Breaking Bad - "Blood Money" review

I don't want to speak out of turn, especially given that there are still seven episodes left in the series, but never have I witnessed a show that has been so consistently fantastic from the word go all the way through the last handful of episodes, and "Blood Money" has certainly done nothing to fight against that thought.

And there were certainly a lot of incredible scenes in tonight's season premiere but the standout performance has to be Dean Norris' Hank Schrader. The emotions that his character were clearly going through immediately following the revelation that Walt may in fact be the Heisenberg he has so painstakingly pursued were heartbreaking. There was heartbreak at the betrayal. Frustration that he didn't see it. And all told, a desire to make sure that this new evidence he stumbled across was in fact conclusive. Lesser men would have just dropped what they were doing and gone after him. But not Hank. From the handwriting comparison to the GPS tracking, he was covering all his bases. So when the confrontation finally went down, there was no question in his mind.

And credit must be given to the continuity of this series because while the phone call at the RV was certainly a huge plot point in an episode three seasons ago, it was three seasons ago. Plenty of shows would not have called back that moment, despite it being an important emotional benchmark in the character's history. It's small moments like that one which truly show the greatness in this series.

But to bring things back to our protagonist, as many expected, the cancer is back. And sometime in the next eight episodes, next door neighbor Carol is going to go from friendly gardener to terrified orange spilling shopper. Because in this not too distant future, Walt's home is boarded up, fenced up, pool emptied (giving local teenagers the opportunity to make their own miniature skate park), and his wall inside is spray painted with the word "HEISENBERG". This almost completely dialog free sequence takes place shortly after he picked up his machine gun in the season five premiere and obviously there are a lot of loose ends that need cleaning up given that his purpose here was to retrieve the ricin that he so conveniently put behind a wall outlet.

Oddly, I found myself rooting for Walt most of the episode. I wanted him to get his life back on track. I knew that wasn't going to happen, but I thought it was possible he turned a new leaf upon the reemergence of his cancer. After his meeting with Jesse, and then his final words to Hank, it's clear that the new leaf isn't quite what I hoped it would be. And he's pretty much the same old Walt, which is unfortunate, but consistent. And I cannot wait to find out how things get to that point. Flash fowards can be really tricky, but knowing that the answers are coming some time in the next two months make it easier to swallow and only seems to up my anticipation. I only hope that Vince Gilligan and company make it worth my while, but I have no reason to believe they won't.

The only real issue I have with the episode is Jesse. While I absolutely loved Badger and Skinny Pete going on about the transporter on Star Trek (a conversation I've had with people as well in regards to teleportation technology, so thank you for taking it mainstream Breaking Bad) as well as Badger's five minute description of his fan fiction awful episode of the original series Trek, Jesse's presence in this episode was frustrating. I get why he feels the way he does, and his desire to make things right, but I feel like we've seen catatonic Jesse before, and I want to see a little more energy out of him. That's not to take away from Aaron Paul's performance in the slightest. He was clearly giving it his all and it was nothing short of award-winning, but the situation he is in right now is just not that compelling to me. This is such a minor complaint though that I almost hesitate to make it because the rest of the episode was so fantastic.

There are only seven hours of the show left. Before October we'll have all the answers we've been waiting for. And while Walt seems destined for death as a result of his cancer returning, there's a whole hell of a lot that is obviously going to happen between now and then. Seeing that Lydia and Todd are now regular cast members, they still have major parts to play. And Lydia doesn't seem like the type of person to go down without a fight. Sure, she'll hire someone else to do the fighting for her, but she's not taking Walt's decision to quit the business lightly. And good on Skyler for helping push Lydia out the door.

Seven episodes left and I can't wait to see what goes down. A great start to this new season.

GRADE: A

Bruce Willis out of Expendables 3 and Harrison Ford in to help raise the average age of actors

In news that's not exactly lighting the world on fire (unless you're reading this in 1988 in which case this is HUGE. Also, welcome to the internet, my time traveling friend), Stallone has announced via tweet that Bruce Willis is exiting the Expendables 3 and Harrison Ford is joining up. Not all that surprisingly for those who saw the YouTube video of Willis just losing it on a random junket journalist (or seen any of Willis' movies for the last ten years), Stallone alluded that Willis is being greedy and lazy which probably caused his departure.

The Expendables 2 was a pretty solid if completely ridiculous improvement over the mediocre first installment, so hopefully the third will continue the trend. But I don't know how much mileage they can continue to pull from this premise. It's scheduled for release in August 2014.

Rupert Wyatt frontrunner to direct Star Trek 3? No real news leads to headlines with question marks?

In news that's bound to make some subsection of Trek fans angry (because there's always a legion of angry Trek fans somewhere), Collider is reporting that Rupert Wyatt is the front runner to replace J.J. Abrams as the director of Star Trek 3. And it was announced yesterday that Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci are on board to write the screenplay as they did for the first two.

This is actually all positive news in my opinion. I'm hoping that Kurtzman and Orci are able to come up with something fresh for this outing, as fan reaction was leaning negative on Into Darkness. I for one really liked it when I saw it, but it's lost a little bit of luster for me since it left theaters. Just hasn't resonated with me like the first one did.

Wyatt showed himself a solid director after Rise of the Planet of the Apes and is leaps and bounds above the rumored Jon M. Chu that was mentioned yesterday. I'm a big fan of Abrams, but I get why people don't like him and it makes sense. Hopefully having a little more conventional of a director will continue this franchise in a positive way.

Of course, none of this is even close to confirmed, with the exception of the screenwriters being locked in, so who knows what will end up happening.

Star Trek 3 is rumored for release for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in 2016.

Sherlock Season 3 Teaser Trailer - Yes, please.

Well, nothing in this gives anything away from the new season other than the fact that Watson now has a sweet 'stache, but just the fact that they're beginning to promote what is one of the best series of all time is news enough for me. So watch it once. Or 100 times. Whatever. Don't worry about it. Just let it engulf your eyeballs.

Although it does make me wonder if The Hobbit would have been better had Bilbo grown a sweet mustache like that. Oh well, maybe in the prequel to the prequel.

Updates inbound! Podcasts, Reviews, and Recaps!

So this site has been pretty much slowly dripping out updates over the last several months, and that's simply unacceptable. Coming in the not too distant future, I plan on updating at least once a day with some sort of news. I'm one guy who just really likes this stuff and unfortunately life has been getting in the way of updates. But I do have some big plans on the horizon.

Here's an outline of what to expect over the coming weeks:
1) A weekly podcast that goes over the big movie news over the last week, thoughts on some popular TV shows, and maybe even some gaming news. I'll also be editorializing from time to time, hopefully with some guests who will be able to join me.

2) Weekly "Breaking Bad" reviews. With "Breaking Bad" starting up in two weeks, and with the potential for it to end up as the greatest television show of all time, I want to get up some reviews within an hour of the end of the show. Because who would you rather hear from than some random guy in Michigan on what he thinks of the final eight episodes? Nobody.

3) I anticipate doing some "Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." recaps once that starts up. If you've browsed the handful of posts I've done over the last couple years, you can see a heavy comic book slant. But then again, I might not. Putting periods in between each letter of S.H.I.E.L.D. might not be worth it. Seriously. Come up with a better way for that, Marvel.

4) More movie reviews. Of course, I missed the big summer season when most of the reviews were most relevant but whatever. You all want to see reviews of the crap they release in September, don't you? And I know I certainly want to pay for them. So everybody wins! But in actuality, when there are movies I see that are worth reviewing, both positively or negatively, I'll try to get them up here.

5) An actual website. I'm eventually going to move over to storyversecentral.com. That address does lead to this page right now, but the site I registered with puts a huge distracting banner at the bottom because I didn't pay for the upgraded package. Jerks.

All in all, I really hope there are going to be some changes for the better coming up soon. Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions, or post in the comments section!

Man of Steel Review

There's something inherently fun about Superman, and despite quite a few people dismissing him because of the extent of his power, I have always found him to be incredibly interesting. That's why I've always considered him to be my second favorite superhero behind Spider-Man when people inevitably force me to rank them. Yet, although the early movies are excellent in their own right, they are clearly products of their time and never make it seem like it's awesome to be Superman. And Man of Steel definitely remedies that with ease. But whether or not I consider Man of Steel to be the best Superman movie ever is an argument that I continue to have in my head over 12 hours after leaving the theater. Hit the jump to read my review.

Steven Spielberg involved in Halo: The Television Series - Yes, this is apparently a real thing

So the new Xbox One event is wrapping up right now, but the most relevant information to this blog is the fact that Steven Spielberg is going to be involved in some capacity (probably just as an Executive Producer, I can't see him directing something like this).

This is a completely out of left field announcement that reminds me of the partnership Microsoft had with Peter Jackson from several years ago that ended up with...nothing. Although something tells me that they have it a lot more figured out, especially with an entire development studio that's devoted to nothing but Halo stuff.

There really aren't a whole lot of details available right now, but expect to hear more very soon. I just really hope that they tap the areas of Halo lore that are rife for romantic comedy. If there's one thing Halo is missing, it's hilarious mixups between an Elite who falls in love with an ODST Marine.

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

"My name is John Harrison. Seriously. Why is that so hard to believe?"

There is always difficulty in approaching a review of a movie like Star Trek Into Darkness. On the one hand, there quite a bit of information that the filmmakers would like to keep hidden until viewing and on the other hand it's difficult to truly talk about the movie without talking about those hidden moments. So as a result, I am going to try to do my best to talk about the movie without revealing anything that could be considered a spoiler.

Into Darkness takes place not too long after the events of the previous movie. The crew of the Enterprise is out in space, doing what it is they do best. And for the most part that means doing whatever Kirk wants to be doing, regardless of the consequences. So it is during the opening of the movie, when Kirk and crew are attempting to quell an about-to-erupt volcano on the surface of a pre-warp planet. And any Trek fan worth their salt knows that you cannot reveal your existence to any pre-warp civilization as it goes against the Prime Directive. So when the Enterprise must reveal themselves in order to save Spock from the volcano, it causes a little trouble for the crew when they get back to Earth. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious Starfleet Officer named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) orchestrates a terrorist attack on Starfleet. His intentions remain unknown throughout the vast majority of the movie, but it's clear that he has a bone to pick with Starfleet. Cumberbatch gives an absolutely gripping performance and even if the material wasn't great, and it certainly can be great at times here, he can easily elevate it to a level that would not be capable by many other actors. His motivations are sound, if a little muddled, and his backstory is more abridged than I would have preferred, but that doesn't stop him from being an incredible presence in this movie. (And if you're not already watching "Sherlock", stop reading this right now, fire up Netflix and watch all six episodes.)

This time around, there's no need for the crew to get to know each other, so it's easy to simply jump into the action. The dynamics are there and they haven't skipped a beat in the last four years. The relationship between Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock is still present and it's clear they're experiencing some relational problems. Kirk is as womanizing as ever and Bones is still the cantankerous, metaphor spewing doctor who still isn't given enough screen time. Sure, his role is definitely expanded from the first movie, but I still feel like the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic that was so present in the show and the earlier films is missing in favor of a straight up Kirk/Spock dynamic. Which would be fine if Karl Urban didn't so completely nail a DeForest Kelly imitation while still putting his own unique spin on the role. If there was only one character you could point to as solid follow up to the original cast, I'd have to go with Urban's McCoy. 

But beyond the cast, the film excels by pushing the spectacle while maintaining a solid undercurrent of character development from start to finish, despite some curious missteps along the way and a reliance on too much superficiality. The first odd choice is a change that happens relatively early in the film, which gives the impression that the road to rectify this decision will be a long one. But nope. About 10 minutes after it occurs, the change ends up being reversed. Sure, there are solid reasons as to why this happens but from a story perspective, it's difficult to comprehend and sort of changes the journey of Kirk's character. Because the journey he would have taken under this scenario is much more interesting than the path he ends up taking.

Of course, this is not something that is worth dwelling on since from that point forward the movie moves at breakneck speed. Abrams is a master of introducing high tension even when you know there's no REAL danger at hand. You know certain characters are going to make it through the situation, but that doesn't stop you from moving to the edge of your seat, wondering how they're going to escape. A lesser director would not be able to accomplish such a feat.

The movie also introduces concepts from this new timeline as well as bringing in elements from previous plot lines, including the introduction of Carol Marcus, daughter of Admiral Marcus (and developer of the Genesis device and mother of Kirk's son David in the original timeline). Here played with a British accent, (understandably using Alice Eve's regular accent, but odd considering the original actress Bibi Besch spoke with an American accent as Carol) her presence seems to be little more than fan service to say "Hey, remember Wrath of Khan? That movie was awesome." Other shoutouts seem to do little more than to remind fans of elements of the universe and even one reference to the ill-fated video game I reviewed not too long ago. Did not see that coming.

Which brings me to my next gripe, which is, "What's the point?" I mean, if they were completely reimagining Star Trek, then none of this stuff would bother me. I wouldn't care that Carol Marcus has a different accent or that other changes were made from the original series. At that point it would be its own beast, not too different from the Marvel "Ultimate" line of comics. But by trying to marry it with the original continuity, it simply points out how often it DOESN'T fit with the original continuity. These moments aren't constant, but when they do happen, it really pulls me out of the movie as someone who is a fan of the originals. So if you don't know the previous movies, then these names are irrelevant to you and it doesn't matter who they are. If you are a fan, then the changes can be jarring and alienating to people, so it doesn't really make sense why they're included at all. It simply seems odd to reset the entire universe and then telling the same stories over again.

These sorts of things happen throughout the second act which never seems to fully come together in the way I would have preferred, despite being endlessly entertaining. There just seemed to be a lack of excitement and cohesion that the first movie delivered a lot better during the middle section of the movie.

And one change that occurs about two thirds the way through almost completely pulled me out of the movie all together. I was so focused on this specific change that it became difficult for me to enjoy the movie. That is until a character delivers a speech which has probably one of my favorite non-spoiler lines of all time, "That being said..." When that line is spoken, along with what follows it, I was back on board. I felt like I was given permission to enjoy the movie for what it was.

And from that moment on, everything that happened was so extremely entertaining that I gave up all my previous concerns and just allowed the movie to unfold as it was, despite them going full blast into referencing stories from the history of the franchise. The action was fantastic, the performances were strong, and there were some fantastic call backs to the original timeline which filled my little Trek heart with joy. Especially the musical references. The more that's said about composer Michael Giacchino, the better because he just absolutely knocks it out of the park with this one.

Although I loved the movie completely, there are still elements of concern that I have in the way there seems to be an unwillingness to chart a completely new franchise course which leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste upon further reflection. But taking it on its own, divorced from the history of Star Trek, Into Darkness is a fantastic summer movie. Not the most thought provoking film, but endlessly entertaining with one of the most charismatic ensembles I've seen in a long time. It isn't quite as a cohesive whole as the last movie was, but there are individual moments that are leaps and bounds above what Trek 2009 was able to accomplish. I'd love to see Abrams return for one more outing, but with his Star Wars obligations, I just don't see that happening. But here's to hoping the next adventures do carve out new and unique stories, because the potential with this cast is pretty limitless.

GRADE : A -

Bauer returns - 24: Live Another Day to premiere next May

"The following takes place between whenever you want it to take place because who's even been paying attention to me lately?"

Well, this is certainly some interesting news. After being off the air for a couple years, the brass at Fox have reignited the phenomenon that is 24 for a 12-episode season next summer. Keifer Sutherland will return as Jack Bauer and hopefully having so much time off will have given them the creative spark necessary to make that show relevant again.

To be perfectly honest, I still feel like the first two seasons were the best. Those two seasons introduced the formula that they stuck to pretty religiously over the course of eight seasons. Many people thought the fifth season is one of the best, but there wasn't anything in that season that wasn't done better in the earlier seasons. Plus, the suspense and novelty was starting to wear off for me by that time, just as the rest of the population was discovering it.

The one thing that definitely seems great is the shortened season (which, if I had my way, all shows would only be 12 or 13 episodes), so they should be able to get to the point a lot more quickly than they otherwise could.

Expect to hear a lot more news over the next several months as the pieces get put together. Specifically a lot of "We're running out of time!" and "Dammit!" And hopefully some cougars. You can never have too many cougars on 24. Wait, no. Yes. Yes you can. One cougar. That is too many. (And for the unfamiliar, I'm not being ironic about this. I'm talking about a literal cougar. Not the old lady variety.)

24: Live Another Day will premiere on Fox next May.

Marvel negotiations in full force - they better get their act together - Downey Jr. to return in Avengers 2 & 3?

I kind of hate the fact that this blog is only updated with mostly comic book movie information. I really have a wider perspective than this, but for some reason, these are the posts that inspire me to write. Anyway, two articles came out tonight that had some very interesting perspectives.

The first is from Deadline and the always insufferable Nikki Finke who is reporting that the major players in The Avengers are getting very frustrated with the lowball offers that keep coming in for future movies. Despite the $1.5 billion return on a few hundred million dollar movie (there's no way that movie didn't just straight up profit a billion dollars), they appear to being pretty stingy with the on camera talent. Of course, they seem to be unhappy with this. And rightfully so. Evans, Hemsworth, Downey, Ruffalo, Jackson, Johannson, and Renner all deserve varying degrees of credit for the massive success. But they DO deserve credit. And frankly, the reason that fans like me are so invested is because of what these actors bring to their roles. Nobody wants to see them recast, and hopefully Marvel doesn't think that just because they got away with it on Iron Man 2 by replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle, that they'll be able to do it with the headliners. It's just not going to happen. And I'm sure some will make the argument that it wasn't a problem replacing Ed Norton with Mark Ruffalo, but again, The Incredible Hulk was a bit of a disappointment overall and the commitment to that version of Bruce Banner was a lot lower than what the general public is now familiar with. A very small percentage of those who saw the Avengers actually saw the Incredible Hulk. But if the tens of millions of Avengers fans have to go into Avengers 2 with a unnecessarily shaken up cast, I can't see it playing well. Even if Joss Whedon knocks it out of the park again.

While Marvel is notoriously stingy, they had better not look that gift horse in the mouth because it honestly could turn south at any moment. Look at literally any other comic book franchise in history. But while I don't doubt that these are valid issues, I could see Deadline reporting this stuff as a favor to agents to hopefully stir up the fanbase in an effort to strong arm Marvel into caving. Honestly, I say give them the big paydays they're looking for because I want to keep the continuity going.

Now, on the other side of the coin, according to Heat Vision, it turns out that Robert Downey, Jr. has entered into negotiations for Avengers 2 and 3. I do believe if they get Downey on board for those, the rest of the cast will be far easier to deal with. Especially if Downey makes his appearance contingent on everyone else returning (pure speculation on my part). So he hasn't decided to hang up the helmet forever and is definitely open to at least a couple more installments. Frankly, I'm perfectly all right with this. The man is nearing 50 years old and has not been shy about how he feels his age is affecting him. I'd be perfectly happy to see Iron Man pop up in a couple of new Avengers movies and keep the Iron Man trilogy where it stands. In fact, I totally expected him to do Avengers 2 and then call it a franchise, so anything more than that will be a welcome surprise.

The only thing that I don't understand, and anyone with an understanding of contract law is more than happy to chime in about, is how there's any sort of argument at all. From my understanding, all the major players get locked in for multiple movies. How does there get to be any sort of forced negotiation after the fact? Granted, I'm sure there could be an argument in regards to raises, but couldn't Marvel just say "No, that's not going to happen"? Obviously, this isn't my area of expertise.

Here's to hoping this all gets figured out sooner rather than later so we can all look forward to the inevitably awesome Avengers 2 instead of fretting over what the cast is going to look like in two years. When all is said and done, I do believe we'll have everyone coming back and Phase Two is going to be as epic as it possibly can be. It seems that they're all under contract whether they like it or not (I think) and Downey seems to be enough of a team player that he appears willing to hop back into it all, especially if he's not the one doing all the heavy lifting in such a large ensemble. It's Phase Three that I'm beginning to worry about. Let's cross our fingers and hope that everyone does what's in the best interest of the fans.

Iron Man 3 Review

When a person walks into any sort of franchise movie, there's a level of expectation that exists among those familiar with the previous entries. And often times this expectation can result in a substandard movie as the filmmakers attempt to recreate the magic of before, too afraid to take the movie in too radical direction in fear of alienating the fans who were your prior support. After the runaway success of Avengers, this does not seem to be a fear that Marvel has and never is it more apparent than what transpires in Iron Man 3.

Iron Man 3 is a fascinating movie on so many levels and I applaud Marvel for allowing a filmmaker's voice to be heard so strongly in a franchise movie. The problem is that when taken as a full trilogy, the tone of the third movie is so jarringly different that I can see there being a massive disconnect between the expectations of the audience and what is actually delivered. But I sincerely believe that when taken as an individual entry, it's possible that this eclipses even the first Iron Man, despite some glaring issues.

The movie begins flashing back to New Year's Eve 1999 where we are introduced to Maya Hansen's (Rebecca Hall) Extremis project and a very socially awkward and not too great looking Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).  By getting the set up here visually, it definitely frees up what would typically be random exposition throughout the movie and definitely gives the proper context as to who Tony used to be as well as introducing an important plot point that is present throughout the rest of the movie. We then fast forward to a time that's not too long after the events of The Avengers. Tony is having trouble sleeping, working day and night in his workshop building suit after suit after suit to the point where when we catch up to him, he's currently on the Mark 42. Given that the Mark VII was introduced in The Avengers, I'd say he's been a pretty busy guy.

Meanwhile, Rhodey is on the hunt on behalf of the United States government for The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), an elusive terrorist who is taking credit for several attacks throughout the world. Rebranded with a new paint job and title, Rhodes has dropped the moniker of War Machine and now goes by the Iron Patriot.

To say any more would be to give too much away, but suffice it to say, this is a very interesting movie that has some sizable implications for the movies going forward. Certain liberties are taken with the source material which I suspect is going to rub a lot of fans the wrong way, and although I am personally slightly conflicted about those revelations, I do believe that in the service of this one specific story, they were not the wrong ones. I won't say that they were the right ones, but they definitely serve the story that Shane Black is trying to tell.

Which brings me to Black himself. Tonally, structurally, and hilariously, this movie is pure Shane Black. If you are a fan of Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, and can understand Shane Black's perspective when making this movie, I believe you will be infinitely satisfied. This movie is hysterical in all the right ways while the action set pieces are not only breathtakingly impressive but also service the story in ways many other action movies don't often seem to do. Yet, the thing that must be accepted in order to enjoy this movie is to understand that Black is not Jon Favreau (who still shows up here reprising his role as Happy Hogan, so I'm sure he gave his input when necessary). There's a certain darkness and borderline mean-spiritedness to Black's humor that just isn't in Favreau's wheelhouse. This is not a criticism of either director in any way, just a different stylistic approach and one that resonates with me rather strongly.

Structurally, the movie spends a lot of time relying on Stark's wits and intelligence instead of the brute force nature of his suits. For a significant portion of the film, Tony doesn't use his suit at all. As a result, it often feels less like a "superhero" movie and more like an action/thriller that just happens to have some superheroes in it. Thematically, the trials that Tony goes through fit in perfectly with the adventures that came before. His addiction to the suits is the only thing that allows him to make sense of the world around him, especially after experiencing aliens, gods, and intergalactic wormholes for the first time. Not only that, but he finally understands what it means to love another human being in Pepper Potts and has to weigh the responsibilities of being Iron Man with his concern for her well being. Of course, it's all done in typical Tony Stark/Robert Downey, Jr. fashion, so it never feels overly sentimental.

But the movie does have some negatives. Certain plot points are clear, but completely underdeveloped which makes you wonder why they were included at all other than to reach the end point. The same goes for a few actors who are not utilized to the best of their abilities and when all was said and done was disappointing that they were only there to serve the plot instead of being a fully realized character. Beyond this and the changes from the source material which I'm still on the fence about, there wasn't much to dislike about the movie.

I suppose the final word on this movie is to implore fans of the franchise to take a step back and reset their expectations. This is going to be a different experience. But if you approach it from an understanding that this is a filmmaker bringing his own voice and tone to the project while accepting that this is the next logical step for the development of the character of Tony Stark, then I think it succeeds wildly. All too often, these franchise films stay so committed to the status quo that they never do anything truly interesting. And regardless of your feelings on how it turns out, you certainly can't say that this movie sticks to the status quo. Plus, you know, a legion of different Iron Man suits. Now that's awesome.


GRADE: A- 

Star Trek: The Video Game Review - "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a game designer!"

Spock and Kirk take out the writers for this game. 

When it's all said and done, there really isn't too much to say about "Star Trek: The Video Game." It's not a very good game. But it's not a completely terrible one. It's simply a game that borrows wholesale from superior titles and attempts to put forth a "Mass Effect" clone without the incredible graphics or deep storyline. So really not much of a Mass Effect clone at all.

From a story perspective, and the perspective through which I was most eagerly anticipating this game, the game falls pretty flat. A sort-of sequel to the 2009 reboot, the Vulcans are colonizing a new planet that they've creatively titled New Vulcan that is being terraformed by a creation of theirs called the Helios device. (I'm assuming that the shades of the Genesis device from Wrath of Khan are intentional.) The only problem is that a side effect of this device is the fact that it occasionally causes rips in space, forming wormholes that subsequently end up allowing the race of Gorn to emerge. A race of straight up evil lizard people who intend to use the Helios device to take over the galaxy. Apparently. The backstory is there, but it's not strong.

In the meantime, a Starfleet commodore knew that this was going to happen and is very happy about it since this would allow for intergalactic travel with relative ease, consequences be damned. The antagonists are all played very one note and the story between the random areas of shooting is surprisingly sparse and awkwardly paced. Literally the last scene of the game does a smash cut in what appeared to be the middle of the scene into the credits. I honestly threw my hands up out of confusion. Granted, there is a post credit Captain's Log, but the resolution just sort of happens and then the game ends. And this is to say nothing of the very beginning of the game which attempts to hook you in via an in media res scene that's less intriguing and more bizarre.

The gameplay is built around co-op, and while I didn't have a co-op partner with whom to play, the AI Spock did a slightly below adequate job in assisting me. I've seen much worse AI partners, and would have preferred to play alone, but I feel that he was the least of the concerns I had during the game. The controls pretty much did the job even if they didn't feel as responsive as several other triple A titles that it's clearly taking inspiration from. Especially the way that you're forced to scan everything with your tricorder to get the full story. Not my favorite game mechanic. And of course, the game takes on a 100% difficulty increase during the last level which is completely inconsistent from the rest of the game. To me, that just shows a lack of creativity from a design standpoint.

Where the game does shine though is in the performances of all the characters from the movie. In most movie tie-in games, you can hear in the voices of the actors that they're there to collect a paycheck. They don't really act. But here, it's different. They seem to be giving it their all, especially Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The banter seems true to the movie, although it does seem overly contemporary. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban really throw themselves into these characters which adds an air of authenticity that is otherwise lacking in the relatively creepy character models, buggy gameplay, and poorly developed story. (Even here, I can't get over how awesome Karl Urban is in recreating DeForest Kelley's Dr. McCoy. He made me laugh quite a few times throughout this game while listening to his audio logs just by being his cantankerous doctor self.)

The music, though, is exemplary. Michael Giacchino wrote a handful of themes for the game and it was recorded with a 100-piece orchestra. As a fan of his music, as well as a fan of large orchestras, this was definitely an exciting addition to the game, even though in certain sections the music could get very repetitive. Much of that seems to be the problem of the designers and the not the music though, as random cues would just cut in at times repeating over and over.

When all is said and done, is this game worth playing? Not really. Maybe when it gets down to the $20 range, but I could not suggest that anyone play this for the $60 price tag that they're requesting.

Aside: One of the things that really bugged me was the treatment of the Gorn. Now, in the original Star Trek series, the Gorn were a territorial, yet violent race of creatures with massive strength and little agility. Granted, you only saw one in the original series, but it set a precident. They seemed to have none of those characteristics here, except for the violence. And they were most certainly agile. If you're trying to stay true to continuity, this just seemed like an unnecessary change. I believe in one area, they attempt to recreate that type of Gorn, but it wasn't very convincing and he was still pretty large. I'm not married to the continuity (at least not the way that several fans are in their complete dismissal of the reboot), but what's the point of using the name of a character if you're going to change everything they were set up as? Anyway, minor gripe in a game that had a lot larger ones to take care of.

GRADE : C-

Ninja Turtles gets newest bizarre cast member

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, say hello to your new Master Splinter. Danny Woodburn, he of "Seinfeld" fame, has been cast as your favorite talking rat. I literally have no thoughts on this choice because I'm just dumbfounded as to what direction they're taking this movie. Sometimes you hear a cast and you think "Wow. That could not be any more perfect." Other times you hear of a cast and think "What in the what?" This is one of the latter times.

The four people they've cast as the turtles are people who are very devoid of personality in the few things I've seen them in. And if one thing you need as a motion capture artist, it's personality. Especially Raphael. Couple that with Megan Fox as April O'Neil and Will Arnett in an unspecified, yet apparently important, role, and I feel like we're headed right down the path of mediocrity.

This just seems to be one bizarre announcement after another with this project and while I'm quite curious to see how it turns out, I wouldn't exactly call myself optimistic.

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Man of Steel viral video highlights Zod's demands

This video was posted on the Man of Steel Facebook page a few moments ago that shows what terrible reception General Zod (the incredible Michael Shannon) gets on Krypton (or wherever he's set up his base of operations). He demands Kal-El turn himself in as garbled video plays showing random Kryptonian symbols and words stating "You are not alone." But seriously, Zod, your planet blew up. Where you guys going to go? I feel like your plan is a little short sighted.

Clearly, the story is starting to come together a bit since we're now only two months away from release. WB will probably be opening the floodgates shortly after months and years of no real information as to what the story is even about. If the earlier trailers and word of mouth are any indication, this is going to be one incredible movie. As long as Zack Snyder has a solid enough script, I don't see why not.

Man of Steel opens on June 14th.

Veronica Mars movie nets $5.7 million from Kickstarter

So, yeah. That just happened. Over 91,000 people donated $5.7 million to the Kickstarter campaign to revitalize Veronica Mars in cinematic form. That's an average of about $62 a person just to see this movie get made, without any guarantee of quality. Of course, given that most tiers had some sort of way to see the movie at no additional cost once it's made, it's almost like people are preordering their tickets at extremely high costs.

As a fan of the show, I couldn't be happier to see this come to fruition, and this Kickstarter publicity will probably help to bump the box office up a bit. Although something tells me that number is going to be relatively low. Many of the people who donated might just end up waiting for their DVDs or digital copies to arrive instead of heading out to the theater. (As a backer, I'm still unsure as to whether I'll buy a ticket knowing I've already secured a Blu-Ray.) Plus, who knows how many theaters will end up showing the movie when it's all said and done. There's still a lot of variables still up in the air to ultimately gauge the long term success of this endeavor. At any rate, this is definitely a fascinating experiment and I look forward to seeing how this all plays out and definitely am interested in seeing how Rob Thomas wraps the whole Mars saga up after the disappointing ending to the third and final season back in 2007.

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Bryan Singer Tweets First Picture of Charles Xavier

So this picture was posted by Bryan Singer on his Twitter account today with the caption "Picture before picture. Tomorrow it begins." I assume this means that tomorrow the filming for Days of Future Past will begin.

The more I think about this movie, the more worried I become. All the ingredients are there to be an epic, incredible movie. But the cast is so massive, and you're looking at two different time periods with a number of stars that I imagine are clamoring for screen time, that hopefully Singer has a singular vision that makes it all come together. Still, there's no way this is any worse than Last Stand.

(And on an additional note, it appears that Professor X won't be stuck in that comatose man's body and ends up looking like himself again. Thinking about X-Men: The Last Stand just makes me sad.)

X-Men: Days of Future Past opens July 14th, 2014. Trailer sooner rather than later, please.

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Joss Whedon talks Avengers 2 challenges

Joss Whedon recently gave an interview to Total Film magazine and only reaffirmed the fact that Marvel could not have made a better decision keeping him on board. (As if the billion dollars he generated last outing wasn't enough.) Comicbookmovie.com transcribed part of the article where he talks about the pressure of making an Avengers 2.

Via CBM: “The only pressure is the pressure that is there every time I do a new project,” the filmmaker recently admitted to Total Film magazine. “Is it going to be good? It is going to be different? Is there even a reason to make another one? Is there a reason for this to be my next thing? Can I pull it off? I am not going to try and match the box office of the first one because that would be bonkers. Yes, there is a certain level of safety [knowing there's a huge audience] - because now people know about The Avengers and they like the characters so it probably won't completely crash and burn. But you don't want to just get by and do something that is merely OK. If I am going to dedicate three years of my short life to this then I want to do something that I have never done before. So I think of The Avengers 2 as a glorious challenge - it is a sequel, yes, but how can it be different? Of course, the pressure that I don't feel, my body internalises. It happens all the time. I was comfortable making the first Avengers, but I didn't sleep during it.” 


What continues to impress me about Whedon, which you don't always see in tentpole directors, is the fact that he wants to legitimately make the very best movie he can. There's a commitment to quality that's supported by his deep appreciation for the genre as well as understanding of the subject matter. Not to mention the fact that in previous interviews, when people have asked him "How do you make a bigger movie than the Avengers?" And his response was simply, "You don't. You go smaller." I'm paraphrasing of course, since I can't find the actual quote, but he's said a variation of this a number of times. So many directors talk about their sequels being "bigger" and having "more action" and being "more exciting" than the last movie, which to me is a ridiculous endeavor. The number one goal for any movie is to make the best movie you possibly can. Never should the goal be "We have to top the last one!" because that's only going to end up in disappointment. 2015 cannot come fast enough.

Bioshock Infinite Review

This is not going to be a video game review in the traditional sense. I won't be detailing game mechanics or explaining how fantastic the graphics look unless they relate directly to the story. There are thousands of websites out there who do all that and what my focus is when playing most games is the drive to understand the story, completely spoiler free.

To give a basic summary that does very little to truly outline the complexity of the narrative, in the year 1912, a private eye named Booker DeWitt is hired by mysterious individuals to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth from a floating city called Columbia. Columbia is ruled with a bit of an iron fist by a man named Zachary Comstock. A man who has crafted a city so enamored with the idea of American Exceptionalism that people literally pray to Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. Memorabilia throughout the city exalts our Founding Fathers as gods with Comstock as their high prophet, through whom all decisions on morality are dictated.

Unfortunately, Comstock's values are a little close-minded as he is open about his feelings on white superiority and everyone who doesn't share this same background is treated quite literally as a second class citizen. Throughout the game, special bathrooms exist for the "blacks and Irish" and are absolutely disgusting in comparison to the "white" bathrooms. And in the very first turning point, Booker is witness to a potential public "stoning" of an interracial couple where people gather and throw baseballs at the unfortunate "offenders". It's there where things really kick into gear as Booker is spoken of as the "false shepherd" that the citizens of Columbia have apparently been preparing for.

From there, Booker meets several people who push him along on his journey to take Elizabeth from the confines of Columbia. But as in all stories like these, there's much more to Elizabeth than is shown at first glance. And as a result, the story goes into many thought provoking and unexpected places that elevate it beyond almost anything I've seen before.

What's fascinating about Bioshock: Infinite is the way that it tackles a number of incredibly heavy concepts throughout its approximately 10-12 hour journey and for the most part treats them with respect and thoughtfulness. Infinite follows a similar pattern as the original Bioshock did back in 2007, but does it in a fresh and exciting way. The ending of Infinite even provided me with a personal sense of understanding as to why sequences unfold as they do. Although that's not to say others would result with the same idea. While the end does certainly provide for definite, if slightly confusing, closure, there are still elements of ambiguity that are open for interpretation.

The biggest downside of the game is how it never really follows through on a lot of these thought provoking plot lines, as the story becomes more focused on the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth towards the end and much of the analytical is dropped for a plot that goes all-in with the metaphysical. I certainly would have enjoyed to see more depth in regards to the racial plot line as well as more exploration into the actual effect that praying to America's Founding Fathers had on the population, but I suppose given that the purpose of the story is to explore these characters it can be overlooked somewhat.

Another downside is the fact that in order to get 100% of the story, you need to search for it. Throughout the game there are 80 audio files and 37 video displays scattered throughout the city which give insight and background to a lot of characters who otherwise wouldn't have received it. At the end of the game, I had only found 60 audio files and 24 video displays so I missed out on 25% of this background information simply because I couldn't find it. I understand that the primary purpose of a video game is not to deliver a story but an interactive experience, but it still grinds the narrative to a dead halt when I'm running in circles trying to find a dumb audio file to help explain what's going on and the main narrative is calling for me to continue forward. It's certainly a jarring experience when in a normal series of events, the main character would look at the "Important Thing" in the distance instead of wandering around looking for money in trash cans or an audio file hidden in a remote corner. Who knows? Maybe the resolution I was looking for in some of those plot threads were contained in the things I could not find.

But the most compelling reason for viewing this story in such high regard is the treatment of the character of Elizabeth. Ken Levine and Irrational Games have shown that a female character in a game can be as complex as in any other media without having to resort to typical low brow tactics. When you first meet her, locked away in her tower, she's a self-taught, strong yet naive woman who just wants to see the world. After escaping the tower into another part of the city, she hears music for the first time and begins to dance in a large group. This whole sequence is done in such a way that you are really able to empathize with her experience and you feel legitimately happy that this character is able to participate when you witness the joy she exudes in that moment. But as the game goes on, this innocence slowly deteriorates as she is continually surrounded by violence. (This is a first person shooter, after all.) The arc from innocent bystander to understanding participant is one that makes perfect sense in the context of the story and never feels forced as the result of some sort of required gameplay mechanic. And not only that, but she is a companion in the true sense of the word. Never do you have to concern yourself with her safety before yours, she takes care of herself, and involves herself in your battles when she can.

That's not to say Booker is a slouch character. Despite very rarely seeing his face, his motivations are consistent and interesting which keeps you consistently involved in what happens to him next. I absolutely hate the silent protagonist in games such as these, so it was a welcome change from the original Bioshock to be controlling someone who actually resembled a fleshed out character, even though he's not quite as rich a character as Elizabeth. (As an aside: I thought the silent protagonist in the original Bioshock was very well done as the twist explained the reason for this quite well.)

The other characters in this game all have interesting perspectives on religion, economics, social classes, and government in their own individual ways, but most are simply serving the story of Booker and Elizabeth and don't have much opportunity to shine. But the fact that this kind of attention to these background characters is present despite the little amount of screen time that they have (if any at all) just further illustrates the brilliance of this game.

I truly wish that more game developers would attempt such thought provoking games because that's the only way to elevate the medium when an attempt is made to put the story front and center.

The scope is incredible and since I've completed it, there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't wanted to jump back into the world of Columbia and experience it all over again.

Grade: A