Time travel movies are nothing new. You have your classics like Back to the Future and you have your Timecop’s. Either way, we know the basic idea of time travel in cinema. That is why Looper is such a wonderful addition to the category. It has a unique concept that should not be overlooked by moviegoers as just another action movie. It is, in fact, one of the most original sci-fi movies of the past ten years.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt star as Joseph Simmons. The year is 2044 and time travel has not yet been invented, but it has thirty years in the future. He works for the mafia of the future as a “looper”. Basically a looper is a hitman that kills people sent to his time from 2074. The story goes that it is near impossible to get away with hiding a body in the future, so they are sent to the past where the loopers murder the men and dispose of a body that technically never existed in 2044. When a looper has served his purpose the mob sends their future self back where they are killed by their past self and given a huge payday and are told to enjoy the next thirty years of their life until they inevitably know when they are going to die. This is known as “closing the loop”. Things don’t exactly go as planned when Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back. He escapes from young Joe and now he has to hunt down Willis before the mafia he works for eliminates both of them.
Things aren’t as simple as they seem when Willis reveals that he is here to hunt down someone who in the future will become known as “Rainmaker”, a man that will take over all aspects of the mafia in the future and begins by closing all loops. Willis has three possible candidates as to who could be “Rainmaker” and has to eliminate all of them to make sure the future is altered. The moral dilemma here is that in 2044 these are only children who may or may not grow up to be this new evil. Young Joe finds his way to a farm whose caretaker Sara (Emily Blunt) has a child who is on old Joe’s list.
I won’t go any farther into the plot for fears that I will give away too much. Looper brings up a host of dilemmas that the invention of time travel would bring up. How could criminals of the future take advantage of this new technology for their own gain? What would one person do to save the one true love of their life that saved them? Are there lines that need to be drawn in trying to change history for what one person believes is for the better? These are just a few of the questions that arise while watching Looper.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt sure has come a long way since Third Rock From The Sun hasn’t he? From Inception to The Dark Knight Rises and now Looper, JGL has become a go-to guy in Hollywood. A prosthetic nose piece was used to make him appear more like a younger Willis and while it will throw you off for a minute or two at the beginning of the film it quickly becomes unnoticeable as he emulates Willis in such detail it is a bit creepy. The smirk and voice inflection are there and make you realize he must have spent a good amount of time practicing for this role and not just simply doing a Bruce Willis impression. As for Willis himself, it is a bit of a surprise to realize as you watch the movie and his plan unfolds that old Joe is an a**hole. He may have a reason for his trip back but he tip toes the line between a heartbroken man looking to save someone and being the true villain of the movie.
The supporting cast consists of Emily Blunt, whose Southern accent sounds like a Brit doing a southern accent, so it’s a good thing she’s British, Jeff Daniels who no matter what he does or how scruffy his beard may be will always be Harry from Dumb and Dumber only now he hits people in the hands with hammers, Piper Perabo who has taken time off from Covert Affairs to take her top off as a showgirl that is the object of young Joe’s affections and the great Paul Dano who plays Joe’s friend Seth.
I really did not know what to expect before I started [amazon_link id=”B005LAII8K” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Looper[/amazon_link]. I knew the basic setup of the flick but was surprised by movie that was much more complex than I thought. The movie embraces its R rating with bloody but never over the top violence and is anchored by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s eerie turn as a very believable young Bruce Willis. Looper is a little bit of gangster movie mixed with revenge tale and family drama on top of that. Just add time travel and you have a winner.
With the release of The Hobbit this year Lego seized the opportunity to release sets based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic work as well as its follow-up, The Lord of the Rings. Now as any gamer should know this inevitably meant that we would be receiving a video game translation. With Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Batman already under their gaming belt the folks at Traveller’s Tales now had the opportunity to bring one of the most beloved film trilogies to life in the wonderful world of Lego. This is the review of that game’s not as large but still enjoyable cousin.
By now, if you have played any of the Lego licensed games (Star Wars, Pirates, etc.) then you know what you are going to get here. Like my Lego Batman 2 review, you are basically fulfilling your inner loot monster by bashing everything in sight in the pursuit of Lego pieces to build structures to inaccessible areas and to spend on unlockable characters.
As I said, by now we know the name of the game so the real appeal is the license that is attached to it and The Lord of the Rings is as strong as it gets. You will make your way through all three movies with many different variations of party members from the entire fellowship with Legolas, Gimli, Boromir and more, then swapping to two or three member groups according to where in the trilogy story you happen to be playing through.
The real shame of this game is that it is, once again, a port of the 3DS version of the game which truly undermines the power of the Vita. The system is billed as a console in your hands and guess what? It is. So the fact we are made to play a simple port of another handheld is a bit disappointing knowing that this game could easily have been closer to the console version with just a little extra work. The back box art promises to take you through the open world of Middle-Earth and having played Lego Batman 2 extensively on a console apparently my definition of open world and Traveller’s Tales differs greatly. The areas are big enough to explore around to gather Lego pieces and solve minor puzzles but you will not lose yourself in the vast expanse of Tolkien’s world.
Controls are serviceable especially since the Vita has dual analogs. Make no mistake, this is a button masher and your square button will get a workout. Some areas are a bit frustrating with jumping onto small places with no real shadow to guide you as to where you are so some jumps are guesswork. Nothing will overly frustrate you but the feel of the controls are not top notch either.
On the good side is that almost every main character from the trilogy are represented well with each one having a special ability that you must use to access hidden pieces needed to continue. Gandalf can float objects into place, Gimli can bum rush into things and Aragorn can use his tracking ability are just a few of the attributes that you have at your disposal. There are some places, especially in the Fellowship section, where you will be using four or five members of your party to get secret items together.
Like Lego Batman, The Lord of the Rings features voice acting. They have taken samples from the Peter Jackson trilogy and used them throughout the game. On the downside they do not sound all that good. It sounds like a cassette tape played over clear music. So the cut in and cut out of the voices is very noticeable but the inclusion of the movie dialogue is still a welcome sound. Also there are good bits of the soundtrack in the background and it sounds much better than the dialogue. It really does add a lot to be able to run around The Shire and hear Howard Shore’s soft hobbit theme playing.
In the end, if you are trying to decide between the console and handheld versions there really is no contest. And it still upsets me that a system as powerful as the Vita is still getting stuck with 3DS ports which hinder the quality of the game but honestly I had a little bit of fun with [amazon_link id=”B0088MVOU2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Lego The Lord of the Rings[/amazon_link]. If you are looking for a Vita game to sink a few hours into and get your Tolkien fix it is not a bad game to pick up. Given that is on sale.
So let’s just clear this up right now. If you are not a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s films you will most likely not be impressed by Django Unchained. Everything about this film is decidedly his. The unique soundtrack, camera zooms and Samuel L. Jackson saying the f word every 6.7 seconds are all expected and produced with the director’s own flare which he has perfected over a career that now spans 20 years. Inglourious Basterds was Tarantino’s most successful film both commercially and critically so how exactly would he follow it up? With a spaghetti western that was as fun to watch as I am sure it was for the actor’s to shoot.
Our tale begins with Christoph Waltz (who stole the show in Inglourious Basterds) playing Dr. King Schultz, a traveling dentist, who happens upon a group of slave traders and begins questioning the slaves about a group of men known as the Brittle Brothers. He then purchases Django in a very Tarantino style and he tells him that he is, in actuality, a bounty hunter who is on the trail of the Brittle Brothers and if Django will help him identify them he will free him and give him 75 dollars and a horse.
After this little adventure is when the movie’s main plot kicks in. Schultz sees that Django has a talent for the bounty hunting game and decides to train him. Django tells Schultz that he is searching for his wife, who was sold separate from him by their previous owner who was angry over the slaves marrying. Schultz has a soft heart for Django’s plight and agrees to track down his wife and help free her. They find out she has been sold to a large Mississippi plantation owner known as Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, complete with darkened teeth and rich southern drawl in his voice. Schultz and Django formulate a plan to disguise themselves as men who want to get into the “mandingo” slave fighting business and intend to purchase one of Candie’s fighters when they visit him at his plantation, aptly named “Candie Land”. They offer a ridiculous amount of money for a fighter in hopes that when they bring up purchasing Django’s wife, Candie will think nothing of it and sell her.
Unlike Inglourious Basterds or Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained could almost be considered a comedy. While you do have many moments of cringes from the horrors of slavery and the atrocities that were perpetrated on the African-Americans by their owners, when the movie is hitting its comedic notes I have not laughed more during a film this year. Watching Django in a mixed theater was a very good and maybe unexpected moment of clarity for me as a moviegoer that even when the subject matter is something as heavy as the bleakest moment of our nation’s history, we all can still laugh when there is a well delivered comedic line or sight gag.
Django is nowhere near as tense as Inglourious Basterds was but that is not a bad thing. Sure, there are your Tarantino scenes, like when Candie is examining a human skull, that give you those goosebumps like something messed up is about to happen but those are infrequent and it makes Django feel a bit on the lighter side of Taratino’s work but for the subject at hand (which is serious enough as it is) I am glad he went with a social comedic feel.
Jamie Foxx had a very straightforward role to play with Django. It is a role full of fire and vengeance that he plays with ease. Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie is an expert of knowing when to turn emotions on a dime. From hospitable plantation owner to bloodthirsty fight enthusiast and back to southern charm within a few frames. It seems like Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz and Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Candie’s elderly house runner Stephen, get to have the most fun inside of their roles. Waltz, who won and Academy Award for Inglourious Basterds, relishes in the role of the German bounty hunter who is not as hard at heart as we are made to believe. He is not so much ruthless killer as he is public servant of the weirdest variety. His delivery walks the perfect line between fish out of water and condescending foreigner. Jackson is easily the funniest performance in the movie. He has been born and bred to serve the Candie’s his whole life that he may believe he is the closest to white any black man can get in that society. So when he begins to argue with Candie in one hilarious scene about Django staying in a guest room, you can see that he thinks he is above normal slaves.
Tarantino fills out the minor roles of his cast with a mix of big names and faces that you wonder where they have been since the 80’s. Jonah Hill, Walton Goggins and even Tarantino himself have great side roles while the likes of Tom Wopat (Dukes of Hazzard FTW) and Don Johnson make appearances. Johnson’s role is especially funny and memorable as plantation owner Big Daddy.
Is Django Unchained Tarantino’s best movie? I wouldn’t say so, but it is certainly in the upper echelon. It is good to see that the director can go less tense and serious and more comedic while keeping true to his odd and graphically bloody style. It is like Blazing Saddles and Pulp Fiction had a lively, witty kid.
Total Recall is a bit of a funny thing. People will undoubtedly compare this to the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same name and quibble about how many things are different from the original. But in actuality when compared to the Philip K. Dick story, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, both movies take huge liberties with the plot so I went into watching this as its own movie and tried to base my review on its own merits. And when I did that something interesting happened, I had fun with it.
Now if you have seen the 1990 version then you know the basic setup. Douglas Quaid is stuck in a do nothing job with a super hot wife and he feels like there is something missing in his life. So he goes to a place called Rekall where you can be implanted with fake memories to have to ultimate time of your life. Quaid chooses to be a secret agent but before the memory can take hey discover he already is a secret agent and his mind has been altered. Then he kills like ten police officers and heads home. Once there (like in the original) his wife tries to kill him and reveals she has been doing her job by keeping him placated to the life he has.
Here is where things veer off from the 1990 version. Instead of Arnold trying to get to Mars and meet up with Quato he is in search of a man called Matthias, who has a lack of belly face like the original. Actually there is no Mars in this movie at all. The two sides of the coin are the United Federation of Britain(UFB) and The Colony which are the only two remaining cities on Earth. Basically The Colony is Australia and the UFB is England and they commute by using something called The Fall which is a mass transit system that goes through the Earth’s core to connect the two. You know what, don’t think of the logistics too much or you will stop having fun with the movie. The UFB is using staged terrorists acts to make way for a full military takeover of The Colony. Ready….go.
Director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) may not be a known director but the guy can shoot a competent action flick. The pacing is pretty good and there were never really any moments when the movie felt like it was dragging. One of the bonuses of having Wiseman direct is that we get the eye candy bonus of his wife, Kate Beckinsale. Add in the (cough) appeal of Jessica Biel and you pretty much have a Redbox rental by box art alone. Colin Farrell plays the everyman turned agent well enough. Farrell has quietly been stringing some good, but different, performances together (Horrible Bosses, Fright Night) so it’s pretty fun to see him running and gunning in a sci-fi action film.
It is easy for me to pick out the one thing I really liked and the one thing that I didn’t. First off I thought the production design by Patrick Tatopoulos was pretty great. The look of the cities had a very vertical look to it which is what needed to happen with the world’s population being forced to live in two cities. The only logical place to take the city was up and I loved the look of the futuristic interstate system during chase scenes and the buildings were in some ways influenced by Blade Runner. What rubbed me the wrong way was the complete lack of Bryan Cranston. It just seems a shame to me that this movie was able to get one of the best actors going as Cohaagen and had nothing better for him than “insert cliche bad guy here”. This is the same guy that gives you chills on Breaking Bad and for most of the time he is barking orders at Beckinsale.
Is Total Recall a special movie? Honestly, no it is not but that in no way mean it is a bad movie. You won’t find the questions lingering like in the 1990 original. 2012’s Total Recall goes the straight up action route and pulls it off pretty decently. It movies along at a good clip and uses most of its cast well (it’s Cranton man, c’mon). I can say that I had fun watching it when I turned my brain off which, to be honest, we need to do with movies every now and then.
*This review is based off of the 24fps IMAX 3D viewing of The Hobbit*
J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale The Hobbit has had a more than difficult road getting to the big screen. I’m sure Peter Jackson never envisioned that making this would possibly be a more difficult task than making his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The movie was originally planned to be released in two parts but was split into three either by Jackson’s doing or the studio is not known. Jackson also chose to shoot the film in 48fps which is dividing moviegoers from “it’s the future of cinema” all the way to “the most expensive looking home movie ever made”.
But for right now let’s wade through all the minutia and get down to what ultimately matters. Is The Hobbit a great movie? No, it is not. But it is a very good movie that could be the beginning of something great.
The Hobbit is probably the greatest fantasy book ever written. For 75 years it has enchanted readers of all ages but let’s face it, the book is only 300 pages so stretching it into three movies is going to take a little bit of Hollywood magic as well as taking what Gandalf says in the movie to heart.
“All good stories deserve embellishment.”
The plot for The Hobbit is not exactly deep. Gandalf the Grey shows up on an unsuspecting hobbit’s doorstep one morning asking if he would like to partake in an adventure. The hobbit in question, Bilbo Baggins, declines but is nevertheless visited by thirteen dwarves that night who kindly eat him out of house and home while discussing how to take back their lost gold (for the film it is changed to the dwarves wanting their homeland back, not just a greedy attempt at gold) from Smaug the dragon. All the while Bilbo is wondering why has his house been invaded by these dwarves and a wizard. He finds out that Gandalf has elected him to be the burglar of the group that is heading for The Lonely Mountain. After sleeping on it he joins the group and is on his first adventure.
Now one of the more difficult things for Jackson to try and accomplish is having thirteen dwarves each with their own unique personality. Everyone ready? OK, here’s the rundown: Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori and Thorin Oakenshield, who is the leader of the group. Luckily readers of the book will connect easily with the characters right off the bat but where the film really helps matters is that even moviegoers who are going into the movie as Hobbit virgins will not be lost in the shuffle because every dwarf character really does come across as their own not just a xerox copy of other party members.
As far as character performances are concerned I really saw no weak points. Ian McKellan could play Gandalf in his sleep and everyone should be glad that he came back to play the role because anyone else would be a pale comparison to the wizard we know on film. Martin Freeman (who is in a race with his Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch to see who can be the bigger star of the show) plays Bilbo with affable whimsy and while he may not be pudgy in belly as Tolkien had described Bilbo and most hobbits to be, Freeman latches onto the role and make it wholly his own. With that said, the real star of this first film has to be Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. In the Tolkien book Thorin was more of a greedy hoarder that wanted lost gold but in Jackson’s movie he is transformed into the heir to the lost dwarven throne who is seeking to reclaim the home that was stolen from his people. And with this (welcome) change in character, Thorin has to be played in a different way and Armitage breathes an indomitable spirit into the role.
The first part of this trilogy covers roughly a little over the first third of the book and at a runtime of two hours and forty minutes there is a whole lot of scenes that have been stretched out from two pages into twenty minutes of film but to me this never seemed to drag as some have complained. Now if you are looking for an exact re-telling of the novel then you are going to be sorely disappointed. Peter Jackson made plenty of changes to his The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tom Bombadil, MIA) and you are going to get plenty of them here. Radagast the Brown, who is only spoken of in The Hobbit, is a fully fleshed out character with his own scenes complete with mushroom trips and hair filled with bird crap. His scene where he leads orcs on a chase through the open fields is used as a segue in getting Bilbo and company to Rivendell.
Moreover, the Necromancer appears to play an overall bigger role in Jackson’s trilogy. Mentioned in the book this Necromancer, a foretelling of Sauron’s return, looks to be a character of bigger import. Azog the Defiler has also been made into Thorin’s main antagonist. He was only a part of Thorin’s backstory who died long ago by another dwarf’s hand but in the film he is made into the face of the enemy that hunts the party along their travels. The addition of Azog certainly has me intrigued as to how he will be used in the follow up films. Like I said, don’t expect a book to film transfer but the additions made are forgivable and, in some cases, make the movie more interesting.
If there is one thing no one can argue about it is that Peter Jackson has the look of Middle-Earth down to a science. A lot of cynical people have called the sweeping camera shots a tourism video for New Zealand and all I can say to that is “where do I sign up to go?”. The cinematography is second to none and is accompanied perfectly by Howard Shore returning to score and compose the music. You will get hints of music from LOTR like the music of The Shire along with a stirring rendition of Far Over the Misty Mountain Cold that becomes the theme of the dwarves in the film and is interwoven throughout the soundtrack. I dare anyone not to be humming this for days after seeing the movie.
As I said earlier, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a very good movie. It goes without saying that there is slim chance that The Hobbit can recapture the magic of The Lord of the Rings trilogy but the source material should have already had you expecting that. I still have some worries about how this will be stretched into three full movies but I easily welcome the first part as a good setup for the journey into the Mirkwood and the fight with Smaug that is coming in the future.
The movie moves at its own pace and is unapologetic about it. This is fine by me. With strong performances, beautiful set pieces and a new yet familiar soundtrack I enjoyed my time being taken back to Middle-Earth. The plot changes are major in places but serve their purpose well and don’t feel like fluff meant to extend the runtime. Let’s just all be glad Peter Jackson and company decided to come back and make this movie a reality instead of leaving all of us to wonder “what if?”.
Who in there right mind could envy 343 Industries? The studio was tasked with carrying on the Xbox’s flagship title after developer Bungie decided to leave the comfy confines of the Microsoft umbrella and start making games for multiple systems. Yes, you can not deny that Microsoft most likely gave them a blank check to get Halo back onto their console but as any self-respecting gamer should know, big budget does not always equal a great game. The team (or should I say army) at 343 has been working tirelessly over the past few years on [amazon_link id=”B0050SYX8W” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Halo 4[/amazon_link] and have made people wholly aware of it with a host of development videos that gave a glimpse into the care they were taking with the franchise. So many aspects of this game had to come together to meet up with what the rabid Halo fanbase would be expecting in the first true sequel in five years.
Well take a deep sigh of relief because Halo is in very good and capable hands. 343 has done this franchise a great service and this entry easily has the best story of any Halo game and tweaks the multiplayer you know and love while keeping it true to its legendary roots. Pun intended.
A Tale Of Two (Or More) Cortana’s
It has been over four years since the events of Halo 3 and Master Chief has been frozen solid enjoying trippy cryo dreams aboard the ship Forward Unto Dawn. Cortana has been hanging out having conversations with herself until the Covenant try to board the ship. Here is where Master Chief gets his chance to get his shooting practice in. Right off the bat you are familiar with the controls. There is nothing too out of the ordinary and that is not a bad thing. It feels like Halo. Moving, jumping and shooting all come back naturally even if you have been away from the series for a while (like me).
It seems the Forward Unto Dawn has happened upon a Forerunner planet called Requiem and crash lands there. When you first make your way onto the planet this is where you truly begin to see that Halo 4 is a stunningly beautiful game. Crisp and vibrant even when the action is in full swing. I often found myself taking time after gunfights to look around and enjoy the sheer beauty of Requiem. The art designers have really designed something special with a planet that pulsates with colorful vegetation while also incorporating the technology of the Forerunners. It makes other environments in previous Halo games pale in comparison.
Now not everything is all pretty alien daisies and blue skies. Cortana gives Master Chief the news that she is in her eighth year of existence. The problem with that is that AI’s such as her only have seven year lifespans and because she is operating past her life expectancy she is experiencing “rampancy” which basically means that she is going schizo and will slowly lose her virtual mind until she dies. That is where Halo 4’s story is more interesting and emotional than any previous in the series. It is as much Cortana’s story as it is Master Chief’s. Even while you are trying to do your Spartan duty and save the universe there is this underlying personal part of the journey that connected me to John-117 and Cortana.
The big bad this go round is an ancient Forerunner known as the Didact. He has lured Master Chief and the UNSC Infinity, who responded to the Forward Unto Dawn’s distress signal, to Requiem where he is freed inadvertently by Chief and takes off to look for something called the Composer which will change all human life into artificial intelligence’s for him to control.
Prometheans Pack A Punch
The change in enemies is very welcome for anyone that has had their fill of blasting through Covenant or Flood forces since the first Halo. You still have plenty of Covenant gun fodder this go round but you also have the Prometheans to deal with. I could not help but think that most of the different classes reminded me of enemies from Metroid Prime. Crawlers appear as dog like creatures that can crawl on any wall while firing at you and they do not hesitate in charging you when you are close. Knights have different variations (commander, lancer, battlewagon) and all have separate abilities and weapons. Some even have Watchers that fly around them shielding them from gunfire and have the ability to summon crawlers to your location. They certainly are a formidable group and will make sure that you can not just run into battle guns blazing. You need to choose which enemies to take on first and what weapons work the best against them or you will be paying the price with a quick death.
One of the most fun parts of the Halo 4 experience is the abundance of weapons available. You have your stock of UNSC weaponry like the assault rifle, sniper rifle and the redesigned battle rifle. Covenant mainstays like the Needler, Plasma Pistol and Energy Sword make returns also but 343 has added new pieces to each of the human and Covenant arsenal. The real fun comes in the use of the Promethean technology. Each has their own look and feel and while they are really nothing more than Promethean versions of the same class of weapons you have on the UNSC and Covenant side they really make you feel like you have been shooting with inferior weapons for a long time. Here is a quick rundown of the Promethean weaponry.
Suppressor- assault rifle that fires bolts of hard light rapidly.
Boltshot- pistol that is dropped by most crawlers.
Scattershot- shotgun that is uber-deadly in close combat and can deflect off of surfaces.
Light Rifle- long range rifle that does more damage when using zoom mode.
Binary Rifle- sniper rifle that is mostly a one hit kill. Low ammo count.
Incineration Cannon- explosive rifle that is part rocket launcher, part shotgun, all badass.
Pulse Grenade- grenade that creates a circular area that affects enemy shielding.
Now I am not sure how any of you will feel about these weapons but it was hard for me to go back to the UNSC or Covenant weapons unless I absolutely had to. Now don’t get me wrong I would still rock an assault rifle or Needler in a pinch but the visceral feel I got off of these new weapons was unmatched. My personal favorite was the Light Rifle and had me regretting every time I ran out of ammo for it. It is the first time I have really wanted to go back through a Halo campaign simply to find better ways to use every piece of weaponry to its fullest.
Multiplayer Madness
While the single player story is the best in the series, the one aspect of the game that had to hit the nail on the head was multiplayer. After all, that is the reason why people will keep popping the disc into their Xbox’s for the coming months and years. I am happy to say that it hits all the marks from previous Halo games and even improves in some places.
All of the multiplayer is handled from inside the UNSC Infinity. Here you will decide what mode you want to play in. First off you have to choose between War Games and Spartan Ops (more on this mode later). There are ten maps in Halo 4 to choose from and nine more will be releasing as future DLC. My favorite among these would have to be Ragnarok because it is a remake of Valhalla from Halo 3 and it has always felt like the perfect Halo map for any kind of style you play whether it be on foot, by off-road driving or air.
Forge also makes a return for all you map editors out there. There are three maps of varying terrain (Erosion, Impact and Ravine) and 343 has added a number of tweaks and new features including trait zones and better weapon and power-up detection.
The biggest addition (at least to me) is the sheer amount of customization that you are able to achieve with your character. You will earn XP by playing in War Games, Spartan Ops and Forge (or with Dew XP points until January) but XP is not just where it stops because along with XP you will receive Spartan Points which give you the ability to change your loadouts, customize everything about your armor and make changes to your Spartan ID. Once you reach Level 50 (which I am nowhere near right now) you can then go into the “Specializations” menu which give you ten different abilities like armor mods or weapon skins to ensure that your multiplayer experience lasts way past the max level.
For my money you can keep your Call of Duty’s there is nothing better than driving a Warthog around as your teammates hop on and try to mow down as many as you can, hopping off a split-second before you explode, take out a few guys then lob a grenade as you die and watch the man that just killed you get blown to hell. Respawn, start again. It is easy to see how hours pass by with this. I have never been a big proponent of multiplayer in games (just has not been my bag, sorry) but there is just something about Halo’s that is undeniably fun.
Spartan Ops
The biggest new addition in Halo 4 is the Spartan Ops mode. This is a multiplayer mode (or single if you want) that continues the story after you complete the Halo 4 campaign. Divided into seasons that will spread over ten weeks, Spartan Ops episodes will come with five missions lasting around 15-20 minutes each. As of this writing the first five have been released with Episode 6 debuting on January 21, 2013. This is such a wonderful idea that comes across really well when played. You are really getting the best of both worlds in Spartan Ops, playing multiplayer while it has the feel of the single player campaign with the continuing story and amazing cutscenes that accompany each new episode.
Playing these missions on your own feel like different beasts than with players online. Most missions begin simple enough with powering down shield generators or taking out anti-air turrets but when you reach the end of the mission it becomes basically a battle for survival when your screen and mini map fills up with so many enemies you begin to wonder how long you can make it. Don’t worry though because you will have weapons drops that will make items like rail guns and rocket launchers available to assist you to take out the hordes of enemies. Multiplayer playthroughs of Spartan Ops levels is a completely different feeling. You and three other players will take on the same objectives but with three other Spartans you will begin to achieve a certain feeling of badassery. It is here that the Spartan Ops mode finds its real footing. No matter what level your characters happen to be you will never feel under powered by your teammates. Just use good team work and don’t be a moron and the missions will be a rewarding experience.
Now that you have read (hopefully) everything that [amazon_link id=”B0050SYX8W” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Halo 4[/amazon_link] has to offer here is the real question. How does it stack up to all of series creators Bungie’s efforts? If you had told me a year or even six months ago that I was about to say this I would have look strangely back at you but Halo 4 is the best entry in the franchise. There is no denying this. 343 Industries has taken all the best parts from Bungie and made them better as well as adding their own set of features and game modes that make Halo 4 one of the best values in gaming. The story is paced perfectly and scripted great. The tale of Master Chief and Cortana has never felt more personal as the line is blurred between them on what is human and what is machine. Controls are tight and super responsive which is what we have come to expect from Halo. The multiplayer is balanced and players of lesser rank never feel like they are in a no win battle against teams of higher ranks. All of this would be worth the price of the game but then you also have Spartan Ops which gives you 50 new story based missions that only further add to the gameplay time and show that 343 Industries took special care to make sure that Halo’s return would be not just a memorable one but set a new high bar for all others that follow it.
Welcome back Chief. Its been a long wait but well worth it.
Pixar and Disney are the modern masters of animated films. There is no denying the impact they have made on cinema since the first Toy Story hit in 1995. You can begin to name off hit after hit and will no doubt have fond memories of most. Can Brave make a spot for itself among Pixar’s impressive library?
[amazon_link id=”B005LAIHZY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Brave[/amazon_link] is your basic tale of a princess who longs for more than the life that is set before her. Merida’s family rules over other allied clans in Scotland and when it is announced that she will be betrothed to one of the heirs from the other clans she refuses to let her life be determined for her. She finds a witch in the woods and has her concoct a spell that will change her mother’s mind about having her married off but as with most deals made with witches there are certain unknown circumstances.
Like I said it is not the most original of plots. Even when the curse takes effect it never really goes down the darker path you think it is going to turn. It takes a lighter approach which honestly for this movie was a good plan. Maybe it is just how our society has become trained to expect worse things so I applaud Pixar for keeping it more light hearted.
The script is not as sharp and snappy as most of Pixar’s efforts like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo but it is quite funny and a lot of that is due to the casting. Veteran actor Billy Connolly should be given every voice role for “Scottish father” from here on out. His role as King Fergus is the highlight of the fun parts of the movie. Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane and even Pixar alum John Ratzenberger are spot on.
Visually I wouldn’t say that Brave is the best Pixar has ever done (Up) but it is really, really close. Everytime they release a new feature it is simply amazing how much emotion these wizards are able to convey through computer generated characters. If there is an MVP of the group it would have to be whoever had the task of animating Merida’s crazy red locks of hair. It is crazy just how realistic it looks and they should be proud of that amount of work.
Brave was a hit like many expected and even though the film is very entertaining it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Toy Story 3, Up or The Incredibles.
The story doesn’t really tread any new ground when it comes right down to it. But it really doesn’t have to. Let’s not forget that this is a children’s film and should be viewed through more innocent eyes. And while it may not be in the upper echelon of Pixar’s releases just remember that a middle of the road movie from these guys is still better than most films out there. [amazon_link id=”B005LAIHZY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Brave[/amazon_link] should have a spot in your Pixar collection. Don’t look past it.
Taking A Look Back Has Me Looking Forward To More.
Almost every generation of video game consoles has had one definitive wrestling title. WWF No Mercy released on the Nintendo 64 is still widely regarded as the best wrestling game ever made. WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain on Playstation 2 brought the most complete package to that date of TV style presentation as well as an expanded control scheme that made almost anything possible and now on THQ’s seventh WWE game of the current generation they have made the definitive “must play” wrestling game.
Last year’s WWE 12 saw THQ completely scrap all the move animations that they had been collecting and using since 2007 and installed a new physics engine that they coined “Predator Technology”. Not only that but the team completely re-mapped the controls so that long time fans had a LOT to unlearn. It was a giant step in the right direction because you can tell that everything the developers learned last year has been brought over to this year’s game. The aptly named “Predator Technology 2.0” feels more smooth this year and with a host of new animations added to everything that was in last year’s version, makes WWE 13 feel as close to natural as you can probably get.
That is not to say there aren’t hiccups. Clipping and phasing through opponents and objects is still there but not near as rampant as it has been in past years. Honestly with everything the engine has to take into account including the different heights and weights of the wrestlers you can forgive a little bit of this. You will still have moments in matches where opponents won’t read steps being around them or how the top of the announce table doesn’t hit your grounded opponent but phase through them. It is a wrestling game. Belief should be suspended for some things.
Bringing Attitude Back
The biggest (and best) change this year is that the long running Road to Wrestlemania has been completely scrapped and in its place is the all new Attitude Era. What this does is takes you on a lengthy journey that celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Monday Night Wars and the beginnings of WWE’s Attitude Era.
I can not express enough how fun this is to play. Each section of Attitude Era is broken up into sections that involve the formation of DX, Stone Cold’s rise to the top of WWE, The Rock’s time as the Corporate Champ, Mick Foley’s championship dreams coming true and the road to Wrestlemania XV. Inside each section are between 7-12 matches and events that helped shaped the WWE’s win over WCW. For a lifelong wrestling fan I had so much fun playing through every bit of this. It brought me back and had me remembering specific nights when I could recall where I was and who I was with when I was watching the certain episode of RAW that the game had me playing. Even when you complete Wrestlemania XV you have an entirely new section available that includes random matches including Edge and Christian and the memorable Lita vs. Trish Stratus RAW main event. The nostalgia that was brought up is almost worth the price of the game.
Every match inside Attitude Era has a set criteria for completing the match. To get every unlockable open you will have to 100% not only just the match but the hidden objectives that pop up during the match. Don’t worry they are not overly difficult and for wrestling fans like myself you will be able to guess most of the hidden objectives just by your memory of the matches.
To help the Attitude Era seem like you are re-living those moments THQ has actually put in video packages that run in between sections and also has included the actual commentary from the WWE archives during matches. Not all of it is from the actual broadcast but the mix should not be recognizable to a lot of gamers. But if you are an old bum like me and remember things very vividly you will be able to spot the differences in the actual and newly recorded easily. One thing that is a bit annoying is that everytime during videos or commentary taken from the archives that someone says WWF the “F” is clipped out of the sound bite. I understand all the legal mumbo jumbo that goes into the WWE not being able to use it but it is a little distracting. This is not THQ’s fault and I really appreciate them putting the effort forward to include it.
Creating A Virtual Smackdown
User creation has always been one of the biggest part of any WWE game and this year’s does not disappoint. Create a wrestler is back and believe it or not it is even larger. A big plus is that a good majority of the moves added this year are very well done and makes you actually want to use them in the game. They didn’t just go through the sets and add in four different armbars and a new powerslam. Beyond the pre-set moves, create a finisher is just as fun as it was last year and now you have the ability to create your own signature maneuver as well.
Create an arena has been rebuilt this year to give you greater flexibility in crafting your vision. You can change every aspect of the ring as you could last year down to the design on the mats and rope color but the biggest change comes in how in depth you can get when you make your stages. Different arena sizes are available from high school gym all the way to Wrestlemania sized stadium shows. Alter your stages any way you want right down to what you want the runway ramp to say.
The championship editor is a good addition but it is not near as good as the belt creator was a few years ago. You can take any of the titles that appear in the game (which is quite sizable) and can alter the belt color and metal sheen of the championship and rename all the titles with a pre-set announcer name much like in create a superstar mode. It is good for a quick distraction but you won’t lose yourself in a wealth of options.
Chairs With Friends
Online is a mixed bag again this year. During last year’s game I had numerous problems even getting in the community server to upload and download wrestlers. I can not tell you how many times I would get on and it would tell me that the community services were down and to try back later. This year, getting into the community servers is normally a quick affair with download times being pretty decent. Downloading created storylines remains a fun affair because there are just so many insane ones out there to see. Some are almost as weird as Edge and Booker T feuding over a shampoo commercial. The big minus comes in online matches. I don’t do these a lot but to get the complete game experience I have tried to wrestle a few matches and each time I am kicked out into the lobby or can not connect at all. This is with my signal being near perfect by the way. Hopefully it is just minor hiccup that will be fixed with a patch.
The roster in WWE 13 is MASSIVE. This year offers 84 superstars after you unlock everyone and that is before the three DLC packs that will be released by January. There are some omissions from last year that I miss and wish would stay in the games on a yearly basis (like Macho Man) but this is still easily the largest roster THQ has ever offered. In place of most of the legends that have been appearing in various iterations, we are given a host of Attitude Era stars that have not been seen in a video game since the Nintendo 64 days. The Godfather, Ken Shamrock, New Age Outlaws, Big Bossman, APA and even the three faces of Foley will have you reliving all your favorite moments from over a decade ago.
THQ really has done a wonderful service for wrestling fans this year. For lifelong fans that long for better days (especially when you watch Monday nights now) this is the year to finally pick up a WWE game. Don’t mistake this for just another yearly update of a tired game. WWE 13 has improved on all the good steps taken last year in term of control and match options. By letting fans relive the major moments of the Attitude Era, WWE 13 reminds us of the best days that the world of sports entertainment ever saw, when the Monday night wars were raging and WWE was appointment television. It is easily the most fun and complete wrestling game of this generation.
I watched my first Bond movie when I was nine years old. The movie was Goldfinger and although I did not understand any of the sexual innuendo what I did get was that this James Bond guy was one smooth customer. He always had the answers and the way out of any situation, even when that situation involved a laser beam moving towards your junk. And thus began my longtime love of agent 007.
Enter 2012. The Bond film franchise is now 23 films in and celebrating its 50th anniversary. It has been four years since Quantum of Solace was released and mostly looked down on by fans that said the movie had no real emotion attached to it. Now Skyfall is here and not only makes up for the missteps of its predecessor but does something that no one really saw coming. It is the best Bond film ever made.
After a chase scene that involves motorcycling on rooftops and fisticuffs on top of a train that rivals Casino Royale’s parkour inspired opening, Bond is shot and left floating down a river. But we know this is not the end. Even though Bond is off as he puts it “enjoying death”, MI6 and more specifically M are under attack by someone from her past that has gained access to NATO’s list of undercover agents implanted throughout the world. He is slowly releasing the names of the agents and this has the British government questioning whether M is losing a step and should be forced to retire.
When a bomb goes off from within MI6 Bond returns to help find who is leading this attack. But like M, Bond’s usefulness is brought into question and must go through agent testing and through a little fudging on M’s part gets him back in the field. He tracks down a former agent of M’s named Silva, played with perfect insanity by Javier Bardem. He is back to exact revenge on M for what he calls “past sins” but she just sees as doing her job.
While the plot may sound small for a Bond flick this movie is anything but. Make no mistake about it, Skyfall is big. Never before has a 007 film opened up so much past story on its hero or for that matter, M. This is as much her story as it is Bond’s and we all should be thankful for that because it gives Judi Dench a chance to really show the internal conflict of a person in authority when her job is watching over a country’s safety and looking out for the things that go bump in the night yet remaining responsible for the consequences of her choices.
It would be easy to say that she steals this movie away from the men but I really can’t when every major performance is just so damn good.
Daniel Craig looks to have found a new swagger for the role. The kind of Bond you knew he was going to be in Casino Royale. He is not just a suave womanizer or a pun spouting machine (I love Roger Moore’s Bond btw) but he is a character with depth. Watching him in the last half of the movie as his past is revealed shows that Bond is more than just a killing machine but a man with different layers of personality that have been molded by a life less ordinary. It is the quintessential 007 performance by which all future actors should be judged. It is that good.
The one thing that Craig’s Bond has been lacking is that defining villain. While Le Chiffre in Casino Royale was good you never really felt he would be remembered in the pantheon of great villains for the franchise like Auric Goldfinger, Red Grant or Karl Stromburg. And try and name me the villain from Quantum of Solace without scratching your head for a second (it was Dominic Greene). But Oscar winner Javier Bardem changes all that. He is a game changer. The first Bond villain which I felt a true sense of dread for everyone involved with the movie. Silva is all the best traits from previous villains mixed in with a little Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight. He is that in control, always two steps ahead. I have no problem saying I think Bardem should get his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor from this movie.
The Bond women are more of an afterthought in this movie which is OK with me considering how much of a personal story this is for Bond and M. Berenice Marlohe’s Severine is servicable for her part. She plays Silva’s “woman acquaintance” who is basically a segue to get Bond to meet with Silva for the first time. If you are any kind of fan of this series you know her fate is sealed without surprise. Naomie Harris as MI6 agent Eve is a different story. A field agent at the beginning of the movie but is put on desk duty, she carries her own when bantering with Bond which is essential when something is revealed near the end of the film.
Every role in this movie is an important part no matter how small it may seem. Ben Wishaw plays Bond’s new Q with a wit and confidence about him that truly makes me excited for the future of his role. Not just relegated to giving Bond exploding pens or suitcases that spit out knives, this Q is the future agent of this new technological world of espionage. Ralph Fiennes role while filming was always kept under a little bit of secrecy and for good reason. I won’t go any farther into it but know that he is very good and will be around for awhile.
I really can’t remember the last time a Bond movie was this beautiful. From Singapore to Macau to the misty fogs of Scotland, this movie’s backdrops are a cinematographer’s dream. If you have a chance I would suggest you see this in IMAX to truly see the beauty of the world that it conveys.
Skyfall brings into question Bond’s usefulness in this new computer driven world of good and bad guys. When criminals can rob banks and destroy economies from the comfort of their home is there really a need for a trigger man? With this movie franchise now in its 50th year these are questions that must be answered. Luckily for us the answer is a resounding yes. Skyfall shows how Bond is needed not just in his world of spy vs. spy but how important he remains in the world of pop culture. And as I watched Bond movies and think back to when I was nine and was entranced with suave secret agents with Walther PPK’s and 1963 Aston Martin DB5’s (which makes a comeback here) I felt that same sense of awe when I watched Skyfall. And to me, that is a special kind of movie.
Skyfall takes Bond (and M) to the past and in doing so has secured the future of the franchise. It is the most ambitious and risk taking of all of 007’s adventures and it pays off in every way. Skyfall should be talked about in the Best Picture category this year (no kidding) and is not only the best film of 2012 (so far) but is the best Bond movie ever made.
One of the most wanted games coming out of this year’s E3 was easily [amazon_link id=”B005C2D2MO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dishonored[/amazon_link]. With its unique blend of artistic styles (think steampunk meets Half-Life) and first person stealth play it was easy to see why it won so many “best of E3” awards. Now the game is finally here. Can it live up to a lot of the lofty expectations put upon it?
The answer is: mostly.
Dishonored thrusts you in the role of Corvo Attano, who is the Lord Protector for the Empress of the city of Dunwall. He has returned home from a crucial mission when assassins appear and kill the Empress and abduct her daughter Emily. You are taken into custody thought to be the murderer and in the jail is where your adventure begins.
A note from a friend with the key to your cell makes its way to you and after you escape you are brought to The Hound Pits bar where you meet the people who released you. They are part of a small movement who realize you are innocent and that there is treachery in the city of Dunwall. The bar will be your main hub from where you will be given missions and begin to search for Emily and try and take the city back.
The city of Dunwall isn’t really an open world experience but the amount that you get to traverse on any given mission is sizable. There is no denying the detail and beauty in the old Victorian style. Buildings range from the ornate to the completely desolate depending on what part of the city you happen to be in but it never truly feels alive like the first time you walked around Rapture in Bioshock which you can’t help but compare this game to when you are playing.
“Blinking” is so in these days.
Corvo’s ability to traverse Dunwall effectively and use either stealth or straight forward attacks is fun because of the sheer amount of unlockables in his inventory. Your main weapon of choice is a sword but much like the previously mentioned Bioshock you have the ability to dual wield a host of different abilities. Pistols, crossbows with sleep darts or incendiary arrows or you other magical abilities are use with your left hand. One negative is that you are given two different ways to access your abilities: the “quick” pull up with the d-pad and the ability wheel which pauses gameplay and lets you choose among all of your special attacks. The problem comes in the middle of combat when you need more than four options on the d-pad to quickly pull up because whenever you decide to use something not on your quick list the pausing of gameplay takes away from the free-flowing feel of combat.
Your main magical use will most likely be the “blink” ability which is a quick teleport that can be upgraded to go over greater distances. You will need to use blink effectively if you want to hop from rooftop to rooftop or escape from a group of enemies effectively. For the most part it works as it is supposed to but sometimes you will be left not hopping onto ledges as you need to and if you are in the middle of combat it can be a little annoying. It does feel really good to get the jump on an enemy by blinking right in front of them and burying your knife in their throat though.
The way you gain new abilities is by finding runes and bone charms throughout the city. The runes can be used to upgrade your abilities like slowing time, possessing animal or man and even releasing an infected rat swarm to devour an opponent. Likewise bone charms are used to add perks to your game such as health and mana increases, enemy grenades not exploding for longer or ammo pickups being more frequent. Now you are not just blindly wandering around levels in search for these items you are given a mystical heart that shows you how far away these enchantments are.
Let’s create some chaos.
The story in Dishonored is not bad but a little on the weak side. After a good beginning it really becomes a bit bogged down with characters that are not ever really fleshed out so when we should feel a sense of caring for fallen people or betrayal by others I was only listening to understand the next mission. It is a shame really because the game sets up itself well enough with you wanting to rescue the Empress’s daughter but by the time a big event in the game happens (which anyone worth their salt can see coming a few missions before) you are not focused wholly on the story anymore. Maybe I was detached too early or expecting more out of it.
Arkane has done a good job with cause and effect in the game. Determined on how you conduct yourself during the game you will be treated differently by NPC’s and have alternate endings. You can choose to go through the game by straight up knifing and exploding anyone you find or you can go the exact opposite route and play the entirety of the game without killing a soul. At the end of each mission you are given a rundown of your effectiveness and given a high or low chaos rating which goes towards how your game will play out. I tried to get a good mix going of both but soon realized that I just like stabbing people too much and went straight high chaos. Dishonored encourages multiple playthroughs with how the city is affected by your actions which is a fresh approach. High chaos will see the city become more overrun with infected plague rats and weepers (infected humans that serve as a “zombie” type character) as well as the number of guards will be increased. Fans of games like Thief or early Splinter Cell’s will most certainly want to take the extra time and go complete stealth for the lower guard totals and clean hands achievement. You will need to keep your chaos rating under 20% to get a low ranking.
[amazon_link id=”B005C2D2MO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dishonored[/amazon_link] is an ambitious title. There is no denying that. Arkane has attempted to fuse the best of many classic games like Thief, Half-Life, Splinter Cell and Bioshock into one package. For the most part they have succeeded. The game is aesthetically beautiful but never feels truly like its own entity like Rapture. I enjoyed my time with Dishonored thoroughly but never really attached myself to the story that I was hoping would be stronger than it was. It is refreshing in places but does not reach the heights that I was hoping it could. You can not go wrong picking this up if you are a fan of any of the previously mentioned games just keep your expectations in check. You may believe it is a game of the year candidate like many reviewers have said but as for me it was a very good game that tripped up in a few places.
