Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review

Michael Bay is a mastermind genius, I know the majority of people would vehemently disagree with me convincing me otherwise with arguments like plots in his movies are paper thin or his characters are all one dimensional and are almost always on the verge of insulting racism in their characterization. And truth be told I agree with all of these sentiments, but if there is one thing Bay can do is illicit some of the strongest reactions and emotions out of an entire theater of people that I have ever seen. Watching Dark of the Moon the latest in the Bay line of Transformer movies was a learning experience for me, because for every joke I would winch at the audience would respond with uproarious laughter. When Optimus Prime gives a speech so cheesy and melodramatic I would roll my eyes the crowd instead would cheer and holler in a overwhelming wave of applause. And that is when I knew this movie is an astounding accomplishment. It is so implicitly entertaining and constantly jaw-dropping that it gave me the best experiences I've ever had in a theater.

This is normally where I would describe the plot of the movie, and the journey the main characters go through to reach their end goal. I might also mention something about character arcs and emotional development. But lets be honest this is not only a Michael Bay movie but a Transformers movie so all that fly's out the window directly followed by a hail of bullets and fireball explosion. Suffice to say Decepticons are up to no good with some elaborate plot to destroy all the Autobots and take over Earth and the entire human race. Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is out of college and looking for his first job, and has somehow managed to find a girlfriend even hotter than Megan Fox with Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Quickly (an hour into the movie) everything goes to hell in a handbag when the Decepticons begin the first phase in their plan and Sam is thrust back into the war and forced to take action when everyone around him seems to be ignoring the not so subtle clues about a full on invasion that is about to occur.

While the first hour of the movie is mostly boring as it deals solely on characters that mean nothing to anybody and is filled to the brim with Bay's signature style of childish and immensely unfunny comedy. This is the worst part of the movie and is often times excruciatingly long boring and overwrought with things being explained and re-explained as if the audience is actually invested in the rich fiction and story. It isn't until the Decipticons start assassinating the humans that have helped them stay undetected that the movie starts kicking into high gear with a montage of slightly horrifying murders across the country. Once this very small bit of action begins the movie barely gives you time to breath, with the Decipticons continuing to find success in their plan. Pretty soon the entirety of Chicago is attacked and falls siege to their plan as they get ready to transport via teleportation devices their home planet of Cybertron into Earth's orbit. They create a fortress of sorts that prevents any military from getting anywhere near the city. So its up to Sam a group of ex-NEST soldiers (the Autobots human allies) to infiltrate the city and save Sam's girlfriend who is trapped in the center of the city.

The last hour and a half of Dark of the Moon is a spectacular orgy of CGI destruction and a robot brawling free for all that pleasure the senses with its gleeful and unrelenting assault on the city of Chicago and its citizens. The final battle exceeds all expectations and limitations of what can be shown on screen, the massive scale which the film uses to exact its mind blowing spectacle is incredible, buildings collapse and the frightened people inside actually die. Dark of the Moon is a much more violent affair than the previous Transformers films and it benefits from that since the destruction is given weight knowing hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake. Many characters die including much beloved Transformers and even some of their human allies. The death of some characters along with the unmitigated violence of innocent people actual struck a cord for me it was shocking to say the least in a big tent-pole seemingly family friendly film that such devastation was being caused in a major American city, and not some sand pile in the middle of nowhere like the previous film.

The action really is exhilarating, Michael Bay must get off putting his actors in the most intense barely survivable situations imaginable and there are more than a dozen of these moments. The collapsing building seen so many times in the trailer is the stage for one of the most stunning and intense moments in the movie with Sam, Carly and some NEST soldiers falling, sliding, hanging, and jumping throughout the building as it crumbles to the streets below. Another incredible sequence follows a group of airborne marines jumping out of a plane in what is known as squirrel suits, which provide great maneuverability once in free fall, the camera in this sequence gets in so close it looks incredible as they dive and swerve around buildings and dodge the relentless "Bayham" that surrounds them. In the last hour of Dark of the Moon, Bay owns your ass, as he assaults all your senses with unique and death defying set pieces and deafening audio that has you winching and ducking your head as you run through the decimated city alongside Sam and the Autobots.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the natural escalation point for the series, and yet it deifies expectations and provides exhilarating bombastic action you can't find anywhere else. All the normal criticisms for Michael Bay and the Transformers movies are still here but check your brain at the ticket booth and just enjoy the spectacle. Their is no other movie like it. When the entire theater jumps out of their chairs whopping and hollering and cheering no less than 5 times throughout the movie, you know there is something really unique on display. I know many people will be outright disgusted with this movie, but I for one cant recommend it enough, as big dumb summer movie you just can't go wrong. Sit through the boring bits and clench your fist at the bad puns and low brow humor. The key is to not examine this movie, like at all. The fun is there, an entire theater of people cant be wrong... can they ?

(4 out of 5)

The Adjustment Bureau Review

The Adjustment Bureau was a huge surprise for me. From the trailers this movie looked like a direct response to Inception with a bunch of good looking people running around modern architecture in even better looking suits. Instead I was greeted by a compelling romantic drama with a bizarre existential thriller underneath the whole thing. And I have to say, it was damn entertaining if not a bit under-cooked. The Adjustment Bureau is about congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) and dancer/ choreographer Elise (Emily Blunt) as they uncover a secret agency that exist underneath all of our noses. They call themselves the Adjustment Bureau these men are supposed to keep the world on track, and whenever something needs to be adjusted they step in and alter reality ever so slightly to set things in an entirely new direction, and they do this all for the greater good, or so they say. The Adjustment Bureau makes not so subtle references that these agents are angels as they speak vaguely about their boss, The Chairman while glancing or nodding to the sky.

While the concept of agents of god who intervene when they feel its necessary brings up fascinating ideas about free will, something us lowly humans only vaguely understand, the movie brushes through these otherwise thought provoking ideas too quickly and lightly for any of it to have any real impact. Its unfortunate because in the few lengthy conversation David has with these agents they bring up some very interesting philosophically debatable questions but they never amount to anything and that religious aspect is their more to set a tone, which again is unfortunate as it could have been explored to greater use.

What we do get is a romance between David and Elise that is so compelling that at times you forget that their are these bizarre religous and philosophical undertones that run underneath the entire movie. David is a congressman  who after a egregious leak of private information he loses the election and ends up meeting up with Elisa in the men's restroom while rehearsing his losing speech. The cute awkward interaction between them is fun and quickly becomes the main hook for the entire movie, because the agents are determined to keep these two apart no matter what. These agents are under the impression that if David and Elise are together the repercussion would shatter the entire world, though that may seem extreme the agents do a pretty good job explaining ripples as these inescapable side effects to ever action. So David is confronted by this adjustment bureau and is told to stay away or risk ruining his and her life forever, but David is stubborn and relentless in his pursuit of Elise. This disregard for destiny and endless pursuit for true love is incredibly engaging and exciting as David defies the agents and their powers to try and prevent the destiny the bureau has laid out for him so that he could be with the person he loves. There is something very entertaining about a man who won't let anything get in his way, even when what is in his way his some sort of supernatural super powered agents who are compelled to keep this on the "right" track.

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt give great performances that is the core of the films relationship, their chemistry is so strong and believable that it enhances the countless obstacles they face if they are going to be together. I cannot say enough how good both Damon and Blunt are together, they play of each other well like they really are meant to be together. Its a great compelling romance that makes some of the less interesting thriller aspects and underutilized heady philosophical notions easily forgiven. There is something incredibly moving about watching someone stop at nothing and overcoming impossible odds to be with somebody they love, especially when that which is in your way has vaguely been described to you as GOD.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau, the surprise of having a genuinely touching romance at the center of this movie boosted my enjoyment, especially considering I was expecting a quick cash grab Inception knockoff. And while the movie brings up countless ideas about free will and other philosophical issues, it never really uses these ideas to their full advantage and they never amount to anything as they become practically meaningless. The Adjustment Bureau is a great romantic drama with strong chemistry between the leads, with interesting but underused philosophical ideas and while its nothing new its a ton of fun and I highly recommend it.

(4 out of 5)

Hanna Review

Once upon a time there lived young girl deep in the woods with her father far away from civilization. All her life her father has trained her to survive in the harsh snowy environments as well as how to fight. Her closest relation to modern civilizations was through books read to her by her father and her imagination. When she reached an age of maturity she begs her father to see the world, but he warns her of an evil witch named, Marissa who wants to find her and hurt her. But Hanna's curiosity cannot be contained any longer. Her father places a switch in front of her and tell her that once she switches it on Marissa would come after them relentlessly and without remorse till the say she dies. Hanna flicks the switch and she is quickly hurled into modern day where she has to use the skills she has been taught her entire life to survive the every growing threat of Marissa while discovering the world for the first time. 

If Hanna sounds a tad like a traditional Grimm fairy tale that's because it sort of is. A stylistic take on a simple thriller formula, reminiscent of the Bourne films, that is mixed with moments of comedy and break neck action as Hanna goes on her quest to bring down Marissa so that she and her father can live peacefully. Hanna travels a large part of the world and discovers things completely new to her to find Marissa including crossing a dessert, befriending a traveling family and is captured by Marissa's thugs. As Hanna travels across this modern day "Wonderland" she must not only fight those who choose to harm her but she must also discover the world for the first time, electricity, television, music and ... boys. Most of the moments not involving intense kinetic action is filled with sweet moments of discovery as Hanna sees, feels, and hears the world in all its wonder.

With fantastic cinematography and choreography and an immensely pleasurable adrenaline pumping score by The Chemical Brothers, Hanna takes a simple formula and kick starts it with great performances. Saoirse Ronan as Hanna is not only incredible calm and cold in her demeanor but also shows incredible vulnerability and innocence in this new world she is being pulled through on a mission she has been feed as a bedtime story her entire life. Her father, Erik Heller played by Eric Bana is very likable as a father simply trying to protect his daughter but who also just so happens to be a skillful  cold-blooded assassin. Marissa is played by the ever dedicated Cate Blanchett who has such an intensity she scares you in a scene where she is brushing her teeth, yikes! Eric Bana has an incredibly choreographed fight scene that shows off perfectly the kinetic energy the movie has as well as the confidence it has in its direction with a single long take of Heller taking on 8 thugs at once in an underground tunnel, its brutal, exciting and suspenseful. Hanna herself is quite adept at kicking ass as she so wonderful shows off in numerous sequences of high speed action, with her agility and master marksmanship being put to great use throughout her plight against Marissa.  

Later in Hanna's travels she runs into a hermit type man who is an old friend of her father. He lives in an abandoned theme park which has not to subtle references to the mystical Wonderland from "Alice in Wonderland". This mans preferences for dancing foolishly and serving tea is very obviously evoking the Mad Hatter from said famous fairy tale. He helps Hanna take refuge and protects her in a key moment, but Marissa always seems a few steps ahead. As the tension builds and more and more people are hurt so Marissa can get to Hanna, Hanna takes it upon herself to confront Marissa and end her evil reign. Again the cinematography is on display as Hanna and Marissa run and fight throughout the abandonment amusement park which nature has claimed back and is falling apart.

Hanna may not be anything new but its definitely something special. Through and through Hanna is a breath-taking, heart-pumping thriller with a fantastic score, great action set pieces and neat visuals that make a lasting impressions. Hanna is a true modern fairy tale and a hell of a roller coaster ride. 

(4 out of 5)

Green Lantern Review

Green Lantern in essence is about a group of millennium old aliens, The Guardians that harnessed the greatest power in the universe, the green energy of willpower and with that power decided to create an intergalactic police force that would use this power bestowed to each of them within a ring to protect sections of the universe from evil. With said rings the wearer would be able to create objects out of thin air of whatever they could imagine, called constructs. These space cops would be part of the Green Lantern Corps and together they would patrol the universe and protect the innocent lives from whatever threatens their existence. With such a purely fun and grand scale fascinating idea it would be nearly impossible for Green Lantern to be a film completely devoid of fun or excitement, but yet here we are with a movie that not only completely avoids any semblance of entertainment but goes as far as to be painstakingly overproduced as if to say, but look at all the pretty colors.

Ryan Reynolds plays the titular hero, Hal Jordon an ace test flight pilot who is chosen by recently deceased Green Lantern Abin Sur’s ring to be the next Green Lantern. Our reluctant hero finds himself quickly tossed into the Green Lantern Corps on their home planet of Oa. And within 30 minutes the movie makes its first (of many) huge mistake, most of the mythology of Green Lantern is pretty detailed and complicated and the movie just relays all that information with giant info dumps and exposition speeches. It’s also quite jarring how quickly Hal Jordon goes thru this process, in 20 real world minutes he gets his suit, learns to fly, learns to create perfect constructs and promptly quits and returns to earth, uhh what? I nearly got whiplash keeping up with Hal Jordon, Ryan Reynolds is at the very least charming during the course of the movie and is immensely likable and keeps the mood fun throughout. Its a testament to his acting chops that he is able to actually make Hal Jordon a compelling lead, because the words that come out of his mouth are laughable, the dialogue is absolutely terrible. Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond in particular comes of really hokey and often seems like he is in the wrong movie.

While Hal Jordon is coming to terms with his new found power, there is a parallel story centered on Hector Hammond and his Senator father. Hammond is picked up by some government officials late one night and brought to examine an alien body, the very same that gave Hal Jordon his Green Lantern ring. The creature that killed Abin Sur infects Hammond and while performing the autopsy, this creature known as Parallax is the greatest enemy of the Green Lanterns and is the point of conflict for the THIRD story happening concurrently with the rest of movie, as it involves the second strongest Green Lantern Sinestro (Mark Strong) trying to convince the Guardians to let him track down and destroy Parallax. We later discover Parallax is the result of the Guardians harnessing a power even greater than Willpower, the yellow energy of Fear. And it is fear that unites all these stories, Jordon is fearful of dying and not living up to his father legacy and is therefore apprehensive of becoming a Green Lantern, Hammond is afraid of being ignored and feeling insignificant by everyone including his father, and the Green Lanterns and by association The Guardians are afraid that Parallax will destroy them all.

A movie this risky should have dropped at least one of these stories as it makes the movie feel overstuffed and forces some major things to be underdeveloped. The relationship between Hammond and … anybody is frequently frustrating as the film makers make it very clear he has had a past relationship with Hal Jordon and his on again off again girlfriend Carol Ferris, yet it’s never explained. Same goes for Hammond and his father who is the catalyst for Hammond becoming full on evil and embracing the alien infection to gain its powers of telepathy and telekinesis. So when Hammond breaks down and starts killing people it means nothing and ends up being a contrived reason for Hal Jordon to have someone to fight mid way through the movie. It’s sad because you can envision a scenario where Hammond’s entire journey into becoming this big headed monster only because of years of being overlooked and overshadowed finally came to a boil. Instead its meaningless and boring and takes away from other parts of the movie that could have used more time on screen.

I want to say that for the amount of money that was thrown at this movie the special effects are laughable and inexcusable in this day and age. Most of the time things look like they don’t belong and stand out, Oa in particular including all the myriad of different alien species look just plain unfinished. Ryan Reynolds head appears floating since his entire suit is CG along with several environments throughout the movie and it looks bad. A movie with such variety and wonder could have looked beautiful instead everything has the same few colors tones, green, purple, some blue and in general looks plain. Parallax is a giant smoke monster in space, and it looks about as stupid as it sounds, with a creepy little head that pops out of the mess of smoke to suck the life (?) out of anything in its path.  

I want to be clear, Green Lantern is far from a complete failure, quite contrary it has many shining moments of brilliance, but they only stand to make the rest of the movie look worse. There are constant sparks of potential, including Sinestro who is genuinely compelling whenever he is on screen and makes you want to watch a movie where he goes around with a gang of Green Lanterns kicking ass. Constructs are almost always inventive and imaginative, including race cars, mini guns, giant nets and springs. The all too brief training sequence was starting to get fun but they needed to fast forward to when Hal Jordon is a complete badass who doesn’t need any help. Which brings me to another problem, everything is to easy for Hal Jordon Green Lantern within the comic books was never about being an unstoppable force that can overcome anything, I mean they are the Corps for a reason, and yet never do the rest of Green Lanterns come to help Jordon and why would they, he defeats everyone with ease and in turn makes all conflict boring. 

I am hesitant to even say this but, I think a sequel could improve on a lot of the flaws, and bring out those shining gems that are so obviously buried deep down within this movie. Ryan Reynolds is amiable, and the few Green Lanterns we spend more than 10 seconds with have potential. Tomar Re, Kilowog and Sinestro especially could be a ton of fun to watch kick ass alongside Hal Jordon. But this movie suffers from a poorly written overstuffed script that never ignites any real joy or excitement out of the audience. I would not go as far as to call it a miserable failure but it defiantly squanders most of its potential. Watch at your own risk, or if you’re a huge fan of the comics. 

(2 out of 5)

Super 8 Review

Super 8 is about a group of young kids on summer vacation trying to make a zombie movie. One night during their filming, a train accident occurs and the kids are thrown into a series of increasingly dangerous situations and are placed in the middle of a grand conspiracy involving the Air Force and some “precious cargo” aboard the train the Air Force seems to have misplaced. Promotion for this movie has been vague with as little information being given as possible, and that is a great advantage, not knowing what to expect heightens the sense of fear, wonder and excitement. Needless to say something dangerous escaped from the train and it's running rampant through the small town stealing car engines, sending dogs running and causing a great deal of paranoia for the citizens of this small town and at the center of it all are the young aspiring film makers.

Joe is the titular character who lends his makeup skills to the zombie film, he has also recently lost his mother causing a large rift between him and his father, the towns Deputy. His friends include Charles the self imposed leader of the group and director of the film they are making. Also in the group is Cary the aspiring pyrotechnic with an unwavering love for explosives; he serves as their films zombie as well as special effects maker. The two actors in this little zombie project are Preston and Martin as well as late addition to the cast, Alice. Joe quickly shows interest in Alice and their relationship evolves over the course of the film and their truly believable feelings towards each other lends credence to their actions as things get more and more intense as the creature sends the entire town into a panicked frenzy. These kids are the heart of this movie, no number of explosions and amazing special effects takes away from their strong performances and the sturdy structure they provide to the rest of the outlandish science fiction plot. This is the first movie in what seems like a decade that treats the adolescent characters with respect and shows that kids are competent and can handle any mature situation as well as or better than most adults. It’s rare in a huge summer movie like this to put such a focus on these young kids and their lives but it’s what gives Super 8 life outside of a crazy monster on the loose.

While the special effects are prevalent throughout they are never used as a crutch and are only ever used to service the story. The amazing chaotic action sequences are truly freighting and jaw dropping because we care about the character at the center of it all and want them to make it through this alive. The most memorable effects moment happens early on when a train is derailed and begins causing so much damage and destruction you start to wonder if the movie hasn't already derailed itself, but the immensely likeable kids make you fear for their safety. They continually ground the movie in plausibility whenever things start to get to over the top. At the center of this group of characters is Joe and his relationship with his father. This father son relationship is so painful to watch not because the father is mean or abusive but because these are two people who have lost someone they love and now realize they know nothing about each other and don’t know how to overcome the pain. Watching Joe’s father continually push his son away is heartbreaking and their relationship is a strong and moving part of the story.

Spielberg must be flattered because Super 8 is a strong homage to the great director and all of his most famous and beloved films. Throughout the movie there is a certain tine, moments or specific camera shots that share such a strong similarity to Spielberg’s movies of old that you almost wonder if JJ Abrams didn’t just let him direct. But then the lens flare kicks in, and you quickly remember whose movie this is. JJ Abrams need to seriously cut back on the lens flare, there were scenes where I literally couldn’t see the characters faces because the screen was filled with glare and the scene was supposed to be taking place in the dark. It is distracting and adds nothing to the movie; it made me furious whenever it appeared onscreen CUT IT OUT. But with JJ Abrams obsession with lens flare comes a man who has undoubtedly been inspired by the classic “young kids on an adventure” movies of his youth. Super 8 is as homage to the greats, E.T., The Goonies, Jurassic Park. Once the town falls into chaos and confusion there are also strong similarities to the great paranoia films like Close Encounter and War of the Worlds; both also directed by Spielberg. Unfortunately it is all quite jarring, with so many points of inspiration you can almost pick out when JJ Abrams is displaying his love and though it never reaches a point of unimaginative it is noticeable and takes you out of the otherwise engaging plot. It's great to see a movie recreate the fun and imaginative feeling that the old Spielberg movies always had in droves. Capturing that magic must be tough and though there are hints of a true modern day classic, it doesn't always work.

Super 8 is a movie unlike anything being made these days, it’s a character driven effects powerhouse that shows its young characters as competent and intelligent human beings, so rare for kids in movies these days. And it balances a heartwarming tale of family and friendship with a strong and sometimes frightening monster movie plot. It’s sometimes odd how quickly the film chooses to jump from truly horrifying moments to moment of great laughter but it helps keep the movie fun and fast paced. At times it seems like JJ Abrams is trying too hard to impress his mentor Spielberg, but Super 8 is a fun throwback to the great summer movies of yore, which will please anyone who is tired of Superheroes or crappy comedies.

(4 out of 5)

inFAMOUS 2 Review

As Infamous 2 begins you are Cole MacGrath the electricity fueled superhuman who saved Empire City in the previous game. As the final moments of the first game are recounted in the opening cutscene you are reintroduced to your foul mouthed but good natured sidekick Zeke and meeting all new character Lucy Kuo NSA agent and former lab partner of scientist Sebastian Wolfe, the man who invented the Ray Sphere, the device which gave Cole his powers. Quickly you are told about the impending attack by the Beast, the creature that is said to be the destroyer of the world. And just as you are refamiliarizing yourself with the comic book inspired world of Infamous the Beast appears in the center of Empire City and begins laying waste. As the superhero you jump into action but are quickly thwarted as you are not powerful enough to defeat the Beast. You wake up on a boat heading to New Marias with the task of becoming powerful enough to stop the Beast.

Infamous 2 begins with an amazing action sequence with Cole at the height of his powers from the first game, and as most of these games go, you are stripped of your powers when the Beast wipes the floor with you, and you must then regain you powers as well as discover all new powers. Infamous 2 doesn’t change much from the first game, and that’s a good thing, the first Infamous was a surprise hit from Sucker Punch, developers of the PS2 era Sly Cooper games. The game had a great open world with smooth and fun traversal mechanics that are still here and slightly improved. The game is still structured similarly with main story missions popping up on the map one at a time, as well as side missions that are mostly unique with a few repeated missions like bringing power to parts of the city or taking pictures of incriminating things to rally the people of New Marias to your cause to overthrow the maniacal Joseph Bertrand who has the city in lockdown with his private military scaring the citizens with the threat of Conduits (superpowerd people) and the Corrupted (bug-like monsters) on top of the stress of a  plague that is slowly killing thousands.

The gameplay hasn’t changed either; the game is still an immensely polished open world game with parkour style traversal. Layered on top is a third person action game with fin tuned shooting mechanics as well as a more in-depth fighting system. Sucker Punch amazes me with the amount of time they spend on every detail, the game not only looks better than the first, with more colors and better looking effects and a entirely new city, New Marias; which is even slightly destructible with some building crumbling nicely. But it also improves on existing mechanics like traversal, where the first game as Cole you could climb, glide for seconds at a time and, grind on rails in Infamous 2 gliding has been improved with more maneuverability as well as all new ways to get around like an electric tether that acts like a grappling hook making getting to the tops of building that much easier and fun. Shooting has remained the same with quick bolts of lightning acting like an average gun as well as grenades and rocket launcher variations using electricity. All the powers from the first game return, but there are entirely new elements in Infamous 2 to master; Fire or Ice, or because it’s one or the other, you can’t have both. There is a integral choice moment where you can decide and it relates to which female character do you wish to side with Nix (fire) the feisty Cajun native who wants to scorch those who have scorned her; Or Kuo (ice) the NSA agent who is trying to control her newly discovered powers as well as right past wrongs.The game does right by not making this a Karma based moment, though Good and Evil decisions define the actions you take across the entire game, no matter which side you are on you can choose the power you want most.

Infamous 2 does have problems, the bosses are always giant monsters and their defeat boils down to "hit the glowing parts" until their animation loop changes then hit the new spot. The main villain, Bertrand’s motivations are strange and nearly contradictory, he is a generic bad guy who needs to be defeated and so his purpose is served, but it is a bit disappointing considering the strong characterization the rest of the cast has been given. Probably the biggest improvement in Infamous 2 is the story and characters, the weight of your actions are also much more apparent.  The story while more dark and dire is given a sense of urgency as the Beast makes its way down from Empire City to New Marias destroying everything in its path. The characters are more fleshed out and more sympathetic, Zeke having betrayed you in a significant part of the previous game is shown the proper amount of trepidation from the rest of the characters as well as from Cole. Kuo and Nix are also really well realized character each affected by this world in different ways and even when they are used to choose between a good or evil karma mission their reasoning behind their choice is always relatable and it makes the decisions that much harder and subsequently better.

Infamous 2 is more of the same but better, all the things that were in the original game are here again, except gone over with a fine tooth comb to make an almost shockingly polished game. The new elemental powers are fun even if they are only slight variation of your existing powers. And the new arrays of enemies are tons more fun to fight, even hand-to-hand fighting which has been greatly improved over the first game is now a viable option. Most fun is traversal which has been speed up and added to with unique traversal specific powers. Infamous 2 is a smart sequel and a good step if not a huge leap forward in this new and exciting franchise. 

(4 out of 5)

X-Men: First Class Review

With X-Men: First Class, X-Men as a franchise has now gone the way of the Batman franchise making a series of great (at the time) movies, and then rebooting them years later with the Christopher Nolan films and changing the way we view comic book movies, except X-Men did it in half the time. Bravo First Class you have defied all expectations and managed to be an engrossing character study with exciting bombastic action, a match up most comic book movies would never dare attempt, and yet First Class goes above and beyond what we expect from the average summer movie and becomes an astounding accomplishment and a immensely pleasurable experience in an exceedingly over crowded market of comic book movies. The film begins with a real 60's James Bond feel, unfolding almost like an old school spy film supported by the Cold War backdrop the movie takes place during; it later switches gears a little into a full blown X-Men spectacle and the two distinct parts are both equally enjoyable and a cool change of pace.

At the center of First Class is the relationship between Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), when we first meet these characters they are nothing like what we remember. Xavier is charming and womanizing with a full head of hair and two functioning legs. Erik on the other hand has been traumatized by the Nazi concentration camps of his childhood and has taken it upon himself to hunt down and kill Nazis who have hidden themselves in society. These two will go on to become each other’s archenemies and their friendship and eventual falling out is a large part of the movie and arguably the most entertaining.  Both McAvoy and Fassbender give amazing performances that is every bit as engaging as the relationship between the future Professor X and Magneto. Fassbender’s performance is truly stunning, and is done a great service by not being the villain of the movie; his character survives such an immense trauma which he spends his entire life trying to rectify that by the time he is willing to condemn thousands of innocent lives to death the audience is nearly cheering for him to succeed. Fassbender is the true standout of this entire film and he give such a transfixing performance that you almost perk up in your seat whenever he appear on screen.

The rest of the film centers around Charles and Erik recruiting young mutants to fend off an impending attack from fellow mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and his cohorts who are orchestrating World War 3, which Shaw believes can be used to eliminate those who are not worthy to live and leave only the next step of evolution, Mutants. Plenty of mutants appear in First Class and since this movie take places decades before the previous X-Men films we are given a whole new and pretty obscure team of mutants including Havok, Banshee, Darwin, Angel and, more familiar ones like Beast, Mystique and, Emma Frost. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) also plays a large role as her character goes through a major arc as she discovers that she is not ashamed of whom she is and yet she hides her true scaly blue form from the world. Her feelings toward Charles in the beginning as well as her thoughts on mutants change dramatically over the course of the film as she learns to accept herself with the help of Erik. The most disappointing part of the movie is Shaw who is such a one note villain he could have been replaced with anybody else. His entire purpose is to put the Americans and Russians on edge so that the already hostile superpowers go into global nuclear war. The film takes a bit of time with Charles and Erik recruiting and subsequently training these young mutants to stave off the possible advancements of Shaw’s plan, and its a fun and frequently emotionally moving part of the movie as Charles teaches Erik that his anger is not the only source of his powers by forcing him to remember suppressed memories of happier times. The kids themselves are very strong characters each with their own trepidations about their powers, but they must master their powers and become comfortable with who they are if they are going to stop Shaw.

The last 30 minutes of the movie is one of the most amazing action spectacles, wonderfully directed with tons of energy and momentum that gets you pumped up and nearly jumping up and cheering on the X-Men as they fight the opposing Hellfire Club lead by Shaw. The special effects on display are some of the most astounding without being completely over the top, Erik pulling a submarine out of the water is not only an incredible spectacle because of the visuals but because of the  intensity of emotion Fassbender gives.

Everyone gets their moment to shine; Beast and Banshee especially have great inventive action scenes and play a large role in beating the Hellfire Club. Some characters are short changed including Havok and Emma Frost, who is actually being held prisoner thousands of miles away. It's unfortunate that some potentially creative fights don't occur because the cast is so big not everyone can be shown off to their full potential, well at least its one more thing to look forward to in the subsequent sequels.

X-Men: First Class is an astonishing revitalization of a once thought dead franchise, and if this movie is any indication there are amazing things still to come from the X-Men. The performances throughout the film are strong, but none stronger than Fassbender who is truly outstanding as the haunted man who has been ruined by his childhood trauma. The action is well directed and consistently unique and exciting.  X-Men: First Class is ambitious with powerful performances, stylish action, and a well written script, it is a strong reboot for the franchise and I for one am very excited to see where they go from here.

(5 out of 5)