UP
I have to say to Pixar, another gold star! So though I am a kid at heart I am very pleased to see animation that is not regarded as the province of only children. It still disheartens me to see a frightening number of children at movies like UP though. Not that children can’t appreciate the great movie, but more that it shows that society at large still cannot accept that adults will enjoy movies like this and probably in bigger numbers than anyone realizes. Oh well, at least they are matching the pace with the videogame industry. I keep hoping society will finally realize that kids are not the only ones playing them, but I don’t really share any optimism on that score.
So on to the movie.
I really enjoyed UP. Alot. But then I have a chewy delightful center of cheer and joy that civilization has yet to beat out of me. The first moments are a real touch of masterful story telling. With few words the characters attach themselves to you, an emotional latch onto your soul that traditional movies have yet to master. Within the first few minutes the film makes you really know your characters and feel for them. Also challenges you not to cry. A feat I believe only stone cold bastards could achieve and even then I bet I would glimpse a hastily wiped tear.
I don’t think that UP is their best movie, I reserve that spot for the close to my heart Wall-E and Incredibles, but it is a sure hit and enjoyable way to spend time at the movies with your close ones.
So go see it with surety in your step and a ease on your mind that the money is well spent. God knows the pricing at movie theatres is still going high. Maybe they should take after the airline industry. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
Phasers set to Nom!
Star Trek (Rebooted)
I didn’t have great expectations for this film, and was utterly blown away by the SHEER AWESOMENESS OF IT. To be honest, I fought the Trekness through most of my adult life, surrounded by friends who love it, I would spurn it to be contrary. Bear eventually got me to sit and watch Wrath of Khan, and I was hooked. I cried when Spock died, and cheered when he was returned to life. When the Bear suggested watching original episodes via our Xbox Netflix goodness, I enjoyed them. So I was well-prepped to critique and find fault with this reboot of the Star Trek universe.
Instead, I almost cried during the opening scene. I am not the sobby cry-cry girl. I yelled at Kate Winslet for being a selfish brat while the rest of the theatre cried (yeah, that was a Titanic reference) and frequently laugh at inappropriate moments during films that are meant to be dramatic. Nevertheless, as the music queued up and the “Star Trek” logo was emblazoned on the screen I was thinking “Holy Bananas, I’ve got tears in my eyes and the movie’s barely started! I’m in for it now”
It was fast-paced, but completely story-driven, and the character’s cast for each part were perfectly chosen. I had only one doubt during the film - the actor chosen for Sulu. When he first appeared I was sure they’d just grabbed the first Asian guy to walk across the casting floor. Once he was thrown into an action sequence I realized they’d picked the right kid to fill the understated shoes of his predecessor.
Throughout the film they paid homage to the original cast and films in a laid back manner, making a nod to the past and then tweaking it for the future.
In conclusion….. Zachary Quinto is a logical Vulcan demi-god of perfection. I may have a slight crush.
Oh, and just between you and me… I saw it twice in the theatre. And I just might go again. I am such a geek.
Wolverine (the Origins of Aforementioned)
To start, I freely confess to having read only a handful of X-men comics and actually enjoying the third X-men film despite plot decisions even I knew were dumb compared to the comics.
So I went into this film really only expecting to see a good story and a lot of action. I did get a lot of action, a ton of action in fact. I was surprised by the flat out introduction to Wolverine’s childhood, but it made sense in it’s way; while the method of using the opening credits to reveal the decades of relationship between him and Sabretooth was brilliant. And quite simply Liev Schreiber was delicious as Sabretooth - he played his character to the hilt and made him sexy, without downplaying what a psychopathic killer he is. The film had some great moments and action sequences that really made your jaw drop…but I did not get much of a story.
Overall ratings for the film?
A+ for action-ie fighting goodness!
D- for attempts at story with plot-holes and general failure
C+ Overall
Those moments & sequences were just that, not well fleshed out or connected. Those who’ve seen the film will know what I mean when I say that becoming Wolverine does not mean you storm off only to end up sitting down for tea with the locals. He should’ve been out of his mind, and killing anything that crossed his path. Marvel’s movie makers, you lose points. More importantly, the schism between Sabretooth and Wolverine could have been developed better, and would have benefited from incorporation of the birthday ass-kicking of the comics. Sabretooth is not mindless, just tragically and totally flawed - his revenge against Wolverine deserves cause.
And, being a girl, I understand the need to throw a romance into a comic book film. The girly-girls (who don’t read this site, for sure) require it to be dragged along to otherwise action-oriented films. What we don’t need is to have the cameo love interest spoon feed us the storyline as some half-assed Native American teaching story. I have a brain, and so does everyone who can read the comics. At least make the effort to use Stereotyped Native Wiseman to spoon-feed us, okay? More points taken away.
Finally… Emma Frost is the Em Effing White Queen. She’s a freaky Paris Hilton, Old Money with Mutant Powers. She is *not* the sister of random Native American mutant. And her mutant power is to turn into diamond, not be covered by thousands of tiny diamonds. The moment I saw that scene I cringed and wanted to throw something. Since she’s a personal favorite, you’ve just lost all points left, movie makers. She is not a minor character in the comics - and if I know that, every dude on the planet should know it - and she is pivotal in so many versions of the X-men universe, especially where the Phoenix and Miss Grey are involved. I hereby rename the character called Emma in this film as Jubilee. You can guess why. :]
Finally, most of the ending was so stupid I can say only this:
Those responsible for writing it, and doing the effects, should consider what the assassin in Serenity suggested to those who’s greatest flaw was Pride. Alternatively, slap yourself and do better next time.
Wolverine:Origins
So… I’m really speechless. And not in a good way. Don’t get me wrong Hugh Jackman is still the best Wolverine and probably one of the best casting decisions along with the leads for Iron man and Incredible Hulk, but I think the franchise has lost it’s heart. The story had right elements and touchstones, but that is all it seemed to be a bunch of touchstones and cameo mutants with nothing ever surprising you. I know it’s a prequel and yes I do own the comics of our fave canuck badass. But it could have been a little surprising and still on course like other movies. Star Trek comes to mind as well as Incredible Hulk. Be Honest. You know the stories back to front but it was done both new and yet keeping direct links to the ideas or soul of the stories.
I don’t mind reinvention but for fuck’s sake whoever thought to give Deadpool katana arm blades should be beaten, dragged by horses, beaten some more, made to watch Mariah Carey Videos till his eyes bleed, castrated, and left for dead in the desert. Then go back and pour salt on him for having the stupidity to give Deadpool eye beams. Then scour the globe for his offspring so we can tell where the next possible outbreaks of stupid may be.
The one shiny good nugget in this disappointing string of action scenes and cameos muddled together film is Liev Schreiber. Man what a great casting for him. Much like when I heard that Heath Ledger was going to be Joker, I thought this too was a possible mistake. But man once again it feels good to be wrong. He is a fantastic Sabretooth. Take the guy who cast him and so the exact opposite of the guy who gave Deadpool arm katanas. And if it’s the same guy go back to the desert and give him a flower. And more beatings for making me think of the Deadpool mess.
Oh one last thought did the guy who thought of puting Emma Frost in the movie even fucking read the bio on her. A protective skin coating of shiny diamond like scales?!?! And the sister of Silverfox…… This smacks of the guy who thought the best way to represent a mass of angry mutants attacking a gaurded facility for X3 was to have them run at the gates in NY mob style. Give him the same treatment as the Deadpool fucker and then add lemonjuice to his wounds. And if it’s the same guy, take away his flower.
.
Mae govannen
So in the interest of keeping the alarms at bay, I am alive and well. My title of the post should give you enterprising and well read types a hint of my recent shenanigans. Yes that’s right, I’ve been bumming around the fair lands of Bree and Rivendell, even a fair bit of time in the Shire. So the previous absence from the nanerwebs, the vaunted halls of shiny truth is completely to be understood.
On another level I have just recently watched a excerpt from G.I.Joe: Resolute and love it. Simply love it. Great animation and a clear quality look to the art, and freaking Snake-Eyes is a pimp.
On related tangent, I am actually really looking forward to the movie version. Ray Parks should do the ol’ Snake justice. I’m not too terribly concerned about the film not living up to high standards of translation. My childhood remembrance of the show being still rosy and pink, aglow with love. I can;t really think of much that can be butchered. Course Destro in the film is not a silver head plated badass, but the guy playing him can be badass, so I give it slack. Unlike recent fan frothing anger target Dragonball.
Anytime you get a loved creation like Dragonball, Star Trek, Star Wars and the like you invariably run into the staunch rigid class of fans that can tell you how many stitches was in the shirt for Capt. Kirk in episode 23. And how it is absolute lunacy that the Kamehame ha was completely done with the wrong arm movements. I understand the need to understand canon, but it really does not matter. You could always just ignore the movie like it never happened. Much like the other version of Highladnder 2 or Star trek 5.
Resident Evil 5
So another game has come into my little hot paws, and played it I did. In fact I played it alot. Capcom still bringing a dirty taste to my mouth after that Street Fighter fiasco I played, I was a little hesitant to tackle another title of theirs. More the feeling also as it has been some time since I last tackled the biohazard hordes of Umbrella. I have also thought it strange that the titles of great games receive new names once coming to America. Why change Biohazard to Resident Evil? Biohazard says exactly what the game deals with. Maybe the all knowing American game industry fatcats decided that it would give you the wrong impression. Like maybe the game was about exposure to dandelions and sunshine. Hmmm.
So this game starts off with a familiar face of Chris Redfield, who has been working out apparently between gigs of slaughtering undead hordes. He is joined with a partner named Sheva who is able to be played by another player via Xbox Live or on a split screen. I really do recommend trying the game with a friend this way as when you play it with the AI controlling her she can be a bit of a brick idiot. That’s not to say that the AI did not do some great things and moreover even things I really would not have felt a computer character could have done, what with how game programmers can really fail at this concept. But the AI can be a right idiot with weapon selection and don’t even get me started on healing item consumption whether you are really hurt or not. But the thing that simply can piss me off the most and no game has really gotten it right so far with AI partners is getting the fuck out of my way when I am shooting the bad guy. Seriously. Especially in a game like Resident Evil when shit can pop out at you from nowhere, your AI buddy will more often than not take a firing stance right in front of you, exactly in your firing line and absorb the first shots rather than let you shoot the bad guy. And if you move to get to a clear fire point, she will follow and do her damnedest to get back in your way.
Other than that I really enjoyed the game. I wanted to get that first negative bit out of my system because in reality it was the only black spot marring my experience with this great game. The environments are nicely done, with camera angles never being an issue for me. And gone are the stupidly complicated in ways that never made sense weird door/puzzle that needs odd strange objects to open. By that I mean that when you needed to get a door open or passage it was with a sensible thing, like pass keys or door cards. And it was always in a context that made sense, unlike uber secret fountain passage in middle of police station lobby. So that is a plus.
The weapons are all done very nicely and feel right in their execution. A nice thing given that pretty much everyone and their brother can recognise most guns nowadays. They are customizable in stats like damage and reload times and even magazine capacity. Though my only realist parts that had trouble suspending belief was in the point of customization you could have a rifle with a gazillion bullet capacity, or a shotgun with like a hundred shot load ability. Meh.
The story was a surprise. It brought a couple of points to a close in the plot lines of Resident Evil canon and made some new headway into other areas. Wesker being all Neo Matrix like was interesting, but not too bizarre. The boss fights were pretty cool and not too hard to figure out that you had to go to a strategy guide every time. I really do enjoy that last bit. I’m a pretty smart bear but there are some games that have irked me in that to have figured out the boss you really could only have found the weak spot by buying the strategy guide that all gamestop employees are required by holy law to try to bundle sell you.
All and all I really enjoyed the game and will be adding it to my library. I hope to see you on and shoot a few zombie hordes with you. Rawr!
Finished Toy Bear
Gears of War 2
Hey from the forest! I recently got my little paws on a copy of the new shooter from Epic Games, Gears of War 2. Wasting no time I promptly popped the game in and strapped down for some shooter goodness, and it delivered in spades. Giant blood soaked gory and singed spade chunks.
Usually I have a tendency to rate a game with a quick seeming finish as a negative, but it then occurred to me to look closer. The game zoomed by in action after action, witty banter and dead foes and was then over. I looked up and realized that it may have seemed like a fast and furious affair that ended quickly, but time had indeed passed. A lot of time. So bravo to the game developers for getting immersion right. Kinda like sex and totally bad ice cream, you should enjoy it so much and with such a ferocity that it should have that peculiar time warp effect of time flying because you are having lots of fun. And you really do in this game. If you need any other pointer that the game was really engrossing and fun, Monkey actually played along with me and enjoyed herself. Scary huh? She usually doesn’t play them, mostly because of split screen ugly design, but also I think because the game was not just twitch and shoot. She, like I, really enjoys well developed story in my adventure bowl, whether they be with spell and sword or chainsaw equipped shooty death.
I really enjoyed the story, and won’t drop any points in depth so I don’t spoil it for you. But the Maria/Dom thing was a really well done thread. Give that writer a gold star.
I even played the Online multi-player. Scary huh? Well done environments and scenarios, with plenty of match type variety so not every match need be just respawn killfests. There are a few seeming glitches with guns and hitboxes for melee and other aspects but not terribly morale destroying things. Certainly not any hidden player in the wall invincibility crap. So feel free to shoot away in multi-player, though I think it will not replace my online shooter of choice in Call of Duty 4. Besides I have a lot more prestige to get.
Oh, one last thing I really liked. During the game you work on achievements like so many other XBox 360 games, but in the game whenever you started earning to a achievement or hit a milestone towards achieving the goal it reminded you. I really liked that. It can be a bit of a pain to have to look up the achievement by the little X on your controller and scrolling through the list, rather than just having a discreet little popup like they did. Great idea.
So if you are looking for a really fun and immersing shooter I greatly recommend this game.
-Rawr!
Monkey at work!
