Movie Round Up

Batman: The Dark Knight (2008 / USA)
A genre masterpiece which manages to maintain a relentless pace throughout it’s 150mins, not just through typically dynamic action sequences but via an engaging and enjoyably convoluted plot. Nit –pickers will have to bite their tongues as the level of entertainment is well worth the suspension of disbelief.

Prom Night (2007 / USA)
Generic teen slasher which despite being fairly slick in parts, never breaks from the tired clichés in almost every scene.

Wicked Little Things (2004 / USA)
Unfortunately this dull horror never makes the most of its excellent locations and superbly dilapidated sets. The decent premise is ruined by woeful plot exposition which leaves very little worth recommending.

Death Proof (2006 / USA)
An over-reliance on kitch B-movie references and dialogue which is well below Taratino’s normally excellent standard makes for a film which takes far too long to get going and then fails to live up to its potential.

Welcome to the NHK (Manga)

A story revolving around a depressed recluse who hardly leaves the house and has little social contact is never going to be plot heavy but Tatsuhiko Takimoto manages to generate enough twists, turns and cliffhangers without ever really venturing out side the head of it’s main protagonist.
The dark humour is apparent from the very beginning where nothing is taboo as societies norms are, apparently, torn apart through the eyes of a crazed otaku. The majority of the laughs are to be had at Satou’s inability to cope with other people and his environment but there’s a more subtle level of tragic comedy, at the levels of denial he is willing to undertake to avoid such stressful situations, to be found throughout the manga.
The humorously over-the-top illustrations of Satou’s face as it contorts in anguish are a regular feature and are drawn in a very individual style with our hero often appearing to be decomposing with embarrassment.
As the story progresses Satou’s develops relationships with other deranged individuals and the bizarre reasons they have for being so demented are explored with a keen understanding of psychoanalysis and sociology allowing for a viewpoint that is fresh if a little hard-going at times. The insight into the minds of the young adults as they struggle to cope with the expectations and demands that come with maturity is handled skilfully and delicately, despite the often warped and sometimes crass situations.
The comedy all but disappears during the middle act of the story as Satou plunges deeper and deeper into despair. As things take a less surreal turn, the writer seems more concerned with exorcising his own demons through the analysis of Satous fragile condition which can leave some of the chapters feeling a little flat.
The underlying romance elements are superbly done and takes the usual “will they/wont they” dynamic to new levels, forcing the reader to question if the romance element indeed exists at all as the protagonists struggle to get to grips with their very existence let alone each other!
The “love story” becomes more prevalent in the latter half of the manga and eventually proves cause for the return of the humour towards the end as the writer attempts capture the magic of the opening acts. Unfortunately, despite delivering many excellent points of thought, it never really reaches the manic heights laid down in the opening chapters. Although, that said, it keeps the reader thoroughly gripped throughout as the intriguing and complex characters collide and self-destruct with only fleeting moments of hope or clarity.
You are sure to find an idiosyncrasy of your own reflected in one of the neurotics on display as it demonstrates how ultimately we’re all a bit messed up in our own way!

Movie Round-up

Wanted (2008/USA)

It’s hard to know if you’re laughing at, or with this film. The hilariously preposterous stunts are quite entertaining but the droll pseudo-solemn moments are highly aggravating. Arguably the stupidest film of all time (and certainly holds the record for most slo-mo used)

The Italian Job (2003/USA)
Not really much to this fairly threadbare heist movie. It seems to bank everything on a grand-stand finish but the deficiency of wit or guile may have you turning off before hand

I, Robot (2004/USA)
Surprisingly solid sci-fi thriller which provides the action and drama but doesn’t quite make the leap to stirring your imagination the way the best examples of the genre do.

Superbad (2007/USA)
Exceeded my expectations of another “American Pie”, with its more grounded approach and the undeniable charm of the two leads. There’s still plenty of “frat-boy” humour but its handled with a little more nous which gives this the edge on most, recent teenage comedies.

Superhero Movie (2008/USA)
One of the better “…..Movie”, films but suffers from the same flaw as the others in that all the jokes are used up by the time it’s half way through. The want for a more creative story is evident as it sticks rigidly to the Spiderman plot when so much more spoofingly-good tomfoolery could’ve been had.

Call of Duty 4 (PS3)

I was very wary of the hype surrounding this game as my previous experiences with the COD series have been less than favourable. I’m more of an old school FPS person and would lean more towards the pure gaming dynamics of Quake or HALO over realistic battlefield engagements. The difficulty in picking out targets, the whole long-ranged approach to gunfighting (as well as them dodgy WW2 guns!) and the heavily scripted nature of proceedings hamper my enjoyment. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised by this offering from Infinity Ward.

To begin with I got a feeling of “here we go again” whilst playing the first couple of missions. The level of freedom afforded the player is negligible as you follow your team-mates around with little impact on what is happening. But as you begin to progress through the levels you gradually get more responsibility and the maps begin to open up allowing for various angles of approach. Its during the scripted moments that you begin to appreciate the level of sophistication of the AI. Their use of the cover and group tactics aren’t the best you’ve ever seen but the overarching strategy of each situation tests your wits as well as you reflexes, they really do make you work hard!

The variety of the levels is fantastic, both in terms of location and operation. You could be sniping in a Russian backwater, running and gunning in a nuclear bunker, slowly infiltrating an Islamic TV station or making a night-vision guided bombing raid. Throughout the atmosphere is spot on. The graphics are always full of detail and lighting effects but it’s the sounds of the soldiers, both your teammates and the enemy, and the flying ordinance buzzing past your head that really makes you feel like you’re in the maelstrom of battle.

The single player campaign is only about 6-8 hours long (at the most) but it does offer plenty of replayibility with a high-score driven arcade mode and unlockables. Really though, it’s the multiplayer that offers the endless hours of gaming that will prevent you from trading this in. Everything about the online mode reeks of class. The sleek interface, easy set-up and countless options have set the bar for the PS3 online experience. The level of customization you can carry out is truly awe inspiring from the umpteen different game modes to the uber-tweakable character classes. The gradual way all of this unlocks gives great incentive to keep playing and improving as every few experience points earned brings you one step closer to a new gun or ability. Challenges are there for each weapon to upgrade them (eg get 25kills to add a red-laser sight) as well as more general challenges that earn bonus experience points (and unlock further challenges!). Such distractions are very welcome as you learn the unforgiving online game but once you get your skills up to scratch you can begin to appreciate all of the customizations and tweaks that are there for you. Coupled with the depth and variety of the maps available theres enough to keep you going for a very long time.

Overall it’s hard to fault the game. Yes, the single player is short but it’s a case of the wheat being cut from the chaff as theres little or no repetition or padding in the missions. If you want an online FPS for your PS3, this is the one.

Movie Round up

The Orphanage (2008 / Spain)
An engrossing supernatural tale which uses traditional horror techniques without ever seeming cliched. The spine-tingling atmosphere conjured by Bayona / Del Toro is beyond that of their contemporaries making this a modern classic of the genre.

Blades of Glory (2007 / USA)
This starts off as predictable as any of the other plethora of films churned out of the Stiller/Ferrell/Wilson stable with their “one note” approach to comedy (this instance being that ice-skating is “gay”). The final 30mins or so, however, contain some genuinely hilarious scenes and some incredibly silly laughs.

Diary of the Dead (2008 / USA)
Not a continuation of Romero’s “Dead” lineage but more of a reflection upon them from a different angle. The handheld/amateur movie route doesn’t work as well as the similar Cloverfield and becomes a pointless gimmick before long. The scaled-down action strangely doesn’t generate the claustrophobic atmosphere you’d expect from Romero. Some excellent (and of course gory) special effects don’t rescue this from being a disappointment from the zombie-maestro.

Black Hawk Down (2001 / USA)
There’s a bearable limit to chaos and after an hour and a half of it, regardless of how realistic a portrayal it is, you begin to yearn for something to hold your imagination. Fortunately the final hour provides some more tangible scenes and action but if you’re looking for something more going on beyond the gunfights of the frontline you’ll be disappointed.

Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)

GTA4 is easily the most anticipated game of 2008, but is it worthy of the hype? The answer is that most people don’t really care, as long as it delivers what they expect from a GTA title – great characters, crass humour, clever incidental moments and, of course, plenty of violence. Personally I’m more concerned with whether it’s a decent game or not, but more of that later.

GTA fans will be more than happy as Rockstar once again delivers a host of foul-mouthed caricatures spouting machismo monosylabics through to quirky, albeit humourous, nonsense with a plot that’s an enjoyable mish-mash of clichéd themes and over-the-top dramatics. The real highlights of the script are delivered by the bit-part players - the satirical ramblings of the radio DJs, the lampooning advertisements for ridiculous products and the everyday back-chat from passers by, taxi drivers etc.

However, such entertainment is marred by the low-brow nature of the humour on display – every single piece of word-play is either a sexual double-entendre or a toilet-related innuendo. In small doses (for instance a bill board for a haulage company called “R S Haul – We’ll dump your load”) its quite amusing but when its so prevalent and often unnecessary (in the case of the internet café called T.W.@ - the hilarious joke being that it’s a “rude” word! That’s it!) it really begins to feel juvenile and grating.

I wouldn’t want to be accused of not seeing the wood for the trees, as no amount of cosmetic annoyances can take away from the achievement that is Liberty City itself. The busy streets, the traffic systems, the feel to the different boroughs – the sheer amount of things happening at once really makes it a compelling environment to explore and experience and a real technical accomplishment. The scale of it all and the seamless transition from area to area more than makes up for the aesthetically (but certainly not technically) underwhelming nature of the graphics.

So what does it play like then? Well they’ve refined the aiming and made the driving more fun but basically it’s the same old GTA – “Great!”, scream the converted but I for one am not so sure.

The number one fall-down of the previous games, the shooting/aiming, has been given an overhaul with the addition of a functional cover system and semi-manual aiming but whereas this improves the feel of gunplay it still isn’t as good as it should be. There’s never that real excitement to the gun battles with the poor AI simply meaning the enemies play pop-up target and present no challenge other than their increasing numbers as the game progresses. At that stage gunning them all down becomes an attritional chore.

Another chore, the long haul drives from A to B, have been improved with the addition of public transport. Just hail a cab or get on the subway and you can be at your goal is seconds! This is a genuine progression for the series and is much welcomed.

An aspect that is still sorely in need of such forward thinking is the save/checkpoint system. You may be able to get a cab to take the sting out of transport but if you hit one of the many difficulty spikes (another bugbear) you could be getting that same cab over and over again thanks to a checkpoint system that throws you back to the beginning of even the longest of missions. And by beginning I don’t mean when the action starts, I mean the drive over to the mission! Worst of all any cash/bullets/armour you expended on the last run aren’t refunded upon restart!

The nature of the missions is also a source of disappointment both in their variety and deficiency of innovation. Very few deviate from the pre-established and most are merely re-hashed from previous games. There’s also a distinct lack of freedom or choice within missions which (coupled with the dull shooting) can see the player slip into auto-pilot merely following the prompts at the bottom of the screen.

The whole choices/consequences dynamic was readily touted by Rockstar before release but bar a few contrived scenarios this is never really in evidence. Any hopes for a subtle and ubiquitous system of decisions and outcomes are long forgotten when after hearing a reasonable plea for mercy from a target only to be followed by the prompt to “Kill Him” at the bottom of the screen.

The proposed levels of interaction are also a lot less than expected. The reactions of most random objects are fine but there just isn’t enough of a variety to make things interesting. A few cardboard boxes and rubbish bins here and there but nothing to really spark the imagination. Its hard to believe the bar set by Deus Ex in 2000 has rarely been met. The amount of shops and buildings in general that can be entered is extremely limited and really takes away from the immersion or “sandbox” feel. The lacklustre mini-games (bowling, darts etc) are atrocious, playing worse than a homemade flash game.

Overall there isn’t a true next-gen feel to the game with some of the aforementioned flaws (gunplay, checkpoints, mission structure etc) beginning to seem antiquated. I can’t help thinking this isn’t much more than a PS2 game with better graphics and a few bells and whistles thrown in.

Having said all that its still a good game, containing a lot of the entertainment value and addictiveness you’d come to expect, it just hasn’t evolved to keep up with some modern standards and is thus a disappointment.

In my opinion Rockstar have come to the place Capcom were with Resident Evil before they evolved the game to something fresh and new but yet true to the originals. Its tempting to keep giving their hordes of fans more of the same but there’s only so long before clunky control systems and archaic game mechanics begin to feel their age. Next time around we can only hope for the gameplay that can match the experience.

Yet Another Movie Round Up!!

Awake (2008 / USA)
A reasonable thriller that threatens to really engage without ever quite succeeding. It seems oddly structured with an overly lengthy introduction and abrupt ending (which could easily have been the middle act!) The central premise, that of “anaesthetic awareness”, is oddly redundant and could have been omitted without affecting the plot.

30 Days of Night (2007 / USA)
A fast-moving and extremely gory survival-horror that wastes few of its 113mins. The dialogue can be a bit ropey at times and there are a few gaping plot holes but bar that it comes highly recommended to fans of the genre.

I am Legend (2007 / USA)
A decent post-apocalyptic romp marred by unnecessarily sentimental “Hollywood moments” especially during the latter half. Overall a bit hit and miss

Lars and the Real Girl (2007 / USA)
Not the mindless comedy I was expecting but rather an enjoyable, albeit slightly sentimental, look at the approach to mental illness which is neither too light-hearted nor too preachy. Top performances all round, especially Gosling as Lars, enhances the experience further.

One Missed Call (2008 / USA)
Poor remake of the cult Japanese horror that lacks the intensity and sense of humour of the original. The attempt to tie up the loose ends (as opposed to the originals fairly loose explanations) works somewhat but fails to have any real impact.