Thought I'd fit in a review before going on to part two of my Resident Evil rant, and what better film is there out right now to review than X Men: Days of Future Past. Now I am going to really talk about this film in detail and that means SPOILERS.
This film follows a story set in two timelines; the first set in a dystopian future were Mutants and Humans who could potentially have a mutant child are at the brink of extinction by the near invincible Sentinel robots while the second is set in 1973 America just before the Sentinels were ever created.
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is the one who is chosen to go back in to the past because of his healing abilities and he must convince a young professor Xavier (James McAvoy), who is in a state of depression after many of his students and teachers are killed in Vietnam, to team up with a young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) who betrayed him in X Men First Class. Together they must stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing the Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) that, after being murdered by a mutant, gained sympathy and support for the Sentinel Program. However that is not all, Mystique is captured shortly after the murder and it is her DNA that it used to eventually upgrade the Sentinels to their invincible form in the future.
Meanwhile in the future the X men team led by older Professor Xavier (Patrick Steward) and Magneto (Ian Mckellen) must guard Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) from the Sentinels while she is using her powers to transfer Wolverine to the past.
Now I have read the comic that this film was inspired from and even though there are quite the few differences it is a really faithful adaption that is, in my opinion, the best X Men film to date. The biggest difference that this film has to the comic is that they send Wolverine back instead of Kitty Pride and even though I was very, very slightly disappointed when I first saw it in the trailers it worked really well in this. The reason why I was disappointed was because Kitty Pride is played by the great Ellen Page who is like perfect in everything she has been in (take X Men Last stand for example; no matter what anyone said about that film she was great in it), so in this she only seen in the future segments. However if they did send someone else back I am glad it was Wolverine because Hugh Jackman IS Wolverine, he has probably one of the most iconic roles ever and I can think of no one else to play the part than him.
Another reason I why I think this film is such a great adaptation is because this film is directed by Bryan Singer; director of X1 and X2 and worked as producer and writer for First Class, so this is like the return of the one who gave who the best X Men films (though The Wolverine is also great as well).
Besides some of the cast I have already mentioned above this film has a very wide variety of mutants and Humans from the comics, some with a more larger role than others. In the future for example we also have Storm (Halle Berry), Warpath (BooBoo Stewart), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Bishop (Omar Sy), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Blink (Fan BingBing) and Sunspot (Adan Canto). All of them have some great fight scenes with the future Sentinels and the cast was just perfect however since the majority of the film takes place in 1973 we don't see as much of them as I would have liked. Especially Bishop who is one of my favourite mutants because my favourite mutant power is absorbing kinetic energy which is his power and I would have wanted to see more of it (also why Sebastian Shaw is my absolute favourite mutant).
We also get some other great cast in the past besides the ones I have mentioned above as well like young Beast and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) who is a stand out in this film. When they break Magneto out of the Pentagon and we see Quicksilver take out all of those guards in slow motion was just so funny and damn cool. It is a shame however he is not in it for too long and the same can be said for Havok (Lucas Till) who only gets a small cameo.
As for the Sentinels they are portrayed really well in this film whether it was their past versions or their future versions. The ones in the past look more like the Sentinels that have been used in various X Men media and even looks like we can even build them today. As for the future ones they really seem like unstoppable killing machines thanks to their bio - mechanical armour that changes to adapt to any mutant they are fighting. So good job with these Sentinels, a really good portrayal of one of the X Men's most popular foes.
There are tons of action in this film to please any fan who wants to see a lot of mutants fight with their powers from the battles in the future to Magneto lifting an entire stadium over the white house. But there is also a good mix of great interaction from many of the cast like when the two Xaviers meet and the young Xavier trying to stop Mystique, this film is something that I think can please any movie goer.
However one thing that does annoy me in this film is that most of the mutants from First Class were just killed off, off screen. This includes Banshee, Emma Frost, Angel, Riptide and Azazel - all killed off and used for Trasks experiments before this film. It is a shame because the end of the First Class sets the former four as a major team with Magneto and Banshee in the comics was a major X Men.
Now I will now touch on the end of this film and its after credits scene, so even though I warned you before I will say it again that this next part will contain MAJOR SPOILERS!
In the ending of this film we see Wolverine return to the future but the world now seems to be at peace and he is now a history professor at the X Mansion. We also get the return of both Cyclops and Jean Grey because the events of X3 has now never happened. To be more precise the events of X1, X2, X3, X Men Origins Wolverine and The Wolverine has never happened. This is because this film takes place shortly after First Class and from the newspaper that glorified Mystique saving the President I am guessing that mutants are now not hated as much in this new timeline so maybe Magneto never set the events in motion in X1.
Now I am not saying that the previous films are now not worth watching all I am saying that Wolverine has now created an alternate timeline, the events in the previous films did happen but only Wolverine is aware of them. I think they have done this for two reasons;
1. It is almost like they have rebooted the series but they don't have to recast any of the characters, they can now create a new series of X Men films but without completely redoing the entire story. Also this way they can keep on using the cast and characters from this film and Days of Future Past.
2. They wanted to get rid of the some of the events they were not satisfied with in a way that could please the fans, like X3 for example. Now I know X3 got a lot of negative feedback however I did enjoy it overall because it did have some good points e.g. Ellen Page and Beast, but I will admit they messed up the Phoenix saga and needlessly killed off Jean, Cyclops and Xavier. At least now if they set any more films in the new future that Wolverine is in we will have those characters back.
So props to Bryan Singer because not only has he erased the events of X3 he even did it to his own films and that must have took guts. But I will say again those films are still worth watching because the series has not really rebooted and they are important and play a part in the overall story arc, especially in the future events in Days of Future Past.
Now I don't know about any of you but I am really psyched for the new X Men film because of the after scene credits which features one of the most deadliest foes the X Men have ever faced; En Sabah Nur - Apocalypse. I won't go in to too much detail of Apocalypse but lets just say that he is possible the first mutant ever with almost unlimited powers. We also get to see the Four Horse Men in the background for are his loyal mutant followers. I have read that the new X Men film takes place with the young generation of X Men which is good because we from 1973 I think there is around fifty years until the new timeline to cover. Also I read that we will see a young Cyclops and Jean Grey so that is great as well, I hope Wolverine is in it even if it is just a cameo.
So that is it for my review, it is the best X Men in the entire franchise and sets up the future for a new series of films. It is only just below perfect because some mutants that I wanted to see more aren't and previous mutants from First Class are kill off screen.
SCORE: 9/10
Showing posts with label FIRST. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FIRST. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Game Review – Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy
My very first review and I have decided to do it on Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy a 2005 interactive movie game developed by Quantic Dream. Before we begin however a quick word; I have decided to review old and classic games and films to start off with and I won’t be using any pictures during the review. The reason for that is because once a few years on Youtube I had a warning about copyright and after that I decided I will never again almost breach it. Also these reviews will not be spoiler free because I will talk a lot about the story.
First off a quick overview of the plot of Fahrenheit; it is set in New York city during the worst winter in recorded history, you start off as Lucas Kane a man who wakes up from a trance in the bathroom of a diner to discover that he has recently killed someone. During the course of the game up have to uncover what caused Lucas to commit murder while along the way hide evidence from the cops on your trail. This is where Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles comes in; two New York homicide detectives who are in charge of brining Lucas in. It starts off sounding simple enough however half way through the game and near the end you discover that the murder is just part of a bigger plot, one that involves Mayan rituals, secret clans, corrupt A.I. and the destruction of the world.
Now to touch on what I thought of the story it is a love it or hate it kind and I for one loved it however I can easily understand why someone can hate it. It starts off as a murder mystery where you can play as killer and cops but soon it becomes a supernatural sci-fi, the sudden change in the concept of the story will not be for everyone. There are as well several nude and sex scenes in the game that I felt was slightly out of place and just plain awkward.
As for game play most of it is simple point and click; where you can interact with the environment and other characters. When you talk to other characters you can chose from a selection of dialogue for a response, each one different and may affect the overall story. That was a selling point for this game is that each decision you make will affect the rest of the game, for example; After you commit the murder with Lucas you can try to hide as much evidence about it as you can so that when you play as Carla and Tyler they can have a harder or easier time catching you. However as interesting as it the story inevitably remains largely the same with you decisions only having small consequences.
Another game play element which is interesting is the action sequences when you play as Lucas. This is similar to the game of Simon and you have to move your analog stick in the direction of the highlighted colour just in time for Lucas to make a move. This was a very interesting way to convey the action scenes and they can range from being easy to being a challenge. Some players however who do not like the second half of the story however will not like that later that these action sequences control Lucas as he fights and flies around like Neo from the Matrix.
The best part of the game however is the morale meter in the bottom left side of the screen. This is affected by the choices you make in the games and could fill up or go down and you lose all of it your character it will end the game with your character being either depressed or even committing suicide.
As for the characters I think they are very well done but the do have their flaws. Lucas is a very interesting protagonist who has to deal with the murder whilst keeping it a secret from his ex – girlfriend and trying to convince his brother to help him. He has a really good back-story however a low point of the game is the flashbacks where you play with him as a child; even though it reveals more of his history it is not the most exciting parts of the game.
Carla is a good character to control as well and her investigation scenes with Tyler are some of the best of the game. However unlike Lucas and Tyler she has nothing in her personal life to make her more interesting, it is just all about the job for her.
Now for Tyler and he is definitely one of my favourite characters because he provides the comic relief and he has an interesting personal issue where his girl friend wants him to quit the force. A downside to him however is that half way through the game his role in the story diminishes because it focuses more on Lucas and Carla which is a real shame.
As for secondary characters they are all interesting and well written like the Mayan Oracle who is the primary antagonist, Markus Kane who is Lucas’s priest brother who has conflicted between his faith and his brother and the mysterious Agatha who helps Lucas through the game. There are many more who just have small roles but all are very unique.
Lastly I will touch on the graphics and sound in Fahrenheit on whether or not they are good of bad. The graphics in this game are very good for its time especially with the characters and their facial expressions however that cannot be said about the backgrounds. While the backgrounds are very well detailed they do sometimes look flat and it is noticeable when you spot it but it does not take away from the gaming experience.
The voice acting in this game is some of the best I have ever heard; all of the voice actors play their roles perfectly and you can really feel the emotion off all of them. Like the Oracle for example has one of the deepest and most menacing voices I have ever heard. The soundtrack is great as well and even though I have never heard of most of bands whose songs are in the game the Fahrenheit original soundtrack really goes with the mood of this game.
Overall Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy is a very unique game but it is not for everyone. It is more about telling a story than anything else each which you interact with it which is not for gamers for prefer game play over story. In the end Fahrenheit is a great experience and in my opinion one of the most stand out games of 2005. If I have any major issues with it is that as much as I like the second half of the game I wish the first half, which is all about the aftermath of the diner murder and Lucas hiding evidence, was a lot longer because it was the game’s high point. In the end I recommend Fahrenheit to all those who like major twists in their story and likes something a lot different from other games.
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