I've always seen the RLM format as the natural evolution of what Channel Awesome started. You have a movie review, intercut with a lot of clips of the source material and riffing on those clips, bookended with skits. What makes HITB a cut above CA is that the people doing it have legitimate film making chops, while CA contributors never broke out of the "low budget enthusiast" mold (RLM also uses far fewer clips because the copyright landscape is different than it used to be). Hell, they even do crossovers - just not with other YouTubers.
The RLM guys have also been amateur filmmakers since they were kids and most of them have/had jobs related to videography and editing, which means there's way more effort put into the video part of their videos. Doug and most other CA contributors were just random nerds filming theirselves in their bedrooms. Of course, RLM's reviews are also actual reviews instead of plot recaps with skits.
(Maybe it's just me but I believe the Plinkett reviews kind of ended up originating the video essay style of content)
I've always seen the RLM format as the natural evolution of what Channel Awesome started. You have a movie review, intercut with a lot of clips of the source material and riffing on those clips, bookended with skits. What makes HITB a cut above CA is that the people doing it have legitimate film making chops, while CA contributors never broke out of the "low budget enthusiast" mold (RLM also uses far fewer clips because the copyright landscape is different than it used to be). Hell, they even do crossovers - just not with other YouTubers.
The RLM guys have also been amateur filmmakers since they were kids and most of them have/had jobs related to videography and editing, which means there's way more effort put into the video part of their videos. Doug and most other CA contributors were just random nerds filming theirselves in their bedrooms. Of course, RLM's reviews are also actual reviews instead of plot recaps with skits.
(Maybe it's just me but I believe the Plinkett reviews kind of ended up originating the video essay style of content)