The Critical Drinker, an online persona created by author Will Jordan, has risen in popularity over the past few years for his humorous video reviews that poke fun at plot holes and heavy-handed political commentary in movies, TV shows, and games. His brash yet thoughtful style has earned him over 1 million YouTube subscribers, a successful novel series, and now, a crowd-funded action short film.
The origins of The Critical Drinker date back to 2006 when Jordan created a YouTube channel called jacktaylor83. After posting 3 early videos in 2012, the channel went dormant until Jordan revived it in 2018 by uploading more review-style commentary. But it wasn’t until 2019, with the controversy leading up to the Captain Marvel movie release, that Jordan fully formulated The Critical Drinker character. Seeing how seriously people were taking debates around that movie and actress Brie Larson, he created The Critical Drinker as a means to add some comedic relief to the conversation.
As The Critical Drinker swirls his glass of whiskey, rum, or gin, he entertainingly riffs on the media with his trademark sarcasm – identifying plot holes, analyzing characters, and calling out political messaging he finds overbearing.
Beyond YouTube, Jordan has leveraged The Critical Drinker persona into publishing novels like his Ryan Drake series about a former Marine-turned-CIA operative. The 9-book series taps into Jordan’s passion for old spy thriller franchises like James Bond.
In the first Ryan Drake book, simply titled “Drake,” the hero is recruited into the CIA to be part of an elite covert team only to discover his commanding officer has gone rogue, building a dangerous private militia carrying out violent operations globally. It’s up to Drake’s squad to track down the commanding officer in a lethal game of cat-and-mouse.
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“I’m best known for my action thriller series, “Ryan Drake.” And just who is Ryan Drake, I hear you say?” Drinker’s Kickstarter reads, “Well Ryan Drake is a man who finds people who don’t want to be found. Once a soldier in the British Army, he now works for the CIA, leading an elite investigation team that tracks down missing agents.”
Jordan has even taken The Critical Drinker persona into live-action by co-writing, co-directing, and producing an independent film titled “Rouge Elements”, based on his Drake series. An online Kickstarter campaign was used to crowdfund his brief action thriller film. A total of 303,339 British pounds ($384,603.52) was pledged to the production by 5,212 backers of the campaign.
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“After watching so many films and shows and getting frustrated at the declining quality of filmmaking these days, I began to think that maybe it was time I threw my hat into the ring and gave it a shot myself. But how to go about it? After all, making a movie is a complicated business, and I needed people with talent and experience to make it happen.”
The Rogue Elements cast includes actors Derek Moran, Patrick Gallagher, Mike Dopud, and James Gallanders. The results look to be as impressive as any Hollywood blockbuster, but more so due to the independent streak it was created with. That independence in the film industry is what’s needed to put a spark in theatres filled with big-budget-small-story borefests; done by industry hack hodgepodges that hate the audience. Jordan and his crew seem to know what their backers and fans want, and they seem all too happy to give it to them.
More recently, Jordan penned a conspiracy thriller called “Dark Harvest” dealing with bioterrorism and zombies. He has mentioned working on an unnamed comic book project as well. Through these creative works, The Critical Drinker expands his humorous cultural commentary beyond just reviewing movies and TV.
As Jordan continues growing the Critical Drinker fanbase, his next alcoholic beverage-fueled video rant poking holes in some new movie’s plot or lambasting Hollywood politics may just inspire his loyal followers to support his next novel, comic book, or Kickstarter-funded film. Jordan’s expansions of The Critical Drinker brand illustrate how an online content creator can leverage a compelling persona across multiple formats, from YouTube videos to novels, comic books, and even independent films.
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Ok, I feel like I was half wrong about the Drinker’s film. I expected it to be just as diverse as the films he criticizes for pushing the message, but this apparently isn’t. Still a bit concerned about the womens’ roles in the film though. Hopefully they are reasonably believable and not more “strong female characters”. If you know, you know.
Would be nice to eventually be completely wrong about Drinker’s film.
“Jordan has even taken The Critical Drinker persona into live-action by co-writing, co-directing, and producing an independent film titled “Rouge Elements”, based on his Drake series.”
Titled what now?