Bleach Review: Bane Licking Good



Really cool bow!

The chapter begins with Askin explaining that his ability "The Deathdealing" allows him to control the lethal doses of any substance and manipulate it freely. Nimaiya doesn't understand at first but soon collapses when Askin tells him that he has made the amount of blood in his body lethal to him.

Askin then begins to rise saying that it also feels the same for him but that Nimaiya has severely underestimated him. He then removes his cloak and detaches his bow from his gauntlet and is preparing to finish Nimaiya off however Nimaiya surprises Askin by slashing his own throat and attacking him from behind.

Nimaiya says that he simply has to remove the amount of lethal blood from his body and he would be alright but Askin doesn't understand because Nimaiya will be dead from blood loss soon anyway. Just then Kirinji summons his red hot spring water to replenish Nimaiya's blood who then slashes Askin. Nimaiya then turns his attention to Yhwach and tells him to bring it on.

I really wasn't expecting this and that isn't a good thing.

If I had to admit I was really disappointed in this chapter because not only is a huge chunk of it used to explain Askin's power but it looks like Askin might be out of the battle for now. Askin's power was interesting of controlling the lethal doses of a substance but it isn't the most exciting power Kubo has come up with and Nimaiya easily countered it with the help of Kirinji. Also why is Kubo making these elite Sternritter fall so easily to Nimaiya and especially since Askin has been hyped for ages? I seriously doubt that any of them are dead and it could all be some trick by one of them but I really hope Kubo reveals it in the next chapter.

Overall there is not much to say about this chapter except that it was a let down but at least Kirinji is stepping into the battle again and Yhwach may enter it. However even though I really want to see Yhwach fight again I honestly don't want it to be now and I want the elite Sternritter to get back up and keep fighting.

SCORE: 4/10

Highlights: Kirinji is back in the fight

Let - Downs: Askin's power is kind of boring
                      Nimaiya easily countering Askin's power and taking him down
                      All of the elite Sternritter down now (unless it is a trick)

Revolution Season One: Kashmir

Quite a unique episode!

The episode begins in a Rebel base at West Chester and Miles is being beaten up by some of the Rebels. Turns out the group went to the base in hope of finding some help to infiltrate Philadelphia and even though Nora showed them her tattoo, they are still wary of them because of Miles. However Miles manages to convince them that he is their best chance to assassinate Monroe so they agree to give him a few Rebels to assist them which includes Sargent Joseph Wheatley (Reed Diamond).

Nothing like getting wasted before a big mission

The group then makes it to the outskirts of Philadelphia just outside of an old, abandon subway tunnel that Miles says is like a back entrance to the city. After taking out the guards the group make their way inside however Charlie steps on something buried in the ground which Nora reveals to be a land mine. Meanwhile in Independence Hall Rachael is working on a device and explains to Tom and one of his men that is can amplify the power of a pendant. Apparently the pendant only had a range of 9 - 15 feet and can only power small things but the amplifier boosts its range to half a mile and can power jets and tanks.

Why still have candles when the pendant can power the lights/lamps in your area? Just making a fire hazard

Back in the tunnel Nora manages to free Charlie from the land mine but the explosion after seals the entrance to the tunnel so that the group must move on. Along the way Miles thinks he sees a Militia scout but it turns out to be nothing and Nora even thinks that she is dragged underwater by a alligator. Aaron figures out why Miles and Nora thought they saw what they saw; they where hallucinating! The sealed entrance has cut off their air supply so they are slowly suffocating and seeing things, the group decides to move even faster to the exit now.

Would have been interesting if an alligator was really there lol

Later on the group comes across the exit that Miles was leading them to but it turns out that it has been sealed up. Miles does not know what else they could do but Wheatley insists that they move on and try and find another exit. Aaron also has his own hallucination about his lost wife who insults Aaron by saying why he is this strong for Charlie when he abandoned her when things got tough. He manages to snap out of it but shortly after this Miles has another one and sees a door while hearing Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

"I really wish I didn't get so wasted earlier now" 

As Miles steps through the door and ends up in Monroe's office in Independence Hall during the day time and the doors are then closed by a smiling Monroe who embraces Miles. Miles says that this isn't real to which Monroe quickly agrees, saying that he is like the manifestation of Miles's thoughts. We learn that the reason that Miles left the Republic was that he tried to assassinate Monroe but couldn't go through with it and the reason he tired was because Monroe went too far and killed too many innocents. Monroe also reveals Miles's darkest secret that he wants no one else to know; that if Monroe forgave him and let him back in the Republic, Miles would most likely accept. Miles denies this but Monroe merely says that he is in his head and knows what he is thinking however this is soon ended when Charlie snaps Miles out of it.

"If this really is a dream.....then this glass will never run out!"

Eventually the group finds another exit to the tunnels however Wheatley turns out to be a Militia spy and quickly kills all the Rebels who are with them. He then moves Miles through the exit at gunpoint and blocks the door so Charlie, Nora and Aaron can't follow. However they do break free and Charlie kills Wheatley but not before being grazed by a bullet and smacking her head on the concrete. She has a dream where her father is still alive and she is safe back at their home but reluctantly leaves after hearing Miles and says her goodbyes to him. The group then prepares to leave the tunnels having finally made it in to Philadelphia.

Yeah don't take cover Charlie, I'm sure the guy with the gun won't shot back

The episode ends with Monroe bringing in Jaffe to look at Rachael's amplifier and Jaffe examines it and says that it is actually a time bomb. Monroe then says that since Jaffe has decided to cooperate Rachael and Danny will no longer be needed; so Rachael, in desperation, stabs and kills Jaffe so that Monroe will still need her.

I really wished you killed the b***h straight away Monroe

Well this episode was certainly different and that was owing to the fact that there wasn't a single Flashback instead we got hallucinations for most of the major characters. While I really like the Flashbacks I must admit that this was a really nice touch and it still provided some more character insight that the Flashbacks usually provide.

Almost a shame, bet Wheatley could a gotten a big promotion 

The best ones where Mile's hallucination and Charlie's dream, firstly for Miles we finally get the reason why he left the Republic. I thought it was going to be something big but it turns out he couldn't do it and maybe he still won't be able to when they finally have their confrontation because that is what the series is leading to (since its has been shown that they where like brothers). Also Miles will also have to make his choice of staying with the group and re-joining Monroe since the Hallucination - Monroe revealed that Miles is seriously considering going back to the Republic. Ones more thing I know Miles left because Monroe might have crossed some line but Miles really has to take responsibly since, as shown in the episode three Flashbacks, Miles was the one who planted the seeds of the Republic.

"Guarding this old subway tunnel is the easiest job in the world. No one ever comes here"

As for Charlie's, even though it was just a dream, I see it as the closure between her and her father that she never manage to get. It was done really well and it is almost like Charlie is finally ready to move on, or a least has to, from her father's death and focus on the mission a head. Plus we get to see Ben again and as I have said before I really like his character and his actor and I'm glad they find ways of keeping him in the show even though he is dead.

Awwww, I'm kind of touched

Now as for what I didn't like about the episode and you have guessed it; Rachael. I'm sorry but her damn annoying and defiant attitude really gets on my nerves in this episode. I really hate that she killed Jaffe, just mercilessly like that and I don't care if she said she was sorry because I doubt she was. I know she was doing it for Danny but if she really was she could have just cooperated with Monroe from the very beginning and saved herself that last few months of backstabbing. Jaffe was only cooperating with Monroe because Rachael gave her no choice, he was doing it for his daughter but did Rachael care? Hell no! You see I just really don't know what they want to do with her character; is she one of the good guys? No because she kills and betrays everyone, even innocents who do not deserve it, all the writers are doing to her character, in my opinion, is turning her into this extremely unlikable person who has no redeemable traits whatsoever. I truly hate her and her actress, this show would have been pure perfect if it was not for her.

Even if Tom is only in the episode for a few minutes it is still worth it!

As for everything else it made for a great episode; Wheatley's reveal of being a spy and killing the Rebels was another highlight of the episode and Aaron dealing with the hallucination of his wife was interesting to see. Also I liked the group's journey through the subway tunnel with the lack of air because you can really see their desperation and you almost kind of thing one of them might not have made it. Overall a unique episode that made from something different with Miles, Charlie and Aaron struggling with their inner demons but Rachael just really let it down in every scene she was in and I was kind of hoping that Jaffe would have been around for a lot longer.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Miles's hallucination about Monroe
                   Charlie's hallucination about her dad
                   The whole desperation of them being in that tunnel

Let - Downs: Rachael
                      The murder of Jaffe

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/

Game Review: Final Fantasy XIII - 2

Finally got round to reviewing the second game in the Final Fantasy XIII series. Thought I'd say that there will be no screenshots in this and for anime reviews because it is harder to find then for films and TV shows. SPOILERS

Final Fantasy XIII - 2 takes place three years after the fall of Cocoon and the crystal pillar still supports the artificial world. The residents of Cocoon and Gran Pulse now co - exist with each other with many of Cocoon citizens moving down to Gran Pulse. However all is not well because Serah Farron, younger sister of Lightning, believes her sister to still be alive even though everyone remembers her giving up her life along with Fang and Vanille to form the crystal pillar. She is right however as Lightning is guardian of the Goddess Etro in a world called Valhalla and is constantly defending it from a powerful man named Ciaus Ballad. One day a mysterious youth named Noel Kriess enters the world of Valhalla and Lightning tasks him with finding Serah and saving the world from Valhalla. Their journey will take them across many different times in history as Ciaus does not wish to just destroy the world but time itself.

In my previous review I said that XIII strong point was that it has such a compelling story that I can still play it over and over again despite it being mostly walking in a straight line. With its sequel however I find that to not be the case, don't get me wrong it is enjoyable but I don't find the idea of time travelling as good as Fal'Cie Gods in XIII. I didn't find the whole story of Yuel, the Guardians, Chaos and Time Paradoxes to have been as well thought out. Also despite there being a whole overarching story it feels overshadowed by events in each timeline that don't feel relevant to it. For example in one time you have to stop a giant flan and in another one spot an out of control A.I., they try to weave it into the main story but it feels poorly done. Also the game feels a lot shorter as well because take away all the side quests and optional time periods then it won't take anyone too long to finish it.

As for the settings and environment it is all nicely done however despite the maps being a lot more flexible and big it still does feel like you are moving in a straight line. When you enter another time period it really is just one big area and it never really feels all that big once you reveal the whole map. Another thing is that even though all of the areas do look really beautiful and it is interesting to travel throughout all of them they reuse a lot of the same areas in different time periods. For example the very first new time period you enter is three years in to the future to face a boss called Atlas however that exact same area is re - used three different time in later time periods and all they did was change the weather to snowy or covered in more trees.     

With the characters in this game I have no issues with them because most are returning from the previous game and I really liked them, it was one of XIII strong points. The first playable character in this game is Serah and it was interesting seeing them turn a side character, who was really only in the previous game in flashbacks, become the main protagonist. Its good seeing her start off with constantly worrying about her sister in the beginning and trying to find her but no over time she comes to realize that she can't be that selfish and wishes to create a better future for Noel. Noel is the second playable character and he was born at the end of days; in his time, 700 years in the future, Cocoon has fallen and when it did the world went to hell pretty fast. Noel and Serah make a great duo because of how they constantly help each other in the game with Noel surprisingly being the optimist and cheers Serah up a lot despite being born on a dying world. Last we have Mog who is a Moogle who guides them through the portals and is also Serah's main weapon, I like Mog because its always good to see Moogles in Final Fantasy.

Now to go one about the side characters a bit and first we have Lightning and she is a bit underused in the game because you only control her in the prologue but she's supposed to be this badass guardian now and you kind of wish it changed to her more often. Next we have Ciaus as the main antagonist and I really like him because, apart from a badass design, you kind of understand why he is doing the things he does. He does it so Yuel never has to die and be reincarnated again and again but is will to destroy everything to get it however like I said you do understand more because his more relatable than Gods from the previous game. Lastly we also have all the main characters from the previous game being used but like Lightning they feel a bit underused like Snow and Sazh and I kind of felt that Hope takes up way to much of plot.

As for gameplay it is a real strong factor in this game because once again they bring back the Paradigm Shift system of changing between roles in combat. I think I mentioned in my previous review that changing roles in battle is one of my favourite Final Fantasy combat systems, this is why the Dress Sphere Change in FFX - 2 is probably my one of my favourites, and it kind of makes me wish they can also change costume in this game. Combat is a lot more fast paced in this one and you can switch between Noel and Serah anytime you want so when one gets KO the battle still continues. An interesting feature is that you can capture monsters and use them in battle, increase their stats and they even have their own strengths and special moves. This is one of the best features in the game because I would spend a long time hunting down specifics monsters for my party and using different ones in each play through. However overall I never found the game to be all that challenging because I think you gain CP points a little bit too much and easily from enemies and side quests so you can level up really fast.

Something I really have to praise the game for is its outstanding visuals and music, even if a lot of the areas are reused they are a treat for the eyes. Some of my favourite places to visit is Noel's time (when the red sky vanishes and we get the beautiful morning) and Sunleth Waterscape. Also the music, like all Final Fantasy games, is a real strong point because I don't think there is a single one I disliked. Whether it is New Bodham, Noel's world, Ciaus's battle music or New World (my favourite) you can just listen to it again and again.

Before I finish I just want to say that the ending was something that I never really expected; the bad guy won in the end. Serah actually died, time itself was destroyed and those who got the special ending, like I have, will see that Ciaus is still alive and "free" of his curse. I do have to praise this ending because like I said Serah dies and I really thought she would find a way for her powers not to kill her and it happened when you didn't even expect it to.

Overall while this XIII -2 is not as strong story wise to XIII it makes up for it with a strong combat system and it's visuals and music being just as good.

SCORE 7/10

Highlights: Combat
                   Visuals/Music
                   Characters

Let - Downs: Reused areas for new time periods
                      Not a better story than XIII
                      Is easier to complete overall because they don't restrict stat growth this time    

Revolution Season One: Ties That Bind

Finally! We have an episode that gives us the back story on Nora.

"Don't worry guys, I can smell a trap a mile away"

This episode begins with the group bribing a Militia soldier with gold so that they can get across a bridge in Freeport Pennsylvania which Miles says is the fastest way to getting to Philadelphia since the Militia destroyed the other bridges. However Miles notices a trap and they run off back the way they came but not before Miles sees Strausser in the distance. The group would now have to find an alternate route Philadelphia which would take them days but Miles is reluctant to fight Strausser because he was the only Militia soldier who scared him. Before they can leave however one of Strausser's men shouts out that they have Nora's sister Mia Clayton (Alyssa Diaz) and he wants the group to hand over the pendant and Miles.

There lucky this guy doesn't bother checking under beds

We then have a Flashback after The Blackout and a young Nora and her sister are hiding under a bed from an armed intruder in their house, they manage to keep quiet enough that the guy doesn't notice them. Young Nora then finds their mom murdered in her bed but decides to keep it a secret from her sister, instead telling her that their mom went to Texas to be with their dad and that they should follow. In Philadelphia Tom finds that his son is being beaten and after asking Monroe about it he finds out that Jason bribed someone for the whereabouts of Strausser, which is top secret. Monroe wants to send Jason to the California Commonwealth which Tom is not happy about because of the extremely long and dangerous journey and the Commonwealth have murdered their people before. Monroe however says that what Jason did is close to treason and that by rights he could have him executed instead.

With no power torture just seems so crude now

Miles tries to destroy the pendant but it is so strong he can't break it, Nora instead comes up with a plan and with a series of explosions they manage to free Mia and escape. While the group decides how to get to Philadelphia now Mia suggests, even though she is against such a suicide mission, that they try a guy she knows who has a boat.

"I didn't sign up for this!!"

There is then a Flashback four months after The Blackout and young Nora and Mia are in Texas and they have made it to their father's beach house however he is nowhere to be seen. An upset young Nora decides to come clean that their mother is dead and that she has no idea were their father is. Back in the present the group are making their way to where Mia says the boat is when she takes Nora to one side for a chat. Turns out she managed to find their father in Texas after years of searching and wants Nora to leave the Monroe Republic with her so they can be with him again, Charlie overhears this. Nora is unsure about leaving because she promised to rescue Danny but then the group comes across the body of the guy who owned the boat and Miles thinks that Strausser rode on a head and found the guy first.

"I just love eavesdropping"

In Philadelphia Tom's wife Julia has found out that John Faber (one of Monroe's military advisors) son is a member of the Rebels and that they can use that info to bribe Monroe not to send away their son. Back with the group Mia again tries to persuade Nora to leave with her but Nora is still not sure however Charlie insists she goes saying that she cannot abandon her family. Nora and the group say their farewells and they part ways.

"I must admit sis that your group is more than a little weird"

Meanwhile Julia's plan has worked; for his loyalty and information Monroe says that Jason doesn't need to go anywhere. However Faber's son and several Rebels where executed and Faber is being severely beaten up, Tom just looks on. Back with Nora and Mia they are surrounded by Strausser and his men but then Mia gives them Aaron's pendant (must have stole it earlier) and reveals the location of Miles's group, Strausser thanks her for her cooperation and leaves. Nora is angry but Mia is sorry while saying that they would have both been killed if she didn't make a deal and that unfortunately she never found their father. Nora, disgusted, tells Mia never to find her again and runs off to help the others.

All according to Strausser's plan

Back with the group Aaron notices that the pendant is missing but before they can do anything they are attacked by Strausser and his men and are quickly pinned down. Nora however sneaks up from behind and manages to cause some confusion; enough for the group to get away after Miles has a quick one on one fight with Strausser. Nora regroups with them but they are forced to jump in to a fast flowing river to escape from the Militia.

Yep, that isn't at all dangerous 

The group survives but Aaron is annoyed at how he could lose the pendant but Miles is angry because now this means Monroe can now use tanks and jets against the Rebels and other nations. Charlie then tells Nora that she shouldn't feel bad for trusting her sister and we then get another Flashback where the young Nora is promising Mia that they will always look out for each other. The episode ends with Strausser delivering the pendant to Monroe, who gives it to Rachael for her work and Julia thinking that it is time for a new leader of the Republic while looking at Tom.

"I finally have my precious"

Got another character centred episode her and I am finally glad that it was Nora.

This episode was really good because not only was a more exciting character centred one than the last one we had (Aaron's) and it didn't have the feeling of filler like the previous episode (The Children's Crusade). I really liked that we finally have some backstory on Nora and her sister was a really good character for the plot and it is such a real shame that we never see her again after this. It really makes you wonder who to trust in Revolution because of the reveal that Mia had lied to Nora, makes you think to question everyone else. What I also really liked about Mia was that you are sympathetic to her situation; she may have lied and stole but she never did it for selfish reasons and probably would not have done it if not for Strausser.

"Just give me one clear shot at your head Strausser"

Speaking of Strausser he turned out to be a really great villain, just like I thought; he is ruthless, sadistic and willing to use any means to achieve his goal, even a character like Miles admits he is afraid of Strausser! I was also briefly hinted that Strausser might have been in a asylum before The Blackout which means that the Monroe Republic isn't picky about who they recruit, it also makes me want to see a Flashback for him. Also another great character for this episode was Julia and just as I thought she is just a manipulative and cunning as Tom, can't wait to see the two hatch more schemes in the future.

The ultimate husband and wife duo

This episode also opened the pathways to future events, firstly it seems that Monroe now has a pendant and may soon have power. How long it will take and what will he first do with it is anyone's guess but I hope it is soon because I'll be interested in seeing how Miles and the rest fight against the Republic then. Also Julia's hint that Tom should be in charge of the Republic makes me think that we could see a cu within the Militia. It is implied that Monroe hasn't been the same since Miles left so maybe there are some like Julia who thinks it's time for new leadership?

Even though they are chased by Militia at least it's a nice day

I guess for some other quick mentions at least we got some more information on another nation, the California Commonwealth, and its seems that it is quite a ruthless place, hope we see it in future episodes. Also it was interesting when Charlie says that she never encountered the guns that were used today and it was just another example of how sheltered she has been until now but it looks like the group may face heavier fire power the closer they get to Danny.

Overall this was a way better episode than the last two when Miles just rushed in to save the day at the very end, it was a better character episode than Aaron's but not as good as Tom's. The reason for this is because I really liked seeing the transformation of Tom's character and while Nora's flashback had some great backstory it wasn't as exciting either. We also had some great shoot outs such as the explosive one at the beginning and an awesome confrontation between Miles and Strausser.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Nora and Mia story
                   Strausser
                   Tom and Julia's plan

Let - Downs: While Nora's Flashback was could we still don't know how she worked for the Militia before and how she found the Rebels to join them.

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/

Film Review: Resident Evil Extinction

On to the third now and like before MAJOR SPOILERS.

Extinction takes place an uncertain amount of time after the Raccoon City Incident and despite their best efforts Umbrella could not stop the halt of the the T - Virus. It has now spread throughout the entire world infecting humans, animals and plants and because of the latter the environment on Earth has mostly turned in to desert wastelands. Umbrella however have not given up on their experiments and Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen), head of Umbrella's North American underground facility, is determined to recapture Alice for his research. Alice herself has been in hiding since acquiring her new powers and just wanders the wasteland while evading Umbrella. Meanwhile a small convoy of humans are making their why across America just trying to survive (inspired by Mad Max 2) led by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and accompanied by new and familiar faces such as Carlos Oliveria (Oded Feher) and L.J. (Mike Epps).

Best film characters right here!

Just like the last film Paul Anderson writes and produces this one while it is directed by someone else however unlike the last one I know the director of this one; Russell Mulcahy who directed Highlander one of my most favourite films. I really like his style because it involves a lot of a lot of moving camera and crane work which is how he got those beautiful location shots in Highlander. Also while the last film was heavily influenced by the Resident 2 and 3 games this one decided to have an original plot like the first film. Not only that but they destroyed the world with the T - Virus something which the games didn't do yet. While this is a bold new direction it also means that the films after this one will have to have mostly original plots as well because they could hardly copy the games much after this.

Ass - Kicking Alice time to shine

We got a good cast of characters with Alice returning again and kicking ass like she always is however even though she is important in the story (with Umbrella trying to catch her and cloning her) I don't find her as interesting as Claire and her convoy. I find that the exciting bits of the film are when it focuses on the other characters and even though she joins them half way through, even of she didn't I wouldn't really mind. Also returning is Carlos Oliveria and L.J. and since they are two of my favourite film characters I am glad; as I said before I am grateful that Carlos has such an important role in the films and this one is no different and L.J. has a lot more serious role now which is great to see.

Bad place to be Isaacs 

For the new characters we have Claire Redfield and I was looking forward to seeing her because, like Jill, she is one of m favourite game characters. She takes more of a leadership role in this which is different from how she is in the games but it works and Ali Larter was a really great choice. We also have Sam Isaacs is a great primary antagonist in this and is obviously a replacement for William Birkin since they missed on their chance to use him however Isaacs is cold, calculating and merciless and serves as a great final boss (more on that later). Last from the video games is Jason O'Mara as Albert Wesker and he is a lot different from his video game counterpart; he is chairman of Umbrella now and only appears as holograms when Umbrella has their board meetings. It is a drastic change and even though I really wish he had a more prominent role I did quite like it, Jason O'Mara is a great actor (seen him in a few other stuff) so I have no complaints about the casting I just think he was underused. We also have a wide range of characters as part of Claire's convoy and I really like them all and they are what makes me like the parts with the convoy the best. Oh yeah really good seeing Linden Ashby in this film as a member of the convoy, I don't really see him in anything else but I remember him best as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat, a great Paul Anderson film :)

Where your signature crossbow Claire?

Now on to the monsters and I was really pleased to see that they upped up the gore a lot in this one; finally we see blood coming out of zombies when they are shot, finally we see their body parts crushed! They also look a lot better as well because the zombies in the previous films really looked to normal for my taste but they looked more dried up and deformed now and probably because of the change in the environment. Besides zombies we also have the Crimson Heads from the games; they are not intelligent zombies but ones that are a lot more hyper, stronger and aggressive and I think they where perfect in this. The sequence where they fight the group is my favourite part in the film, it is just so brutal seeing them using their fists, running and biting all over the place. For animals we once again have the zombies dogs and I have always liked them but we also have the crows which I admit I am not that bothered about. Sure their scene was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (awesome film) and sure their attack on the convoy was really cool but honestly who really cares about the crows from the game?

What a why to go out

Now for the final boss of the film and something I was looking forward to along with Nemesis; Tyrant! Isaacs is the one who transforms into the Tyrant after overdosing on the T - Virus and it's Anti - Virus and I have to say it did not disappoint. It looked really cool with it's grey skin, long clawed arm and that fact that Isaacs was still in control. This Tyrant, in my opinion, is a cross between the Tyrant from the original game and the Tentacle Tyrant from Dead Aim and I have always liked both. The action scenes when he was fighting against Alice was just great however I did feel that it was a bit too short and it's death at the hands of the laser grid was kind of rushed and lacklustre.

This looks kind of familiar?

As I said some of the best parts in the film where the attack of the Crimson Heads, final battle with the Tyrant and Claire's convoy but I also liked scenes such as Carlos's death scene because that was really badass and the beginning where Alice runs into that family of crazies. However I did not like that they had so many references from the first film in here like modelling the underground to look like the mansion or putting in the laser grid just to finish of the Tyrant, it was just too much. I do really like the story overall but I just didn't get the point of testing all the Alice clones in that survival training ground at all and they never really explain why they did it.

Sorry Stevie

Overall Extinction is my favourite entry in the film franchise because I think they improved a lot from the previous films. I think the bright, desert locations was a great choice and was really different from the underground lab from the first and the dark city in the second. Plus the convoy parts are the best parts in the film and I think that's because its fun to watch, it has the best characters and events with them.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Claire's convoy/cast of characters
                   A higher level of gore
                   Like the wide, bright locations

Let - Downs: Alice seemed more like a side character in this to me
                      Too many references to the first film
                      Once again they don't have a wide variety of monsters

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Revolution Season One: The Children's Crusade

Here with episode seven.

This episode actually starts off with Charlie beening held down by some Militia soldiers and they brand her on her wrist with the Monroe insignia.

At least it's faster than inking a tattoo

It then flashback two days before and the group are watching as a Militia wagon passes by in the bushes and sees that a teenage kid is captured, Charlie almost gets up to help but Miles insists that they can't save everyone. Later the group comes across an unconscious kid in the road outside a ruined hospital but then they are surrounding by more kids with bows and arrows, thinking that they are with the men with "burn marks". They convince them the are not and even tell them of the teenager who was captive earlier and it turns out he was the older brother of one of the kids here named Michael. Since all the kids at the hospital have already lost their parents to the Militia Charlie says they will free Michael's brother Peter, and Miles even agrees, but Michael comes along anyway and even brings three others.



"Lets help the damn children of the corn then"

In Philadelphia Danny and Rachael are sharing a meal but Danny can't understand why Rachael is so calm but she will only reply that their situation could be worse. Rachael is then summoned to Monroe and Tom who have found and old colleague of Rachael's through her information; Dr. Bradley Jaffe (Conor O'Farrell) and even though Tom has been torturing him he stubbornly refuses to tell them where his pendant is. Rachael says that she will help him and then has a Flashback three years before The Blackout and she is heavily pregnant with Danny and arrives at the company that she and Ben work, along with Grace and Jaffe and they are showing Assistant Defense Secretary Flynn (Colm Feore) something. Flynn is standing in a sealed room filled with electronics and Ben explains that in hopes of finding a low cost energy source it instead supresses it and then shuts off everything in the sealed room and then back on again. Flynn is impressed by the invention but Rachael is against the DOD using it in case they use it as a weapon, Ben however says for their company to survive they have no choice.

That actually looks like a fun room to be in 

Back in the present the group makes it to the Ohio River where many kids in wagons are being taken to a old freighter in the middle of it. The group hides out in a nearby lighthouse where Miles explains that the freighter is a place where children are re-educated and soldiers of the Militia come out. The group decides to hide out in the lighthouse for a while until they come up with a plan to rescues Peter.

Just pretend its Son's of Liberty and sneak on that ship! 

Rachael is waiting in a cell for Jaffe and the Militia brings him in and locks him in a cell opposite, Rachael then greets him. She then lies to Jaffe that she is on contact with the Rebels and can get Jaffe's pendant to them if he tells her where it is hidden. However Jaffe, already suspicious that the Militia could have found him, says he will not tell Rachael anything. Back at the Ohio River Charlie comes up with the plan to infiltrate the ships as a new recruit and the rest reluctantly agrees.

"I'm never going to trust a b***h like you Rachael"

Back in Philadelphia Jaffe is dumped in Rachael's room and he immediately figures out that Rachael is working for Monroe. Rachael insists that she is only helping Monroe now because they have her son and they will kill him but Jaffe says millions will dies is Monroe has the pendants and doesn't care if he dies. Tom then walks in to the room with Jaffe's daughter captive and says that, with Rachael's help, they where able to track her down, and now we will see how cooperative Jaffe will be now they have his child. Jaffe is dragged screaming from the room while Rachael says that she never knew they would have found his daughter.

"This shouldn't have surprised you Jaffe; Rachael betrays everyone all the time"

Charlie has managed to get on board the ship, listens to the propaganda speech done by a Militia soldier about the Republic and even watches him kill another recruit who wanted to leave. However she is shortly found out by the soldier who gave the speech because he suspected her and they take her to get branded and then it cuts to the scene that was shown at the beginning. Miles and Nora think that Charlie is taking too long and sneak on the ship to free her, with Michael tagging along, they manage to find her and Peter but are surrounded on the deck. However at the lighthouse Aaron's pendant suddenly turns on and repowers the lighthouse which distracts the soldiers long enough for Miles and the rest to take out.

What they need is a big distraction at this exact moment

Back in Philadelphia Monroe tells Rachael that Jaffe and his daughter will be free to go when he tells them everything he knows, shortly after this Rachael has another Flashback to three years before The Blackout again. Turns out that Rachael was having problems with Danny's pregnancy and Randall offered to put her in touch with the experts who could help in exchange for her cooperation. Meanwhile Miles and the rest have freed everyone who was one the ship and Miles demands Aaron to tell him what happened at the lighthouse. Aaron tells Miles that Ben gave him the pendant and that it could sometimes turn the power back on, Miles is furious about this and wants to destroy it but Aaron won't let him. Just then Charlie comes over and wants to know what happened too and Aaron begins to tell them about Grace.....

A Aaron vs. Miles fight?

The episode ends with seeing Grace being locked in a cage but getting a visitor from someone she is calling Randall. It turns out that Flynn's first name is Randall and refuses to let Grace go but still insists that they should be friends.

Surprise!

Seems like we have a break from the character centred episodes for now as the group continues to make their way to Philadelphia.

I didn't really have too high hopes for this episode after the first few minutes because if I am honest I really don't like it when shows or films try to put children in a major role of the plot when it is really unnecessary. I guess I just find it annoying and unrealistic that a group of children could survive for this long in a harsh environment such as this and overall I just really didn't care much for their subplot. At least the focus wasn't on them too much but there was quite a few other stuff that let this episode down.

"Not going to lie; most of you won't survive the training but hey - lets all have a good time"

Firstly was that once again the group should have sent in Miles to do the entire job instead of sending in Charlie to infiltrate first, it was just a copy of the last episode. Just like that episode it made Charlie's role in all of it completely pointless which again could have been screen time for other events. We did get to see some great fighting on board the ship and its always good to see Miles in a fight but they should stop sending him in to fix everything in the last few minutes which took Charlie most of the episode to fail at.

I know Danny; there's being clam then there's acting like a f***ing idiot like your mom

I know many of you are probably tired of me constantly trash talking Rachael but she just deserves it, I don't know what the writers where thinking about and this episode is just one of the reasons I really hate her. Firstly Elizabeth Mitchell is the worst damn actress I have ever seen, no wonder Jaffe saw through her lies because anyone could have and when she is talking to Danny, being distressed because of Jaffe's daughter; I just didn't believe any of it and her face just never changes. Elizabeth Mitchell should do us all a favour and quit acting it is a great shame that she continued to be apart of this to the end of season two. Luckily for me I never let one bad character/actress ruin a truly great show for me.

When these two both want to see you then you know your screwed

As for the character of Rachael she has given me nothing but reasons to hate her in this episode, like during the first Flashback and she tires to take the damn morale high ground with Ben and the DOD. As I said before Ben is one of my favourite characters and I just hate it when Rachael tries to over shadow him like this; in this instance making him out to be the bad guy between them. What I really can't stand for is the betrayal of Jaffe to the Militia, I can not stand it when supposed "good characters" like her betray or back stab others, I just can't stand it because to me they are not supposed to do it. Jaffe is right; millions of lives are at stake and Rachael is going to forget about that for a son she abandoned and hasn't seen for twelve years? I know they want to give Rachael some sympathy for what she is under but I just can't do it, she will always be a backstabbing, lying, scheming, b***h.

"I'm finally back on!"

There where a few good points of course firstly I did really like the whole scene with the lighthouse and the fight a board the ship. The way the power slow builds up in the light, the music that goes with it, the expressions on the character's faces when they see electricity for the first time in fifteen years; it was so well shot. A lighthouse turning on is just an ordinary thing for us but in Revolution it is something forgotten for years and you really believe that when you see Miles and everyone staring at it. Lastly there is the big reveal that Randall is the one captured Grace and has a connection with Ben and Rachael. We finally get some background in to the origins of The Blackout and while it was created with good intentions obviously didn't end that way. And Randall worked for the DOD so did they weaponize it and it got out of hand? Because Ben had it contained in that small sealed room so it must have breached the containment when the DOD got their hands on it. The appearance of Randall (who must be another antagonist) had raised some new and interesting questions.

"Now..........where did everyone go?"

Overall while touching the origins of The Blackout was interesting it doesn't save me having to mark this episode down quite a bit for once again letting Miles save the day after another pointless infiltration of Charlie's. Also I just do not like the plot with Rachael in this episode, I can usually let some of the stuff she does slide but when she this annoying it takes away from the overall enjoyment of the episode for me.

SCORE: 5/10

Highlight: Finally touch on the origins of The Blackout
                 Reveal of Randall

Let - Downs: Rachael
                      Charlie going in first and then Miles saving her was a copy of the last episode
                      Didn't much care for the whole plot with the children

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/



Upcoming Reviews

Thought I'd give a run down of some reviews that I really want to get round to writing. Bear in mind that this list may change because I might not be able to do them all or I might decided not to review them.

TV Shows

Finish Revolution: You all know that I am reviewing all episodes of season one of Revolution because it is one of my fav shows however I probably won't do season two straight afterwards. The reason for this is because since there is no season three (and the likely hood of it drops every day) there is no real rush to do it.

Arrow: Like Revolution, Arrow is a show that aired before I started this blog so I couldn't review it straight away. However I thought why not review it now but also review all episodes like I do with Revolution because the amazing site, screencapped has all seasons. Since I want to start on Arrow soon I might hurry up in my review for Revolution episodes, maybe upload two a week, and finish it before the end of the year.

Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Falling Skies, Gotham: Maybe do individual reviews for these episodes as well but Arrow comes first so I don't know when I will get round to these. Also screencapped hasn't got screencaps for three of them and when I review individual episodes I would really like to use screenshots in them.

Films

Rest of Resident Evil
Battle Royale
Hammer Horror films (really like them)
Marvel films

Games

Rest of the Final Fantasy XIII series
Rest of the Silent Hill series

Anime

Code Geass
Death Note
Redo Sword Art Online and Btooom!


There you have it a list of some of the things I would like to review next and I really hope that I get round to doing them all.