Forced & Tired Installment with a Polished Look...
While having enjoyed the previous Decline movies greatly, I found this installment rather disappointing.
While I applaud you for vastly improving the look from the previous installments, that's the only thing that Decline 3 has to show for itself. Everything else feels forced and tired as if the only concern was to churn the product out for the mob of fans rather than true passion.
For one, where's the story? It goes nowhere! This installment is so muddled and directionless that the only thing linking the events together are the parodies just so it can get from Point A to B. I mean, it's never even defined why Dim and the gang were in Japan in the first place. They just go there! Plus, the Evil Developers bring nothing new to the table either. It just feels like a poor carbon copy of Decline 2 with a new setting and polished look at times.
Which also brings me to the jokes. While the jokes in the previous Decline movies felt inspired, unpredictable, ribald, random, and original, the ones in Decline 3 all are either based off existing jokes, predictable, tired, or just very lame. For instance, the jokes involving the MSG3 dream based off the chocolate land segment from The Simpsons or the whole "Evil Robot Usses" from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and even the whole phone call stuff from all those lame 90's post-Scream slashers. We've seen it all done before and a lot better. The jokes just feel lazy. The quality has downgraded to that of the current Legendary Frog cartoons.
Some of the jokes make no sense either. For instance, why does JT scream at the end of his first MSG3 dream? Also, the Zelda: Minish Cap joke made no sense at all. The only parts that honestly made me laugh was the opening with the PSP, the jokes with Tom avoiding fire, and the Metroid joke.
Another thing that bothers me is you have some really nice setups to some fabulous ideas but the execution is half-cocked. For one, the game show doesn't even feel like one due to the fact that Dim, Dan, and JT are the only ones answering the questions or participating. The other team presents no challenge for them. Also, the evil robots were a cool concept but they are defeated much too easy!
All you have here is eye candy with a glossy sugar coating.
Now don't get me completely wrong, I appreciate the time you put into this but it feels like there was no passion going into this installment this time. It felt more like it was being rushed out just to keep the masses satisfied. This series basically went out with not a bang but a whimper. In my mind, A Decline Christmas is Decline 3.
If you guys even attempt a Decline 4 (which I doubt you will since you voiced that there is no interest), don't completely give in to the mass of fans. Take your time to make the best product with not just improved looks but improved and fresh material too.
But nonetheless, you guys deserve some credit and a break for the all the time you put into this series.