaining was more consistently written throughout, the new voice cast helped to bring variety and personality and gave great hope for his next project. When season 5 of Arby 'n' the Chief arrived it was a revelation, perhaps the best season yet, not a return to the irreverent glory days of season 1 but evolved into an entirely new beast that kept the sense of fun but added real world traumas to the story (love, rejection, identity). Presumably on a roll, now season 6 immediately follows, and it's clear Graham still has stories to tell.
The thing which struck me when I first heard the premise and watched the trailer was a theme of escalation, the idea that Batman creates the lunatics he fights or that taking down one villain allows another to rise to power (think Modern Warfare 2). Four months after the explosive and heartbreaking finale of season 5 the two bickering plastic entities are still banned from online play; Chief has little to do except "B33T TEH WHOLE CHAMPAGNE IN ONE SERVING" and watch porn, the Arbiter has hit the bottle, the empty bottle of Jack Daniels tells us that not only is Graham using the Arbiter as his artistic mouthpiece now he's putting him through the same pain he's suffered at the hands of alcohol. The bleak opening monologue punctuated by Chief's aimless wall doodling presumably draws from Graham's own intoxicated musings and it's clear the tenuous friendship between the toys is worse than ever. Claire isn't around to offer comfort, Greg is gone, its as palpable a sense of futility and abandonment as the opening scenes of Toy Story 3.
The theme of escalation arrives with the main villains for this series, a militant group of hackers known as Chaos Theosis. How much their attempts to free online gaming of moderation were inspired or catalysed by the Arbiter's actions at the end of season 5 remains to be seen, if they were emboldened by his example then the interesting dynamic will be can the Arbiter slay the monster he helped create or at least set free? Theosis is a pleasant change from the corporate nihilism of Trent Donnovich, a disparate group of seemingly arbitrary hackers (whiny 8-year old, manipulative girl gamer, pretentious MLG elite and their mysterious leader) who object to the deployment of an online gaming police force known as the TOSERS (Terms of Use Enforcement / Response Squad) who intend to stamp out illegal activities of the Online Multiplayer Network (a thinly veiled term for Xbox Live). With the threat of weapons capable of causing a permanent console ban/hack and illegal software modifications to allow superhuman feats of gaming, Theosis intends to carve a path through the Network until the TOSERS are disbanded. Perhaps in the pseudo-philosophical ramblings of their leader Graham is drawing parallels between the motiveless vandalism of Theosis and the work of real-world hacker groups like Anonymous bringing down the PlayStation Network and hacking game developers seemingly for no purpose other than to steal account information under the pretense of information freedom/expression.
Meanwhile the toys are locked in a bitter Three Stooges-esque struggle for control until they inevitably stumble upon an advertisement for the TOSERS. The story for this mammoth first episode (clocking in at just under 20 minutes) has few surprises, clearly Graham needs to get the exposition out of the way before the real drama can begin. But the five star rating applies both to what this episode contains but also what it represents, the start of a new, exciting and challenging series from one of machinima's living legends. The physical humour as the two companions slap each other around is priceless, even if there is a worrying bitterness behind it. The stereotypes found in the villains camp allow for some great moments, Graham is unafraid to take us out of the story for couple of minutes just to hear temper tantrum brat Adam scream at his mother about how "you treat ME with respect Mom!" and the hapless victim of their 'show of strength' has a gamertag which is probably already taken, ridiculous as it sounds. The camera is interesting and varied, with some unusual symbolism (the 'pro-gamer' Duncan holding two of the largest weapons in the game, probably overcompensating for something...) and a nice array of shots. Another star is the music, Graham has produced his own music for a couple of years and though samey the tracks have a nicely retro vibe which perfectly captures the mood of each scene. To sum up, this opening episode in what could be a stellar series has wit, craftsmanship and scope, one to watch from a divisive and prolific talent.
The Machinima Review
"If the critics were always right, we should be in deep trouble" - Robert Morely
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