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Critics Consensus: It's up for debate how serious or ironic its subjects are, but Air Guitar Nation is nonetheless a funny and exciting documentary with a killer soundtrack.
Critic Consensus: It's up for debate how serious or ironic its subjects are, but Air Guitar Nation is nonetheless a funny and exciting documentary with a killer soundtrack.
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All Critics (66) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (10) | DVD (1)
A nuts-and-bolts document of the annual Air Guitar World Championships which take place in the rural outpost of Oulu in Finland.
Sure, there is an infectious goofiness in watching a grown man in a red robe and Hello Kitty breastplate rock out on an imaginary ax. But the gag is spread pretty thin.
The film's action footage -- lots of men and women thrashing around with a theoretical Fender in hand -- gets pretty tedious after a while. There is only so much self-inflicted embarrassment one can bear watching.
In this pitch-perfect documentary about the very real rise of air guitar competition in the United States, and two of its top performers, stony thoughts will arise as to whether one is suddenly trapped inside a satire that got wrapped in a reality.
It's a limited movie, from the musical palette the performers choose, to the number of players the movie spends time with.
The suggestion is that C-Diddy can be seen as a sort of ambassador for the 'make air, not war' sentiment. Why not? Even as real ambassadors go, we could do worse.
It isn't so much the battle of the one-man-bands that is so compelling, as the journey itself, as sublime as it is ridiculous.
Put aside all of your preconceptions of air guitar as a hobby of shamelessly untalented wanna-be guitar players, and step into the world of competitive air guitar.
When a documentary is as entertaining as Air Guitar Nation, you have to ask if you really need it to have redeeming social value or to advance the art form in any way.
This raucously entertaining documentary about one of the silliest competitions on the planet actually has a serious message about the power of "airness" to change the world. Well, maybe.
There must be better, more useful ways of amusing themselves but obviously none which would allow them to strut the stage to the plaudits of a baying crowd like latter-day rock stars.
Very funny.
Air Guitar Nation is insanely entertaining. Honestly, I put this movie off for a long time thinking that there was no way I was going to be entertained or at all care about air guitar. But it's really easy to like and actually dare I say respect what they are doing. C-Diddy and Bjorn Turoque are really likable in their own weird way and that's what makes the movie as they are the prime focus of the documentary. Some of the things the players say and so just make you laugh and then you see they aren't laughing and you think, "Wait, Are they serious?" To some extent they are, but the good thing is they only do it to have fun and I have to say it's a lot of fun to watch them.
Super Reviewer
On a scale between 4.0 and 6.0, I give it a 5.8! What an interesting film! This "mockumentary" film ranks up there with "Murderball" and "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters", really defining this genre of movies at the top of the ranks. This is top-notch entertainment, you can't script better characters. If you haven't seen "C-Diddy" perform, then you're just missing out.
This is a really fun movie to watch. It starts with a ridiculous premise, but eventually wins you over with its exhuberance and, I hate to say it, skill. Some of the guys who compete are really quite accomplished in thier strange field and are pretty impressive to watch. This movie is like watching multiple love letters to rock music, if not guitar aptitude. It's too bad that Dan Crane kind of comes off as a bit desperate and pathetic. He's not too bad, but his tenacity makes him kind of a tragic character.
Terrific and funny. Had me giggling the entire time.
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