The Avengers Review

It's been five films in the making all leading up to this very moment, when earths mightiest heroes would assemble to do battle with a seemingly unstoppable force. Who could possible have the courage to step up and lead these heroes into battle, none other than Joss Whedon of course. If ever there were a man more capable of achieving the possibly disastrous, taking four wildly different and incredibly powerful super-humans with massive egos and sticking them into the same frame of a movie, there was never a better man for the job. Whedon masterfully balances each of these characters, jumping between the snarky self-obsessed Tony Stark and the honorable soldier Steve Rogers with such ease. It was never going to be easy taking a character who on their own can and have sustained their own films and franchises and thrusting them all together and watching what happens. But Whedon pulls it off while simultaneously showing everyone how to make a fantastic superhero movie.

So lets do a headcount; the billionaire Tony Stark/ Iron Man, the recently unfrozen WWII super-soldier  Steve Roger/ Captain America, the God of Thunder Thor, the unstably angry Bruce Banner/ Hulk, the Russian super-spy Natasha Romanov/ Black Widow, the supernaturally accurate Clint Barton/ Hawkeye and the man with the plan Nick Fury. Yeah, that's a lot of characters and that still doesn't include the villainous brother of Thor and god of mischief Loki who descends upon Earth with the forethought to conquer and rule it with the help of an alien army. That's a lot to set-up and subsequently pay off within a single movie, but Whedon pulls it off with ease. Every character gets their moment in the spotlight, no one no matter how big or green is over shadowed or even highlighted, everyone plays their part and its what makes the idea of forming the Avengers that much more believable. Each has their strengths and weakness but together they stand a fighting chance at driving Loki and his army back to whatever hole they crawled out of.

As always Whedon's writing elevates things, specifically dialogue which capture the essence of each character wonderfully before thrusting them weapons loaded at each others throats. There is quite a bit of hero on hero action, which any self respecting comic book fan knows is half the fun of getting these characters together. Whedon does a fantastic job keeping the characters in line with their previous outings, Thor is still the fish out of water, Iron Man still gives a lot of guff, and Captain America is as noble and righteous as ever. Whichever character you like most you will undoubtedly come away satisfied that their voice remained true and that they got to kick some ass. The one person everyone without question will come out of the theatre cheering about and who completely steals the show is Hulk. This is the Hulks third attempt to capture audiences attention on the big screen and he handily wins over the crowd. Marvel should be proud they finally perfected the Hulk, and Mark Ruffalo is the best Banner yet mixing his immense intelligence with a constant melancholic view on his predicament he is world weary but has accepted his fate.

If I were forced to come up with a single negative comment it would be that Captain America's suit looks terrible. I'm serious that's the only thing I've got. The movie is pristine, The Avengers is how you make a comic book movie. It's not just a big loud spectacle, though there is plenty of that as well, but it has heart and it's funny and smartly written and directed, better than I ever could have hoped. Loki is the best villain Marvel has yet committed to film and as a foil to the Avengers he is fantastic, taking more advantage of his mischievous ways than his turn in last years Thor, he is crueler and more conniving and is great fun to watch.

The Avengers is an incredibly fun ride, its a tad predictable but really aren't all movies. The Avengers at least doesn't kid itself with what it is and instead delivers what it should in spades. Your favorite heroes on grand display duking it out on an epic scale, hilarious dialogue and likable characters mean you'll be cheering on with the theatre as each fight commences. Joss Whedon should be given great credence in what he has achieved here, the immense talent it takes to craft a story with this many characters and making sure all of them serve the plot and are given significance is astounding and no one could have done it better. Whedon continues to prove everything he touches is immediate nerd gold, and I hope he comes back for the sequel.

(5 out of 5)

The Walking Dead (Game) Episode 1 Review

The Walking Dead is the latest game from adventure focused developer Telltale, the eventual 5 episode long series follows new character Lee Everett an escaped convict and abandoned 7 year old Clementine as they simultaneously traverse and survive the zombie apocalypse. Set in the increasingly popular world of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, the game unlike the television series is actually canonical to the events in the comic book series which means it fills in gaps and follows the general path laid forth by the books. Thankfully Telltale diverges from the Rick Grimes story which is the center of the books and show, instead fleshing out the world beyond the group fans have gotten to know so well while still keeping in the spirit of the comics.

Last time out with the Jurassic Park game Telltale stumbled trying to craft a more action oriented game while still maintaining their trademark classic adventure game style. That being said Telltale had a lot to prove with The Walking Dead and clearly they knew that, because they have nearly perfected the balance between the more action heavy elements with the more traditional adventure game tropes Telltale has long since perfected. It really is a relief, The Walking Dead deserves an impeccable game that captures what the comics and show are all about, its not the mindless zombie violence its the extremely dire situations and strong relatable characters. No one could have made a more analogues game, Telltale has a real knack for storytelling and its on strong display here, mix that with engaging dialogue and well written characters and The Walking Dead has now mastered three forms of entertainment.

The game is a point-and-click adventure game, you can move Lee the main character around the environment and interact with certain objects like other games of its ilk, you collect items and trail-n-error your way through puzzles at points in the game. There is plenty of dialogue with other survivors and how you act and the things you say will have an impact in the way the story unfolds. For instances as a convicted murderer Lee may not want to divulge that information with every stranger he meets, less they refuse to help him or outright kill him in a world free of any semblance of right and wrong. Telltale nails all of it, and best of all they even nail the action. Action is treated more intelligently than Jurassic Park, no more random obscured button presses, instead you move a cursor around the screen and choose from a variety of option in how to interact with said highlighted object. The action is sparse but intense, and each zombie that appears is a critical life and death struggle, its not as simple as point and shoot but only because it more akin to click and choose.

Telltale comes out arms raised fists pumping above their heads. The Walking Dead is their best effort yet, and to put it into context I've played every one of Telltales games and The Walking Dead is the strongest in every category. No other developer could have done the license justice as well as Telltale has, by focusing on the story and characters they made a zombie game that is still fresh and unique. I was so thoroughly immersed while playing this game I was truly blown away, I couldn't pause it or look away for a second the action is frantic and appropriately frightening and gruesome and the story was Telltales most engaging yet. The episodic format means each episode ends with a cliffhanger that'll have you chomping at the *flesh* for the release of the next part of the series.

(5 out of 5)

The Cabin in the Woods Review

The Cabin in the Woods is a difficult film to review, not because its divisive, on the contrary its inarguably the best "horror" movie of the past 20 years or so. But it is a film with a lot of layers, layers which are best discovered in a theatre with as little known about it as possible. Avoid the internet, trailers or even water cooler discussions. Instead run to to your local theatre buy a ticket and enjoy what will undoubtedly be the most talked about movie of the year, just know its not what your expecting. Written by the venerable Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods takes an introspective look at the horror movie genre, breaking it apart and examining every cliche, stereotype, and template that has been used in every horror movie for the past 50 years.

Cabin in the Woods is bar-none the most intelligent horror movie ever made, even when you think you have it figured out it morphs into something even more magnificent and continues to dive deeper and deeper into the genre so many people love. If the movie has any fault is that it may completely turn the audience against the classic horror movie genre altogether. This movie breaks the genre by calling those movies out, from the classic Friday the 13th, to the gore-porn genre made popular by Saw, and even all those Syfy original's like Sharktopus. Whedon and director Goddard clearly love the genre but seem to have gotten fed up with its increasing predictability. Whedon especially takes full advantage of his trademark sense of humor and general snark and wit, which is on grandiose display here with great pitter patter dialogue and likable characters.

There will come a time during Cabin in the Woods where you'll wonder, "where are the scares ?" and "why am I laughing so hard ?". Cabin is so confident in its device (which I wont even hint at for fear of ruining anything this brilliant film achieves) that it sidesteps any notion of scaring the audience, that's not to say its slow and predictable its actually anything but. Instead Cabin opts to telegraph jumps scares and leave long tension rich buildups with no pay off. It's incredibly subversive and it wouldn't surprise me if it actually angered some people, for not just following the typical formula audiences have become so comfortable with. The slutty girl will die just as things begin to get "hot", the jock will go down in a brutishly heroic way and so on. Cabin plays against your expectations and twists them and turns them to fit its own ends.

The Cabin in the Woods is ferociously smart, deviously fun, and forces discussion. Its everything a good movie should be. Cabin is probably the most meta film ever made, the inane yet appropriate way to explain it is that "its a horror movie about horror movies about horror movies". There is no doubt by the time the credits role and you have reached the end of this expectation shattering ride and as you begin to lift your jaw up off the floor you will turn to the other members of the audience and bite your tongue to stop from screaming, "HOLY SHIT, when he..., and then they ...., but it was all ...,". Do Not under any circumstances miss this movie, The Cabin in the Woods has out-thought ever horror movie to become an all time classic.

(5 out of 5)