Dylan Reviews

Moving to my own place

2015-01-13T12:12:00.003+11:00

http://www.vivaladil.com

January 13 2015 this site and it's contents is moving to the address above and below. Please come find me over there and enjoy some great content. - Dylan @vivaladiltv

http://www.vivaladil.com/

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies Review

2015-01-07T20:34:00.001+11:00

Peter Jackson's second Middle Earth trilogy wraps up in this shortest entry. That is, if short is 2 hours 24 minutes to you. Although the battle portion of the Hobbit book is thought of as an epilogue to the whole adventure and doesn't have all that much time attended to it, Jackson decided it was worth 2 and half hours of screen time. Some of the content really is worth the time, but the rest like parts of the previous two films before it isn't so much.

Battle Of The Five Armies opens with Smaug's decent onto Lake-Town. There is no recap of the events before or some opening monologue from one of heroes or villains, we are straight into this finale. Director Peter Jackson keeps up this quick pace through-out. This might be Jackson's most tightly edited Middle Earth film so expect to not expect 15 endings here.

Fortunately and unfortunately Smaug's opening scene is fantastic and the highlight of the film. It serves as a fantastic opening, but then puts to shame the actual battle of five armies. You also know deep down watching it that the Smaug scene would have improved Desolation's ending ten-fold.

Martin Freeman is great as Bilbo Baggins and one half of what holds this movie together. But it's Richard Armitage's fashionably late turn as Thorin that truly sticks scenes to your eyes with a fantastic performance as he fights the Dragon's Disease, which is another way of saying he has lots of gold and gets greedy.

When the actual battle begins Jackson handles the camera with a beautiful eye for capturing the battles as he has done previously but if someone was to walk past and look on screen, completely out of context of what was on they might ask; "What's this animated one called then?"
The Hobbit films have all had a very plastic look to there CGI but it was quite awful in The Battle Of The Five Armies. Combine that with an awful fight scene with Legolas and the movie can be outrageously ridiculous. It just seemed like Jackson got an amateur special effects and CGI kit for hi birthday and went crazy with it.

When I watched The Fellowship of The Ring for the first time I had no idea what I was in for, I hadn't read the book, I didn't even know it was a book. That movie filled me with joy and genially scarred me with it's villains. But I just don't find Azog to be as menacing as even a pawn Orc from The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, he simply looks to be made of play-doh.

If you wasn't a fan of the Jackson injected folly of romance between Evangeline Lilly's Tauriel and Aidan Turner's Kili don't expect to be moved here either. Although the romance coped a lot of slack online I will stick by my comments of enjoying the aspects it had to offer. That said; Battle of The Five Armies ruins any hopes and dreams I had for the relationship, instead going on a very stereotypical route and leaving Tauriel in a stupid place as a character.

The Battle of the Five Armies manages to leave many things and people in weird place or simply un-explained at all. For continuing characters into the Lord of The Rings Trilogy it makes sense but leaving someone like Bard and his co un-explained or even not explaining what exactly happens to the gold and jewels in the mountain. Instead of any of the information that might be interesting to tying up this trilogy we receive several corny scenes involving Bilbo, Legolas and Gandalf setting up for you to boot Fellowship of The Rings following this feature. Jackson tries to tie the films together nicely but it's not coy or cute, it's loud and obnoxious, we as an audience aren't that dumb and we know what we're watching as we know the sky is blue.

The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies isn't a bad film and it's certainly leaps and bounds ahead on the chart compared to an Unexpected Journey. It still just misses everything that made Jackson's first trilogy so great. It's a decent finale to the trilogy but you will be sticking those Lord of The Rings discs in the blu-ray played nine times out of ten before you put any of the Hobbit films on.

+ Smaug's Descent

+ Freeman and Armitage

- Corny Tie-In

- Un-answered Questions

- CGI still bad

Overall: 6.5

Tales From The Borderlands Episode One: Zer0 Review (PS4)

2014-12-24T14:47:00.001+11:00

Lots of games are great without having story as their main prerogative and can simply rely on great gamplay; Borderlands is one such game series. Thus making last years announcement from Telltale that they would be making a five part series in the universe all that much stranger.

I played platinumed the original Borderlands. I loved that and was ready for the sequel but when it arrived it sat unwrapped on my shelf and still is. Not for loss of interest but I was pre-occupied with other games, mainly Tomb Raider at the time I think. So as someone who has read how much more stronger the story and characters were in Borderlands 2 and the connections of that games villain to Tales From The Borderlands, is it understandable? Can you play it if your in similar situation to me? You sure can, because I did and although I undeniably must have missed some in-jokes or references I still had a blast.

If you've played any of the Borderlands you know it's all about shooting, looting, oh and shooting. But forget that. Telltale sticks to what they do best and don't try to integrate to much new into their formula. However the two leads- Rhys and Fiona- are fantastic and could end up being up there with Clementine as some of Telltales best characters.

Episode One: Zer0 opens with one of the leads Rhys in a bit of a predicament and he begins retelling the events of what could be a 24 hour period to a week or more. Rhys works at Hyperion which is a big bad company of some sort, apparently. Well according to anyone actually on the planet Pandora it is anyway. If I had played Borderlands 2 I'm sure this all would have made more sense but as it is, the concept of an evil corporation that the little guys despise isn't that had of a concept to get your head around.

The best thing with Rhys and eventually Fiona is that you really get to mold them in a way you feel fit. Straight up a-hole, sure. More of a clumsy idiot, sure that could be your Rhys. You can be either or somewhere in the middle if you like.

Once Tales From The Borderlands gets into gear it really doesn't stop. It's the fast paced crazy Pandora you all know and remember with crazy and colourful characters. I know I wouldn't want to meet some of these guys in a dark alley and Rhys arrival on Pandora is met with you needing to find directions, to which I was willing to try anything but talking to anyone (unfortunately you kinda have to.)

Later in the episode you get control of Fiona but I won't say under what circumstances for fear of ruining a cool story ploy.

Where Rhys has the ability to scan objects in the environment which can lead to some hilarity, Fiona has money. She can collect money in some places and spend it at certain opportunity's. None of it made much sense to me however. There was a chance to bribe someone shortly after gaining control of Fiona but I didn't have anywhere near the cash needed to pull it off. I'm not sure how/if I could have missed money and later in the game you also get to purchase one of three masks, it's not much of an incentive to search out for any money. None of this matter much though because I also had my cash glitch out and I lost a few dollars moving from one scene to another.

I legitimately laughed out loud at least a few times in this 2-3 hour non-stop spectacular start to this new series from Telltale. Grab your season pass folks this is kicking of to be one hell of a ride.

+ Great Characters

+ 100% Crazy/Stupid Borderlands Moments

+ Legitimately Funny

- Cash Control

Overall: 8.5

Game of Thrones Episode One: Iron From Ice Review (PS4)

2014-12-10T16:07:00.001+11:00

For some an adventure game or a point and click style game with a cartoonish art style might sound horrible, especially for a Game of Thrones game. How could those elements hope to put forth the doom and gloom style of HBO's Game of Thrones? Let alone tell a story as nail-biting. If your asking any of those questions you haven't played a Telltale game before or specifically their Walking Dead series. Because they without a doubt they nail Game of Thrones.

First thing that should be noted however is that you cannot be dipping your fingers into the GoT universe here. The episode opens at a major plot point in the shows third season and you'll be spoiling that for yourself and wont understand much either. So go catch up on GoT before even thinking about starting this episode.

Iron from Ice starts great with you in control of Garrud Tuttle, squire to Lord Forrester who are celebrating at the Red Wedding and we all know how well that wedding goes. After the events of that horrible evening unfold the HBO shows opening credits sequence and theme kick in and it's just like your playing an episode of the show, which you are, but are also soon to learn those hard decisions characters in the show make are a lot harder when your making them.

If you have played any of Telltales recent series you will be familiar with all the gameplay elements you'll encounter. Conversations tick down until you make a decision, combat or action will have you swinging the analog stick in the right direction and slamming X a bunch or times; or at its most complex a combination of the above. It's basic stuff but these games shine with the story telling and characters not so much ground breaking gameplay.

Unlike the last few episodes of the Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us you don't get much chance to do any walking around any areas. Your confided to two small places and spend the rest of the episode locked in conversation with people or in some sort of action sequence. Which is fine because this is where it is the most exciting.

You will play as two other characters in Iron from Ice and will switch from one to another throughout much like and episode of the show or as in the books. Ethan Forrester is the most interesting of all three with his struggles to take up duty of ruling the Forrester seat of Ironrath while his father is not there. His siter Mira Forrester is a handmaiden to Margarey Tyrell in Kings Landing which leads to seeing some familiar characters from the show. Although she does play a part in the episode i found her story to be the weakest of the three even with the appearances of the TV counterparts.

Voice acting is top notch across the board from new the new characters to the TV ones that fans know. Ethan's stuff of political and tactical converse is particularly well delivered by all involved.

Iron from Ice is a great prologue episode that does a lot of setting up and pointing characters in certain directions, which would explain this being a six episode series not Telltales normal five.

I played Iron from Ice on PS4 and the thing thing I noticed as someone who had played all of Telltales last gen titles on PS3 was the improvements on the new hardware. No more freezing, hanging, FPS drops or random bugs. Although I still had some animation issues like a character walking through a fireplace and not the door next to it. This is apparently an issue across the board on all platforms though and doesn't do much to hinder your experience of this great first episode.

+ Great Start

+ Performances

+ Gets GoT Feel

- Animation Issues

7.5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One Review

2014-12-06T16:07:00.000+11:00

The Hunger Games gets the split finale treatment with Mockingjay Part One. Francis Lawrence returns to Direct following the success of Catching Fire; picking up more or less where Catching Fire ended, with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) having been saved from the games and now in District 13.

Katniss is soon introduced to the President of the District Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and asked to be the rebellions Mockingjay, a symbol to inspire others. She politely refuses unless Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is rescued as he wasn't from the games. After this set up of events however the plot moves atrociously slow.

Putting it out there now, I did have a peek at my to check the phone at one point because I was getting so bored- and- I have

read the books; the source material isn't at fault here. It was a combination between a terribly stretched out script and the fact that someone, presumably the studio, decided to split Mockingjay from one movie into it's two parts. Mockingjay Part One simply isn't a full movie, it's a stretched thin first half of what should have been one movie and as such reviewing it as a full feature does seem stupid.

Mockingjay injects some book changes which come for the good and the bad. The addition of Eddie (Elizabeth Banks) in District 13 was an obvious but smart deviation from the source material. Banks as Effie is simply to good and she wasn't just put in the District; screenwriters Danny Strong and Peter Craig managed to give her an actual job in the plot. Unfortunately however departing from the books first person perspective of Katniss takes away from the mystery of a lot of the Capitols and other Districts events. Where the previous two films had departed from the Katniss FOV also to show President Snow (Donald Sutherland) which had added to the plot in a positive way, showing what's happening outside of District 13 ruined the mystery and tension I remember having when reading the book. Not knowing what was happening outside of 13 but knowing to well that the other Districts are at war with the Capitol was thrilling. Was 13 going to get bombed out of know where? Are tanks going to roll up on the front door? Are the others Districts even still standing? We know a lot of those questions watching Mockingjay. It's an Achilles heel because showing the other Districts does make for some more cinematic scenes.

The returning cast of The Hunger Games are OK. They pull mostly all the same notes and Lawrence does go a bit far into the screamy-crying pit at some points. Hutcherson and Banks are at there best. Liam Hemsworth as Gale sees his most screen time so far in the series but at this point in the story it's just so apparent that Katniss is simply in love with Peeta that the love triangle seems unnecessary and boring. PSA Girls and Guys: Leading someone on to think they might have a chance with you isn't okay.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was nothing short of a huge disappointment to me. I didn't expect movie of the year but I didn't expect to get 3 quarters of drawn out material where not a single charachter even goes from point A to B in anything that could be considered a narrative. It's not all bad and there is some standout scenes but when it is bad it's boring.

+ Hanging Tree/ Book moments fans wanted + Effie is there

- Boring - 3/4 Drawn out Material

- Loses Books Mystery - You have to watch this to get to Part 2

5.0

Destiny Review (PS4)

2014-10-07T12:12:00.001+11:00

From the creators of Halo comes Destiny! That alone screams hype and sets expectations high for Bungies new IP and non-Xbox exclusive, Destiny.

Destiny, admittedly I could never work my head around on paper. The premise of an always online shooter that isn't quite a MMO doesn't translate well to preview articles or P.R pieces, not for me anyway. Not until I put a couple hours into the Destiny Alpha. At some point after I had shot down loads of Aliens, geared up, taken down a giant purple eyeball and wandered around shadowing other players for giggles did I understand Destiny. I stopped playing, didn't touch the Beta and put my pre-order cash down. Now just over a hundred hours into the final product I feel like I have enough experience to review this huge game.

As someone to have never touched a Halo game I didn't come into Destiny expecting a grand story as some have, I did however expect a story. Be prepared for little of that though. Somewhere between words like --- The Traveler! --- The Darkness! --- Guardian! --- Lies a story about good vs evil and what it really all boils down to is just, shoot stuff. Which I'm okay with. I never payed any attention to Diablo's story either. The disappointment hits when the premise, world and inhabitants seem so interesting, but alas there is no material to back any of it up. If you want to get into to the minutia of Desinty's lore be prepared to hit up Bungies website and read the back of Grimoire cards which you unlock playing. That's right be prepared to go elsewhere, not in your game.

Visually Destiny is beautiful. If you wasn't playing it week of release I'm sure your social media outlet of choice was spammed with screen shots of the game. Each of the three planets and the moon vary enough to not feel like your re-treading same ground. Each also showcase stunning scenery and beautiful sky/space backdrops to slow pan around.

Destiny shines at its gameplay and specifically its shooting mechanics. Gun play wise it is near perfect as you can get. Weapon types varry enough to warrant experimentation and with certain weapons infused with elemental damage, switching around is a must to take down certain enemy shields.

Making your way through all the apparent story missions might put you around level sixteen or seventeen. Destiny begins to hit its stride when you hit level twenty and make your way into the PVP area The Crucible and star hitting up strikes and raids.

Hitting the technical level cap of twenty you can begin to work on your light level. This will allow you to go above and work towards the real level cap of thirty, but only by acquiring better legendary and exotic gear. Getting legendary and higher gear comes from engrams which then need to be decrypted by a merchant in the HUB esq world called The Tower. Pre patch 1:02 this was a grueling affair. The excitement of finding a legendary engram would almost certainly lead to despair when it decrypted into a rare or uncommon item. Fortunately Bungie changed this and legendary will always be legendary now, why the system wasn't like this to begin with or changed faster out the gate from players back-lash I don't understand.
The hunt for better gear and parts to upgrade your gear is the bread and butter of Destiny. Embark on a high level strike (a three man mission with a boss at the end) or have a go at a daily heroic story mission (added difficulty and modifiers) which offers good rewards for completion. Be prepared to put up with repetitive and non-inspired mission structure however. The majority of which simply involve pressing a button to make your ghost start working on a door or something alike and then shooting anything that comes in the room. Making your way to the final boss where he will soak up and take a million bullets to hit and with no real strategies to make the battle easier or faster they become tiresome.

Other materials for upgrading your items can be found randomly in chests and spread out in planets areas. Farming these materials is the most MMO like aspect of Destiny. I suggest putting something else on to watch or listening to something while farming materials, it's not exactly fun.

I mentioned I'm one-hundred hours into Destiny. The thing is, I doubt I would have out close to that into it without playing with friends. Aside from visual emotions of pointing, waving and dancing you won't be able to communicate with random players. The ravaged world out there is a lot lonelier by yourself, trust me and grab a friend or two.

PVP in Destiny tries to handle the fact that some players will have advantages of gear and level by evening the stats across the board. Weapons special skills still stay however so even though your Shotgun might do as much damage as the enemies his has full auto and guess who wins that fight? These little factors can be annoying but that don't completely unbalance PVP. The Crucible is a lot of fun. The majority of the maps are well designed and fun. You have standard death match affairs but I spent the majority of my time playing control. A capture the points and kill stuff in between game and it's simple but fun.

Bungie put together a cast of great actors for Destiny unfortunately that money was down the drain. Your ghost, a small robotic sidekick that revives you at the start of your adventure is a voiced by Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) a fantastic actor. Here he sounds bored or I'd like to believe was simply badly Directed. Bill Nighy (Underworld) voices The Speaker, who speaks for the giant orb thing called the Traveler --- or something like that --- who spends most of his time telling you that he could be telling you, that he could be telling you some plot detail, but he isn't. Destiny literally cock blocks itself from it's own plot in some play to appear mysterious.

Destiny has one Raid available. At one-hundred hours I haven't played it. It is apparently a really length mission that requires lots of teamwork and it supposed to be pretty darn hard. I'd love to play that! Unfortunately Bungie made the decision that it was to hard for non pre-organised groups of players and didn't include match making. To play it you will need A) high level players B) all be available at the same time for a long amount of time and then --- attempt the raid. It's really annoying that I have friends all playing Destiny and are high level but can we all organize around work and such to play at the same time? Nope.

The world of Destiny is beautifully unfulfilled with friends and enemies designed better than their history and story deserves. Shooting mechanics and gear are varied, fun and satisfying. Fortunately shinning moons and shiny loot drops won't help outshine Desiny's biggest issues. But be damned if Destiny simply isn't a lot of fun and even funner with friends. With the work and feedback Bungie has taken so far I can see Destiny becoming only better over time, akin to the MMO's it has taken elements from. At the time being it is an okay shooter though and requires acceptance of all it's issues to get enjoyment out of. Get to that fun however and Destiny can be rather addicting.

+ Art/Soundrack

+ Crucible

+ Co-op Fun

- Story Paper Thin

- Mission Structure

- Bosses and Sponges

7.0

E3 2014: Nintendo Digital Event

2014-06-11T03:25:00.000+10:00

This is the year, this is the year Nintendo made me want to get a Wii U.

Opening with some Smash Bros as expected but with a twist. Announced are 'ambio' little skylander type figures featuring Nintendo champs that you can use to bring characters into the game by dropping the figure onto the game-pad. The 3DS version got some footage but its so hard to look at after seeing the big daddy version, it just looks so flat in comparison.

Nintendo uses creepy Luigi.

Yoshi's Wool World is a huge smile bringer, it is brimming with cuteness and brought a huge smile to my face. This is what I like to see Nintendo do.

Captain Toads's Treasure Hunt is a game and could be cool I suppose. Can't say a have any kind of big affliction for that character...

New Zelda is here ladies and gents and it's what I've spend countless years of my life asking for. Huge open gorgeous world. Not much else was shown, no real gameplay but I'm sold easy.

New Pokemon remakes of Sapphire and Ruby get a trailer and it's cool to see one of my most played Pokemon games getting the up-ressing up-grading treatment finally.

Bayonetta 2 gets a bat-shit crazy trailer with a follow up announcement that the original is coming with the release of 2 along with some Nintendo skins for you to use in game. Looks awesome and everything I want from this game. Still not sold on the new haircut though.

I'm still not sold on Hyrule Warriors either. It looks cool and the gameplay looks fun but I've never been into Dynasty Warriors and a Zelda skin slap on that franchise isn't enough for me.

Kirby and The Rainbow Curse has a really different art style and looks interesting.

Xenoblade Chronicles X has a really cool trailer even for someone like me, who has never played a single game in the franchise.

Mario Maker? Make custom levels. Why hasn't this been a thing for a while now? It's such a simple idea but could be so cool if you can share and download other players courses. This should be a feature spanning over all Mario games from now til the end of time, like LBP.

Splatoon? Nintendo seriously just spend a good chunk of time talking about a fully online shooter game? Hey it looks cool though. Transform from a human to squid and the implementation of using your ink to slow down opponents or speed up your team. The art is strong and could be a lot of fun with your friends.

And Nintendo ends on Palutena joining Smash Bros. I was kinda hoping for a Metroid announcement with the whole 'oh one last thing' from Regi but oh well... Kid Icarus (thumbs up.)

Nintendo had a strong showing an I'm on board guys I want a Wii U now.

E3 2014: Sony Conference

2014-06-10T14:45:00.002+10:00

Sony basically dropped the mic last year and whether they could do the same this year or even try was a question on my mind all week. To answer; I guess they tried.

Opening with some more Destiny footage is cool and all but do we honestly need to start the show with an announcement for a Beta, to start the show?

White PS4 looks sexy, nuff said.

The Order: 1886 gets an eerie trailer showing of some kinda of monster and the protagonist getting thrown around. Still seems like every time I see this game it's emitting a different feel, or have they simply changed it up since its reveal last year?

Entwine a game available now that I had never hear of. Use both thumb sticks to control two dragons and move them in the right paths or something. Could be fun to play and I'll check it out, but didn't make for a great trailer.

Infamous: Second Son is not getting the Vita game I wanted but we get a stand alone DLC which is cool to, i guess. Infamous: First Light play as kit, the girl from the game. Presumably this will take place before the main campaign which could be cool. I mean its more Infamous.

LittleBigPlanet 3 is a thing, kinda of expect, but a thing. It's feature a more robust co-op mode with 3 new characters not all sack-boys.It looks like LBP, it is LBP but prettier.

From Software brings a gory trailer for there new dark as expect titled Bloodborne.

Far Cry 4 gets some actual gamplay showed of and it's amazing. Jumping along rooftops putting bombs on explosives kicking them down and blowing bad guys up, shooting dudes with bows and guns. Then jump into a car and jump out of said car into a truck and kill the dudes in it, only to crash of the cliff and glide with your suit down below, down below featuring lots of elephants. Co-op is integrated meaning your friends can jump in and out of your game to help you out.

Deep Silver has Dead Island 2 coming and it looks like a zombie game, woo.

Clickers from 'The Last of Us' have somehow made there way into Diablo 3 on PS4.

That Disney figurine game you see on K-marts shelves. Yeah, Sony has exclusive Marvel characters for that!

More exclusive stuff for Destiny got mentioned, woo.

Magika 2 is a thing.

Explosions and tears kids as Grim Fandango is getting re-masted/updated.

Indie Reel shows some interesting and odd stuff, but Hotline Miami 2 was in there so winning.

Grasshopper Manufacturer's next game is a PS4 exclusive and it looked like torture porn the game but I really couldnt figure out what was happening. Expected this is Suda 51.

Abzu is a game. Looks like something you need to play to know what it is, trailer no justice.

No Man's Sky finally made an appearance and answers the question of who got to it after the VGX reveal last year. Still looks awesome and way to cool for a small studio to be pulling of realistically.

Sony talks about boring online numbers but follow up with announcing Youtube is coming (finally) to PS4 so you can upload your gameclips straight to there.

25 Free to Play games are apparently making there way to the Sony eco-system in the next 12 months, among theme Planetside 2.

PS Now still sounds cool for people who are getting it and have decent internet connections in there countries. I might sit here and doodle around with my thumbs some more every time it is mentioned.

Follow that up with an announcement of PS TV coming to everywhere but my life and yawn, jealous, boo.

Mortal Kombat X gets it's first gameplay and its gorgeous and gory and the environments seem really cool. Oh and the fatalities are just worse.

Sony spend way to long talking about there TV program which may sound cool with the promise of shows that 'gamers will like' and the announcement that the comic Powers is coming with 2 seasons. Unfortunately this segment went for so like that my note for the time is 'give me games... fuck.'

A re-mastered original Ratchet & Clank is coming along with the movie, which look pretty cool.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Hey, cool trailer but what the hell was even happening?

My prediction upon GTA 5's release comes true as it is coming to PS4 and hey you can move your online profile from either PS3 or the X360 over.

Batman looks amazing. The draw distance is glorious and the Batmobile is bad ass as apparently Batman gives no shits about blowing up a few things to save the city. Everything flows faster, no crawling through that and no slowing crawling down that ladder.

Somehow Uncharted 4 got a trailer even with all the weird firing, leaving and hiring that has been happening over at Naughty Dog the last couple months. Drake looks way different, graphics are a thing.

Sony didn't follow up after last years great show with a better one or even a similar one. They had heaps of great things to show unfortunately the length of some things simple made it slow down and lose pace.

E3 2014: Ubisoft Coneference

2014-06-10T13:37:00.000+10:00

Ubisoft always seem to have the most awkward conferences, although this year luckily we had no Mr Caffeine. Aisha Tyler hosts again and I really like her, so to bad if you don't.

Opening with Far Cry 4 is a bang, the new bad guy voiced my my man crush Troy Baker seems totally bonkers. Taking a selfie after stabbing a guy 10 times in the chest? Sure. He has style, he has anger, he seems sadistic but man if i don't want to know more about him.

Question. Do people still really play Just Dance on a regular basis, not just a simple once a year on drunken night? Apparently. People dancing with a phones using a mobile app for the game to lady gaga and then some terrible acting from the dancers. Moving on.

Somehow it was a good decision to go from awkward Just Dance to a horribly depressing trailer for The Division, good trailer, sad face though.

I like car games, i don't mind some sim car action but more arcade stuff like Need For Speed or Burnout suit my need. The Crew seems like a mix of all that and the trailer they showed has me really interested. Watching a car just drive around America with the music used was oddly mesmerizing. Hopefully I can just sit back relax and take a drive around America roads, the game sounds truly to good to be true but if it pays of I'm down.

Some more Assassins Creed: Unity and once again my first reaction is look at all these name NPC's on the screen. Truly the series looks to be able to achieve what they have wanted to go for since the original. Walking around and discovering side missions naturally is a good idea and the combat seems to be fluent.

Obligatory fitness game, but hey at least if you want to use one of these fitness games on kinect this one looks fun at least.

Valiant Hearts is a WW1 stylized stunning game based on real letter from the war. Looks interesting if not for the fact that there was dog in the trailer and if he dies in the game, me be mad.

Ubisoft ended on a bomb with Rainbow 6: Siege and for Alpha footage it looks amazing. This is the kind of co-operative game I want to play with friends. Taking down hostage takers in a house with pure planning and the destruction environments make this harder than simple sitting beside a door and picking of the bad guys.

Ubisoft had a good showing this year with a lot of killer looking games and even with the awkward non-interesting ones we we're onto the next thing fast.

E3 2014: EA Conference

2014-06-10T06:43:00.001+10:00

EA can always be a bumer to sit through for me. I'm not a big sports games guy and that is a big part of EA's deal. EA did offer enough teases and trailers to push me through though.

Opening with one of my most anticipated games, Star Wars Battlefront and it was amazing if only seeing pre/Alpha footage, still looking amazing though. The amount of detail they saw there going for give high, high hopes.

Dragon Age made another appearance this time with an on-stage violin player which was cool but having not played them if the music was supposed to invoke a mood on me, didn't work.

Mass Effect made a small but still awesome appearance even with little details. More Mass Effect more planets more details and stories, everything I love. I looked at the Shepard poster on my wall and gave a slight nod.

Bioware also announced they are working on a new IP which is great, little to no details but how can you go wrong with Bioware? Take my money I'll pre-order it now. I have this much faith guys.

The loudest girls squeals from the audience in my ear followed a Sims 4 logo. I don't care for Sims and never have but they have added personality to sims now. Forgive me if I'm wrong but Sims with personality defeats the purpose no?

As I said me and sports game a no-no but Bruce Lee is in UFC and I kinda want to play just that even if the demo was weird as per usual with all these sports ones.

Another take my money now was a really early look at Criterions next game which features crazies to the next level, as is to be expected from these guys now. Parachute onto an ATV and fly onto a boat with Choppers chasing you. Game sounds and looks crazy and will be awesome guaranteed.

Weirdest thing was defiantly the golf trailer. It's using Frostbite Engine 3 and is extreme GOLF! Battleship crashing into the course is cool for the 'extreme fantasy' courses but give me a whole game like that and i'd be 100% onboad. No load times between holes is just a thing.

Madden & FIFA Yawns...

Dawngate is an MOBA was promise but the focus on story could be a good or bad thing. League has a story but no one really cares to the point character's lore was remove from the in game screen. Gameplay is all MOBA is about.

Mirrors Edge 2 got a showing, not much new stuff. Look like ME and I like that but for all the people that hated or didn't go much on the original not much to pull them in. Also, still to white.

Then EA blew me up as a Battlefield fan, Hardline looks amazing. It's battlefield that you know and love but with the simple Cops VS Robbers set-up that is taken to the extreme levels of Battlefield. This isn't Pay Day. This is still craziness that you'd expect from Battlefield. Then to make PS4's everywhere blow up and the Hardline website they announced the beta was going up right now for Battlefield 4 owners on PS4 and you can sign up online for PC. I've been trying any way for over half an hour of writing this and the site and PS4 will not work.

I liked EA's approach they showed a lot of stuff they normally wouldnt have, lots of alpha stuff but take it or leave it. People would complain if no Star Wars or Mass Effect was mentioned and they will probably still complain with what they got. I also appreciated the non-celebrity approach to the conference. We had developers talking not random as paid awkward people on stage and it paid of.

Back to trying for this Battlefield: Hardline Beta before the Ubi conference.

E3 2014: Microsoft Conference

2014-06-10T04:40:00.001+10:00

It's well known that Microsoft didn't exactly have a great show last year, but it's safe to say this year they were miles ahead of last year with there 2014 conference.

Opening predictably with the latest COD 'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,' with the unfortunate no show of Kevin Spacey. As a well open non-fan of the COD franchise as it is i can say that this new one looks interesting, at least different. A lot of what was shown seems to be taking elements from other FPS franchises but to good effect.

I don't own a X1 but damn if i did Forza Horizons 2 would be on my... horizons. The game looks and sounds beautiful.

Evolve made a quick trailer appearance but once again, like its release trailer it automatically garnered 100% attention. It is simply one of the most interesting looking games coming this year.

The new Assassins Creed made a show which I didn't expect. And just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Although the French Revolution setting for AC: Unity sounded cool in premise seeing the game finally has me sold. This is defiantly a next-gen AC, the amount of NPC's on screen at one time was simply crazy and the blood splatter effects was disquieting brilliance. The selling point of 4 player co-op, 'a real brotherhood' is awesome. The set-up and pay of looks like amazing havoc to be had with friends, plus interior-exterior is a thing now.

Once again a Dragon Age: Inquisition trailer prods me to be picking up and playing this series finally.

Most entertaining, smile making trailer award goes to Insomniacs Sunset Overdrive without a doubt. The character is a smart-ass and the art is bright, Insomniac back more like there Ratchet days. The gameplay looks interesting and fun, maybe a little to arcadey if anything and I wasn't quite sure how the campaign would be working out.

Dead Rising 3 is getting some arcade DLC which is apparently a thing, trailer was funny though.

Fable: Legends got some gameplay on stage and it looks oddly interesting, is this not just DnD the videogame? 4 players teaming up, one player controlling monsters and traps. Interesting and defiantly preety.

Project Spark is create your own games LBP style but CONKER showed up at the end GG.

A gorgeous game braced my screen and was revealed to be Ori and the blind forrest and I'm sold for it's art style alone.

'I love you' says a man in the audience for The Master Chief Saga announcement. Deserved as it is the best re-mastered set up ever. 4 games on one disc Halo 2 multi-player all as it was with 100 maps over the entire disc oh and you can playlist your favorite stuff into a mode?

Playdeads new game looks eerie and gave me the goosebumps. It's dark and everything you would expect from the Limbo guys.

X1 has an indie real and some people still scream 'show real games on twitter.'

Completely didn't expect anything this year but the next Tomb Raider titled, 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' got a very teaser trailer with nothing but confirmation of the game coming, still cool.

Witcher 3 shows up and blows everything out of the water. Can we all not just agree this is the best looking game coming out? Just watch that gameplay over and over. Best Griffin in a game ever?

Phantom Dust is a game apparently, I'm sorry I didn't have an Xbox.

Division shows up and the demo is same, same as we have seen before but still it looks amazing. Still not 100% sure on what kind of game this is. MMO? RPG? Third Person Shooter? All of the above? Don't care I'm sold.

PlatinumGames has a new IP with ScaleBound and it has huge monsters. No gameplay shown so cannot be sure, but it's PG so I want to play it please.

Lastly a Crackdown reboot/re-master is coming and although no gameplay the trailer was really cool. Co-op entire game and looks heaps of fun.

Microsoft had a really strong showing, it was simply all games,games,games this year and was beautiful. Looking forward to Sony's showing after how well this was.

True Detective: Season One Review (2014) (No Spoilers)

2014-03-23T10:50:00.001+11:00

Another cop show on TV? Oooo-Ahhhh. Fortuantly for any doubters, this isn't a CSI, NCIS, Law & Order attempt of charades on a weekly basis. True Detective is an eight episode series that is amazing from start to finish.

Detective Rust Cohle (Mathew McConaughey) and Detective Marty Hard (Woody Harrelson) open the series investigating a dead woman's body wrangled with antlers - in the middle of no where - next to a tree. It's a confronting opening but will hopefully prepare you for that is to come. For you are watching HBO programming and that means - they can do whatever the hell they want.

You soon learn that this is the past and in the future/present both Rust and Marty are being questioned (on there own behalf) about, well everything. True Detective switches between past and present through-out the series and each side developing it's own plot at a nice past for an eventual meeting point.

True Detectives story and pacing was questioned by a lot of people online within the first couple episodes. I was on board from the beginning, but some likened to argue nothing happens. Truth be told, if you don't like lots of talking in your on-screen viewing than this isn't going to be the show for you. If you however like a great script, acting, camera work or anything that resembles fantastic and brilliant television than yeah, True Detective is all of that and much more.

True Detectives opener 'The Long Bright Dark' sets up the award very different partnership of Rust and Marty. McConaughey continuing to surprise with his somewhat 180 of his career. He is absolute memorizing and brilliant. The what could be considered over the top monologues soon become part of his character and believable not the writer and actor trying to be clever. Harrelson is also brilliant and the two really carry this show into a next level with there chemistry.

Although the male cast are all great, True Detective struggles with it's female characters. Marty's Wife, Maggie (Michelle Monaghan) falls into at least a few 'Cop Wife' tropes and she is the leading lady of the show It just would have been nice for the only Woman on the show not being basically a hooker or stripper to show some character and be enjoyable not annoying and predictable.

Episode Four 'Who Goes There" is the most action like episode of the entire show and they pull no punches with it. For a show that features barley any action, when they do go to do an action like sequence, it's amazing and proves to be one of the best episodes of TV in recent memory. No Spoilers, but the last six minutes is draw dropping .

True Detective has already started to spawn fandom online and I'm there, it's a show that probably wasn't made for it but is full of features for people to cling to easily. It's gif-able, quotable and t-shirt design-able.

The unfortunate matter is that once you have watched 'Form and Void' the series finale, there will be no more Rust and Marty. True Detective is to be an anthology show like American Horror Story, where each new year they are new characters and new stories.

I seriously doubt anything else on TV in 2014 or maybe even in cinemas will top the fantastic script and characters, cinematography, acting and direction of True Detective - I implore you to watch this dark and brilliant show.

+ 'Who Goes There'

+ McConaughey and Harrelson

+ Perfect Finale

- Female Characters

Overall: 9.5

(The Last of Us) Left Behind (DLC, PS3) Review

2014-02-18T14:54:00.000+11:00

(Note: Left Behind recommends having had completed the campaign of The Last of Us before starting Left Behind, as such, assume the same here.)

Just a quick note. It took Naughty Dog - the developers - until the PS3 was nearly dead, and on gamer's shelves, to publish a single player DLC for one of there games. This speaks to how special Left Behind is. It is not a last minute cash grab or a Capcom like locking out of content on the disc. This is a story that came to light after finishing the main title and talking and deciding, this is a story worth telling.

Playing as Ellie pre-Joel does feel a little bit different than Ellie in the actual campaign. Ellie seems to have a bit more jump to her walk and seemingly more joy. Sure, the world she lives in still sucks, but having been bought up in this what day really turns bad? Every is just another depraved mess.

Ellie is lying in bed when she hears a quiet but crunchy howling, hissing, or an applicable noise for what one living in an apocalyptic world would take to be for an infected. But hey, it's this girl Riley.

Riley was mentioned in the main campaign and is featured in the comic story 'American Dreams' along with Ellie. Riley is the firefly to ignite the life into Ellie. Ellie is as a lot of people describe today an 'emo kid,' but you really can't question it, living in the apocalypse and all that. So to the Ellie yin there is the Riley yang, the fun one; Riley barley seems down and is a rather optimistic soul. Riley as Ellie is very mature for her age, though I have come to take this as an affect of growing up in this world.

Now wanting to spoil a miniscule detail of the story - I wont. It is sweet, sad, funny and provoking. It's everything I could have hoped for in an expansion for one of the best stories in games ever. At $15, Left Behind does seem on the pricey side though and for just a couple hours of gameplay. However, it is worth every dollar.

Left Behind features the same combat as the main campaign. You can combine stuff to make bombs and health packs and once again it is all in real time. Ellie is however a lot weaker than Joel. In comparison Joel feels like something of a tank, he tackles enemy's head on and is able to handle several at the same time. Ellie has a small pocket knife at her disposal and even with that it will take several hard stabs and swipes to take down a single infected. Your best bet is to sneak as much as possible and be stealthy.

A new feature to the combat now is the ability to pit infected against human. You can throw a brick or a bottle and lead the two into an engagement that in the end is beneficial for you and makes escaping sticky scenarios a frantic mess. If ever Naughty Dog was to decide to port The Last of Us to PS4 - ala Tomb Raider - I would hope for this feature to be integrated, especially precedent over brand new hair textures.

So, the combat is great, the story is amazing, whats wrong with Left Behind? Oddly it's the combat and it's in a spoilt rich kid kind of fashion. The combat simply didn't feel necessary at all here. Exploration and conversation and the general experience this story gives was just so grand that when presented with, yes, a well executed combat scenario it was off-putting. The argument obviously is that if where not doing any sort of combat where is the 'game?' But I'm the guy that said 'Gone Home' was his second favorite game of 2013 and as such obviously, I am all for explorative only focused gameplay.

Left Behind is a powerful story and serves to remind why Naughty Dog is one of the best studios around. I truly hope they decide it is worth telling more stories in this world and follow up with a sequel. Especially if this serves as an experimentative piece of content to judge how it's received. It's great guys!

+ Emotional Story

+ Characterization

+ Exploring The World

- Combat is Dismissive

Overall: 9.5

Robocop (2014) Review

2014-02-13T11:44:00.001+11:00

In 1987 Robocop was released and it featured ultra violence and a satire on America. I watched it for the first time over ten years after its initial release. Robocop would have been one of my first R18+ movies I had watched. That's my attachment to it. One of my first ever adventures into a ultra-violent film was the original, Robocop. As such my love for the original isn't that of some mega fans whom have been riding the 'it was so ahead of its time' train. None the less however, the announcement of the toned down violence for a PG rating in the states did sound like a bad idea, especially given that was violence was what Robocop was recognized for.

Jose Padilha's re-visioning sticks close to the story of the original. Detective Alex Murphy, (Joel Kinnaman) a good cop with a family ends up blown up one night with thanks to a bomb. The Doctors say the chance of survival is minimal but fortunately it just so happens Raymond Sellars, (Michael Keaton) wants a Cop in a robo-suit. Sellars wants to garner his reputation within the American public to help tear down a bill stopping his products being put on American soil. Budda-bing! Budda-Boom! Robocop!

Upfront I can say that if your looking for a great action movie, Robocop isn't that. None of the action scenes are anything impressive or visually fun. The toned down violence approach also hinders the film: Did Robocop just shoot-shoot that guy or just taser him? The decipherable difference becomes annoying and you will be asking yourself the above question every shoot-out.

Having said all that however, where Robocop fails at any attempt to live up to the prolific violence and heavy packed action of the original, it expands for the better on the satirical elements.

Opening with Samuel L. Jackson's, Pat Novak, and his show 'The Novak Effect' you get a feel for a very bias program that is presumably some kind of weekly or nightly, political chat show. In the opening moment of Robocop you learn of the opposing force to Sellars, Senator Hubert Dreyfus (Zach Grenier) who is almost single handily denying Sellars from being able to place robots onto American ground. Pat Novak is the kind of host who is good - really good - at swaying a point of view to his or the beliefs he is being paid to believe in. Here it is that the Senator is a very bad man, a man who hates American because he is allowing American lives to die while not allowing Sellars and Omnicorp to put robots on the streets. Jackson does a fantastic job with the presenter personality, even making me question my own views on the subject, if I was presented with it. The question that rings through, through all else: Should robots be allowed to pull the trigger and take human live?

Alex Murphy is a family man, he has a Wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and a Son David (John Paul Rutton.) And attempting to tackles the effects of Alex's new body and how life would go on now were admirable efforts by the filmmakers, the stuff with Son David is good. Though Abbie Cornish's one note, dull performance does hinder the family stuff from ever truly being accessible to the audience.

Apparently desperate to incorporate any attempt at comedy into the film; re-visited lines from the original come of weird and out of place. Jay Baruchel is in for the one comedy guy in a action movie role, with one-liners and a smart-ass attitude to boot. He is excruciatingly annoying and seemingly out of place like the rest of the comedic attempts. Fortunately his marketing character for Omnicop doesn't see a lot of screen time.

Deserving more time on the screen (especially given a lot of wasted scenes with un-needed characters) is Dr. Dennet Norton (Gary Oldman) and any of his scenes with Alex. Dr Norton is sweet and soft with his patients and Alex butt he has a sense of yearning for more in research; his relationship with Sellars a benefit and a peril on his morality.

Morality - right vs wrong - and human nature are the greatest aspects of Robocop. Along with the propaganda speech of Novak there are a lot of under-lining and over-lining themes and messages. Groups entering the theatre together willl surley have a lot to squabble over between each other if they don't simple complain about it being another Hollywood re-make, after paying to watch it.

Robocop is a non-violent remake of a prolifically violent film, this leads to dull action and a questionable shoot-outs. Attempts to expand the psychology, family and political elements make for the more interesting parts. A solid cast leads Robocop in what would have been better suited as a Thriller, not an action attempt. Still Robocop is a decent re-make if your expectations aren't to the level of action or violence of the original.

+ Themes & Satire

+ Pat Novak

- The Action is Dull

- No Violence Hinder Understandably

Overall: 7.0

Broken Age: Act One Review (PC) (2014)

2014-02-12T12:10:00.000+11:00

Double Fine's Broken Age was the first to allude to me the wondrous internet project proposition funding site, known as KickStarter. In 2012 it became the largest crowd-funded video game of all time. Double Fine asked for $400,000 to make a proper point-click adventure game. Fans second the notion of Double Fine head honcho Tim Schafer behind the reigns of a genre he is known for and as such, Double Fine received $3.45 Million. Broken Age: Act One is the first half of the project and was well worth every dollar.

When you choose to start the game as either Vella; leaning up against an Oak asleep. Or as Shay, asleep in his space bunker. You will straight away notice how aesthetically please Broken Age is; the art is stunning to say the least. So stunning, like a cartoon I wish I had as a kid that when my Girlfriend walked in to me playing it, it wasn't until I moved the mouse to clock on something she proclaimed; "Oh you're playing a game."

Vella and Shay are really different from a glance but they are much like kindred spirits, there both struggling for the same thing and that's change.

Vella cannot understand why it is simple nature that The Maidens Feast takes place. A feast for a giant beast known as Mog Chothra. Girls from villages all around are dressed up and are supposed to be honored to be sacrificed to the beast, but not Vella. Vella postulates to simple fight back. Why would everyone cheer on and simple allow this monstrous act?

Shay has no monsters to worry about - or to fight - as he spends his days carrying out fake missions aboard his space ship. Nothing is exciting and everything is repetitious and tedious in repetitive nature. Governed by the ships A.I known as Mum, not a single sharp object would be left out, nothing to hurt her little Shay. But why is he secluded to this place? Where he cannot leave and lives without friends.

Charming but with a lot of dark undertones (which I wasn't expecting.) Broken Age manages to mix together a story of two people that is just brilliant writing and full of wondrous characters. Elijah Wood (Shay) and Masasa Moyo (Vella) carry the story with a child-like wonder. More Double Fine like characters bring the humor and magical wonder. Harm'ny Lightbeard, (Jack Black) the founder of an occult where dropping a letter in your name for more lightness is considered normal. Curtis The Lumber Jack (Will Wheaton) who is to scared to actually do anything resembling his name. Marek (David Kaufman) a mysterious wolf figure on Shays ship who sounds straight out of a Noir New York cop movie. Broken Age has fantastic characters and each funny, amusing, interesting and with great voice work.

Playing Broken Age is simple point and click adventure game territory. If you have never experienced the genre before I wouldn't fret, the puzzles are rather simplistic. Even if you manage to get yourself puzzled at something you have the ability to quickly switch over to whomever you're not playing as. It's a smart tool to use instead of rage-quitting or reaching for that walk-through search on Google.

You will pick up items and dragging the mouse to the bottom of the screen brings up your inventory. Drag items together to combine or drag onto people or object in the world to interact. Simple stuff. It's just a pity the U.I is so clunky to use. Accidentally bringing up the inventory when you just wanted to click on something at the bottom of the screen become quite annoying. Along with some non-recognition upon clicking on an item.

Broken Age is a draw-dropping beautifully charming - sometimes dark - but always brilliant adventure title from Double Fine. Tim Schafer has crafted a wonderfully mystical tale with charming characters brought to life with top notch voice acting. The pit-falls of clunk UI and simplistic puzzles will hopefully be addressed in some part in the second act. Even so, there nothing to wither this great experience.

+ Slam F12 like a man-man. This game is stunning.

+ Charming, sometimes dark, but always brilliant writing in a world with wondrous characters

+ Perfect Cliffhanger

- UI Clunky

- Puzzles fairly simplistic

Overall: 9.0

Slayin Review (iOS)

2014-02-10T17:02:00.000+11:00

Slayin combines two genres that mobile devices are able to tackle fairly well. The infinite runner along with an RPG via leveling and item buying.

Pixel Licker Games, Game Slayin, is amazingly simple but really fun. Slayin presents it self to you as a retro controller, something close to a NES controller. Two directional buttons - left & right - with a pause button along with one big action button. Simple and elegant design. The big button performs a different action depending on your character; Knight jumps, the Wizard spins and the Archer skids forward. Add a bunch of monsters sprawling across the screen and you have yourself some slaying to be had.

Challenge and skill varies for each different character type, given there different skill sets. But with each you will find yourself slamming - left - right - left - in an attempt to cause some sort of stationary position as you look for the moment to head across the screen in battle.

With the Knight you can jump into the air to poke annoying flying enemies with your subtle sword. The Wizard can tornado spin for a moment allowing quick succession take-downs of several ground enemies, but you will have to wait for those fliers to make there way closer to the ground. Unless that is, you buy an upgrade that allows you a way to hurt those pesky fliers earlier. The Knight can get a longer sword, the Archer flaming arrows and the Wizard can chuck potions amongst other upgrades. Purchase of upgrades come from a friendly merchant dealer with whom the monsters have an apparent lackadaisical approach. Periodically appearing after and while in a wave, you can use the coins slayed enemies have dropped to purchase whatever you feel fit; upgrades and new abilities or health and depletive armor.

Slayin is a .99c purchase and does contain some micro-transactions. None of which help your character in anyway or have 'pay to win' written on them. You can purchase more 'Fame' the currency earned in game used to purchase new characters and modes like the endless boss more. You build up Fame by simply playing but if your like me and after ten games, still not having enough to purchase the Archer, you might find yourself dropping some real dollars. Saying this, my biggest gripe with Slayin was the expensive unlocks. The Game is enjoyable enough to grind out enough fame to unlock something but it still takes way to long without using real money.

Slayin has a great asphetic with its retro style visuals and the on-screen controller but its greatest retro element is its amazing chip-tune soundtrack. Can I purchase this soundtrack on I-tunes? Because I will.

Slayin is easily addictive and a joy to play, especially with headphones for its soundtrack. Although sometimes I missed the directional buttons causing a death the game-play is simple enduring nostalgic fun; defiantly a game you want on your phone right now.

+ Bit tunes are awesome

+ Simple addictive fun

- Takes way to long to unlock anything

Overall: 8.0

The Wolf of Wall Street Review (2014)

2014-02-03T13:20:00.001+11:00

Jordan Belfort was a con man who manipulated the stock market using 'rat holes.' These rat holes were people who held stock for Belfort, where it would otherwise be illegal for him to hold in his name. Burt if you're taking the name of the film as a literal interpretation - you'll be quite disappointed. The Wolf of Wall Street couldn't be further from an Oliver Stone film.

Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio with such velocity was just a simple minded 20 something when headed to Wall Street with his ambitions. Much like a big portion of society he desired the same as much of us and what do we all desire? Money. I want money - I can admit it - who doesn't want wealth? It's a simplistic with really and at such a young age and it can be seemingly reachable say to; re-creating dinosaurs.

Such desire for wealth can soon corrupt ones vision on reality as we have seen in history many times before. Although Belfort takes enough drugs to knock still a small country the biggest drug of all was always going to be those green notes with bold numbers. One-Zero-Zero and plenty please.

Director Martin Scorsese is well known for being able to tackle characters like Belfore - morally depraved, power hungry - and he tackles them with a unprecedented none bias approach, have a look at Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

The story of Jordan Belfort is a hard one to tackle. The Book (written by the real Belfore) of the same name with which is the basis for the movie is a mess of stoke terminology, drugs, sex, exposes that seem entirely unlikely oh and more drugs. Belfort's books aren't written all that well and his stock market trickery wasn't all that interesting. His ridiculous life and drug and sex addiction is however so ridiculous it makes for quite a darkly comedic tale.

We are dealing with a man who after serving his sentence in prison had to and still is paying restitution to his 1,513 client he defrauded. That is a lot of people, with whom Belfort stole million upon millions.

The Wolf of Wall Street fails to deal with victims entirely, you never hear a single word about them. While this would be in any other case a major negative for a film like this. However in the first several minutes of The Wolf of Wall Street it is revealed as a first person narrative. Belfort is racing along the highway swerving between line when the narrator - Belfort - kicks in remarking that no his car wasn't that colour but a white more like the one from Miami Vice. The cars colour then changes mid shot like it was in a computer program and thus Scorsese is able to show in a very smart way that this is Belfort's tale.

Telling the nearly three hour long tale of Belfort this way is perfect. Of course Belfort would tell his story this way, in fact go look online at a real interview, he comes of the kinda of guy to exaggerate his story just enough that it becomes more interesting and of course the focus is entirely on him.

DiCaprio and Jonah Hill lead - Belfort and Donnie Azoff respectfully - with as I said a real velocity. For three hours long The Wolf of Wall Street hits hard and fast, it would simply be impossible if it wasn't for these great performances. Even small roles become memorable thanks to actors like Mathew McConaughey as Mark Hanna, Jon Bernthal as Brad and even Spike Jonze as Dwayne. The same cannot be said for the female characters even with Margot Robbies strong performance as Belfort's second wife Namoi 'The Duchess' Lapaglia.

Females in Jordan Belfort's world are used much there daily intake of drugs. They are simply an item for use and sexual activities or just a nice shinny thing to have on ones arm. The Wolf of Wall Street could be called a misogynist film but it comes down to this being Belfort's tale once again and being told solely in his image and the way he pictures and see's everything, he is leading the camera. If Belfort's representation of Women is a sex toys and beautiful display items then that how the audience will perceive the film.

While the majority of the comedic elements come from Belfort on drugs or the truly ridiculous thing that he participated in or went down in his firm. Once scene stands out as a high moment of separation between glorifying the lifestyle and choices Belfort made and not so. A scene early in the film a Women is paid a high some of money to get her head shaved in front of all the Strattonites (as Belfort refers to his employees) and the money will be used for breast implants, making it all okay. The event is simply a part of the regular sick charades that happen simply for a laugh in Belfort's firm. This scene is important because it is the first time we see one of Belfot's grand speeches and attempts to try and appease, impress and make sure everyone has a great time. The thing is though, that unless tour as messed up as those guys, while they are all clapping and laughing the event on we as the audience who he is seemingly trying to impress also, we are all sitting back feeling rightfully uncomfortable.

Be ready to feel fully uncomfortable if you choose to watch The Wolf of Wall Street with your family. The R18+ rating is truly deserved and even with that I can seem the amount of drugs, sex and course language simply being to indulgent for some people. I wasn't surprised to read online of people simply getting up a leaving the cinema.

The Wolf of Wall Street is an oddly brilliant dark comedy. DiCaprio has already won awards for his comedic performance and they are all well deserved. Jonah Hill hasn't received nearly enough recognition for his big teethed performance though, as he goes to show once again he is not a one trick pony comedy actor but one of the greatest young actors in Hollywood at the moment. But all involved should be very proud, this is truly a tour-de-force of talent and will undoubtedly go down as one of Martin Scorsese's greatest films. Wait did I just say a Scorsese film nominated for 'Best Comedy' at the Golden Globes will go down as one of his best?

+ Tour-De-Force of Performances

+ One of Scorsese's Best

+ Ridiculously Brilliant Dark Comedy

+ DiCaprio on Lemons

Overall: 10/10

August: Osage County Review (2014)

2014-01-27T19:16:00.001+11:00

John Wells brings to you August: Osage County from Tracy Letts who re-wrote his stage play for the screen. Easily the most melodramatic thing I've seen in 2014 thus far and compared to 2013 also.

Violet Weston (Meryl Streep) is a mess dealing with cancer and taking just about every pill she can manage to get her hands on. In part due to her tongues pain she says, though ultimately just being just being an addict.

The death of Violets's Husband Beverly (Sam Shepard) has the entire family and extended-family making their way back home to help deal with the loss and Violet's downward spiral. Each member of the family managing to bring there own baggage to deal with to the table. Plates, punches and foul language ensues to fly accross the family house between everyone gathered.

These people are quite despicable - disgusting even - humans to watch throw around blame and light pitch forks for one reason only to squabble back to there own holes upon there own tripes coming to fruition.

Barbara, (Julia Roberts) Ivy, (Julianne Nicholson) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) all three of Violet's daughters return home although Ivy never really left. Ivy is the daughter who stuck around to help mother dear and thus is miserable, Barbera left home and has a failed marriage - thus miserable - and Karen travels around trying to pretend she is not miserable.

Violet's sister Mattie (Margo Martindale) treats son Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch) like a massive disappointment. In fact the only person who doesn't seem like a massive ass with baggage is Mattie's Husband Charlie, (Chris Cooper) but even he gets his moment to spit some putrid at the dinner table.

August: Osage County certainly isn't a happy-go-lucky type of film. I was truly misguided in thinking I walking into some kind of 'chick flick' where everyone would have there issues solved by the finale and the credits would feature some 90's pop feel-good-inc pop ensemble.

Where it succeeds as a melodrama with all thanks going to the superb performances by the entire cast worth of nods from all the categories; August: Osage County fails as a film. Its origins as a play lingers in its adaptation to the screen and through its Direction. Seeming as if no one had told Wells or Letts that when making a movie the camera and actors can actually move around. The restraints bared by performing on a stage are acceptable in the format but seemingly no effort was made to elevate this script out of that prison. A house only holds so many rooms but they managed to place a brilliant actor in all of the rooms - and the deck- press record on the camera and delivery of lines happens.

August: Osage County is likely to have a love/hate relationship with viewers to begin with given its relentless onslaught and nature of its characters. Personally I enjoyed the characters in a melancholy way and I dread to have to ever meet any family and/or people featured in this film. Although the apparent nature of the play was to be a look at American families in current culture I fail to compare to such here in Australia or what I have seen in my life. I simply took August as an eventful couple of hours.

Test audiences also managed to add a second ending that is apparent from the moment the film doesn't end where it seems it should have. A second ending that was entirely unnecessary. Attempting to add redemption to what could have been and ending worth provoking thought.

August: Osage County is an okay melo-drama help up with fantastic performances. The stage play roots linger around so much that it pulls you away from the experience. Truth is that acting just cannot solely make a film anymore.

+ Superb Acting All Around

- Stage Drama Linger

- Second Ending

Overall: 5.5

Justice League: War Review (2014)

2014-01-24T12:41:00.001+11:00

Based upon the series Justice League: Origin by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee, Justice League: War is the first DC Universe Animated Original Movie to delve into the New 52 Universe and materiel. In chronology it takes place after the events of The Flashpoint Paradox and as such Superman is young and arrogant and humanity is not accepting of heroes yet as they have only just began to pop up.

Jay Oliva returns to Direct another feature after his success with The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & 2 and The Flashpoint Paradox, while new guy Heath Corson adapts and writes the screenplay.

Justice League: War isn't anywhere as dense as Dark Knight Returns or Flashpoint but it is still a lot of fun. In-fact if it wasn't for the high levels of violence - not meeting Flashpoint levels - I would think it was more targeted at kids. Essentially after the set up of each of the heroes - Batman, (Jason O'Mara) Superman, (Alan Tudyk) Wonder Woman, (Michelle Monahgan) Green Lantern, (Justin Kirk) The Flash, (Christopher Gorham) Cyborg, (Shemar Moore) and Shazam (Sean Austin & Zach Callion as Billy) - the plot slides of the plate into one big action packed fight scene right up until the finale.

Most of the heroes manage to get enough time to develop them selves before the action comes in relentlessly. Superman just comes of as a cocky ass before beginning to punch everything, including a semi-recreated DKR fight scene that drags a bit. Wonder Woman appears to be the bimbo version of a Warrior Goddess and is more annoying than anyone else when ever she opens her mouth. Kick-ass she does and those scenes are amazing but the version of Wonder Woman who is completely head strong and screaming about just wanting to kill things constantly comes of as dumb. Victor Stone's Daddy issues ultimately result in his new transition to Cyborg and fits in to how he would now be a founding member of the League, not the Teen Titans but the issues are never really resolved and they take up a few to many minutes than what they should.

Geoff John's comedy is still here from the source material and the jokes are generally laugh out loud funny. Shazam telling Darkseid he doesn't care what his World of Warcraft I.D is - classic.

Unfortunate things also carry from the source material, like the aforementioned characterization of Wonder Woman and much like her and Superman, Darkseid gets similar treatment. Not coming of as a smart battle planer and world conquer but essentially a boss battle from a video game. His takedown is a thrilling battle but Darkseid could have been any old Alien with thick skin given the amount of personality he is given.

Since the source material wasn't nothing special, it manages to turn into an okay entry into DC's Animated Features. I'm not sure if DC deemed it necessary to tell this story to begin there ploy of New 52 based films or not but it does definitely feel that way. There is nothing special about the story compared to say the previous three entries in there films. It's all a lot of set-up for the assumably up-coming Throne of Atlantis storyline given Aquaman's replacement and the after credits sequence.

Justice League: War is a decent if not flat entry into the Animated Features from DC.

+ Darkseid's Fight

+ Jokes actually -LOL-

- Wonder Woman

- Could of used a quite moment

Overall: 6.5

Quick Reviews #1: Stoker, The Bling Ring, You're Next, Behind The Candelabra

2014-01-21T15:04:00.002+11:00

Quick Reviews of the films Stoker, The Bling Ring, You're Next and Behind the Candelabra

Stoker (2013)

Shot beautifully with a stellar cast, the script just doesn't live up to the rest of the its production. Stoker excels in its camera work and deception after its rather slow start to become an un-nerving Hitchcockian dram. Or is it?

Overall: 7.0

The Bling Ring (2013)

A cast of unlikeable characters bare the only male who deserves only sympathy for his bewildering sheepish attitude. The Bling Ring could have delivered laughs/party life and delivered a still well deserving message of modern culture and celebrity idolising and obsessive behaviour, instead The Bling Ring is around an hour and a half of The Hills gone rogue with a bit more artistic flare.

Overall: 5.0

You're Next (2013)

What starts with interesting family drama that could have continued well into and with the slashing once it began, You're next simply becomes an average slasher. Held up with some interesting death scenes and a synth score, not managing to reach its full potential though.

Overall: 6.0

Behind The Candelabra (2013)

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas give mesmerising performances well worth of an Oscar nod if studios- as Director Steven Soderbergh put it- hadn't deemed this movie 'to gay.' The life of Liberace behind the scenes is glorious, dark, funny and put together nearly perfectly for this straight to TV movie.

Overall: 9.0

Sherlock Series 3 Review (2014)

2014-01-20T13:59:00.000+11:00

Full spoilers ahead

With no Sherlock to be seen at all in 2013 and the ending that was Sherlock's mysterious death-defying stung and Moriarty dead, you can't help but be anxious for more. Sherlock Season 3 was here and gone in once again its three movie length episodes. It just didn't come back quite as good as expecting.

Opening with The Empty Hearse, two years have passed since Sherlock's 'death' until oh brother Mycroft has Sherlock coming back to London a terrorist network. As it should be we need explanation for Sherlock's ruse and we are given several, one of which includes some sort of romance with Moriarty. Show runner Mark Gattis has stated the truth is in the episode but as an audience we are never specifically told the who, what and where with confidence of it being nothing but the absolute truth.

Watson now two years on has moved on, (girlfriend) moved out (of Baker Street) and grown a moustache. The re-uniting of Sherlock and Watson is great, Sherlock drawing a fake moustache, his French accent and then John's truly deserving reaction.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman slide back into there roles like it was only yesterday even though the two have been of exploring the silver lights in Hollywood. It's easy to remember why you loved these guys if you haven't re-watched an episode recently.

After the first episode ends however you may wonder if your version was cut of or out or maybe you were drugged by tiny little fossil fairies and missed the sleuthing. But no it's an hour and a half of Sherlock and John re-uniting and it may be for the benefit or new viewers or just because it felt necessary to the writers to spend so much time on it. Either way I like my Sherlock with a mix of mystery or some kind of actual plot.

Enjoyable to the moment you realised that was all it, The Empty Hearse was an average beginning to the Series, in part possibly to expectations built by nearly two years of patiently waiting.

Unfortunately things didn't get much better in episode two The Sign of Three, the only Sherlock episode to be reminiscent of a Judd Apatow produced production.

John marrying Mary, (Amanda Abbington) oh the tongue twisters! But that is the biggest twist The Sign of Three gives as the actual mystery become easily predicable and doesn't at all tie into the mysterious figure seen at the end of the first episode. As such the episode doesn't manage to build up any hype for the finale or prove to be an entertaining mystery. It is however rather in an odd-ball type way very funny. See Sherlock's bewilderment in his speech and his drunken nonsense. So I ask why it couldn't have been at all possible to to merge the first two episodes? Thus leading for more villain building time. Seemingly more important now looking back after seeing how great Charles Augustus Magnussen was in the third episode; His Last Vow.

Charles Augustus Magnussen serves as the only real villain the entire Series and he is a sickening one at that. Lars Mikkelsen is the complete opposite of Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty. Calm and collected yet seemingly ill with power and sporadic. Licking peoples faces, peeing in Sherlock's fire place and the horrendous flicking of John's face, all of these simply because he can and he wants you to know he can and will.

Martin Freeman gives a stellar performance in revelation of Mary's past as some sort of Spy/Hit-Girl. The moment when he gives her the speech in Sherlock's parents place is beautiful.

His Last Vow is quite the redeeming factor of Series 3 even with Magnussen's short lived greatness. I say was because the last couple minutes of the episode omits entirely what came before it. The return of Moriarty or some kind of prodigy turns Sherlock's plane back around and the game is once again on. Not the game of living and dealing with the consequences of murdering Magnussen as it should be though.

Sherlock Series Three's changed might be due to Mark Gatiss becoming show runner or maybe this was the way it was always heading. Moffat or Gatiss (show runners) once said it's a show about a man who just happens to solve crimes.

Series Three wasn't terrible but it was disappointing and full of a lot of questionable decisions. It's enjoyable but not the magic that was Series one or two. Although additions like John's Wife Mary Morston could be very interesting going forth and even little quirks like Tom Brooke as Bill Wiggins the junky with analysis skills was enjoyable. The talk of a third brother may be interesting and of course Moriarty going forth should be fun if done right. Until then though I'll find myself re-watching episodes like A Scandal in Belgravia to pull me over and hope for a return to form in Series Four.

+ Magnussen

+ The Comedy

+ Performances

- Lack of Mystery

- Short Lived Magnussen

- Nothing Matters

- To Much Fan Service

Overall: 7.0/10

Top 5 Movies of 2013

2014-01-16T13:25:00.004+11:00

For me 2013 was a kind of weak year for movie viewing pleasure. Not to say that there wasn't many good films, but most the films I'm looking forward to like The Wolf of Wall Street are 2014 releases here in Australia.
None the less I do have 5 movies I really loved in 2013!

5: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I'm a big fan of the books, not just the first. Where as allot of people thought that the first book was great and they fall from there, I enjoy them all equally in part. As such I expected Catching Fire to be good and good especially after how well the first film was produced. Little did I expect it to be better than the source material though... I don't think I have ever said a movie was better than the book...
Well that just talks to how great Catching Fire was. In part thanks to the once again brilliant performances of the cast along with the fantastic Phillip Seymour Hoffman to the mix and the shorted games period, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is allot of fun and looks great.

4: Gravity

Gravity is a simple story and in reality could be a short but instead we get a feature film of claustrophobia's nightmares trapped in space.
Performances are great but the standout is Alfonso Cuaron for his masterful vision and Direction. This is a step forward for cinema, I had seen nothing like Gravity before and is defiantly something you need to watch in 3-D. Because the experience offered in Gravity is like nothing before.

3: Fast Six

The best entry in the FF franchise to date 'Fast Six', that's right six! Although it may sound like a dying dog not willing to go down the Fast franchise has grown and blossomed with age,
Fast 6 was the funnest flick I watched in 2013 without a doubt. The self-awareness allows it to get past being silly. That air plane chase? Who cares! It was awesome.
I will argue with anyone saying it's so bad it's good or compares it to brain dead action like a Michael Bay film, nope, this is just the best Action franchise around.

2: Silver Linings Playbook

On paper a story about a guy getting out of rehab and meeting a girl really sounds dis-hurting to my ears, 'chick flick territory' my flags cry. But you never told about the complexity of these characters and the ones around them. You never said the performances are grand, the writing funny and sad.
Silver Linings Playbook is all that I didn't get told and more.

1: Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino has always garnished criticism and mixed reviews but looking through Django's IMDB forums it goes 10, 1, 10, 10, 1, 1, 4, 6, 10. Much like the man himself, Django seemed to rub allot of people the wrong way.
Making a film on a certain topic should not preordain itself to certain rules eg: Slavery = Serious Drama. I'm just as interested to see Steve McQueens 12 Years a Slave but for different reason. Do I really want to trust the man who killed Hitler to get me an accurate historical look at Black Slavery and its trade?
Django Unchained is though highly enjoyable with a brilliant cast all grabbing the characters they were presented with and ridding into the sunset with them.

The 'D' is silent but it didn't spell best film of 2013 anyway.

Top 5 TV Shows of 2013

2014-01-15T10:53:00.001+11:00

There is a long list of shows I need to check out in my back pocket. Including Orange is the new Black and The Americans which I have seen get some praise in 2013. I found in 2013 my TV viewing has certainly grown. The stories being told and entertainment from some programs simply seems to be out shinning allot of movies at the moment. I'd love to say it's a 'golden age' for TV at the moment but here in Australia out free to air TV channels are still peddling 98% crap and we seem to be in dire need of a great Netflix service judging by the illegal download numbers for shows here. But we're not here to talk about that crap, we're here to talk about my Top 5 shows of 2013.

5: Arrow (Season 2)

The first half of the second season if Arrow was exceptionally better than the entire first season. Although I enjoy the first season it wasn't something I looked forward to seeing the following week. This season however I was eagerly anticipating the next episode.

This half season was allot faster paced and yet we still managed to get allot of character time. Especially with the dealing of Tommy's death from last season it was necessary for Oliver and Laurel to get time to deal with it.

Although still at times corny but highly enjoyable TV Arrow is 2013 was highly watchable.

4: The Newsroom (Season 2)

I only discovered Newsroom last year and blasted through its first season and quickly caught up on the second. At its heart its a show about people, all different kinds of people, with issues and in-perfections all of them headed by Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy. The cast is brilliant and the writing is funny, potent and the third and third and final season in 2014 is one of my most anticipated returning shows.

3: Game of Thrones (Season 3)

Everyone knows how good Game of Thrones is; it's really good.

2013 was the year we saw the episode 'The Rains of Castamere' however and the splitting point for some that it was. Game of Thrones just continues to fire un-flinching punches and that's why it's one of the best shows on TV at the moment.

2: Hannibal (Season One)

Really though, am I the only person that was so down on this whole idea the be amazingly surprised? Or was this always looking so good and I'm just that naive?

Dark to it's core with eerie cinematography and score Hannibal creates one of the most dreadfully wonderful things on TV. Mads Mikkelsen brings Hannibal Lecter to life on the same grand level that Sir Anthony Hopkins did in Silence of the Lambs. Hugh Dancy is truly disturbed to his core as he takes on the role of Will Graham; Hannibal is absolutely disturbed to its core.

1: Breaking Bad (The Final Season)

What was once one the bottom of the viewer numbers, now a Pop Culture and TV phenomenon, Breaking Bad had 8 final episodes to rap the tragic story of Walter White. Show runner Vince Gilligan certainly didn't waiver under pressure delivering a fantastic and deserved final and one of the best episodes of the entire show with 'Ozymandias.'

Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brant, RJ Mite, Bob Odenkirk and of course Bryan Crantson (freshly Golden Globe Winner) should all be proud of the achievement of Breaking Bad. Every single one delivers career defining performances in what will go down in the books as one of the best TV shows ever made.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Review (2013)

2014-01-13T20:20:00.003+11:00

Nearly ten years after the original, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy the man himself Will Ferrel returns with Writer partner and Director Adam McKay to return the number one news team of Burgundy, Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and Champ Kind (David Koechner) to our screens.
For years fans have been asking for it and as such expectations are high, not to mention a good comedy sequel is hard to pull of.

Picking up years after the original, Burgundy and co are on top of the world and Ron is enjoying his successful career with his wife Veronica Corningston (Christina Applegate.) Things soon take a dive for the worst though when Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford) fires Ron for being 'the worst news anchor he has ever seen' and promotes Veronica. Cut six months forward, Ron is a drunk, alone and with nothing to live. Insert a new news station hiring and hiring Ron along with a getting the band back together esq segment and we are of rolling on the new Ron Burgundy tale.

New company means new roles to fill from the last film. Where Vince Vaughn filled the antagonist of the last film working for an opposing news company, here the job comes from with-in the news station from James Marsden playing a real ass-hole as Jack Lime. With Veronica also on the side lines now having dumped Ron (not that she is in less of the film) the love interest gets picked up by Ron's new boss Linda Jackson, (Meagan Good) the aptly named African American which allows for a funny moment and a not so funny dinner party.

Anchorman 2 has a few issues with its jokes. Some seem to be there purposely to try and be edgy and the re-hashed jokes/segments from the first film fall flat and get in the way of what was seeming like a well placed comedy.

Not to say the movies not funny, it cant be quite hilarious usually surrounding three elements; insults, Brick or Ron's absolutely dumb-founding oblivious.

"Who the hell is Julius Ceasar? You know I don't follow NBA!" - Ron Burgundy

There are some defiant fun lines people with be quoting on the school playground for some time much like the first and some with the classic insults to be had.

Brick gets more time to shine here, which is great since he had some of the best moments in the first film. Brick also gets a romantic interest with Kristen Wigg's character Chan Lastnaame and yes you didn't read that wrong. It's disappointing that neither Champ or Brian get much time like Brick outside of the getting the band back together segment and soon fall to the back lines only to step in for quick one liners.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is full of laughs and to some level heart with Ron's odd relationship with his son. It's really great to see these characters again and with the addition of some new ones like the awkwardly funny Carell + Wigg relationship. Re-hashed and try hard jokes fall flat but the cameos (oh those cameos) more than make up for those.

+ Number One Team is back!

+ Those Cameos

+ Steve Carell + Kristen Wigg

- Re-hashed/envelope jokes fall flat

Overall:

7.0/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review (2013)

2014-01-09T20:19:00.001+11:00

The first part of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, "The Unexpected Journey" had me wondering if Randal in Clerks 2 had it all right. Was these movies really just a bunch of people walking? Fortunately my biggest complaint from part one was rectified as stuff of actual interest happens in Desolation of Smaug.

Say em all fast now

Picking up where we left with out 13 Dwarves Thorin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Dwalin, Fili, Gloin, Kili, Nori, Oin and Ori along with Bilbo Baggins of the Shire and Gandalf are continuing towards the Lost Mountain on the merry quest of simply slaying slaying a killer cunning Dragon named Smaug and reclaiming the Dwarves homeland.

Desolation manages to push the plot along at a nice pace this time around, starting in dark evil woods, through to the finale in the mountain it bounces along briskly.
Photographed beautifully as you would expect by the now from these films there is still stunning wide shots of glorious countryside. However the overuse of the CGI much like in "An Unexpected Journey" becomes a deterrent. In the opening half hour you see this wolf like creature and it just looks of, either to CGI or bad CGI, the judge is open to a sway of decision. I'm not sure but the overuse continues and I think at one stage I saw a CGI horse, how about just getting a real horse Mr Jackson? A Fantasy Adventure needs to be immersive and I felt like I was being held back.

Of course Book purists are not happy with all the liberty's, additions and changes Jackson and co have made to the Hobbit films, I have simply come to accept this as "Peter Jackson's The Hobbit' not J.R.R Tolkien's and with that I get to embrace some of the cool changes in Desolation of Smaug.

Where the hell is Jack?

The Barrel sequence seen a bit in the trailers is allot of fun. I remember zoning out for just a second and thinking "Oh hey. I'm enjoying this." It's just the exact kind of sequence that I want to watch in an Adventure film like this. The good guys doing an epic getaway from the bad guys in bad-ass totally unrealistic fashion that is just riveting fun.
Another royalty that Jackson took is the addition of characters and in Desolation of Smaug he added a kick-ass Elf named Tauriel; played by Evangeline Lilly. Reports when Lilly was cast all said she was to be a love interest for Aidan Turner's character Kili. Which although is true Tauriel added a needed dynamic to the cast of Elves including Orlando Bloom returning as Legolas. Tauriel stands as the apparent only non-Elf supremacist in the group that we get to meet. Even Legolas seems like more a dick and elthough the whole Elves hates Dwarves relashionship was played with in the Lord of the Rings films, here it seemed pushed into the foreground and more apparent.
The Tauriel and Kili romance also allows Aiden Turner to flex his character and we as the audience actually get to see more from one of the 13 Dwarves. Up until this stage the 13 Dwarves seemed to be just two Thorin and Balin followed by 11 mysterious ghosts who pipe in for a quick one liner here and there outside of pronouncing themselves at the Shire in the first film.

Now I'm not sure how much of Benedict Cumberbatch's actual performance as Smaug helped created the menacing beast the was thrown upon the screen in front of me but oh boy, if this isn't the best on screen Dragon of all time! If it wasn't his performance it was defiantly Cumberbatch's voice work that brought the gravitas needed for this performance of Smaug. He is powerful, cunning, conniving and quite magnificent in the face of all that. The treasure filled room where Bilbo makes his confrontation with Smaug is a magical setting. Although to be honest I couldn't help thinking why can't Sherlock and Watson just get along the entire time. Geekasms aside Martin Freeman is also wonderful in the scenes with Smaug showing smarts and the obvious growth of bravery; this isn't the same Hobbit we left with the Shire with. The converse with Smaug and Bilbo plays out in a brilliantly terrifying and funny way that just wouldn't have been as great without the two actors delivering the performances.

Aside from the main quest at hand we get more incite in the Necromancer sub-plot when Gandalf goes to investigate the ruins that Radagast came across in the first film. It's all very 'darkness is coming' 'evil is rising' and foreshadowing of the next film though and after a certain amount of it, it becomes tedious. Yes we get it, evil is coming... in the next film, so can we get back to what this film should be about now and not sneaking anticipation for the next film only half way into this one.

Furry feet doesn't cause shocks

Some other high points though include Stephen Fry winning the best mustache of 2013 award as the Master of Laketown. Ryan Gage as Alfrid giving the best evil henchman of 2013 performance opposite his musty muse Luke Evans as Bard, the local sneaky man but all around good guy.

Awards aside though I feel like if you felt similar about the issues with the first film you should enjoy Desolation of Smaug allot more like I did. It still feels quite plastic at parts but welcome changes like the awesome Barrel sequence with kick-ass Legolas to boot and Evangeline Lilly's character's welcome heart. Oh and did I mention Smaug is awesome?

+ Stuff Happens

+ Smaug!

+ That Barrel Sequence

- Still to Plastic

Overall:

7.5/10