Oblivion [Movie Review]

 Today I went and saw Oblivion.

Breif synopsis - In the future humans have encountered an alien species. It destroyed the moon. The earth's surface was thrown into turmoil, cities wiped-out by floods, quakes, and war. Humanity won the war but lost Earth.

With Earth destroyed humanity has fled to Titan. To survive (and power their reactors fusion) they are collecting all the remaining water on the surface of the Earth.

I swear these things remind me of G.L.A.D.O.S.

Jack and Vicki are technicians and support crew respectively responsible for maintaining the probes/droids/Glados-things which are protecting the water-vacuuming facilities from the 'Skavs.'

And that is seriously all I am going to say about the plot. You wanna know more, you'll have to see it.

There were many good points:

Tom Cruise in iWorld.

1. Set Design. Seriously, this movie is an eye fest. There are so many little visual details and beautiful scenic shots. Combined with shots that actually evoke some pretty good emotions... and some shots that reminded me of well... Tower Climbing.

2. Low Babble. This is actually something I've noticed more recently. Lots of science fiction tries to fill in gaps in plot with 'techno-babble.' This has very little nonsense words to explain things.

I could never live there. There is a glass bottomed pool.

3. Story in Action. So much of the story is told through action (and imagery) instead of dialogue. Rather impressive. This is not to say that there is no dialogue, but its reserved for expression of more core concepts. Even the audience is expected to read a passage in a book instead of having it read to them.

Apple owns the future.

This was true high science fiction. There were lots of strong ideas and concepts. Some predictable, some not. But all very well executed.

In truth there was only one really bad point. The end was a tad bit rushed and a tad bit cliched... but not unexpected.

Tom Cruise is a glorified repair man - of the future!

One of the more fun elements for me was the philosophical implications built into the core ideas and strewn through the movie. 

Of course, I can't say more on that without spoiling a huge chunk of the film. So, I'll leave that up to you to find out.

Oblivion

4.0 Stars

Go see the movie!

Jamie Lannister!

Double Anime Review - HMP & Maid-Sama

Review Time...

First up, Heaven's Memo Pad. The title is a rather off handed line from the head NEET detective explaining her business to her less than swift new assistant. Well, that's mean... her assistant is rather forcefully dragged into a world he does not exactly fit in (in the beginning) and only really bumbles at the start.

So, the show is a coming of age story for a Japanese high-school boy. How common - trope city in fact. It seems so common, so over used. But this is a nice turn on the old motif. He is forced into a world he did not expect, filled with odd characters - most of the NEETs. 

You can barely see it... but I envy that computer set up.

I expect I should explain NEET here... but why? Just click the link.

Various cases are solved, friendships formed, it really does seem average on the surface. But the series really wins at the end. At the end of Episode 9, the series does something that was completely unexpected. And it does it well... especially for what comes off as a coming of age story - one that is more character driven by the side characters than normal.

Good characters, very well animated, wonderful music (the opening few notes of the title music is beautiful), and a real solid twist. Worth watching.

Heaven's Memo Pad

3.5 Stars

Now on to...

Kaicho wa Maid-sama! 

This really starts off as your typical Romantic Comedy. Misaki Ayuzawa is Student Council President, very strict, good grades. The boys at school are irritating, rather boorish, and of course they rail against Ayzawa's efforts to improve the school (in an albeit strong handed way). But of course, she has a secret. She is dirt poor and has therefore taken a rather uncharacteristic, but high paying job, to help her mother and sister out. She works at a Maid Cafe.

Next time I'm in Japan I'm going to one...

Cafe Latte.

Anyways, as stories go, someone must discover her secret. One of the boys at school, Usui Takumi, constantly breaks the hearts of girls since he always flatly turns down their advances. (See where this is going?)

 Usui, and a group of three guys who later become known as the Three Idiots, discover Ayuzawa's secret. Comedy ensues. All four boys do work to keep her secret, but for their own selfish reasons. Thus more comedy ensues.

Sta-a-a-r-e [I so love these scenes.]

It is a very typical comedy. There is misunderstandings, innuendo, cross dressing (both sexes), accidental moments, and lots of dead-pan moments. 

It seems typical. It really is.

But I laughed, alot.

And more Sta-a-a-r-e... with takoyaki.

I was also frustrated a lot. This time, not because the main male character is ignorant of others feelings, but because in this series, the female lead refuses to accept that the male lead is actually serious. Now Usui does pull some nonsense stunts that make him seem very flippant, but he also has his serious moments. His obviously serious moments.

There are endearing qualities to the series, and some less than stellar ones too. The introduction of a character in the last four episodes... not thrilled. Too 'deus ex machina' for me... too forced.

"We're just filming a movie!"

Lots of humor. Lots of predictability.
 

Dogs. But seriously, do not just throw new characters at me.

It's good... but its not really new. I think the anime lacks what the manga gives - length. There is much more than could have been done to expand and work on certain themes (the male lead helping the family, etc). There was mystery about certain characters that was not cleared up. The manga, I can only guess, expands on these. Like many series that move from black and white pages to the full color screen, things are left behind. I do love the staring... that was a well used bit of humor.  


This could have been better. But it was still a good romantic comedy, formulaic at times, but those same formulas are used because they are truly solid. Enjoyable, but do not expect a ground breaking series like Steins;Gate (a real 5 Stars) here.

Kaicho wa Maid-sama!

2.5 Stars

Tomb Raider 2013 [PS3]

Review Time!

This is the first game I've reviewed other than Mass Effect 3 (and I've only really reviewed its endings...) so this will be new.

Anyone else see Natalie Portman?

I suppose thios should be prefaced with me stating very clearly that I have Never played ANY of the prior Tomb Raiders. I've seen one played by someone else, but didn't really care.

This one was different, I kinda knew before I bought it, what I was getting into. I watch other reviews, and videos. So I had an idea that I would be getting an action / adventure game sort of in the vein of Resident Evil 4 (the best RE).

I shot every animal I encountered for XP and more...

Now, with any game there will be good and there will be bad.


I'll start with the good.


It's Beautiful. The scenery is stunning, the graphics are high end powerful and really just blow you away. Everything is very detailed.

Japan. There is a lot of references to Japan from various periods including the Edo period and WWII. Yeah, I'm giving a bit away, but games can always score points with me by using Japanese culture and artifacts. Fun times! The game is loaded with Japanese architecture.

Here you see some Japanese architecture exploding.

Problem Solving. A lot of the game is simple problem solving... path finding, detail finding. The adventure part, only not the old style of adventure games where you tried every item in your inventory with every other item in your inventory. This was more, 'how do I use what I have to get over there?'




It's Fun. Seriously... this might be the most impotant. Games need to be fun and engaging. There needs to be a reason to play them. I was never bored nor was I too often assailed by a stupid 'hit these buttons Right-Now or die' cut scene. Those frustrate and irritate me... because if you do not get it the first time out you can end up repetetively doing the same stupid event-death pattern over and over and over and over... Thankfully, and this is a good point, there was only one of those that really stuck out. Damn you parachute!

And more wonderful architecture...

Now sadly, the bad.




Super Linear Plot. Now I knew there was going to be liner plot, however there was mention of 'extra tombs,' that could be explored. I was expecting involved tombs with multiple puzzles and challenges to overcome. No. Each side tomb presented one puzzle that was never too difficult to overcome. There needs to be a break from the main plot aside from 'fast traveling' to get all the items in earlier regions. All that was needed was involved side-tombs.

Oh look, another easy side-tomb.

Craptacular Multiplayer. Wow, is the MP side of the game a letdown. It feels totally tacked on with no real consideration for quality play. Perhaps I've been spoiled with good add on MP, like that included with ME3. That was good MP, this is bad MP. Glaringly bad.

Rivers of Blood, you swim in them.

Voice Acting. Please for the love of my ears, train VAs in the proper way of pronouncing foreign words, this is very important when a game is filled with foreign words. 'Himiko' is not pronounced like a Dodge 'Hemi.' Thankfully, as the game progressed the pronunciation improved... that or my ears just adapted to the verbal abuse. 

No Replay Value. There is no reason to play this game a second time. The plot is done, the side tombs are simple, and the MP is bad. This is a major blow. I've played ME3 four times, and there has been something new each time. There will be nothing new for Lara in a new play through.


And the worst for last.

Phoning in the Ending. The game is set up as rather realistic (provided that you ignore the fact that Lara Croft would have broken every bone in her body like five times in the course of the game), you hunt for food, you die by falling, you get injured and need medical supplies, you only kill deer, birds, rats, rabbits, wolves, boar, and humans. No ghosts, no skeletons, no zombies. No Fantasy. Scientific journals are found on the island, military divisions researched the phenomenon that the game revolves around... but at the end, it devolves into fantasy mumbo-jumbo. It did not need to. It could have be resolved in a way that fit within the realistic world of the rest of the game. There is no magic until the last 5 minutes. That's as bad the damn Star Child in ME3, before the revised ending. The ending was totally phoned in... and it did not need to be. 

Look! More fire!

Here's the thing. I do not know how much Tomb Raider needs to be a fantasy series. I never played the originals, so I do not know if this is supposed to lead into a full reboot of the whole series.

That in mind, I have to review this as only I know it.


I do not think it is as good as the many scores I've seen on the net, everything from 9.5s to 10s. So I'll rate it in the same way, between 1 and 10.

Tomb Raider 2013 is a solid 7.9 for the overall feel, fun, and beauty. It loses on some wobbly voice acting, a total lack of replay value, and a badly phoned-in ending. Also, lets stop making games where you get bonus XP and rewards for slaughtering all the deer in an area... its a bad lesson.

P.S. I have this sneaking feeling that a lot of this was inspired by Uncharted (which I've never played).

Lincoln - Movie Review

I too deliberate over movie reviews.

I always try to wait a few days, or even weeks, before I give my final opinion on a film. Many I have watched and enjoyed only to, over the course of days, come to be quite dissatisfied with the presentation. The most recent Robin Hood movie was like that... actually, I was dissatisfied in the theater parking lot with that movie, so bad example. (It's still a bad movie.)

Daniel Day Lewis deserved that Oscar.

Lincoln did not take me long to come to a conclusion about.



It was FANTASTIC. There was only one time that I was pulled from my movie trance. One time in a two and half hour movie where I went, 'Hey wait a second...' and was thrown from my immersion in the film (aside from the inevitable restroom break).

This scene, right at the beginning...

 And it was a very early scene in the movie that made me pause. And I'm not sure that I would have even caught it if I had not once been a Civil War reenactor. It's a detail issue, and it is not a glaring one either... well it is glaring if you put on the uniforms from 1861-5. One never carries a musket in the rain bore up without a tampion in it. 

 
But aside from that one scene with that one issue... oh the detail was gorgeous. Again, the production design was fantastic and utterly deserving of winning the Oscar it did. The level of detail was fantastic. 

 I went to see Lincoln with a friend who had already seen it. We went to the discount theater, and I'll say that for a mere $1.75 this was a true bargain movie. Usually I save discount theaters for 'films of questionable quality,' but this time we went because he wanted to see Lincoln a second time.

This movie was worth more than what I paid.
This movie was fantastic.


Since its left its theater run, and is already on DVD/BD my advice is, either rent or buy a copy of Lincoln on BD. The quality is amazing. The movie is beautiful. Watch it.
 

Lincoln

4.5 Stars