Thursday, August 29, 2013

Elfen Lied - A Dusty Shelf Review [Anime Review]


I buy & watch a significant amount of anime. The result is that sometimes a series gets missed, overlooked, or lost in time, and ends up sitting on a shelf for months or even years before I watch it. But rest assured, I will watch it.

So I've decided to create a new review segment I'm going to call the Dusty Shelf Review. All of these reviews will be for series I've left too long.
Gore in the beginning. Gore at the end.

The first Dusty Shelf Review: Elfen Lied.

There are not a lot of anime that I actually regret buying. This is one. I had to wrack my brain to find an element I liked. It's not like the animation is bad - it's acceptable. Neither stellar nor terrible.

I will give a warning now, because I expect to reveal more spoilers in this review than in any other I have ever written.

 Be Warned: There Will Be Spoilers!

Innocence?

The story:

A new subspecies of humans has evolved(?) on earth. Their only motivation - the complete and total elimination of all humans. This is preferably done in the most bloody and gory ways possible. Ripping heads and limbs off is common place, and seems to be a theme in every episode.

Lucy, one of these new subspecies (Diclonius) escapes a locked chamber in a remote lab that is studying the Diclonius. She murders dozens (hundreds?) of guards, and escapes. However in the course of the escape a single bullet (fired from an A.T. rifle) actually hits her, causing her to develop a split personality. Now she is wandering around naked on a beach. She is found and taken in by a college student named Kouta.

Kouta has just returned to town after 8 years in order to attend college, and has his own place (which will promptly be filled with Lucy, his cousin Yuka, and a few others).
A strange boarding house... to say the least.

Now Lucy has the mind of a child. She is unable to speak or anything. Kouta names her Nyu, after the only sound she makes.

Meanwhile the lab dispatches an immoral mercenary to kill Lucy.

Nyu (Lucy) breaks a treasured memento of Kouta's (from his past, that he has blocked because it is tramatic) and he yells at her. She runs from the house to find a replacement.

A battle between Lucy and the mercenary occurs, he is badly maimed. This prompts the remote lab to dispatch a second Diclonius, Nana (#7), to deal with Lucy.


Messier than a Jackson Polluck painting.
I'm going to skip a few details. Why? Because I want to get to the real messed up bits.

Okay so we know that Lucy is a Diclonius whose sole goal is to wipe out the human species and replace it as the new dominant species.

Or is she? You see this is the assumption of the remote lab's scientists. Most of whom are only scientists in that they wear lab coats. They are super stereotypical mad scientists who seem to be suffering from Immortality Immorality.

However we learn that in fact Lucy is an abused orphan who watched a dog get murdered, literally beaten to death by children right in front of her. They quite literally Kick The Dog, and it is a sign of a series that is just giving up. In addition, Lucy is unable to trust others because one of the children, whom she thought she could trust, lied to her. This lie directly led to the puppies death. Of course, then she slaughters every child in revenge for the dog. After that she proceeds to slaughters whole families in order to squat in their houses... so she goes from revenge murder to complete psycho in about three heartbeats.

I have a rule of entertainment - Never Kill the Dog (goes double for cats). Killing the dog is a way to throw up your hands and just admit you are a bad movie/series/book/game, you get the picture.

Super Spoiler: Your Traumatic past is a plot contrivance!
Of course she is befriended by young Kouta. Emotional pablum occurs. They become friends, and a bit of puppy love occurs. An insane voice tells Lucy to kill everyone, and she promptly strangles Kouta (not to death, just close). But no worries, all is forgiven because, to put it bluntly, Kouta is far from the sharpest knife in the drawer. All seems fine, but then Kouta says that he is going to a festival with his cousin. He lies and says his cousin is a boy (Yuka is a girl, just FYI). Lucy catches them at the festival and, since she feels betrayed, murders everyone nearby.

It's one of the few semi-likable characters. She has character development!

So... Is she a traumatized psychopath? Is she a new species whose only drive is genocide? Don't worry, this will NEVER be answered.


But we will pile trauma on top of trauma. Seriously. He is an aside in the story: Young girl is raped by her step-father. Tells her mother. Her mother beats her for lying. She runs away. Look! Trauma.




But that's not all... seriously. This whole series is nothing more than gore and trauma, interspersed with a touch of nudity, and jealousy.  I actually had trouble watching it all the way through. I did, although my DVD set was so old that it didn't have the OVA and maybe that single episode answered all the questions. If so, Wow. Way to not end a series properly.

Klimt's "The Kiss" and a version with Lucy.
Okay. I never leave a review with only the bad.

There are some good things.

For one, the introduction's artwork is an excellent selection of the works of Gustav Klimt, modified with the shows characters. This very beautiful... and really has no bearing on any other part of the anime.

The second good thing is the Intro music. The song is called Lilium, and I've linked it to the intro video and the lyrics. The lyrics are based around a Gregorian chant called, "Ave Mundi Spes Maria." Music and a music box play an important role in the series. Which is too bad... you see in my research for the series (after the watching), there is a character focused around singing called Nozomi who only appears in the manga. even worse, she teaches Lucy the song called 'Elfen Lied' - yes the shows freakin' title! They cut this whole bit from the anime... why?

I think, perhaps, this is an anime that suffers very badly by becoming an anime. There might have been a strong story in the manga. There might not have been quite so much trauma for the sake of trauma. Characters might have grown, plots might have developed, and the gaping maw of a plot hole (Lucy's drive to destroy humanity - is it genetics or childhood trauma?) might have been closed.

Sadly, because this is an anime, I can only review the anime...

1.5 Stars
I cannot, in good taste, recommend this series...

If you must buy it, get it on BD. You'll get the OVA at least.





Friday, August 16, 2013

Time and Eternity [PS3]


Today I'm going to be reviewing a recent PS3 release; Time and Eternity.

The animation is VERY nice.


The game centers around a trio of main characters and begins on their wedding day. No, there is no mistake there. You see, and this is really not a spoiler, two the characters reside in the same body (it actually makes for one of the better mechanics of the game). Their names are Toki (時) and Towa (東和)... I'll give you until after the next line to guess what those names mean.

  Give up?

Clowns with sickles? At a wedding? How deviant!
I hope not.
They mean Time and Eternity.
Yes.

Ok, well lets get things rolling with a slightly better synopsis than that. I won't go too deep as usual, but give a brief overview of the introduction to the game, then we'll talk about mechanics.




You are the mascot character!
Time and Eternity begins the day before you and Toki (redhead above, in the foreground) are to get married. She is the princess of the kingdom and you are but a knight sworn to defend it. You've already got a house together and her three friends are over. Things happen, mostly they raz on you. 
Get used to this view.

The next day you are 'going to the chapel, and you are going to get married.' Or so you think. You and Toki give your vows, and just when you are about the kiss the bride a gang of assassins show up and cut you down. Of course you threw yourself infront of your bride, but still, you took a blade right in the chest.

Great. Game over man!

Or not.


3D landscapes + Cell-shaded Animation? Ok!
You see your bride can manipulate time. Or perhaps I should say your bride is Time (時 Toki). In a fit of panic over you bleeding out, she sends herself back 6  months. You go back too as your spirit is yanked along.

She goes back and ends up as her self, 6 months before you are going to get married. You... you get jammed into the body of her pet dragon, and you can't speak.

Let the hilarity begin.
It's a JRPG. There is a gallery. Unlock it!
 Time and Eternity is actually a pretty simple game when it comes down to it. I mean overly simple at times.

Skill Tree Example.
The game is super simple. You are given a quest, you complete it. Along the way there are monsters. Some quests are irritating, most are easy. Complete the quest get money and GP (gift points). These unlock new skills for Toki and Towa.

You will fight monsters along the way. These are either depressingly easy to defeat or unfathomably irritating. There is no middle ground. Every monster though is actually rather simple once you figure out its pattern. Every monster has a pattern; some complex, some super simple. Memorize, counter, kill. Kill the monsters, get XP, chronos (money), and a small amount of GP.

When you get enough XP you level up, and Toki becomes Towa. Level again and Towa becomes Toki. They each seem to have affinities for certain types of spells and certain styles of attack. Toki is the rifle user, Towa the knife. Both will use both as you fight, but the rifle seems to be used the most. However these weapons are nothing compared to spells. Spells deal far more damage far faster.

Thanks to the skill tree there is some customization that can occur, but not a lot. Customization allows you to max at 12 spells/abilities and a lot of passive skills. Many of the abilities are shared.

Now, just like Toki and Towa look the same (although for some reason switching souls swaps hair and eye color...) monsters look the same too. There might be two dozen monster templates in the game, tops.
Copypasta Monsters. The monster on the left is the same template as on the right.
So as you fight your way through the game you will run into Ninja Alpha, Ninja Beta, Ninja Delta... and so on. The same tactics employed vs Alpha will also kill Delta. Nothing new. Just stronger. Bloody Palette Swaps!

The odd battle style.
That's pretty much the mechanics of the game. No complex crating... oh, but there is a relationship bar. When Drake (you, the pet dragon) helps in battle by healing, and a few other things, Affection and love can increase. I honestly can't tell you what difference Love makes other than the kind of meal your current fiance will prepare for you. Why do I say that... well to see that you'll need to actually beat the game on your own. Essentially, you can see two of the three endings (not really much of a spoiler) from one play through no matter what the love level is. Just make sure to use multiple save slots (always a good idea in any RPG anyways). This helps fill out the gallery for all you Trophy seekers. 

I made sure to get every treasure chest and do every side quest my first time through, for the Trophies! Save the DLC ones. Not really sure if I want to drop more money on the game.

That being said, final review scores after the next image.

Fan Service, even in battle.
I'm going to do this somewhat differently than I reviewed Tomb Raider 2013. I'm not sure which method of review I like best yet. Give me some feedback.

Review Time:

Game Play: Simple combat, simple progression, no real challenge.
1.5 Stars
Graphics: Nice animation (with the oddity in conversations), nice 3D environs... don't quite mesh.
3 Stars
Story: Simple story. Lame jokes. And I met Ray Amuro, Lucy and Linus. Never thought I'd encounter a Gundam pilot with Peanuts characters. WHY?
2.5 Stars
Music/Sound: This is the winner. The music is really good. Nice wonderful songs. I know why it came with a CD. (So did Tales of Xilia... we'll see how that does.)
4.5 Stars
Overall: A bit of a let down. Will I do the second play through for the third ending? Probably. I'm that kinda person. Still there are some serious flaws that should have been addressed.
2.5 Stars







Saturday, August 10, 2013

Elysium [Movie Review]


Elysium, director Neill Blomkamp's second feature length film, is a engaging morality tale.  
Elysium rise.

First, before anything else, a brief synopsis of the film.

The Earth was ravaged by humanity and by the late 21st century the planet has become a wasteland. Massive deserts swath the planet. The Year is 2154 and life is harsh for those living on the surface...
A house costs about $250,000,000.00 also known as 'Wha?'



However the wealthy live in an artificial paradise called Elysium. Their world is perfect. No citizen gets sick. There is no crime, no suffering, no hunger. No real worries.  

The face of Homeland Security.


The citizens of Elysium live in a wonderfully perfect world. Homeland security keeps them safe and keeps the 'illegals' out. Their lives are idyllic, and they live in this paradise looking down upon the earth. Never do they see the suffering below, they instead live in their sheltered secluded world.

Down below a young orphan named Max dreams of one day living on Elysium. Life does not work out for him, he gets in trouble, turns to a life of crime and eventually becomes a convict. While on parole he works at a factory that builds the Homeland Security Droids. An accident at work shortens his life, and the only way to save himself is on Elysium. The medical beds they have can save his life... but to get to the station, he must return to a life of crime. 
L.A. 2154.

And with that Max begins the battle of his life, for his life.

That's only a portion of the plot that actually occurs in the beginning of the film. There are other important stories being woven at the same time. Stories of corruption, stories of desperation, stories of freedom.  
Earth and Elysium.


Now to the standard breakdown of the good and the bad parts of the movie.

The bad first, of course.

Shaky Cam!
Ah, a beefed up Kalashnikov.
Oh, how I hate shaky cam. It has its purposes and its uses. However it is overused in the modern film era. I do not need every combat scene to be shaky. Some, like the titanic battle between two power-suited individuals, should be less shaky and more dramatic. Please, for the love of cinema, tone it down! This is not just a message for Elysium, but a message to Hollywood.

Everyone Reads Code!
I'm actually surprised I couldn't find a Trope on this. I found Everyone Knows Morse which is more or less the same idea. Seriously. Any character with a mild bit of plot relevance who looks at computer code (which is amazingly not purely binary - just mostly), knows exactly what the code does. Yes, this is plot convenient... however could we not use realistic code and maybe just maybe include comments? 

Homeland Security Droids or Hahne-Kedar Lokis...?
Signs of Stupidity!
These are a frequent occurrence in films.They occur all the time. Things like: Trusting a psychopath to bring you the super valuable information. Yeah. That's going to go down swimmingly. It's not a major downside, but its so obvious and occurs so often that sometimes I do get tired of it. 

Social Commentary - there will be lots.

 Now on to the good aspects of the film.

I bet putting these up on the LA freeways was hilarious.
Gritty Science Fiction!
I have a weak spot for gritty science fiction. Maybe it is the vogue nowadays, but it is feeding the demand of the viewers. Perhaps there is something that everyone is realizing... and sometimes it might be because even in the most gritty, dirty, apocalyptic science fiction there is often some ray of hope. Even if that hope is only the survival of the species.

Mythology!
The film is rife with mythology references. I mean, the title alone is a reference to the afterlife reserved for those mortals who were related to the gods of Greek myths. It evokes the idea that those who live there consider themselves special and privileged even though they are only there due to an accident of birth. There are other mythological references. There is the fated hero, born for a reason... and there are more.


Sharlto Copley, he was in District 9 as well...
 Social Commentary!
This entire movie is a commentary on the modern world. This is a movie about wealth inequality, about social class, about immigration, about healthcare. This is a movie about justice and crime. This is a movie about an out of control military/security/industrial complex and the corruption of government. These issues are what the movie is about. These are the reasons to see this movie!
I really like the shuttles.

 So there we have it. Elysium.

It's a solid film, and there are some powerful elements to it. There are flaws, but they do not really detract all that much from the positive aspects. This is good science fiction, but this is not a movie about the future...

In an issue of Entertainment Weekly (2 August 2013, Future Shock see note), Blomkamp was asked if he thought this was an earth 140 years from now. He responded, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

With all that said, this is worth seeing. Preferably as a matinee... since it is good, but not mind blowing good.

Elysium gets:
3.5 Stars

Friday, August 2, 2013

The Lone Ranger 2013 [Movie Review]

Our main cast... and Tim Burton's Wife?
 I've been putting off my review of this movie because of a variety of reasons.

Damn he's tall...

 But before we to the review lets do a short introductory plot synopsis.

The story of the Lone Ranger is told through the flashbacks of Tonto (Johnny Depp). Tonto begins the movie on display in a 'Wild West' exhibition at a fair where upon a young boy dressed in a mask, like the lone ranger, is surprised to find that not all the figures are fakes. The boy incredulous that Tonto is -that- Tonto, is told the Lone Ranger's origin story.

Now moving beyond the frame story. Our hero, John  Reid (Armie Hammer), is a lawyer returning from the east to his hometown on the as of yet unfinished Transcontiental Railroad. Unbeknownst to Reid, aboard the train are Tonto and Butch Cavendish. Butch's gang attacks the train, breaks him free (although he was already being helped), Tonto ends up in jail and Reid reunites with his brother, Dan, who immediately deputizes him so they can chase down Butch. Following so far?  
Butch Cavendish. Obvious Villian.

Oh yeah, he also reunites with Dan's wife, Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), creating a sorta love triangle thing. Maybe. Anyways... leaving Tonto in jail, the Reid brothers set off across the desert (which looks a lot like Utah, cause it is) with a sizable posse searching for Butch.

To wrap this up quickly, the posse is ambushed, everyone is killed other than John Reid, who is injured badly. Butch has a light lunch of Dan's heart. Tonto rescues John, who he calls Kemosabe. And off they go... the Lone Ranger is born. 
Deep conversation.

That covers the intro of the movie.

Now for my usual break down of the good and bad.  

I'll begin as I have before by numerating the flaws in the film.

- Frame Story: Not all frame stories are bad, some are very good, like the one in the Hobbit or the one from The Princess Bride. In the Hobbit, it really just frames the narrative, it begins and ends the tale, it does not jump in and interrupt the flow of the story. In The Princess Bride, it is used for humor, for exposition, and for actually framing the movie. In The Lone Ranger, the frame story was neither the nice simple framing of the Hobbit, nor did it pull off the timing and humor of The Princess Bride. At times it was actually jarring. You are watching a movie, you have already suspended your disbelief, you accept the occurrences on screen, you do not need a child breaking you from your suspense. At first you might even be tempted to accept Tonto's little scenes of 'Nature is out of Balance' as the quirks of story telling... yet the rabbits at the very end put this into question.
She appears to be wondering why she was in the movie.


- Forgettable Characters: The insane member of Butch Cavendish's gang who wears a bonnet had a longer lasting impression than Rebecca Reid did. Yeah, the sorta love interest, family ties interest... for a main character motivation, she did not come off as all that believable. A fact that our main hero seems to agree with in the very end.

Herd? Gaggle? Fock?
What do you call a collection of prostitutes?
 - He's the Bad Guy! The Lone Ranger suffers from a common Hollywood malady I like to think of as Evil in the Open. TV Tropes calls this Devil in Plain Sight. You see there are two villians in The Lone Ranger, one is Obviously Evil, our Butch Cavendish. Meanwhile our other is a Villian with Good Publicity. And yet, you know almost at the very outset, the first time he opens his mouth that he is a Villian. Of course it will take our heroes over two hours to reach the same conclusion.

There's a lady on the moon in the cat house...
The scene from the trailer that no one forgets.
- Texas is NOT Utah! No seriously. I hate this motif in westerns that John Ford disseminated. Monument Valley is not the only place in the west. Stories told in Texas should not look like Utah. Of course... I could be nuts, since this might have taken place at Promontory Point, Utah. But if that's so... then why are Texas Ranger's there? You see why this is a problem? Our film takes place 'somewhere where Monument Valley & Texas Rangers, and the Comanche all live together.' (Take away Monument Valley, and the spike scene and it easily fits back in Texas.) These things bug me, because they take away my suspension of disbelief. When you start showing real places, but calling them other places... in a pseudo historical context... you lose me. Damn you John Ford.


Okay. Enough of the bad. Lets try for some good.



Bowler hats are cool.
- Anti-Corporatist Message. This I loved. The movie shows, not in the most subtle or thorough ways, the poisonous nature of corporatism. The treachery, the violence, the lust for power and money... This I liked. They could have done more with this, but they did enough... I guess.

- Johnny Depp. I'm not sure he's been in a movie I've seen him in since Sleepy Hollow, that he has not delivered a stellar performance. Not saying that Armie Hammer did not act well, he did a good job. Just simply put, he's not Johnny Depp.

- The Vileness of Subjugation & Racism Shown. The movie did spend some time showing how bad fear of the 'savages' could be, how exploited the immigrant laborers were (Chinese as was historically accurate, although I would have liked them to use the historical slang for them, Celestials), and how bad racism can get. It shows how people can use racism, specifically ignorance and stereotyping, to essentially motivate the army to wipe out innocent children. Did anyone else get the feeling this was talking a bit about the modern world? Yeah, me too.  

- The Extras. Soft spot for me. I have a friend who does extra work on historical movies, so I really enjoy watching the films to play the game of 'find my friend.' This time there were some excellent shots. So bonus points there.

I should also say that in general, westerns are never my cup of tea. I have a great deal of bias against them thanks to film school and John Ford (damn him). So keep that in mind.

If you like westerns, its worth seeing. If you like Johnny Depp its worth seeing.

The Lone Ranger (2013) gets:
3.0 Stars
Filmed in NM.