The Dark Knight Rises Review

In the film world an entire trilogy is almost never successfully pulled off, Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, Return of the Jedi, The Godfather Part 3. It's just simple probability that eventually one of the the films isn't going to live up to the incredible heights set by its predecessor, and this film has to follow up the unquestionably phenomenal second entry that has yet to be usurped as the single greatest superhero film of all time. And while this film doesn't even come close to recapturing the magic of The Dark Knight, we are still given a majestic, epic conclusion that not only gives this series a fitting poignant finale, but it retroactively makes the previous films better. By the time this film is over you can sense the threads that were lain back in the first film finally paying off dividends, themes of myths and legends, a sense of profound meaning in what makes a city and the ever present duty that Bruce Wayne feels he owes to Gotham. A lot of characters are brought into the fold in this third act of the series and while they're sometimes lost in the shuffle they fit into the world perfectly. Old stalwarts of the series get fitting conclusions and new inductees are left with a promising future. Christopher Nolan has successfully made the greatest comic book movie trilogy of all time.

To even remotely describe the plot would be to unravel and deflate three films worth of build up and character development, so I wont even attempt to describe the goings on. Suffice to say it's been nearly a decade since Harvey Dents death and subsequent cover up in the last film and Bruce Wayne has had to hang up the cowl. The Dark Knight Rises is a technical marvel, with practical effects taking the place of over the top bombastic action, cinematography so gorgeous it deserves awards and a Gotham that comes to life like never before. The sense of scale is massive as well with easily more than three hundred extras running and fighting in the streets. Nolan's films have always been a visual treat because at the core of every amazing special effects is a practical one. Maybe the newly introduced flying vehicle cannot soar but it is certainty physically present in the late movie chases and it all lends to the feeling of believability and large scale conclusion this film caps the series off with. The performances are all top notch, with each actor delivering dialogue that in typical Nolan fashion is oftentimes verbose and over explanatory with great verve and believability. Anne Hathaway steals every scene she is in, embodying the cat burglar Selina Kyle in a grounded and manipulative way like she has never been portrayed before. Bane on the other hand is a typical one dimensional villain with a carnival ring leader cadence to his voice. His motivations are never clear even after a late movie revelation which in my opinion was the saving grace of his character. He is an impressive physical adversary to Batman and their fights are brutal with painstakingly lingering shots instead of the typical action movie quick cuts.

The films run-time is just under three hours and its a determinant in a few surprising ways. This is not a boring movie, nor does it drag but the film does have pacing issues. The film moves in fits and starts, there are times of exhilarating action crammed in the middle of long expository scenes and it makes the movie feel weird. What surprised me so much was for a movie as long as this, story revelations or character reveals are relegated to 3 minutes of gotcha scenes which suck all dramatic weight out of a moment. Things are bluntly explained, characters brush off gaps in logic and the story overall unfolds too conveniently. There is one thing that the run time adds to the film, and that is a real sense of time. The fact that it takes Bruce so long to put on the cowl for the first time isn't frustratingly slow, its meaningful and when he final dons the cape it is rousing and exciting moment. And later in the film when Bane has taken control of Gotham and Batman finally returns from his imprisonment he is, for the first time in the whole film, physically and mentally 'back'. With a rousing score and a real emotional story the last act of this film is touching and inspiring and a perfect book end for one of the few absolutely pitch perfect film trilogy of all time.

Despite some clumsy story telling and odd pacing The Dark Knight Rises winds up being the perfect conclusion to Nolan's vision of Batman. There was never any way to top the previous film, and Heath Ledger performances will always define that movie in a unique way. But Tom Hardy as Bane is an imposing foe and Hathaway's Selina is a strong and morally ambiguous counterpoint to Bruce that when brought together share great chemistry and fight well back to back. Even seemingly bland Officer Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt becomes a sympathetic and passionate character who lends his talents to Batman and the city of Gotham when the chips are down. Michael Cane even gets to stretch his dramatic talents as Alfred in one of the most heartbreaking moments in this series. These films when viewed together tell an intricate and complicated story of a man who sought vengeance and found salvation for himself and an entire city in an unstoppable and inspiring force, a symbol. When asked why I consider Nolan's Batman the greatest comic book film series of all time the answer is simple, while the likes of Iron Man and The Avengers are amazing 'comic book' movies (that's the conceit), The Dark Knight series is a masterclass of film-making that simply happens to star a comic book character.

(4.5 out of 5)

The Amazing Spider-Man Review

The Amazing Spider-Man is anything but, as the titular web-head swings through New York a perpetual sense of deja vu is permeating the entire films runtime, along with a single question, Why a reboot? The last Sam Raimi Spider-Man film was released in 2007 that was only 5 years ago, this is unquestionably the fastest turn around for a reboot and it's what cripples the movie right out of the gate. By rehashing the same exact plot from the original film this movie wastes time with things audience are intimately familiar with, because if I remember correctly those films were some of the most financial successful movies that kicked off the summer staple genre of super hero movies. This movie doesn't have a single unique aspect, anything new or different is only slightly so, frustrating you more as some of the unexplored aspects of the film are incredibly promising. Changing the love interest from red headed Mary Jane to blonde Gwen Stacy isn't much of a difference, and the villain is still a scientist who after experimenting on himself becomes insane and turns into a homicidal green monster. The parallels are constant and it keeps The Amazing Spider-Man from creating any identity of its own.

There are positives though, quite a few even. The performances from the two main leads are fantastic, Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker is great and his shy stammering nature is likable and even more believable then Tobey Maguire. Garfield is already a more accomplished actor and he brings gravitas to the typical overblown teenage angst. But it isn't just his Peter Parker that's good, he brings a grounded physicality to Spider-Man, a problem the old films had was a sense of weightlessness, not here. Spider-Man's wise cracking and agile swings through the city skyline are more akin to his comic book origins as well. Emma Stone similarly brings better acting chops then mouth breather Kirsten Dunst and never falls into the typical damsel in distress. She is an intelligent and capable young women and immensely more interesting than the red haired bimbo of the previous films. Their romance is the best part of the movie, unsurprisingly handled with deft hands by director Marc Webb (how perfect is that) who previously helmed my favorite romantic film of all time 500 Days of Summer. The young boundless affection these two show is twee as fuck (look it up), it's heartwarming if overly sappy, but it works all the same. It is the one thing in the movie that is handled well and given the time to develop. When (because it's not a question of if) this film gets a sequel, I hope they change the director, nothing against Webb but I fell he set up a great romance that I want to see strained by a more fascinating dive into Spider-Man's psyche with a truly sadistic villain.

Which brings me to my last point The Lizard, I'll let that sink in for a bit. No go ahead I'll wait, get a drink or some cookies this isn't going anywhere. Ready. Ok. The villain is a giant lizard, humanoid to be fair but he is A. GIANT. LIZARD. And this Lizard has a plan, to make all the people of New York and eventually the world, into similarly giant lizard men and women. This is single handedly the dumbest fucking villainous scheme I have ever heard. It is so dumb it is never outwardly spoken by any character, instead it is pieced together by Spider-Man and more aptly the audience through audio recordings and notes in the lab Spidey discovers in the sewers. Now initially a scientist with the admirable goal to make human beings more resilient through cross species genetics is interesting. Even the Wolfman style transformation he goes through after testing the experiment on himself is cool. But at what point does an aerosol dispersal of a lizard transformative toxin make sense from a revered OsCorp geneticist. But put aside the ridiculous villain and the real problem is that he is immensely underdeveloped  his motivations are unclear and his eventual preposterous plan makes even less sense. There are some weird creative choices as well  like having The Lizard speak intelligible makes him look dumb stalking around, "I'm going to get you Parker". Add to that the film's other retread of a villain who yells at himself akin to multiple personality disorder and you have an uninteresting and silly antagonist.

The Unremarkable Spider-Man is a more appropriate title to this movie. There are no new ideas and the plot is frighteningly close to the original, like grounds for a legal suit similar. But underneath a general feeling of sameness there are great performances from the two love bird leads and a snarky kinda asshole Spider-Man. Quips and smart remarks are abundant and the fight in the highschool is what every Spider-Man fan has been waiting to see, and its the best fight in the movie. There was one scene in the movie that I adored, and its something I'm a sucker for, and that's the every-man blue collar worker banning together for the greater good. When Spider-Man is shot and is having a hard time making it to the OsCorp building where The Lizard is planning to disperse his toxin. A construction worker who had his son rescued by Spider-Man earlier in the film calls all his buddies up and tells them to swing all their cranes over 59th Ave. to give Spider-Man an easy route. I nearly sprang outta my seat cheering and crying. It is touching scene and embodies one of Spider-Mans greatest qualities, his inspiring attitude to do the right thing simply because you can. All the elements of a possibly great Spider-Man film are here, but a ridiculous villain and a origin story retread hold back a new trilogy brimming with potential.

(3 out of 5)

The Walking Dead (Game) Episode 2 Review

Here we are a month later than it was originally planned to be released and the second episode of The Walking Dead game from Telltale was well worth the wait. Right off the bat Telltale completely throws expectations out the window in only the second episode of the eventual five. The Walking Dead may be synonymous with zombies but as any fan of the popular comic book and television show will tell you the zombies are the least of the problems. The emphasis in this episode is on tough moral decisions, granted this isn't anything new in videogames. Plenty of games have implemented some sort of moral/ karmic system, but I stress and please do not take this lightly, The Walking Dead has some of the most intense, gut-wrenching and outright polarizing moral dilemmas in any game. When one of the most stressful moments in the game is how are you going to ration the food the developers must be doing something right.

Telltale continues to build upon the last games fantastic story and character development, the characters in particular are (no exaggeration) some of the best in any videogame. This episode focuses on the survivors left in a world gone to hell, zombies take a backseat this time out. The game as it makes clear in the intro unfolds based on the choices you make, again nothing new for videogames but the consequence are much more grounded and quite honestly are emotionally draining. As Lee Everett you'll have to chose sides which will gain you support or disdain in later scenarios, the threat in this games doesn't come from zombies but from the consequences of a world with a shattered moral compass. Dramatic things will happen depending on how you chose to handle any given situation and the game is great at intensifying the stakes and forcing you to stick with your choices, with a countdown and a healthy use of auto-saves. You will live with the consequence of your decision and I love that. Most games don't take it to such extremes and when you have a world that is so raw and grounded like the one in The Walking Dead it makes it all the more engrossing and terrifying. Unfortunately you do have to play the game and clunky animation, rough cutscene transitions, and slightly off lip-syncing pull you out of an otherwise riveting story. Word of caution, this game is not for the squeamish, the opening scene of the game is one of the most violent scenes in any videogame, it's not the action so much as the emotion behind it all. The screams and camera shots are used brilliantly. Telltale should be greatly applauded for their efforts to stay true to the source material, you won't be head shooting zombies, instead you will be fighting to defend your morals or talking someone down from doing something heinous.

The Walking Dead is only in its second of five episodes and it has already clawed its way to being the best adventure game series of the past several years. I griped my chair in suspense as I investigated the suspicious new survivors, I gasped when a character saw through my lies and ended a life, and I immensely regretted previous choices when certain people were put in grave danger. Telltale masters something most games fail miserably at in this episode and that's suspense. The entire episode slowly builds to a crescendo something most games never take the time to do and as scenes unfurl and decisions begin to stack up you will undoubtedly find yourself with an internal struggle over every single choice. The game is intense and by the time the credits had finally rolled I let out my first breath since the game began. I was so caught up in the moments I honestly forgot I was actually in control. Kudos to Telltale who masterfully crafts an experience that will have you second guessing yourself and the way you would react in any one of the events within the game. There is some pretty crazy shit in only the second episode of the series and so I await with bated breath for the next episode to follow these characters and see where my choices lead me next. 

(5 out of 5)

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Review

Traveler's Tale has got making their Lego games down to a science. Each year they release a new game, sometimes two each based on another popular license Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman and a myriad of others. But Lego Batman 2 is a first in two categories for Traveler's Tale, firstly talking characters no more grunts and wild gesticulation, each character is wonderfully voiced and with those voices comes even funnier jokes and gags. Secondly is a big open world with random scattered villians and the ever dependable but always tedious collectibles but most impressively a fully realized and traversable Gotham City. Make no mistake this is still a Lego game and while you can explore Gotham City at your leisure each mission in the game transports you to a more traditional linear puzzle filled Lego level. There are a total of 15 story missions and after that the world is yours to do as you wish, problem is there isn't much to do.

While at a glance Lego Batman 2 might appear to be chock full of activities and missions it is in fact quite the opposite. Other than the main story missions there are no other real structural objectives to speak of, sure there are collectibles but there isn't really a reason to get everything other than to be a completionist. But while the lack of much to do in the wonderfully realized Gotham City is a pretty big disappointment there is still a great underlying Lego game. For better or worse the Lego games have changed very little since they're rise in popularity, and while playing all of them might wear you down, one Lego game every few years is a fun refreshing change of pace. The humor has always been their strong suit and now talking characters make it even better, the games story missions are structured with a Vicky Vale news segment at the outset and upon completion, it is here where the game becomes very self aware poking fun at classic villains like Killer Moth and Captain Boomerang. There are even some clever jabs at the Batman Arkham games that I thought were particularly inspired. The back and worth between Batman and Robin as well as the ever present Superman make the character dynamics adorable and fun to watch, Robin fawning over Superman is particularly great.

Lego Batman 2 is one of the biggest leaps forward for Traveler's Tale and it paid off in spades, some holdover mechanics are becoming less forgivable as the years go on, particularly the obscure oftentimes obtuse puzzles within the story missions. These games always put a smile on my face and take me back to a time when games were less demanding and simply strived to be fun. I would had liked more actual missions in the open world to have an excuse to spend more time in Gotham City but I guess finding all the gold bricks will have to be it for now. And while Batman may have his name on the box the entire DC roster shows up at intervals, from Green Lantern to Cyborg from The Flash to Hawkman, Lego Batman 2 is probably the best game to feature any of these characters. Traveler's Tale has turned making seemingly child centric Lego games into an art form, there are some issues I hope they finally get around to working out, and the open world ends up being superfluous but evens till this is still a great funny game that's a ton of fun to play.

(4 out of 5)

The Newsroom Pilot Review

Aaron Sorkin returns to TV after a screenwriting stint with academy award nominated/winning films The Social Network, Charlie Wilson's War and Moneyball. And Sorkin's witty fast paced dialogue returns in full force alongside his strongly opinionated view on the world. The Newsroom may very well end up being the perfect Sorkin show, by centering around an affable failing news anchor Sorkin or more appropriately his characters can voice their opinions and tear down all forms of politics, business, education, and society in general. This show is trying to say something and its being as loud as possible, hoping to enlighten viewers on the social political climate. I don't have any aspirations for hard news reporting but I have always had strong opinions on the various goings on in the world and journalism always seemed like this fantastic avenue to inform people. Unfortunately modern news is FULL OF SHIT. It is the worst non-informed slanted garbage ever exposed to the public. Modern news journalist should be ashamed of the shit they throw at the screen its repulsive and does nothing but obfuscate real and hard news. Journalism should be about showing and explaining to viewers whats happening around them, holding people accountable and exposing the shit covered lies governments, business and even the media throws up. The Newsroom is my kind of show it refuses to accept any one truth, constantly questioning and poking and prodding refusing to simply accept any one answer without a hundred follow up questions.

Jeff Daniels in the role of his career plays Will McAvoy a struggling news anchor who after a college assembly meltdown in which he gives a rousing if sanctimonious speech on why America is not the greatest country in the world returns to an empty newsroom and few employees. After this the president of the fictitious ACN played by the always reliable Sam Waterston takes this opportunity to create a news program that reports on the news the way it ought to be reported. The show is pretty full of itself making long winded diatribes that come of as very self-indulgent, people argue whilst passionately against nothing because Sorkin always makes the arguments one sided. Hopefully the pilot is simply trying to make the biggest impression, I would really like to see Sorkin challenge his own point of view and then have real intelligent conversations amid those arguments. What is left is a fine sophisticated show that has a lot of promise. The show is set in 2010 giving itself room to take real world events to shape its stories, for example the very first episode focuses on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Everything is in place for this show to be both highly entertaining and eye opening, I just hope it gets less self aggrandizing.

The opening interview steals the show, Will McAvoy berating the United States of America while also making a plea for its improvement is fantastic. It sets a tone that I hope the show will get to explore deeper and more intellectually in future episodes. There is a great cast with memorable supporting characters and as usual they all shine the brighter thanks to Sorkin's rhythmic witty banter. Sorkin has the chance to really say something here about the media and its modern behavior, a call to arms if you will, but the show needs to stop taking time to boast about its superiority. Everything the show has to say is right and I could not agree more which is why I have such high hopes, it just needs to challenge itself with differing opinions to justify its postion.

(4 out of 5)

Lollipop Chainsaw Review

I don't even know where to begin. Is this game degrading? Is it empowering? Who came up with this idea and why? If you were to look at the marketing for this game it would offended any intelligent human being, focusing on the main character, cheerleader Juliet Starling's sex appeal instead of any actual game mechanics. But even though the games marketing strategy is kind of gross and the game itself is bland and repetitive there are enough zany, hilarious and random tangents that spruce up an otherwise unremarkable game. Lollipop Chainsaw follows Juliet and her recently decapitated yet still lively boyfriend Nick. Why is a decapitated head talking and hanging from Juliet's skirt, *shrugs shoulders* just cause. It's that unapologetic wackiness that makes this game shine and really stand out amongst the plethora of drab shooters.

It's Juliet's 18th birthday when the game starts and some "super bummer loser" has decided to tear a hole through our world into the Rotten World forcing the bad-juju to turn people into zombies. Luckily Juliet and her family are zombie hunters and so equipped with a chainsaw Juliet gets to work ridding the world of the recently infected. Lollipop Chainsaw is a combo heavy action game. Juliet has four basic abilities, low swings and high swings with her chainsaw, pom-pon stun attack which only dazes enemies making them easier to kill, and a dodge. You earn coins for killing zombies and you can use those same coins to purchase upgrades for Juliet making her faster stronger and more resilient or you can purchase new combos, increasing the versatility of the combat. The combat is pretty clunky, Juliet is strangely slow and cumbersome and you find yourself sometimes swinging your chainsaw wildly hoping to hit something. The one thing I did like was the coin bonuses for being better at the combat, the more efficient and varied you can kill zombies the more coins you get which in turn rewards you with mp3 from the games incredible library of songs, or outfits for pleasing any pervy sensibilities you may have. The games bosses should also be commended as they are all distinct and offer their own brand of insanity and laughs.

Lollipop Chainsaw wears its insanity on its sleeves. It doesn't even attempt to hid the weird sexual connotations of the main character nor does it seem to even remotely censor itself with lines such as "I'm gonna fist my ass with your head". And while the games stays interesting with its crude humor, over the top violence and cheeky sexual overtones, its all surface level. The game itself isn't very well made, button prompts refuse to appear, the character and her interactions with the environment are cumbersome, and the gameplay is repetitive never offering in real change outside of goofy mini-games. Lollipop Chainsaw is all about style over substance, great music, shocking yet hilarious dialogue, and a story that only gets progressively more insane. Unfortunately you can judge this book by its cover and what you see is what you get.

(3 out of 5)

Binary Domain Review

In this summer drought of games, I decided to pick up a game that came out earlier in the year. Binary Domain wasn't particularly well reviewed nor was it a successful game actually responsible for Sega coming in under their quarterly projections. But some love for the game existed in the deep corners of the internet and so it sat in my Amazon Wish List for months. I finally pulled the trigger and bought it and I'm damn glad I did. Binary Domain tells the story of a international group of soldiers tagged 'Rust Crews' who are dispatched to investigate and destroy hostile robots. Because you see, its the future and governments and corporations have the same corrupt self interests in mind, and so the two major robotics corporations are in bed with the military as well as fighting each other for patent and legislative control. But don't worry about that, you're just a soldier going in to clean up the mess, but its those details in the story that raise this game above a simple third-person shooter. 

You enter Japan with Dan and his partner Big Bo and while the gameplay mechanics are as uninspired as any shooter these days, it immediately makes an impression with your squads karma system as well as their specific characters. To gloss over the less interesting things, the gameplay is generic but generally fun, the game introduces new wrinkles in the combat often enough to keep the shooting fresh. Enemies change often, levels provide new obstacles and boss battles are massive and take patience. There isn't anything new here but it plays well apart from the animation priority present in all Japanese developed games that slows the action down and generally feels clunky. But back to the actually amazing stuff, there are about 7 characters that you meet throughout the game that join your squad for a time or permanently. Each of them are incredibly well developed more so than any typical shooter ever even attempts and its the interactions and relationships with these characters that make the game truly standout. The writing is strong, characters have strengths and flaws that define them. Sure cheesy lines are uttered and over the top shouting and emoting are on full display her but there is still a believability that most games lack that makes Binary Domain surprisingly engaging on a story and character level. 

The story has great twists and reacts to choices you make and interactions you have with the end result being an intense and engaging story. The gameplay is nothing special but it's functional and the boss fights are fun if obvious (shoot the glowing part). But man those characters, I was speechless in the last hour of the game, characters were switching alligences defending or berating my actions, and it all felt in line with what had been established. I was truly invested by the time this game drew to a close and I haven't been able to say that with a shooter these last few years. Don't let the name Big Bo and his wisecracking "Tell ya mama I love-a" put you off there is a legitimately well written and developed character under there.  

(4 out of 5)