Movie Round Up

28 Days Later (2002 / UK)
Full of good ideas and intentions but let down by its pace that diminishes during the middle act. The film badly loses direction as it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Lacks the focus and intensity of its superior sequel.

A Bittersweet Life (2005 / Korea)
A stylish and beautifully shot, mafia-revenge story that’s full of exciting action sequences. Whilst the plot is hardly original its deep enough to lend meaning to the violence but shallow enough not to get in the way.

War (2007 / USA)
Disappointingly lacking in action, considering the “pedigree” of the two leads, for the first hour or so. Thankfully things pick up from there but the inevitable, final showdown is a bit of an anti-climax. There are a few twists in the tale to keep it interesting but overall it’s quite average compared to Li and Statham at their best.

Spiderman (2002 / USA)
Bar going down a darker route (ala Batman Begins) it’s hard to imagine how a superhero movie could be done much better. Thoroughly entertaining.

Wedding Crashers (2005 / USA)
Definitely (and surprisingly) more rom than com. With laugh-out-loud moments so thin on the ground and the creeping, and extremely predictable, plot (is there actually a rom-com that isn’t predictable? Or is that part of the bargain?) it’s tough going to make it through the 2 hours. (Thankfully Will Ferrell cameos for a stint at the end) Overall: Dull.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)

This is truly a next-gen title, the jaw-dropping graphics coupled with its proper cinematic feel make for an experience which feels altogether different.
The gameplay, though, is a familiar mix of Prince of Persia-esque platform action and Resident Evil 4 style shooting which works well together, although the two elements are usually separated by well defined areas of the environments.
Speaking of the environments, they’re unbelievable – lush and dense and brimming with colour and light in the jungle settings and eerily dark and full of shadows and torchlight in other areas. The graphics throughout are of the highest standard, from the fluid animation of the facial features and exaggerated actions of Mr. Drake to the incidental spot effects of smoke and light, all produced through truly state of the art techniques.
The sound too deserves special mention. The orchestra of tribal beats that keeps the momentum up and the blood flowing truly adds to the movie-like quality of the game. It’s actually tough to find an area of the game that isn’t highly polished and credit must go to Naughty Dog for the love and attention that was so obviously poured into it.
The controls are tight and responsive and they need to be as the enemy AI is progressive and rarely spoils the suspension of disbelief. You will be often flanked and surrounded as the enemies constantly look for better cover and angles. The realism is let down by the enemies high damage thresholds and at times only a few well placed head shots will stop you from being swamped by the lead-absorbing hordes. This is counter-balanced by Drake’s equally resilient flesh which recharges health fairly quickly compared to most other titles. The lack of any onscreen indication of health is off-putting to begin with but the quick recovery rate makes it easy to adapt (the lack of any in-game life “top-ups” is also made welcomely redundant)
This generous approach to damage makes for easy progress through the game, especially once the more powerful weapons become available. The puzzle and platform elements aren’t the most taxing either meaning the whole game only takes about 10 hours to complete making this a typical next-gen title that is meant for everyone not just the hardcore.
There are some aspects to the game that aren’t so modern though. Its rigidly linear and is riddled with old-school inconsistencies relating to your interactions with the environment. For example Drake will easily leap 15 feet when required but some 3 foot high rocks can’t be scaled. There’s a disappointing lack of destroyable scenery (especially windows!?).
Minor niggles aside, this is a thoroughly absorbing game with brilliant characters and a decent storyline to keep you interested in between shoot-outs. A must buy for PS3 owners.

Movie Round Up

The Assassination of Jesse James… (2007 / USA)
A long drawn-out film comprising of long drawn-out scenes, but that’s not to say it’s not good! Some of the scenes are brimful of tension, threatening to boil over at any moment whilst others are disappointingly ponderous. Pitt gives a great performance as the psychotic and paranoid titular character.

Shrooms (2007 /UK/IRL/DAN)
Ten minutes in this is all set up for your average teen slasher/horror but it fails to even make the grade of competent. The horror scenes lack key elements to make them work and it doesn’t even register on the scare-o-meter thanks to the clumsy exposition of the supernatural plot.

Planet Terror (2007 / USA)
A superbly, and deliberately, kitsch film that merges the genres of horror, comedy and action to great effect. It starts a tad slow but it gains momentum as it gets more and more ridiculous as it goes on (almost touching on spoof at the end). A must see for 70’s horror fans.

The Doll Master (2004 / Korea)
The first half of this failed to really catch the interest or progress the plot much. In contrast, the second half was clever, albeit confusing, and often terrifyingly creepy. It culminates with an exciting finale and an almost comprehensible explanation for it all. Another quality entry to the Asian Horror genre.

Bank Job (2008 / UK)
A heist movie by numbers that neither puts much of a foot wrong nor does anything beyond the expected. Jason Statham fans may be disappointed at the lack of fisticuffs.

Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

Some 16 months after R:FOM’s release and it’s demotion from an essential “early adopter” purchase to somewhat less than a killer ap, it’s a good time to assess how Sony’s HALO-contender stands up in the cold light of day.
Although it may have been surpassed in recent times by the likes of Call of Duty 4 and Half Life 2, I was surprised by how this first generation title has stood the test of time. The graphics are still of a very high calibre, albeit a bit drab at time, but the attention to detail and the robust physics engine still stand out.
The first level is probably the worst of the game. Its very linear, dull and uninspiring. Thankfully, what follows are a much better example of a modern FPS as it throws some large battlefields at you with both enemy and allied AI keeping a reasonable status quo for you to attempt to swing in the humans favour.
The mix of levels and the pacing are generally good. Having broken through the frontlines in a siege one minute you’ll be promptly treated to some more claustrophobic, corridor action the next. Whilst the AI is hardly revolutionary, it seems perfectly at home in either arena and gives as good as it gets.
As you feel your getting to grips with things, gradually the complications of an increasing arsenal of some very imaginative weaponry really adds an extra dimension to things. You’ll have to learn how to, both, utilise and avoid guns which can either fire around corners, through walls, bounce off things, stick to things etc etc.
Its with this great play-set of armaments that the most joy is to be had as some of the missions can fall a bit flat with decent set-pieces sometimes few and far between. The vehicle based levels (which there are thankfully only a handful) are mostly dull and of little challenge.
The Normal difficulty level is probably a bit forgiving for most seasoned FPS fans with only the last couple of levels proving any challenge. But there are two further difficulty levels (one unlockable) to test those who are so inclined and there are a host of mini-rewards for doing various actions on each level to enhance replay ability. The recharging energy bar only charges back up to the nearest quarter but the amount of health distributed in game (and the fact that you restart a checkpoint with full health) means that even the stickiest of sticking points is always passable.
The online mode is quite comprehensive with a good selection of game types and a ranking mode all easily and, more importantly, quickly accessible.
Overall R:FOM is an accomplished, if not spectacular, title that will keep FPS fans happy its beautiful (and often surreal) environments , messing about with some great guns with a respectable storyline holding it all together.

Man City 1 – 3 Arsenal

Arsenal started well but almost found themselves behind after 5mins when Elano sent a dinked ball over the defence that was only inches from being put away by Ireland.
It wasn’t long before the visitors were in front. Sang made an incisive run into the box pulling back the ball to Adebayor who scrambled the ball home to make it 0-1 after 8mins.
City didn’t really respond and stuck to their counter-attacking gameplan as Arsenal continues to dominate. Petrov, on 24mins, with their most attacking move as he marauded down the left, past two Arsenal players but couldn’t find a finish.
A minute later Arsenal doubled there lead when Adebayor nodded down to Eduardo for the in-form striker to control on his chest and volley into the back of the net form 8 yards.
Still without much effort the home side responded when on 27mins Clichy failed to deal with a long ball and let Corluka in who set up Fernandes to pass the ball past Lehmann to make it 1-2.
Arsenal really looked in the mood for the remainder of the half and had several chances to extend their lead. Adebayor coming closest on 43mins when his headed effort was cleared off the line following a corner kick.
The home side continued to sit back in the second half with the visitors looking rampant. Twice City were lucky to stay in the game when, firstly on 57mins, Adebayor tee’d up Fabregas but the Spaniard’s normally reliable shooting let him down as he blazed over . And then on 63mins Adebayor was though and went down under pressure from Richards but rightly no penalty was awarded.
With three quarters of the game gone City finally began to step it up as the game got alot more physical. Both sides were looking to score and the game didn’t lack excitement but it was the visitors who were always the more likely to score. Adebayor and Fabregas both came close before, on 87mins, a clinical break put the match to bed. Several one-twos between Fabreas and Hleb opened up the space for Adebayor who slotted home from 12 yards out.
It’s hard to criticise City for their lack of ambition as they were up against a really flowing and in-form Arsenal side.

Movie Round Up

Conspiracy Theory (1997 / USA)

A subtly tongue-in-cheek thriller aided by some well thought-out action sequences and a great comic performance by Mel Gibson. Hollywood at it’s best.

Blood Diamond (2006 / USA)

A more action packed film then the political thriller I was expecting but probably all the better for it as it helps maintain the pace and the 143mins don’t drag at all. The solemn tone is maintained with the minimum of preaching at the audience and the high level of acting throughout. A must see.

Cloverfield (2008 / USA)

An intense survival-horror cum disaster film that uses special effects and surround sound to great effect. The shaky hand-held video camera approach really helps promote feelings of anxiety and intrigue and increases the sense of immersion which adds something new to the canon of disaster films. Highly Recommended.

Death Train AKA Detonator (1993 / UK/USA)

The fact that this is Baywatch actress, Alexandra Paul’s, career low-point speaks volumes. Lacking any creativity, originality or wit it’s arguably one of the worst films of all time. How a sequel exists is beyond belief.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

I love Resident Evil. The dilapidated locations, the cheesy dialogue, the huge plot holes and the whole B-Movie feeling to everything. All of these elements are present in this latest version but these alone do not a good game make.

It comes as a relief when first playing that it really does feel like a Resident Evil game as it so easily could’ve been a cobbled-together exploitation of a successful series with some new Wii controls tagged on.

Said controls are soundly calibrated and, as you would hope from a pseudo light-gun game, provide a sufficient degree of accuracy to make the game both accessible and also challenging. Although getting head shots (or “Critical Hits”) proves quite tricky to begin with it, it’s a skill that does come after practice. These critical hits become increasingly necessary as the game progresses in order to preserve ammo whilst dealing with the hordes of undead that are thrown at you. The aiming reticules are particularly large though and it can become confusing in 2-player which is who’s as they change colour but this is only a minor bugbear.

As a gun game it’s quite a long one with 12 levels pulled from the featured games of the series (RE0,1,2 and 3) and plenty of unlockable side-missions on top of that (detailing sub-plots and missing links from the games) which adds up to 20+ levels.

Adding to its longevity is a rating system which rewards skilful play with the ability to upgrade the familiar arsenal of guns ala RE4. There is also a full list of token unlockables for the die hard completists.

The graphics and sound mightn’t really push the Wii to its limits (they are of similar quality to the Gamecube remake) but they are of a familiar high-standard design and evoke the type of atmosphere needed.

Overall it’s a quality game, especially in 2-player, and an essential for fans of the series. Although with the dearth of good Wii games around it’s a worthwhile addition to anyone’s collection (especially if you have a Zapper!)