JediXMan

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JediXMan on - The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back

"No, Luke. I am your father."

In celebration of my 20,000 post (despite how late this post is... ignore the date; pretend with me that I posted this a few months ago), I’ve decided to continue my reviews of the Star Wars movie saga.

It may have been a long time coming, and I hope you all think it was worth the wait! Let’s get to it.

SPOILERS!!!

Again, no plot synopsis because, like always, I assume everyone has seen all six Star Wars movies.

Unlike A New Hope, this movie was not predominantly created by George Lucas (thank God). He neither wrote nor directed it. It was directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan (who finished it after Brackett’s untimely death). Guess what? It shows. Know why? Here’s why:

Take notes, Lucas.
Take notes, Lucas.

This movie has some great dialogue and really shows a degree of freedom granted to the actors. Do you think Lucas would have let Harrison Ford say “I know” rather than the scripted “I love you, too” that he was supposed to say? Because I certainly don’t, and I think we can all agree that the choice to improvise was very, very good and leagues better than the script. Because it’s not just about the writer or just about the director: the actors have to add their own flavor, too.

Speaking of the actors: they have grown significantly since the first film. They are good actors trying to be taken seriously, for the most part. I actually cared about the character development. The story was interesting, consisting of multiple story arcs: Han and Leia, Luke and Yoda, Darth Vader on his own, and later the inclusion of other characters who have undoubtedly added to the saga. This movie shows the perspective of the villain, Vader, a lot more than A New Hope did. Not only that, but this movie has one of the most – if not the most – unexpected twist in all of cinema, which is still feebly copied to this day. Well acted, well timed, good dialogue, and it leaves an impact on the viewers as well as the characters in the story. “I am your father” is still one of the most memorable quotes in movie history. Amazingly executed.

It also features our muppet friend, Yoda. I joke, but I did like Yoda’s marionette-esque looks. He also goes into greater detail to the mysterious Force, which was frankly brushed over in A New Hope. The entire training scene delves into the mystery of the Force and the unknown, shadowy past that his father, Obi-Wan, and Yoda all shared.

Very good.

Special effects:

Even better in some ways than the original. Lightsabers don’t look weird, and blasters look significantly better. Not only that, but the environments are spectacular. As I write this, I realize how... big this movie is. Genuinely big. No CGI, but actual on-location areas like Hoth look more stunning than... eh, sorry. No referencing prequels yet.

Outdated? Maybe. Still amazing? Oh yes!
Outdated? Maybe. Still amazing? Oh yes!

Not only that, but we get gigantic groups of Star Destroyers, including the Super Star Destroyer Executor. Yes, this right here is an example of using miniatures in movies, and to great effect. Dagobah was unique and interesting. Cloud City was also very nice to look at, from the very cloudy skies of Bespin, to the sterile yet artistic corridors, to the carbonite freezing chambers... just great. And unlike any other Star Wars movie, this does not have Tatooine, which I applaud. For a planet that’s supposed to be poor, crime filled, and the worst place on the outer rim, everything seems to happen there. It’s an over explosed planet in the movies and the EU, and not seeing it was a good thing.

The choreography has also improved.

... well, saying “improved” implies that there was any real choreography there in the first place. Seriously, am I the only one whose nostalgia goggles weren’t cloudy enough to obscure the abysmal fight scene that was Obi-Wan vs Vader? Yeah, it sucked and I thought it sucked back when I first saw it. Just saying.

But yeah, Luke and Vader’s fight scene is good. It’s varied, they move around a lot, there’s attention to detail... they even use the Force! Come on, that’s awesome. Now that I loved.

The Empire Strikes Back is one of the best movies in the saga. It doesn’t just contribute to cinema history (such as being one of the movies that led to the PG-13 rating), but is a good, enjoyable movie on its own. I will watch this movie when it’s on: honestly, I just... don’t do that with A New Hope. I know, terrible of me. I just don’t.

Definitely recommend this movie, and I must stress this: buy the original. Don’t get the digital new releases; those are terrible.

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18 Comments

JediXMan on: Year-End Update

Hello, everybody-who-cares. I know it's been awhile since I've posted a review and I intend to fix that very soon. I've been quite busy, so I haven't really gotten time to write full reviews.

I wrote a review for Empire, but I wasn't happy with it, so I'm going to do some editing before release. Hopefully, I'll have that before the New Years sometime next week, and possibly Jedi.

Also as an announcement: I think I will review the Matrix trilogy, possibly including the Animatrix.

Speaking of which: as you guys know, I'm becoming slightly interested in Anime - at least some Anime, like Hellsing and... the obvious. Do you guys want me to review that stuff? Keep in mind that I probably won't seek out Anime just to review it. I just watch what I like, at the moment.

What do you guys want me to review? Give me suggestions, feedback on the above, etc.

Merry Christmas.

19 Comments

JediXMan on: Dark Souls

... AHHHHHH!!!
... AHHHHHH!!!

.... ugh....

SPO....

Wait... what spoilers? There aren’t spoilers. There’s hardly much story.

Here’s the deal: you’re some adventurer (knight, thief, priest, etc.) who gets killed, ending up in the Undead Asylum. A giant bird chooses you to be “the one” to free the land from this dark undead force.

I know there’s more, so don’t all jump on me. But the game doesn’t tend to strive for much story. Is that bad? I don’t know. I am one who enjoys a good, deep story in pretty much everything (movies, TV shows, video games, comics, books, and – yes, on occasion – music). But let’s be honest: do we play Super Mario for the engaging story? No (though the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door game had an interesting tale). In some ways, I guess this game is a homage to the video games of old that focused on gameplay above all else (and were exceedingly more difficult than current-gen games).

Just from the get-go, let me say that I did not play Demon’s Souls. This is the first time I played the “series,” if it can be called that. So this is rather fresh for me.

Honestly, the game isn’t that hard (WAIT. Let me finish...). The enemies and bosses in this game are not that hard compared to a lot of games I have played. But... well, really, it’s the checkpoints, mercilessly respawning enemies, and the fact that you lose your XP/currency (souls) when you die. In most games, there’s a checkpoint right before the boss, allowing you to do it over and over until you win. In this game, you have to trek through a few groups of enemies, some doing damage on you if you screw up, until you get back to the boss.

YEAH!
YEAH!

So yes, this game is hard. But it most certainly offers an extremely satisfying experience when a boss meets his end.

For the gameplay, it is quite good and a lot of fun. It has precise controls and difficult enemies to fight. I love the parry system (which I screw up on a lot, but still) and the many types of weapons (currently using the Drake’s Sword and Black Knight Greatsword – yes, I beat the Black Knight in the Undead Burg).

For multiplayer: honestly, I did it by accident. I was unaware that turning human made me vulnerable to invading hostile enemy players. Yeah, got the crap beaten out of me. Got a good hit once...

Yeah. Not in a hurry to do that again.

And... items:

You can’t. Sell. One. THING. That really sucks for me. Not a game breaker, but it annoys me.

The fact that the Estus Flasks are limited to just 5 before visits to Bonfires / Checkpoints (which refills them... and respawns enemies...) makes it even more difficult.

You lose the item that you just used. It’s not like if you die you get it back: no, anything you do is permanent. And that includes killing certain NPCs (you sure that obnoxious merchant who sells the arrows is worth killing him? Think carefully, now).

You die, you drop souls. Souls are currency and XP. You get one chance to get them back, and if you die along the way you lose them forever – FUN!

People say Skyrim (which I also recently acquired – don’t know if I’ll review it) is the game for people with no lives. I beg to differ: that is Demon’s Souls / Dark Souls. Why? I can save and quit any time I want in Skyrim. Can’t do that in Dark Souls. And I don’t lose hours worth of progress from one screw up in Skyrim.

Going by what I’ve said, it sounds like I hate this game. I don’t, not at all. It is extremely fun to play, has flowing combat, and victory is extremely rewarding upon each defeated enemy. But I realize that I cannot and will not dedicate much time to it: a couple of times a week at max, and that’s during my less busy weeks.

I give this game a rating of:

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6 Comments

JediXMan on: Disney Star Wars

.... huh.
.... huh.

For those of you who don’t know, I was caught up in hurricane Sandy a bit. Thankfully, I am safe, and all I lost was Internet access for a few days – no big deal. My heart and prayers go out to those who have suffered and actually lost stuff during the hurricane.

Let me just say from the start that I didn’t believe this was true. Now, while working in the aftermath of Sandy, I heard from somebody I know that Lucasfilms/arts was bought by Disney, and that they intend on making new Star Wars movies. Without any way to verify the claim, I kinda brushed it off as a rumor without giving it much thought... then I log on and I see countless people talking about it and my inbox full of comments. I could no longer ignore this as a rumor. So here we are.

Honestly, my first initial fear was the idea of “rebooting” the series. I don’t have an inherent hatred for remakes, as long as they are done well. The problem with Star Wars is that it is different from other sagas in that it is continuous. It tries to be one single story, not many different universes or timelines or whatever. That is one of the things that really intrigues me about the Star Wars universe. Yes, there are retcons – and I cringe at almost every one that occurs. It’s unnecessary for such a clear-cut system, and it smacks of lazy writing and miscommunication – or stupidity. Could be a combination thereof.

The idea of an “original” Star Wars story set in the time frame this probably will be set in sends shivers down my spine, and not the good kind. But for all we know, it’s “original” in the way that “Lucas didn’t write it.” And I will be the first to say “GOOD” when anything Star Wars is not made by Lucas. Yes, I’m a Star Wars fan who dislikes Lucas – deal with it.

Hugo Weaving!
Hugo Weaving!

Honestly, there are two stories that I would love to see turned into a movie, and it would be very easy: The Thrawn Trilogy and Dark Empire. Both would fit into the “Episode VII” timeline with ease. Anything else would be... wrong. Just wrong. I would prefer the Thrawn Trilogy. Why? Because it would be totally different from what we’ve seen before! No Sith! And no, C’Baoth isn’t a Sith. It would be a good way to hit off the new era of Star Wars! Also: Hugo Weaving as Grand Admiral Thrawn. Make it happen, Disney!

There are a few possibilities that I have considered:

Best case scenario: Adaptations of EU material, thereby validating all of the EU entirely.

Lukewarm scenario: Original story, does not fit into the EU, and is a completely separate level of continuity that doesn’t change any established canon. Call it D-Canon or something. M-Canon; whatever.

Worst case scenario: Canon original story, making the EU non-canon. This would probably make me throw my hands up in defeat and walk away entirely.

The answer is, yes, I will see the movie when it comes out, because I feel some sort of misguided obligation to do so. It could be a piece of trash and I will still see it, just like I played the Force Unleashed and watched the first season of the Clone Wars (just the first season). And I will review it – count on it.

73 Comments

JediXMan on - Arrow: First Impressions

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Alright. Well, I’ve seen two of the first episodes. It wouldn’t be right for me to do a full review, so this is – as the title implies – just my overall thoughts on the series thus far as well as predictions for the future. This will be rather brief, so... yeah.

With that said...

SPOILERS

Eh... skipping the plot, because I’m lazy. Summary:

Rich guy gets stranded on an island. Rich guy learns to fight and gains archery skills. Rich guy is rescued. Rich guy cleans up his home city.

Okay, then. Moving on.

I rather like the direction this show is going. It has a nice tone and decent acting. I will say, however, that I despise the fact that his little sister’s nickname is “Speedy.” Maybe it’s a little joke (like the name “Danielle Didio” appearing in a list of names in the pilot. Wait for it... let it sink in...), but if anything serious comes of this nickname, I will be extremely pissed off.

I’m okay with Arrow killing. I’d like to see him use trick arrows, but right now, it suits the hardened character. I see him eventually lightening up a little. Maybe. Still waiting for him to get the proper goatee.

I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle Deadshot – and since they actually included the wrist-mounted machine guns, I’m already happy. I’d, personally, like to see him portrayed the way he was written in the Secret Six, but we’ll see.

And... prediction time!

... or... err... what I hope. Whatever.

Captain J... Slade Wilson? Maybe
Captain J... Slade Wilson? Maybe

I would like Deathstroke to be played by John Barrowman. While I still want Stephen Lang to play Slade, I’m okay with Barrowman doing a “pre-super-soldier-serum” version, and I think he’d do a good job. Not sure how I feel about the costume, based on what has been shown, but it might not be bad. We’re going to see Deathstroke soon, so we’ll see. If Barrowman does not play Deathstroke, then I would still like for him to play an active role in the series.

I want – I really, really want – John “Diggle” to just come out and reveal that his real name is “John Stewart.” That would be just awesome. I thought this when he mentioned his military past, and the way handled his own against the assassins in the previous episode just reinforced that notion. Just give him the ring! Time Stewart got some time in the spotlight.

All in all, I’m happy with the direction this show is going. Hopefully it’ll just keep getting better with every new episode..

No, I’m not giving a numbered rating. Not yet. It wouldn’t seem fair. Perhaps I’ll do a review of the season once it has finished. But right now, it’s too soon. Just wanted to put my thoughts out there.

17 Comments

JediXMan on: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption:

Best. Title. Screen. EVER.
Best. Title. Screen. EVER.

Yup, I’m going to review the Metroid games! Well not all of them. I’ve played all the Metroid games before, but right now I’m just going to review three specific ones that stick out in my mind – whether for good reasons or… not so good reasons.

Keep in mind that this is the first Metroid game I ever played. While I always liked the Metroid franchise and the character of Samus Aran for some time, I never actually played a Metroid game for myself until Corruption (yes, I later bought the Prime Trilogy pack for the Wii. No, I won’t review the other 2 right now). So this review is from the perspective of me looking back at the noobie Metroid fan I was at the time, and the big Metroid fan that I am now.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Know your enemy... or let it consume you.
Know your enemy... or let it consume you.

You play as Samus Aran, bounty hunter and long-time ally of the Federation. She is out to stop the Space Pirates and their plot to destroy the Federation. Samus and a group of Hunters are brought in to handle it. However, it is revealed that there is a Dark Samus out there, even more powerful than Samus herself. So Samus is upgraded with Phazon technology – a new technology used by the Federation to enhance soldiers. However, Phazon is slowly corrupting everything it touches – in including Samus. She has to defeat the Pirates, destroy Dark Samus, and save herself from being completely corrupted.

What I like about this story is the level of interaction with other characters. Does Samus talk? No, but that doesn’t seem to matter much. The story also seems deeper than most that have come before it. We see other Hunters, Federation allies, and enemies interact with Samus.

… but like most Metroid games, there’s not much story to comment on. So moving on.

Graphics are good. The environments are beautiful and the enemies are diverse. Of course, it’s on the Wii so graphics won’t be jaw dropping. But the graphics are not in any way bad and they serve well for this game.

You're not useless anymore!
You're not useless anymore!

This game, unlike any other game on the Wii, truly took advantage of the Wii’s controls. The only other game that sticks out in my mind like that is the Wii Sports package. It made Metroid into an awesome, immersive experience by incorporating the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Aim and fire with the Wii remote, cast grapple with Nunchuk, etc. Now unfortunately, it does have the occasional unresponsive moments that just seem to happen at the worst possible times. But it was still done well and made for a fun, intense experience. Also, unlike any Metroid game, you can control Samus’ ship. You can travel to other planets, tell the ship to land at specific areas, tell it to bomb an area, tell if to pick up something, etc. Now the travel thing is useful for saving progress. The other two you’ll only use for solving puzzles, but it does add another dimension to the gameplay that I liked. I love how easy it is to switch visor modes and I love how different each mode really is.

I don’t usually mention music, but I feel I must: this game has some truly epic music. The very second I got to the title screen, I felt OBLIGATED to listen to the entire song until it was finished. It sets the tone for the entire game and just makes me want to dive in and play the second I hear it. Look up “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption title theme” on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. The other songs in this game are great, but the main title theme stands out as one of my single favorite pieces of video game musical masterpieces.

This was a great game. Perfect for the new Metroid player that I was at the time and good enough to make me want more. And I did indeed get more. Highly recommended – a must-have if you own a Wii. And by default, yes, I’m recommending the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii. Just to drift briefly: the adaptation from Game Cube to Wii is very, very well done. The controls are just as good there as they are in Corruption. So yeah, buy all three as part of the Metroid Prime Trilogy pack if you can.

From me, this game gets a solid:

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7 Comments

JediXMan on: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

"Let the games begin!"

Saw Batman Begins. Saw the Dark Knight. Then, finally, I saw the Dark Knight Rises – yes, I bought Marathon tickets. Thankfully, I had a very good crowd to watch the movies with. Now, you get my opinion.

Before I get to my review, I want to say one thing: My hearts and prayers go out to those that were killed and the people who were injured in the Colorado shooting, as well as their families.

The review:

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

It has been eight years since the Joker’s reign of terror and Harvey Dent’s mental breakdown. Cops have been chasing the Dark Knight, believing him to be Harvey’s killer. Bruce gives up the cape and cowl, becoming a recluse in his mansion, never seeing the light of day. One day, however, he comes out, to see that his company is going under, and a threat bigger than any before is coming to Gotham. And so, our lame vigilante puts on a leg brace, and goes out to confront his newest, deadliest foe: Bane.

Before I go too far, let me just say that my complaints don’t mean that I disliked the movie. I just want to say those first, okay? Calm down, breathe slowly….

But there were problems I had. Starting with…

Batman’s disappearance. I know this is a minor gripe, but it did bother me. I don’t like that the night of Harvey’s death is the last time the Batman is seen. I had images of him being hunted down by GCPD between the films. I would have liked to see that a bit, or have it hinted out.

The movie felt really, really fast for the first thirty minutes. I thought that too much was happening at too fast a pace. Not only was it hard for us to get to know these new characters, but hard for the characters to know each other. Just too fast.

This is probably my biggest problem: the bomb. It just annoyed me. I did not think that it was necessary. I would have liked to see Bane just take complete control of Gotham and its people, and tear it apart – No Man’s Land style. Which, yeah, we got. But the bomb just seemed to make the plot stop. It made almost everything Bane was doing completely pointless. It would have been better, for me, if the bomb wasn’t in the movie at all.

It also irritated me how many people knew he was Batman. There were just so many. Many of the others I could buy, but I didn’t like that Blake figured it out. But then again… well see my commentary on John Blake below.

I thought that the overall plot of the movie took too much from Batman Begins and Dark Knight. They did the whole Ra’s al Ghul thing already! Yes, fine, I know the literary concept of “my beginning if my end,” but I reject that idea. It is not necessary. Bane also took some of the pure chaos from Joker’s scheme – though in this case, it was more… controlled chaos, I suppose. But it took the idea of destroying Gotham’s soul.

The back breaking scene. Horrible.

Yeah it... it wasn't that... just saying...
Yeah it... it wasn't that... just saying...

Yes, I said it. I didn’t like the back breaking scene. It was extremely anti-climactic and poorly done. He kinda just picked him up and tossed him on his knee. I wanted to see Batman broken over his knee, not just casually tossed onto it. Not asking for slow-mo, but I wanted to see Bane savor the act – to hold him over his head in triumph, and break Bruce over his knee, holding him like that for a second to relish it. This, for me, was a real letdown.

The ending was rather nice. I liked the implication that Blake becomes the new vigilante of Gotham – whether a new Batman or as Nightwing-lite, I don’t know. But it did indeed live up to Nolan’s premise that the Batman is an idea. And I liked it that Alfred saw Bruce, happy, with Selina (… even though their relationship was extremely rushed. So subtle it happened before I even noticed…). I am okay with a happy ending.

Small comment: Scarecrow’s appearances were great. I laughed as soon as I saw him. He was great. Only wish we saw the mask; perhaps behind him or on the desk.

I hear a lot of people complain about Bane’s motives. “Oh but now he’s following Talia because he loves her, not Ra’s!” Well here’s my answer: What makes more sense – following the desires of a dead man who failed and exiled you, or following the wishes of someone who loves you and you have cared for throughout her childhood? I’m sorry but the former doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you boil it down. What I will say, however, is that Talia’s “relationship” with Bruce (a one-night stand isn’t a relationship, Brucey) was extremely forced. There was extremely little build up. It looked exactly like what I just implied it was.

Now the individual characters:

John Blake. The character grew on me, and I liked what happened to him. But I would have liked to see his name be Jason Todd. Why not Dick Grayson? I don’t know. I just feel like Jason would have worked, considering the orphan thing. But then again, he is kind of a combination of all the Robins: he has the loyalty and fervor of Dick Grayson, some of the backstory and a little bit of the fighting of Jason Todd, and the detective skills of Tim Drake. So, perhaps, it did make sense that he figured out who Bruce was.

... well done.
... well done.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. This was my biggest fear. I was really uncertain; I honestly did not think she could do it. But she surprised me and surpassed my expectations. She was a great Selina Kyle – the bar scene was especially good. Would have been nice to see her wield a whip, but still well done, all things considered.

Tom Hardy as Bane. What did I like, and what didn’t I like? Honestly… eh… the voice kinda irritated me. It’s just not how I think Bane should be. Did he do the part well? Yes, definitely. But the voice didn’t sound right and seemed a bit loud, not merging well with the background scenes. He also wasn’t quite as physically imposing as I thought he should be. He had the skills, but not the brute strength. It came across as pure rage, not brawn. But it was done well.

Talia. I just want to say that I cheered for joy when they revealed her identity. I was hoping she was Talia, and I was nervous. I was nervous and downright annoyed that they were implying that Bane was Ra’s Al Ghul’s son. But Talia, the daughter of the Demon’s Head? Okay, I’m good with that. The revelation was timed and executed well. Worst part was her death… HA HA HA HA! That was hilarious… And there is that slight possibility that Damian is out there (had sex, five months later… hey, who knows?).

Special effects were, as per Nolan, very nice to look at. I find it rather odd, however, that they chose to use New York City as the backdrop, rather than Chicago, as they have for the previous movies. If it were NYC before, fine. But it looks completely different from before (… and it’s hard to think of it as “Gotham” when you see famous landmarks like the Empire State Building in the background). I also think that the Batwing was… eh… out of place. It shied away from the “realistic” world that Nolan has tried to set up. Did it feel like Batman of the comics? Yes, but not the Batman we have come to know in this series.

The acting was overall quite well done. This usually comes as no surprise for this series, but I was very happy with Anna Hathaway and I was okay with Bane. The worst part, however, was Talia’s death. That was laughably bad. Horrendous. They really should have shot that again. But aside from that, the acting was good.

All in all, I give this movie…

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Originally, I was going to give it an 8. But I felt I wasn't being quite honest with myself.

Outstanding? I don’t think so. Bad? No. Quite better than the majority of conclusions and better than… other movies. It didn’t really disappoint. I left satisfied.

If you’re curious, these are my ratings for the other Nolan Batman movies for comparison (and I can justify this, since I saw them all in order that night):

Batman Begins – 8.5.

The Dark Knight – 9

Does this mean it was bad compared to the others? No, not at all. It's just how I feel about those movies all around. As for the trilogy as a whole, definite 9.

46 Comments

JediXMan on - The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man

If you know me, you know I wasn’t exactly hyped for this movie. I thought it was a completely unnecessary reboot in a year of mostly good movies (screw you, Ghost Rider). But perhaps I’m being far too cynical. It could very well be a good movie. I even thought that Abraham Lincoln was going to suck, and I was wrong (see my review). Could it be that… that I’m losing my touch? Perhaps I can’t judge movies simply by trailers or by my own feelings prior to viewing.

Well let’s see.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Boy meets spider, spider bites boy, boy gets powers, boy’s uncle dies, boy learns lesson and becomes a superhero, boy fights villain he has a tie to, boy gets girl, boy continues his adventure for future sequels.

Oh I’m sorry. That was the plot of the original Spider-Man movie. My mistake.

*ahem*

Boy meets spider, spider bites boy, boy gets powers, boy’s uncle dies, boy learns…

Hey, wait a second! It’s the exact same plot!

Now I, like most of you do as well, know the story of Spider-Man quite well. It’s a rather simple tale that has been shown in the movies, shows, comics… which begs the question as to why it needs to be told again, but that’s for later. The problem is that the story is extremely similar to the first movie and not just the comics. Let’s count:

  1. Boy creepily takes pictures of his love interest (… although… gah, later…)
  2. The villain has a tie to the hero.
  3. Both villains have that whole Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on.
  4. Both have a moment where our hero is saving someone dangling from a bridge.
  5. Both movies show NY residents helping our hero (get to that soon…)

It would also be remiss of me to not mention this: the moments where the Lizard is tossing his gas canisters is a direct rip-off of last year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which, while I haven’t reviewed it and I don’t know if I will, I highly recommend). I have a hard time believing it wasn’t intentional. The camera angles were suspiciously similar.

Before I continue, let me address this really, really horrible point:

The construction crew helping Spider-Man.

Hated. This. Scene. SO. MUCH. I liked the scene in the first Spider-Man on the bridge, but there are some factors here:

  1. The people on the bridge were in danger as well. And it kinda makes sense for them to all gather together to fight a common threat.
  2. The people of New York had time to get to know Spider-Man. In this movie, he was mostly just an internet sensation. Previously, we at least got a montage that implied a good deal of time had passed – we even had people singing in the streets about him!

I think the second one bothers me more. They almost went for a Batman Begins sort of thing, where Spider-Man “inspires them.” That’s not bad, but again, they didn’t have time to really love Spider-Man in this movie. He was just some guy.

Also, they hinted at some juicy detail into Peter’s parents. Well… WE GET NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You may think we did, but we did not. Know what we got? Bait. Bait for a new movie to expand on this grand revelation, when in reality, it’s still just as much a mystery as before,

Uncle Ben… oh Uncle Ben. They had the Illusive Man play you? Oh for shame…

Actually, no, Martin Sheen did a fine job. Unfortunately, the character was not developed very well and we never got a chance to really care when the inevitable death came. And we had no sad moments after. Everybody seemed to just carry on. No funeral, no real sad moments. When Parker goes after his uncle’s killer, it’s… anticlimactic. Extremely, especially since he fails the first time. I should also point out that the “with great power comes great responsibility” speech was completely botched and poorly done. HE DIDN’T EVEN SAY THE WORDS! I’m sorry, but… no.

And the robbery scene. It was horrible, just horrible. In every presentation of the robbery scene prior, Peter had a chance to stop the guy. This time, the robber was running away from where he was, meaning he’d have to actively chase the robber. Maybe they were trying to show that you should be good and help… but doesn’t this thought process encourage vigilantism? It’s one thing to stop somebody when you have the chance; it’s completely another to chase somebody down.

Gwen Stacy was a bit too smart. She was intelligent, yes, but I have a hard time believing a high school student can quickly create an antidote to a virus that took quite some time to create. Not only that, but to be able to access the tech in Oscorp. That was just stupid.

As for our protagonist: The whole “geek” thing never quite came through. At all. Not in his choice of clothing, not in his mannerisms, and not how he was treated by others – yes, I know these are all stereotypes, but Peter Parker is and has always been the stereotypical geek / nerd before gaining his powers. He just came across as somewhat of a reclusive stalker in this movie (yes, he’s a stalker. Which… yeah, that was just weird). He was never bullied because he was Peter Parker; the only time Flash hit him was when he himself intervened. And… no glasses? Why? It… it makes no sense. Yeah, I know he wears glasses later because of his dad, but… no, it’s stupid. It’s a part of the character and I, for one, am rather insulted that he went for contacts (as someone who actually does wear glasses).

Also… a skateboard? Really? Sorry, Parker, but… *snicker* you just ain’t pulling that off, buddy.

I will say that I kind of liked the portrayal of Spider-Man here as a jokester. That was good. What I did not like, however, is that he did not invent the webbing, but merely ripped off / “improved upon” tech that Oscorp was already using. Yes, he invented the shooters. But it’s… it’s just not the same.

Also… TOO MANY PEOPLE KNOW HE’S SPIDER-MAN! Not just the obvious ones (though that annoyed me too), but the many many scenes where he interacted with other people utilizing his spider powers. Yes, that happened in the first Spider-Man movie by Raimi, but only briefly and not quite as… obvious. The fight in school I can handle. But the subway scene? The basketball scene? Sorry. Too much to swallow.

And now for the antagonist:

I had a really hard to empathizing with this guy. Mostly because he was, quite frankly, Hitler. Yes, he went for Nazi ideology that weakness must be purged and everybody must be the same (lizard people = master race). I felt bad for him due to the arm, but beyond that I really just… didn’t care. The sudden shift from nice doctor to psychopath was just way too fast and poorly developed.

CGI was… okay, I guess. Web slinging, for some reason, looked… of. I don’t know why. It just didn’t look nearly as impressive as it did in previous movies. And the Lizard was just… weird.

Acting: the actors did not do badly for what they had. The problems I have with the characters don’t reflect on the actors. They did a fine job for what they were doing. I just didn’t like what they were doing, simple as that.

In the end, I wasn’t just completely right, but this movie was worse than I thought it would be. I even saw Spider-Man 2 on TV and was reminded of how good it was. This movie was completely unnecessary, poorly done, and frankly, it sickens me that it’s getting so much unwarranted praise and attention. No, I don’t think you should see it and I don’t like that I contributed to the movie’s box office gross. But you will.. unfortunately.

Before you comment (… and I can feel hate mail coming. I can smell it), I pose a question to you all: are my reviews too… bland? Not in writing, but do you think some pictures would be a nice addition? Let me know, and suggest stuff for me to review (comics, books, movies, games, etc).

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JediXMan on - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

In an effort to start doing some more “current” material – because some people don’t like it when I do old stuff; which I’ll still do, so screw you – I’ll review a movie that I just saw over the weekend. Will it be any good or will it be a stupid parody movie that I thought it would be?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This is about who you think it is: President Abraham Lincoln. We see the guy as a kid, fighting to protect his childhood best friend from slavers. Because he did this, the slavers decide to pull their support from Lincoln’s father and seek to punish him. And so, the guy kills Abraham’s mother. As an adult, Lincoln seeks vengeance on them, hunting down the man who personally killed his mother. However, the whole plan backfires when the man turns out to be a vampire who cannot be killed by a simple flintlock. With the vampire at his throat and certain death is imminent, Abraham is saved by a stranger named Henry, who takes him in and teaches Abraham how to fight and kill vampires, who have taken up residence in the South and are the main slave operators in the United States. Lincoln goes on a road to save the slaves and defeat the vampires once and for all – with powerful timeless words… and a silver dipped ax. Mostly the ax.

I actually rather liked the story. While it sounded incredibly stupid and flat out fan fiction-like, it was actually well done, with historical references and figures scattered throughout the movie that I had fun finding. It was actually probably the most original movie I have seen all year. It was an exciting and engaging story that still managed to be oddly original in a sea of remakes, reboots, and just plain stupid movies. Well done.

I think this was my biggest problem: the camera work. While the fight scenes were a lot of fun and exciting, the cameras are just annoying. Slow-motion only works SOMETIMES, but when combined with a camera that continually shifts position, it just makes my dizzy and the fights hard to follow. Part of me thinks that Zack Snyder would have done better – I’m not his biggest fan, but he has a knack for combining slow motion and a steady camera. But then the other part of me realizes that Snyder probably would have screwed up the rest and the movie just would have lacked that original flavor.

On that note, the choreography was rather nice. The ax-play was well done and a lot of fun to watch (the rare times I could see it in its entirety without the scene being cut back and forth… sorry). It was awesome.

The acting was surprisingly good. This was Benjamin Walker’s (Lincoln) first starring role and his biggest role. The guy did a good job, from the action to the drama. He did well and kinda looked the part when he got the beard. I also liked Dominic Cooper’s (Henry) role. I’m starting to like the guy, and this is by far my favorite performance of his (sorry, Howard Stark).

Overall, this was an extremely surprising movie. I walked in with extremely low expectations and I was blown away. Masterpiece? No, not really. Nor is it really ground breaking. But it felt very fresh and rather original to me. Have we’ve seen it before? Yeah we’ve seen parts of it before, but I liked the way the movie was presented, I liked the story, the action was good (though needed better camera work), and the acting was shockingly good. Yes, I liked this movie. I really liked it.

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JediXMan on: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Note from the critic: Hello and welcome to the first movie in my reviewing blog. Enjoy this and future reviews. Also, please feel free to give ideas for future reviews, whether they are video games, movies, comics, books, etc. List them after giving your feedback on this review.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

That’s right! I’m doing the Star Wars movies! Now I’m not going to do them all right away – that would tip my hand far too early. So I’m going to start here and work my way through all six over time.

SPOILERS!!!

It would feel really odd to give a summary of the plot here, because I know that ALL OF YOU READING THIS HAVE SEEN THE MOVIES. If not, slap yourself and go rent it or get it off Netflix. Therefore, I won’t summarize any of the Star Wars movies. Rather, I’ll just give my opinions.

I’m just gonna say it: I am not in love with this movie. Seriously, I don’t care for it very much. I know that’s a shock but this is not my favorite movie of all time and it’s certainly not my favorite Star Wars movie. Not to say that it’s bad, but… well let’s just dive into it:

George Lucas is not a good writer. He isn’t. The plot of this movie is extremely simple, predictable, linear, and has been done countless times. It is basically every step of the literary concept known as “the hero’s journey” (look it up) and really doesn’t deviate from the main focal points very much. This movie is somewhat unique in concept, but really, replace the lightsabers and guns with swords, the Jedi/Sith with sorcerers, and this is just another fairy tale story among countless others.

This movie also goes against the idea that Lucas actually had everything planned out from the beginning. Clearly Leia was originally meant to be Luke’s love interest and not his sister. You could say “he wanted you to think that.” Well here’s the thing: George Lucas is anything but subtle. I honestly and whole heartedly believe that what we see is what we get with the man. I don’t see a lot of hidden meanings, especially with this movie. Sometimes there are hints and underlying themes and factors in other movies (and Lucas probably didn’t have to do with those), but really, as I said this movie is very straight forward. The ending also wraps up quite cleanly, indicating that he wasn’t so confident that it would continue from here.

What makes this movie really unique? Well let’s go to the next category:

The special effects.

For the time in which this was made (screw you, Blu-Ray), the movie had extremely good special effects. Even by today’s standards they look nice. Yeah, the lightsabers look weird and all, but take it for what it is: a step in the right direction. This movie paved the way for countless other Sci-Fi movies and really showed people how to do special effects. It’s truly a sight to behold.

While I don’t usually mention music, I feel it would be a crime not to mention John William’s score, which is absolutely amazing. I personally love every Star Wars soundtrack there is. While I might be hanged for it, I dare say that the soundtrack almost got better with each movie, and yes I am including the prequels (what can I say? I’m a sucker for that kind of music)

Final category: acting performance.

Let’s be honest: almost everyone in this movie was a nobody at this point in their careers, the veteran primarily being Alec Guinness. Even so, nobody was outright bad, just… inexperienced. And they really did get better as the trilogy went on.

So despite the hate mail I’ll get, A New Hope just doesn’t do it for me usually. The story is incredibly unoriginal and, frankly, overrated by many. I typically watch it out of nostalgia, given that it was the first Star Wars movie I saw. It was truly a work of film given the revolutionary effects and outstanding visuals, and it is the first movie in a great saga that spawned an even better expanded universe (there, I said it: books and comics > the movies), and for that, it should and deserves to be held in high esteem.

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