Took me longer than I thought to get round to a review of The Walking Dead Season Four but I have finally got round to it.
Taking place a few months after the events of season three the prison now seems to be a really stable and flourishing camp. With the inclusion of the Woodbury survivors in their group now, Rick and co are now trying to make a proper life for themselves again. Rick however, wanting to set a better example for Carl has resigned from the leadership position and is now basically the farmer along with Carl. However the peace they have created does not last in the form of the hordes of zombies, a deadly virus and the Governor who is gunning for revenge.
I have been really looking forward to this season because my favourite parts from the graphic novel is the attack of the Governor and the events that happen after and for the most part it does not disappoint. I will now go in to three of my favourite highlights of this season and be warned; SPOILERS AHEAD!
First is the story of a deadly virus that sweeps through the prison and infects many of the residents, this is also why they included a lot of red shirts. I did like this part a lot because it was a good original plot they made for the series, plus Hershel gets an episode all to himself on dealing with the virus which is one of my favourite episodes. I have always like the casting of Scott Wilson and he was just so good as the main character for the episode.
Next is the second attack of the Governor, which unlike the last season, was not a disappointment. It included the tank from the graphic novel and it was all guns blazing and zombie action. They also include the Governor's famous decapitation scene of a major character and that was just so cool. The only let down though the extended flashback of the Governor of what he did after season three that covers two episodes. While this was interesting in its own way it suffers from what a lot of original series content suffers from; it just dragged on!! The flashback really could have just been one episode or just a half an episode, it was just really slow in some parts. Also again I praise David Morrissey as the Governor and again I feel like it is the writers who let down is character a bit not the actor by dialling down the brutally of him.
Thirdly is the introduction of three of my favourite graphic novel characters; Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos) and Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt). Not only was their acting just for the characters was perfect but they really, really look like who they are supposed to be. I really want to see even more of these three in the next season.
There are however a couple of let downs in this season and that has mainly to do with some of the characters during the second half after the attack from the Governor, while the group is split. While this does include the introduction of the three characters above from the graphic novel it also includes ALOT of original series content that spans across eight episodes. While some of this original content is good it is the same as with the Governor's flashback; it just drags on too much. Whole episodes are given over to pairing of characters like Daryl and Beth and Tyreese and Carol and while I like these characters I felt a lot of screen time was wasted on them.
Also I think that this season really messed up three events from the graphic novel by mixing it in with original content, the first with the two sisters Lizzie and Mika. These two obviously took the place of Ben and Billy and if I'm honest I never really liked them that much. Ben went crazy and killed his twin because he had psychopathic mental problems and never understood what he did. For Lizzie killing Mika they had her being sympathetic to the zombies and wanted to be friends with them, I never liked that and I found her scenes when she is playing with the walkers just very annoying.
Another event is the group Daryl ends up with for a short while after Beth is kidnapped by an unknown person. I admit I really liked this group when they were introduced and also liked the group's leader Joe (Jeff Kober) because he as a really dark and interesting antagonist. I even thought he could have been a new main enemy for Rick and the rest after the Governor and before the introduction of Negen but I was wrong. After such a hype Joe and his group got they merely took the place of the three rapist that attack Rick, Carl and Abraham for a few pages before being quickly dispatched and that is what happen here. That was a major disappointment for me.
Finally the thing that bothered me the most out of this whole entire season is that Judith is still ALIVE! Don't get me wrong it is not like I want a baby to die but she does in the graphic novel along with Lori and it is the biggest failure Rick has done that haunts him ever since. At first I thought it would be best if they did not kill her off but when they showed the blood stained baby chair at the end of the Governor's attack I thought; "wow the writers actually did it after all, they killed her off but in a way that is more appropriate for TV." But then she was shown with Tyreese and Carol. Sorry but I do not know were they are going to go with this and I don't want Rick to be burdened with looking after a baby for the entire rest of the show. This is also another example of the writers dialling down the brutally of the graphic novel like the stuff the Governor does, Rick losing his hand and now this! Makes me worried about what they are going to do with Negen?
Before I end this there are few other good points to mention like the episode Rick and Carl to themselves that adapted really well from the graphic and the inclusion of Bob Stookey (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) who has become one of my favourite characters. He is a lot different from his graphic novel counterpart but I defiantly prefer this one because he has such a larger and important role. His struggles with alcoholism he touched more in this and when he had his flashback of being alone for ages I think that was acted just so well, I really felt sorry for that guy and you really feel that he has just been through hell. My hats off to Lawrence Gilliard Jr, I hope you continue to be a member of Ricks group for a good long while.
And that is it, overall it was a solid season but the first half was a lot better than the second and they messed up some iconic plots form the graphic novel that I really cannot forgive them for. However the action and casting are great as always and I really hope it gets back to the proper story of getting to Washington soon.
SCORE: 7/10
Friday, 16 May 2014
Monday, 12 May 2014
Bleach Review: Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Gremmy Thoumeaux
Back again with a review of the most recent fight in Bleach; Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Gremmy Thoumeaux. While I have reviewed almost every recent Bleach fight for the Quincy invasion I decided to skip Yachiru Kusajishi vs. Guenael Lee because that was not even a proper fight and Guenael was not even a real person. So lets proceed.
This fight begins with Gremmy erasing Guenael from existence and saying that he was nothing more than a creation he imagined, a fake Sternritter V. Gremmy is the real V, for the The Visionary and says whatever he imagines becomes reality for example he imagines that Yachiru's bones are made up of cookies and so it happens, he also proclaims to have already killed Rose and Kensei while everyone was distracted by Guenael. However before anything else can happen something even I did not expect happened; the arrival of Kenpachi!
Gremmy proclaims to be the strongest Sternritter and challenges Kenpachi by created a raised arena for them to fight on and the real fight begins. They exchange some blows and even though Gremmy blocks Kenpachi's blade by imagining his skin his stronger than steel however typical Kenpachi simply says there is nothing he can't cut and wounds him however Gremmy just imagines his injuries are already healed. The fight continues with Gremmy summoning multiply objects to fight with such as stone hands, a body of water and even a barrage of machine guns but Kenpachi slashes them all away and even discovers Gremmy's weakness; if his attention is shifted what he imagines disappears, for example Yachiru's bones are back to normal because he was too focused on Kenpachi.
When Kenpachi gains the upper hand Gremmy begins to slow down and almost imagined himself losing but he manages to stop himself. From being so calm to beging with Gremmy soon starts to become more mad and then clones himself and states his imagination has now doubled and summons a meteorite to destroy everything and everyone, much to the shock of some of his fellow Sternritter looking on (I will talk about some cameos of Sternritter later).
However the moment we have all been waiting for arrives and Kenpachi finally releases his Zanpakutō, Nozarashi, which looks almost like the first form of Ichigo's Zanpakutō expect it is a lot bigger, shaped more like an halberd and has a red tussle at the tip of it. Of course Nozarashi's power allows Kenpachi to cut through anything such as the meteorite, much to Gremmy's surprise. The battle continues with Gremmy trapping Kenpachi in a void of space and even though suffers serious damage he manages to escape and even survives being blasted by numerous Gremmy clones. The battle ends with Gremmy tiring to imagine himself more powerful than Kenpachi but it seems his body cannot handle that much power and breaks itself apart.
Now that I have finished going over the fight I guess the most important thing to say is whether or not I like it and the answer is.....yes I did really enjoy this fight. There are several reasons why I like it but I guess the main reason for this is because unlike previous Kenpachi fights his opponent here isn't just a straight up melee fighter. Take Nnoitra for example, a really powerful Espada but aside from his release granting six blades he had no other special abilities. This fight however has something completely different because Kenpachi faces off against someone with a wide range of special abilities.
Secondly to me it did not feel has if this fight was completely one sided like it was when Renji fought Mask or when Rukia fought As Nodt. Throughout this entire fight I thought that both Kenpachi and Gremmy had an equal chance of winning with neither being too over powered except at the end.
And thirdly the art in this chapter was some of the best I have seen in a fight; from Gremmy releasing his barrage of guns to Kenpachi destroying the meteorite it was just all so epic and really added to how great this fight was.
I was really glad when the real Sternritter V turned out to be Gremmy because Guenael was just too weird looking and just looked like a throw away opponent in either case. Gremmy on the other hand had a lot cooler ability and was a lot better designed than Guenael. He looks cool in his hooded Sternritter coat and I think the facial expressions that Kubo gave him were really well done. At the start of the fight he looked calm and laid back but as Kenpachi kept pushing him and pushing him we get more manic expressions and he looked absolutely insane! This once again also praising the get art that was in this chapter.
Also Kenpachi's Nozarashi turned out to be a really suitable Zanpakutō for him; it was simple yet effective and Kenpachi even before liked to boost how he could cut through anything so I guess this new power really justifies this fact.
Finally we get some great cameos from the other Sternritter in this fight as well, most notably we see Askin Nakk le Vaar talking with the recently named Sternritter Pepe. For those who don't know Pepe is the Sternritter with the power to control others like he did during the first invasion so it is finally good to see him and I am interested to see him in a fight. His design is great too, he looks like a monk which is kind of supported by the fact that he is sitting on a floating disk. What these two were doing was discussing how dangerous Gremmy is and how he has gone mad during his fight. They also witness the summoning of the meteorite along with a shocked Bazz - B.
We also get two important moments at the end of this chapter as well, first being that Gremmy's body was also the product of his imagination and that his true form is just a brain within a container. While this was a bit weird it has also made me hopeful that Gremmy will return in future battles because Kenpachi did not do anything to the brain case, plus I also think he is a great Sternritter.
Also it seems that Yachiru has gone missing at the end of the fight but before anything can be done about it we get the arrival of the four female Sternritter; Candice Catnipp, Meninas McAllon, Giselle Gewelle and Litotto Lamperd. Now I don't know if these four are really going to fight Kenpachi or if they are just there to retrieve Gremmy or if they were the ones who took Yachiru, I guess we are just going to have to wait till next chapter. I am interested however in what they do since it has been a while since saw these four.
Overall this is probably one of my favourite fights of this arc so far; Gremmy was one of the most interesting Sternritter so far with great abilities, it was a different sort of Kenpachi fight and the art through out it was great. I think the only let down was that the ending was a bit anti - climatic with Gremmy's body just breaking apart but like I said I am hopeful we will see him again. Also I really hope that Rose and Kensei are not dead because that would be a waste of their characters but Kubo has yet to say if they are really dead or if it was just Gremmy's imagination.
SCORE: 8/10
This fight begins with Gremmy erasing Guenael from existence and saying that he was nothing more than a creation he imagined, a fake Sternritter V. Gremmy is the real V, for the The Visionary and says whatever he imagines becomes reality for example he imagines that Yachiru's bones are made up of cookies and so it happens, he also proclaims to have already killed Rose and Kensei while everyone was distracted by Guenael. However before anything else can happen something even I did not expect happened; the arrival of Kenpachi!
Gremmy proclaims to be the strongest Sternritter and challenges Kenpachi by created a raised arena for them to fight on and the real fight begins. They exchange some blows and even though Gremmy blocks Kenpachi's blade by imagining his skin his stronger than steel however typical Kenpachi simply says there is nothing he can't cut and wounds him however Gremmy just imagines his injuries are already healed. The fight continues with Gremmy summoning multiply objects to fight with such as stone hands, a body of water and even a barrage of machine guns but Kenpachi slashes them all away and even discovers Gremmy's weakness; if his attention is shifted what he imagines disappears, for example Yachiru's bones are back to normal because he was too focused on Kenpachi.
When Kenpachi gains the upper hand Gremmy begins to slow down and almost imagined himself losing but he manages to stop himself. From being so calm to beging with Gremmy soon starts to become more mad and then clones himself and states his imagination has now doubled and summons a meteorite to destroy everything and everyone, much to the shock of some of his fellow Sternritter looking on (I will talk about some cameos of Sternritter later).
However the moment we have all been waiting for arrives and Kenpachi finally releases his Zanpakutō, Nozarashi, which looks almost like the first form of Ichigo's Zanpakutō expect it is a lot bigger, shaped more like an halberd and has a red tussle at the tip of it. Of course Nozarashi's power allows Kenpachi to cut through anything such as the meteorite, much to Gremmy's surprise. The battle continues with Gremmy trapping Kenpachi in a void of space and even though suffers serious damage he manages to escape and even survives being blasted by numerous Gremmy clones. The battle ends with Gremmy tiring to imagine himself more powerful than Kenpachi but it seems his body cannot handle that much power and breaks itself apart.
Now that I have finished going over the fight I guess the most important thing to say is whether or not I like it and the answer is.....yes I did really enjoy this fight. There are several reasons why I like it but I guess the main reason for this is because unlike previous Kenpachi fights his opponent here isn't just a straight up melee fighter. Take Nnoitra for example, a really powerful Espada but aside from his release granting six blades he had no other special abilities. This fight however has something completely different because Kenpachi faces off against someone with a wide range of special abilities.
Secondly to me it did not feel has if this fight was completely one sided like it was when Renji fought Mask or when Rukia fought As Nodt. Throughout this entire fight I thought that both Kenpachi and Gremmy had an equal chance of winning with neither being too over powered except at the end.
And thirdly the art in this chapter was some of the best I have seen in a fight; from Gremmy releasing his barrage of guns to Kenpachi destroying the meteorite it was just all so epic and really added to how great this fight was.
I was really glad when the real Sternritter V turned out to be Gremmy because Guenael was just too weird looking and just looked like a throw away opponent in either case. Gremmy on the other hand had a lot cooler ability and was a lot better designed than Guenael. He looks cool in his hooded Sternritter coat and I think the facial expressions that Kubo gave him were really well done. At the start of the fight he looked calm and laid back but as Kenpachi kept pushing him and pushing him we get more manic expressions and he looked absolutely insane! This once again also praising the get art that was in this chapter.
Also Kenpachi's Nozarashi turned out to be a really suitable Zanpakutō for him; it was simple yet effective and Kenpachi even before liked to boost how he could cut through anything so I guess this new power really justifies this fact.
Finally we get some great cameos from the other Sternritter in this fight as well, most notably we see Askin Nakk le Vaar talking with the recently named Sternritter Pepe. For those who don't know Pepe is the Sternritter with the power to control others like he did during the first invasion so it is finally good to see him and I am interested to see him in a fight. His design is great too, he looks like a monk which is kind of supported by the fact that he is sitting on a floating disk. What these two were doing was discussing how dangerous Gremmy is and how he has gone mad during his fight. They also witness the summoning of the meteorite along with a shocked Bazz - B.
We also get two important moments at the end of this chapter as well, first being that Gremmy's body was also the product of his imagination and that his true form is just a brain within a container. While this was a bit weird it has also made me hopeful that Gremmy will return in future battles because Kenpachi did not do anything to the brain case, plus I also think he is a great Sternritter.
Also it seems that Yachiru has gone missing at the end of the fight but before anything can be done about it we get the arrival of the four female Sternritter; Candice Catnipp, Meninas McAllon, Giselle Gewelle and Litotto Lamperd. Now I don't know if these four are really going to fight Kenpachi or if they are just there to retrieve Gremmy or if they were the ones who took Yachiru, I guess we are just going to have to wait till next chapter. I am interested however in what they do since it has been a while since saw these four.
Overall this is probably one of my favourite fights of this arc so far; Gremmy was one of the most interesting Sternritter so far with great abilities, it was a different sort of Kenpachi fight and the art through out it was great. I think the only let down was that the ending was a bit anti - climatic with Gremmy's body just breaking apart but like I said I am hopeful we will see him again. Also I really hope that Rose and Kensei are not dead because that would be a waste of their characters but Kubo has yet to say if they are really dead or if it was just Gremmy's imagination.
SCORE: 8/10
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Film Review: The Amazing Spiderman 2 (MASSIVE SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!)
I know I have not reviewed the first Amazing Spiderman but I have just recently seen the second one and I just want to dive right in to reviewing it. Also I won't go on about the story, I am just going to focus on specific events and characters in detail so has the title indicates there will be MASSIVE SPOILERS for those who have not yet seen the film.
Firstly I want to talk about the villains that appear in the film so lets start off with the main one; Max Dillon/Electro played by Jamie Foxx. Now sorry to all the people who are massive fans of the original Electro from the comic books but in my opinion I much preferred the version of Jamie Foxx. I have two main reasons for this and they start off with the his change in look; anyone who have read the comics know that Electro wears a green and yellow spandex costume and while this is ok I always found it to be a tad wacky and really think this would not have done well in the film. His look in the film however is really cool; his electric blue skin which is kind of see through and covered in veins defiantly gives Electro the look of a mutated super human.
The other reason I prefer the film version of Electro was Jamie Foxx's praise worthy portrayal and the story arc that they have given him. In the comics Max Dillon is just an electrical engineer and line man who gains his powers and then just turns to crime but in the film they give more depth to the character; he works for OSCORP as an electrical engineer and is probably the biggest nobody in the entire world. I mean really this guy is so alone, so mistreated and so under appreciated for is work by is colleges that I really felt sorry for this guy. One of the best non - action scenes in the film for me was when he was stumbling through Times Square after just getting his powers and he sees himself being filmed on all of the big screens and even though they are picturing him as the villain Max just looks soooo relived that people a finally seeing him......until Spiderman ruins it for him by stealing the lime light. Another change in the Electro back story for the film was that after Spiderman saves his life he practically idolizes (and it is a little creepy with how far they go lol).
Oh and one more thing I would like to add that Electro has one of the coolest themes for a villain that I have heard. When it comes to villains a factor that I think is a definite plus is a badass theme song and I think they did it right here.
Next I would like to go in to possibly Spiderman's arch nemesis and that is the Green Goblin. Now when comic book fans watch this film I bet some of them where surprised when Harry Osborn is the Green Goblin when usually his father Norman Osborn is the first in almost all other forms of Spiderman media. Not only that but they kill Norman off after only five minutes of screen time from a disease, something that Harry has as well. Now this was one hell of a bold move since Norman is supposed to be the first Green Goblin but they handled it so well in this that it is something I can look over and Dane DeHann as Harry was so good too. Even when he was just Harry Osborn and not the Green Goblin he seemed really dark and creepy and the disease that is killing him gives him a good motivation to take the spider venom drug.
As for the costume besides form the usual armour and glider they have decided to forgo the use of a mask in favour of changing Harry's face when he injects himself with the drug. So instead of a goblin looking helmet like in the previous Spiderman films Harry's face is given a greenish colour, his hair lightens and is spikes up and his mouth is all smiley and twisted with black teeth. I really did like this look because like Electro they decided to kind of mutant his appearance to make him more sinister instead of giving him a costume and like with Electro it has worked.
Now with the villain that I feel is completely wasted and that is the Rhino; first I will just say that I am not a big Rhino fan, in the comics and now he is not one of my favourites but I was still looking forward to see him in the film. This is because in the trailers I saw that they gave him an awesome mecha suit and what looked like a cool fight with Spiderman however this fight only happens for the last five minutes of the film and it cuts to the credits half way through. A bit of a disappointment after how much the trailers showed of it so I can really just hope at this point that it is continued in the next film.
As for the fights in this film besides from the disappointing one with Rhino I have to say that all of the others are done really well. The two major fights Spiderman has with Electro are just awesome, the one in the Time Square was great with the cool use of Spidey Sense and we get to see Electro getting better with controlling his powers throughout it. It may have ended suddenly with Spiderman hitting Electro with water from a fire hose but since water is his actual weakness in the comics am not going to fault them for that. However his final fight at the power station with my favourite fight in the entire film; It was so cool when Electro kept teleporting himself in between the rods and it was playing his theme song!
For the Green Goblin fight I have heard some saying it was just shoehorned in at the very end so it can include the death of Gwen Stacy (talk about that next) however as short as it was I think it was done very well and choosing the clock tower as a location was great too. Like with Rhino I hope that the Green Goblin has more screen time in the next film.
On to the death of Gwen Stacy and I have to say that I am really glad the writers decided to keep it and not change it in any way. As a fan of the comics I knew she would have been killed off by the Green Goblin the second I saw her and like in the comics she is killed when Spiderman tries to catch her with his webbing and the impact snaps her neck. This is one of the most definitive moments in the comics because not only had Spiderman killed an innocent, it was his girlfriend and it established the Green Goblin forever as his arch nemesis. Also if I am honest I am kind of glad that they did kill her off now because despite Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone having amazing chemistry together I was kind of annoyed by their constant on again off again relationship throughout the film. I feel that some of their scenes together could have been cut out from the film to focus on other events.
One last big thing I would like to talk about and that is they whole mystery surrounding Peters parent and I have to say that the whole revelation of it was a bit of a let down. Sure it goes includes how Ben Parker was the one behind the mutated spiders but in the end it all amount to one thing: OSCORP bad. Fans of the comics and even non fans probably could have worked out that on their own, it was done really well, especially the beginning of the film with Ben and his wife on the plane but like I said the big reveal behind their deaths and everything they done was a bit obvious.
Now lastly I talk about one of the most exciting aspects of the film and that is the whole set up for the Sinister Six group! For those who do not know they Sinister Six is a group in the Spiderman Universe made op of some of the most dangerous of the Spiderman villains. Harry literally mentions it at the end of the film and that is even the whole reason Rhino was introduced at the very end. We also have a massive hint in the film that Doctor Octopus and the Vulture will also be included in the roster and I have also heard rumours online that Kraven the Hunter may be included as well which would be great since he is an interesting character. One I would like to see are Shocker, Scorpion and the Chameleon, I am really looking forward to seeing the Sinister Six so I guess we are just going to have to wait and see who will be included.
On another note I just want to say I really hope Carnage is included in the film series eventually, he is the my most favourite (an in my opinion most powerful) of the Spiderman villains!
Overall this was a awesome follow up to the Amazing Spiderman 1 with its strong points being the villains of Electro and the Green Goblin but being let down slightly by Rhino and too much screen time being given the Peter's and Gwen's relationship.
SCORE: 8/10
Firstly I want to talk about the villains that appear in the film so lets start off with the main one; Max Dillon/Electro played by Jamie Foxx. Now sorry to all the people who are massive fans of the original Electro from the comic books but in my opinion I much preferred the version of Jamie Foxx. I have two main reasons for this and they start off with the his change in look; anyone who have read the comics know that Electro wears a green and yellow spandex costume and while this is ok I always found it to be a tad wacky and really think this would not have done well in the film. His look in the film however is really cool; his electric blue skin which is kind of see through and covered in veins defiantly gives Electro the look of a mutated super human.
The other reason I prefer the film version of Electro was Jamie Foxx's praise worthy portrayal and the story arc that they have given him. In the comics Max Dillon is just an electrical engineer and line man who gains his powers and then just turns to crime but in the film they give more depth to the character; he works for OSCORP as an electrical engineer and is probably the biggest nobody in the entire world. I mean really this guy is so alone, so mistreated and so under appreciated for is work by is colleges that I really felt sorry for this guy. One of the best non - action scenes in the film for me was when he was stumbling through Times Square after just getting his powers and he sees himself being filmed on all of the big screens and even though they are picturing him as the villain Max just looks soooo relived that people a finally seeing him......until Spiderman ruins it for him by stealing the lime light. Another change in the Electro back story for the film was that after Spiderman saves his life he practically idolizes (and it is a little creepy with how far they go lol).
Oh and one more thing I would like to add that Electro has one of the coolest themes for a villain that I have heard. When it comes to villains a factor that I think is a definite plus is a badass theme song and I think they did it right here.
Next I would like to go in to possibly Spiderman's arch nemesis and that is the Green Goblin. Now when comic book fans watch this film I bet some of them where surprised when Harry Osborn is the Green Goblin when usually his father Norman Osborn is the first in almost all other forms of Spiderman media. Not only that but they kill Norman off after only five minutes of screen time from a disease, something that Harry has as well. Now this was one hell of a bold move since Norman is supposed to be the first Green Goblin but they handled it so well in this that it is something I can look over and Dane DeHann as Harry was so good too. Even when he was just Harry Osborn and not the Green Goblin he seemed really dark and creepy and the disease that is killing him gives him a good motivation to take the spider venom drug.
As for the costume besides form the usual armour and glider they have decided to forgo the use of a mask in favour of changing Harry's face when he injects himself with the drug. So instead of a goblin looking helmet like in the previous Spiderman films Harry's face is given a greenish colour, his hair lightens and is spikes up and his mouth is all smiley and twisted with black teeth. I really did like this look because like Electro they decided to kind of mutant his appearance to make him more sinister instead of giving him a costume and like with Electro it has worked.
Now with the villain that I feel is completely wasted and that is the Rhino; first I will just say that I am not a big Rhino fan, in the comics and now he is not one of my favourites but I was still looking forward to see him in the film. This is because in the trailers I saw that they gave him an awesome mecha suit and what looked like a cool fight with Spiderman however this fight only happens for the last five minutes of the film and it cuts to the credits half way through. A bit of a disappointment after how much the trailers showed of it so I can really just hope at this point that it is continued in the next film.
As for the fights in this film besides from the disappointing one with Rhino I have to say that all of the others are done really well. The two major fights Spiderman has with Electro are just awesome, the one in the Time Square was great with the cool use of Spidey Sense and we get to see Electro getting better with controlling his powers throughout it. It may have ended suddenly with Spiderman hitting Electro with water from a fire hose but since water is his actual weakness in the comics am not going to fault them for that. However his final fight at the power station with my favourite fight in the entire film; It was so cool when Electro kept teleporting himself in between the rods and it was playing his theme song!
For the Green Goblin fight I have heard some saying it was just shoehorned in at the very end so it can include the death of Gwen Stacy (talk about that next) however as short as it was I think it was done very well and choosing the clock tower as a location was great too. Like with Rhino I hope that the Green Goblin has more screen time in the next film.
On to the death of Gwen Stacy and I have to say that I am really glad the writers decided to keep it and not change it in any way. As a fan of the comics I knew she would have been killed off by the Green Goblin the second I saw her and like in the comics she is killed when Spiderman tries to catch her with his webbing and the impact snaps her neck. This is one of the most definitive moments in the comics because not only had Spiderman killed an innocent, it was his girlfriend and it established the Green Goblin forever as his arch nemesis. Also if I am honest I am kind of glad that they did kill her off now because despite Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone having amazing chemistry together I was kind of annoyed by their constant on again off again relationship throughout the film. I feel that some of their scenes together could have been cut out from the film to focus on other events.
One last big thing I would like to talk about and that is they whole mystery surrounding Peters parent and I have to say that the whole revelation of it was a bit of a let down. Sure it goes includes how Ben Parker was the one behind the mutated spiders but in the end it all amount to one thing: OSCORP bad. Fans of the comics and even non fans probably could have worked out that on their own, it was done really well, especially the beginning of the film with Ben and his wife on the plane but like I said the big reveal behind their deaths and everything they done was a bit obvious.
Now lastly I talk about one of the most exciting aspects of the film and that is the whole set up for the Sinister Six group! For those who do not know they Sinister Six is a group in the Spiderman Universe made op of some of the most dangerous of the Spiderman villains. Harry literally mentions it at the end of the film and that is even the whole reason Rhino was introduced at the very end. We also have a massive hint in the film that Doctor Octopus and the Vulture will also be included in the roster and I have also heard rumours online that Kraven the Hunter may be included as well which would be great since he is an interesting character. One I would like to see are Shocker, Scorpion and the Chameleon, I am really looking forward to seeing the Sinister Six so I guess we are just going to have to wait and see who will be included.
On another note I just want to say I really hope Carnage is included in the film series eventually, he is the my most favourite (an in my opinion most powerful) of the Spiderman villains!
Overall this was a awesome follow up to the Amazing Spiderman 1 with its strong points being the villains of Electro and the Green Goblin but being let down slightly by Rhino and too much screen time being given the Peter's and Gwen's relationship.
SCORE: 8/10
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Game Review: Hitman Absolution
Hitman Absolution stars Agent 47 who, after the events of Hitman Blood Money, has been assigned to find and assassinate his old handler with the I.C.A; Diana Burnwood, who has went rouge and plans to expose the agency. Upon completing the mission 47decides to go break off from the agency himself and keep a girl named Victoria safe, which was the dying wish of Diana. 47 is now a rouge agent with the I.C.A, the police and even an arms manufacturing company after him and all because of this mysterious girl Victoria.
The story in this game is a real strong suit for it since I feel there is a lot more depth in it than the previous entries, I think the better graphics have contributed to that but there is more to it. For example I think that there is a proper overarching story to the whole game now than just a series of hits to complete. It has a lot of surprises in it and seeing 47 has a rouge agent now and seeing him dealing with it through the cut scenes.
Has for the gameplay it has many features from the previous games that we know and love and many of them have been improved. For example controlling 47 has never felt easier; I don't know about anyone else but for the other games the controls felt a little bit awkward, as if the games did not make the move from PC to console very well. The movement in this game is a lot more fluid, especially when it comes to the shooting which I will go in to detail about now.
The shooting in the game is still similar to the other ones, where the camera angle is behind 47 and it goes to over the shoulder but there was no need to change this anyway. One great aspect that has been added is instinct mode a kind of sonar like vision which allows 47 to predict enemies movements to a certain degree, it however uses a gauge so you have to be careful how long you use it for, this gauge however change be refilled by taking out enemies and completing objectives. Another new mechanic that uses the gauge is a bullet time mode which lets 47 slow down time; while in this state he can mark targets and then quickly take them out and it was a hell of a fun! This slow down of time however uses a lot of the gauge so it cannot be spammed which I think is a good thing; stops players from relying on it too much.
Now one thing that has always been the main attraction of the Hitman games was it's massive level design and the ingenious ways you can use the environment to your advantage and that is still the case here. The levels in this have been broken down in to different areas, kind of like checkpoints, but each area is still expansive and detailed be it either Chinatown or the hotel. My favourite level is the strip club were, like most of the other levels, there are many ways to kill your target which encourages replay a definite plus for any game.
One thing however that is present in every level is the point system which may or may not be a good thing. On the one hand we can keep track of our scores constantly so we can know how well we are doing and this is a good thing if we are trying to get the high score. However it good be rather off putting sometimes when we see are scores reduced for a small mistake made at the last minute. Made me thing more than once of replying the level to get it right even though everything else was going good.
Another thing that might irk some old players, but like the score this is a matter of preference, is that in this game we cannot chose are weapons and prepare ourselves before hand. This is explained in the story because 47 is a rouge agent and now has to procure weapons on site but some may have wanted to chose their weapons first. This does not bother me but it may bother some other die hard fans of the old system. As for the weapons there is plenty of them from 47's trusted Silverballers to sniper rifles and machine guns and a lot of melee weapons from knife to household items. This once again adds to the many ways you can take out your targets.
With online being a big craze nowadays it would have been weird not for Hitman Absolution to include one and I have to say it is one of most favourite online mode I have played. What you have to do is replay levels you have played but now you can chose the targets and the method in how to take them out and these targets can be anyone; from the enemies you already encountered in the story to civilians you passed. After you have completed the mission you can post it online to see if anyone else can pull it off, it is a compelling and interesting mode for online and I spent hours trying to create the hardest level.
Two things however was a bit of a let down however and first is with the many disguises that 47 can use throughout the game. Even if you change in to a disguise to enter a restricted area the enemies can still spot you regardless if you do anything suspicious or not. For example if you dress like a police officer you can still be spotted by other police officers unless you constantly hold the R1 button to hide your face. This was not in the other games and it felt like unnecessary to add that in here. This makes it hard to enjoy infiltrating places in a disguise like before and holding the R1 constantly drains the gauge which is annoying.
One more thing which was disappointing was the bosses that they have in it; they are no different from ordinary foes. For example I was really looking forward to facing the Saints in the games; a group of leather clad, dominatrix nuns who I thought were really cool. However when their level game they just acted like the other patrols around them which was a shame. I don't know how else the could have done it, I just wanted them to be more unique.
Moving on to the graphics and I have to say that they are stunning! The facial expressions of all the characters are the best they have ever been because for the previous games, like the controls, I found the graphics would have suited a PC more than a console. The same can be said for the levels which look so detailed, I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about the graphic here it suited the game perfectly.
Lastly the characters where all well acting and thought out in this games from David Bateson as the ever awesome 47 to Keith Carradine as the antagonist Blake Dexter, who can be a real ass in some of the cut scenes lol. There are off course many great side characters as well like Powers Boothe as Benjamin Travis the head of ICA, Traci Lords as Layla Stockton, Jon Gries had Sheriff Clive Skurky and many great more.
Overall Absolution is my favourite entry to the series let down only by the disguise and the bosses but despite that this is a most have for anyone's Hitman collection.
SCORE: 8/10
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Game Review: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix
It has been a while but I am now back with a game review and I have decided to review a HD port of one of my favourite games; Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Hearts is about a character named Sora who, along with his two friends Riku and Kairi, wishes to leave their small world and travel to many others. However beings called the Heartless destroy their world and separates the three friends so Sora, now armed with the keyblade that has the power to destroy the Heartless, tries to find them by travelling to many different worlds. He is accompanied by Disney characters Donald and Goofy who wish to find their King, King Mickey, who left on a mission to stop the Heartless.
Now I guess I will start off by saying that the main attraction of this game is the whole host of Disney characters and worlds. It is really clever to see how they mixed the stories of the Disney characters with Sora’s mission to stop the Heartless. There are plenty of worlds has well for many Disney fans such as Aladdin, Tarzan and Hercules to name a few, each one of them with their own unique feel and experience. However what a really nice surprise when I first played this game on the PS2 was the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters such as Squall, Cloud, Yuffie and Aeries to name a few.
What also makes this game epic was its great combat system; unlike Final Fantasy which uses a turn based method, Kingdom Hearts uses a hack and slash type gameplay which was so much fun. The areas where you fight the Heartless are big and there is such a wide variety of enemies with their own unique abilities that you are going to spend alot of time, and fun, trying to figure out their weakness. This is also true for the bosses, many of them are massive and they can be quite difficult for first timers but hey, who wants a game with easy bosses?
Also another great addition to 1.5 which was not in the original PS2 version is the introduction to many secret enemies which drop valuable items and a new boss in Hollow Bastion which was hard to beat. They are also kept all of the great superbosses that are even more difficult than the final boss such as Sephiroth, the Ice Giant etc.
Back to the combat it is still as fluid and easy to master as it was in the PS2 version. Your stat growth is similar to Final Fantasy games in that you level up and equip magic, weapons, armour and abilities. You get even more abilities in this game which is a definite plus. You even get to fight alongside Donald and Goofy as permanent party members and from time to time fight with guest characters from the Disney universe, my favourite one to fight with is Beast.
Besides to combat this game also offers a wide range of side quests outside of the main story such as fighting in the coliseum, collecting all weapons and mixing all items in the moogle shop to name a few. One of the one I was not bothered about is the gummi ship missions to get to each world but it is only a small thing and I don’t hate it either (it gets better in KH2).
As for the cast of characters, they are all just perfect Sora, Riku and Kairi are great original main characters that fit in well with the Disney ones and the the same can be said about the huge cast of Disney ones. They are all just fun to watch and I like each and every one of them! Also graphically this game is ver pretty to look at, it looks largely the same as the PS2 one except with a few touch ups and colour differences in the Heartless.
Overall Kingdom Hearts was one of the best games ever to have been made for the PS2 so I am glad we finally got a HD port for the PS3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this game at all in my opinion and I can’t wait for a HD port of Kingdom Hearts 2 which is even better than KH1, at the time I thought it maybe have been impossible to top KH1 but they did!
SCORE: 10/10
I have not reviewed Chain of Memories that is included with the game and that is because I have not finished it yet. I know Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 came out in September but I only got it not that long ago and I have only had time to complete 1.5. Maybe I will review Chain of Memories when I finish it.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Bleach Review: 566 - 570, Rukia Kuchiki vs. As Nodt
This was probably is uploaded later than I thought it would but here is my review of the recent fight between Rukia and As Nodt.
It starts off with Rukia going around the Seireitei (or the Vandenriech now that it is taken over) and stopping when she feels something touch her arm and then turns around to see As Nodt floating towards her. We get some cool, creepy expressions of As Nodt as asks where his captured Senbonzakura and her brother has gone to and I found that kind of funny. It is not long before the actions begins and As Nodt fires his Reshi thorns at Rukia, he also takes off his cape and we see his outfit is still the same as last time but with the added addition of fingerless gloves. However even though As Nodt says his fear ability cannot be stopped with ice Rukia remains ineffective by saying that her body is below freezing so she is currently ‘dead’ and fear cannot affect her (it is also the true power of her Sode No Shirayuki), she then proceeds to completely freeze As Nodt in midair.
As Nodt survives this however and breaks out while removing his mouth mask to reveal a decaying mouth and then afterwards enters in his Vollstandig by activating the Vandenreich symbol on the back of his eye. His Vollstandig is called Tatarforas and while in it he gains thorn like looking wings and a halo; his suit also peels away to show a decaying looking chest where is ribcage is. This form heightens his strength and speed but also grants him the ability to paralyse his target with fear simply by looking at his victim. He then creates an entire dome of eyes which traps and seems to have the upper hand before Byakuya Kuchiki.
Surprisingly Byakuya does not participate in the fight except to free Rukia from As Nodt dome of eyes and to show off Senbonzakura again. As Nodt then proceed to transform in to a massively grotesque looking form but before he can do anything Rukia actives her Bankai; Hakka no Togame. This creates a massive blast of ice which once again freezes As Nodt but this time he crumbles away, thus ending the fight.
I liked this fight a lot more than Renji vs. Mask De Masculine and the main reason for that is that this fight did not seem as one sided as that one was. I was completely annoyed with how over powered Renji was but with Rukia vs. As Nodt I thought the fight could have went either way right up until Rukia activated her bankai. Also I really liked that it was Rukia to kill As Nodt and not Byakuya and that is because I don’t think Rukia has had a decent fight since Aaroniero Arrurueire, plus I think a lot of people where expecting it to be Byakuya to finish off As Nodt.
Speaking about As Nodt I think it was great to see another Sternritter have a little back story, the only others who have were the Lloyd brothers. It seems that As Nodt was a very religious person on the brink of death while in a hospital and feared going to hell more than anything. However Yhwach suddenly appears before him and asks if he would like power and be saved, which it is a safe assumption that he accepted. Since this hospital looked very modern I am guessing that As Nodt is a survivor of the Auswahlen that Yhwach used to revive himself. However this is only a guess at this point.
Another thing that stood out a lot was the amazing art work that went in to this fight; As Nodt of course looks completely menacing as always, whether this is the shape of his eyes at the beginning or his numerous transformations. I particularly like the part when Rukia froze him in midair and they are flying past one another, it was just really cool. Also I would like to point out that I think Rukia’s bankai looked awesome, her dress looked very regal and detailed. I have heard a lot of people saying that if Rukia had a bankai it would have been a scythe but this was a pleasant surprise in my opinion.
If there is anything I did not like about this fight was that I don’t think it was as long as it could have been. I always thought Kubo put a lot of effect in to creating As Nodt and I thought he would have been one of the last Sternritter to be defeated. I am not saying that this was a disappointing fight, it is one of the best of the arc in my opinion, and I just think a few more chapters could have been dedicated to it.
Overall this was one great fight were we got to see Rukia with some new powers and Byakuya is ready to fight now. As Nodt may have been one of my favourite Sternritters however at least now some of the focus can shift to those Sternritter we have not seen yet.
SCORE: 9/10
Predictions
At the end of this fight we get to see Isane and Yachiru stalked by Sternritter V – Vanishing Point, Guenael, and I am really interested in seeing how this goes. These are two characters that we have not seen fight yet and this may be a good opportunity for them to show off. However, whether or not it is in this fight or another, I do hope that the Soul Society takes on more casualties soon. The Sternritter are really pushing them but I really think they need to suffer some more losses to make this invasion and last arc more brutal.
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