The Dark Tower
Greetings, the Dark Tower is chronologically the last book of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, a collection of novels that provides a connecting bridge for all of the revered horror writer’s stories. Many characters from King’s other novels are either featured in this conclusive book or are mentioned in passing and therefore adding to the overall lore of this fictitious universe. It is the seventh instalment in the franchise and was released back in 2004. While it serves as the finale of the adventure, King wrote a short novel entitled ‘The Wind through the Keyhole’ in 2012, which is situated between ‘Wizard and Glass’ and ‘Wolves of the Calla’. As such, ‘The Wind through the Keyhole’ is regarded as book 4.5 as it takes place between the fourth and fifth novels. A film adaptation of the books is currently in development, staring Idirs Elba from Luther and Pacific Rim fame as protagonist Roland Deschain of Gilead. Matthew McConaughey portrays a primary antagonist and sorcerer named Walter or the Man in Black. The choice of Idris as Roland has been met with sharp criticism from the diehard fans of the series as it tampers with central character progression and the circumstances around certain individual’s relationships with others.
The plot resumes where ‘Songs of Susannah’ left off in which they protagonists are searching for the demon possessed and pregnant member of their team, Susannah. Jake Chambers, the youngest member of the heroes, Father Callahan, the main character of Salem’s Lot and Oy, a fictitious creature known as a billy-bumbler, enter a restaurant called the Dixie Pig. The New York based restaurant is infested with Vampiric creatures which the trio must fight their way through to save their friend and fellow gunslinger Susannah who is trapped in another dimension known as Fedic. In the other world of Fedic Susannah watches as Mia, the hermaphroditic demon that had possessed as well as impregnated her, is about to give birth to an unholy creature. The child birthed by Mia is partially human due to Roland’s forced copulation with the demonic Mia in the first book, and a partially mutating spideresque being fathered by the primary antagonist, the Crimson King also known as the Lord of the Spiders. The transforming boy, called Mordred Deschain, feasts on Mia shortly after the pregnancy is complete. Susannah, no longer possessed by Mia, is able to shoot and injure Mordred. This causes the infant to scuttle away for safety. The last part of the band of gunslingers, Roland and Eddie Dean, attempt to find the otherworld of Fedic from Maine in America. They eventually make their way to the destination and find Susannah in her right mind once more.
Once the heroes have been reunited in the other world, with the exception of Father Callahan who never made it past the Dixie Pig, they continue their long journey to the Dark Tower. Mordred Deschain, although severely wounded by Susannah Dean, continues to stalk and pursue the group with the hopes of killing Roland as per the Crimson King’s demand. The team continue on with their mission to save and reach the Dark Tower, which is of central importance to keeping the universe from ripping apart. The beams which hold up the tower are being attacked and weakened by telepathic humans called Breakers. Breakers, as revealed in the novel, use their supernatural powers to unravel the universe and it is up to the gunslingers to stop the fall of the beam by any means necessary. Several beams had already fallen prior to the beginning of the final novel which caused strange effects to ripple across the worlds such as time slowing down. Once the protagonists reach the station where all the Breakers are located, they prepare for a mass assault on the compound.
The Dark Tower series has a very bizarre story as I am sure you have realized after only glimpsing at the plot through my reviews. King combines the Western genre with fantastical elements to create a very unique story as well as some intriguing characters. The franchise is still ongoing in a sense despite the conclusive novel being released over a decade ago. As already mentioned, the film is currently underway and opens up possibilities of a new future for the Dark Tower property. Numerous graphic novels that focus on these characters are still being produced by Marvel comics and have been published throughout the years since they began in 2007. These graphic novels provide the reader with new adventures to explore, plots that revolve around a young Roland Deschain who’s earlier years were only partially mentioned in the original books. After having read the entire collection of Dark Tower novels, I am eager to experience some of Stephen King’s other novels.
Plot=7/10
Characters=8/10
Wording=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
You stupid woman.
Rene Artois
‘Allo ‘Allo
Rogue One
Greetings, Rogue One is a 2016 film and the first instalment in the Star Wars: Anthology series. The story serves as a prequel to a New Hope and offers a more complex view of the conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire than the previous entries. Most of the surviving original cast are not involved in Rogue One bar a few cameo appearances from actors such as Anthony Daniels. Interestingly, GCI was used to bring back characters such as Grand Moff Tarkin who was originally played by Peter Cushing in A New Hope. This option had been used as Cushing has been dead for over two decades at the time of this film’s release. New actors and actresses were brought into the Star Wars universe to introduce original characters to the series. Among the main cast are Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Ben Mendelsohn as Director Krennic, Mads Mikkelsen as Imperial scientist Galen Erso, James Earl Jones as the iconic voice of Darth Vader and Alan Tudyk as K-2SO. The music was composed by Michael Giacchino who orchestrates a soundtrack in a similar style to John Williams.
The film begins, with the iconic opening crawl notably absent, on an isolated farming planet in which research scientist Galen Erso and his family are in living. The world was chosen as part of a deliberate attempt to hide from the Empire’s clutches. Imperial forces lead by Director Orson Krennic, land on the planet once the scientist has been located. Krennic confronts Galen and attempts to convince him to continue constructing the superweapon named the Death Star. The negotiations take a violent turn when Lyra, Galen’s wife, is killed and his daughter Jyn goes into hiding. Galen is coerced into working for the Empire once more while Jyn remained unfound by Imperial Stormtroopers. The girl is eventually discovered by the extremist Rebel and Clone War veteran Saw Gerra as he had been informed by Galen about Krennic’s arrival in a prior scene. Jyn is taken under Saw’s wing for a number of years until they eventually go their separate ways before the next sequence begins 15 years later.
A defector from the Empire, Bodhi Rook, tries to smuggle a holographic message from Galen to the extremist Guerra. Saw is currently waging an armed revolt against the Imperial presence in the desert moon of Jedha. The message explains that Erso, as architect of the Death Star, had intentionally created a weak spot within the superweapon that could be exploited by the Rebel Alliance. Meanwhile an adult Jyn Erso is freed from an Imperial labour camp by rebel soldier Cassian Andor and K-2S0, a reprogrammed droid that used to work for the Empire. Andor, an intelligence officer for the resistance, was sent to save Jyn so that she could help the Rebels find her father and uncover more information about the Death Star.
I believed that the film was an admirable attempt of beginning the anthology series but it had several flaws that prevented me from classifying it as one of the best Star Wars films. Initially, I found the opening scenes which introduced several of the main characters to be poorly paced. I also thought that the majority of the characters had no real personality nor did they significantly progress as individuals through the storyline. There are also hints of potential romantic desire between Jyn and Andor during the finale but this is also the first indication that their relationship isn’t strictly platonic. K-2SO was the one character that stood out the most to me but I found that about half of his punchlines or snide remarks fell flat in its comedic attempts. On the positive side, I consider Galen’s installation of a weak spot in the Death Star to be an interesting technique that explained how the superweapon had such a fatal architectural flaw in the first place. Overall, the film was satisfactory in my opinion and that the last scene was by far the most interesting as audiences witnessed a glimpse of Darth Vader’s extensive and powerful abilities as a Sith Lord. Despite my reservations with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I have high expectations for the next Anthology films centred on the iconic smuggling scoundrel Han Solo and feared intergalactic bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Plot=7/10
Characters=6/10
Special Effects=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.
Ron Swanson
Parks and Recreation
Happy New Year: 2016 Review!
Greetings, it is the last day of the year once more and in accordance with tradition I am going to briefly review my favourite pieces of various entertainment media that I experienced or reviewed this year. In future, I intended to combine the New Year’s Eve and the Christmas Eve blog updates as part of my plans to produce less blog content. As always, the category winners did not necessarily have to be released this year but I will have had to have read it, watched it or played it in the last 12 months. In fact only one of the winners was released in 2016.
Television Show of the Year: Stranger Things
Series two of Fargo, an exciting prequel to the first season, narrowly lost to Netflix’s megahit Stranger Things. The story mainly follows a group of four friends growing up in a small American town called Hawkins during the 1980s. The group become entangled in supernatural events when one of the boys, named Will Byers, is attacked by a monster on his journey home alone. When it becomes apparent that Will is missing, the three remaining children search for their absent friend but encounter a strange and often silent girl where Will had vanished. It is soon revealed to the audience that the girl named El, an abbreviated form of eleven, has psychokinetic powers and claims to know of Will’s location. Due to the phenomenal success of the first series, a second season is already in development.
Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is a 2010 video game from Rockstar. It is a sequel to 2004’s Red Dead Revolver and a new instalment to the Red Dead series was announced in October of this year. The plot is centred on the flawed and charismatic protagonist John Marston, a former outlaw, who is attempting to capture his old criminal allies in the twilight era of the Wild West. He is motivated to track down his targets as the Federal Bureau of Investigations is holding Marston’s family as hostages until he completes his mission. There is also a very glitch filled but highly entertaining DLC entitled Undead Nightmare in which the American Frontier is infected by a zombie plague and John Marston must fight his way through the undead hordes.
Book of the Year: The Godfather
Published in 1969 and written by Italian-American novelist Mario Puzo, the Godfather is an iconic book about the Corleone Family. The material would later be adapted into a film, regarded as a cinematic masterpiece, and would spawn two sequel movies. While there are several interconnected plot lines, the story heavily revolves around Michael Corleone’s rise and ascension to the top of the criminal syndicate as the heir of the patriarch Vito. The plot begins to pick up speed after Don Vito is nearly assassinated due to his refusal to enter a narcotics based deal with another gangster. This attempted execution leads to a change in the Corleone leadership, at least temporarily, and commences Michael’s vengeful plans on the assailants.
Film of the Year: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
2015 saw Star Wars return to cinematic screens and was eagerly anticipated by moviegoers, especially diehard fans of the franchise, after the divisive prequel trilogy was released over 10 years ago. The Force Awakens provided a chance for the aging cast from the original trilogy to hand over the lead roles of the latest movie trilogy to the new comers in order to continue the Star Wars legacy. Unfortunately, the original main cast has become smaller with the loss of Kenny Baker and Carrie Fisher in 2016 alongside more minor actors in the series such as Erik Bauserfeld. I am aware that Fisher will be in Episode VIII as she had managed to finish her scenes before her passing away. The film is set long after the fall of the Galactic Empire in which the remnants of the imperial power, a movement known as the First Order begins to start a new conflict against the Resistance.
These four brief reviews are the last entry of the year but my blog will return in 2017 with a review of the latest Star Wars instalment Rogue One. What where you favourite pieces of media in 2016? I wish you a happy New Year’s Eve and a great 2017!
Quote of the Day
You know, no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave.
Princess Leia Organa
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Merry Christmas 2016!
Greetings, as per tradition on my blog this is an update wishing you all the best in this festive season. 2016 will go down as historic year in which seismic, rebellious political shifts took place in Europe and the rest of the globe as well as events that shook the world. The year also took a vast numbers of valued celebrities, both old and young, from us as well as causing loss on a personal level. In blog related news, I will be writing less content on this blog as stated back in the month of May when we enter the New Year. I aim to be writing one entry a month, except for December, from 2017 onwards. The next blog update I write will be the last of this year’s activity. As usual, it will an entry focusing on the best entertainment that I had experienced or reviewed this year.
I am glad that you enjoyed my latest entry on Write Wise ‘The Misadventures of Murdoch and McKenzie: Time Zone Trouble.’ As for my future plans for Write Wise, I am planning a sequel for 2014’s Christmas entry ‘The Death and Life of Ellen Smith’ and have some thoughts on what the plot will contain. On last Christmas Eve I had suggested that I would return to the Guardian series in 2016. Obviously I haven’t gotten round to this yet and it is unlikely, although not impossible, that I will return to it in 2017. I would also like to write as fantasy story next year as this genre hasn’t really been touched by the Write Wise community, at least in a number of years anyway. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Quote of the Day
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah.
Clark W. Griswold
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Inferno
Greetings, Inferno is a 2016 film directed by Ron Howard and is the latest instalment in the Robert Langdon series. It is based on Dan Brown’s 2013 novel of the same name and the movie is a sequel to the 2006 film ‘The Da Vinci Code’ as well as 2009’s Angels and Demons. At the time of writing, the lead character in all of the films, Robert Langdon, has been the central figure in four books that share the same title with their filmic counterparts. The third novel, called the Lost Symbol, had originally been intended to be adapted into a film however the producers decided to choose the fourth book Inferno instead. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Professor Robert Langdon, an important figure in the field of religious iconology and symbology. Felicity Jones, best known for her upcoming role in Star Wars: Rogue One, plays Dr Sienna Brooks who gets caught up in a conspiracy surrounding Langdon. Ben Foster portrays Bertrand Zobrist, a scientist who aims to solve the issue of human overpopulation through extreme measures and callous techniques.
The plot begins with Bertrand Zobrist running from unknown assailants in the streets of Italy. The pursuit ends in his suicide as he jumps from a tall structure in a desperate attempt to flee his potential captors. Meanwhile, a dazed and confused Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital. The first person he comes into contact with is Dr Brooks, who is treating him for a bullet wound located on his head. Langdon is haunted by horrific and apocalyptic images in his dreams but is unable to recall the events of the previous few days due to his amnesia. It isn’t long before an assassin, imitating a female police officer, makes her way to the hospital in an attempt to kill Robert. The assassin known as Vayentha begins to shoot at Dr Brooks as the contract killer walks down the corridor. This gives Sienna time to lock the door and help the delirious Langdon outside of the hospital as the assassin struggles to break down the barriers Brooks set in her way.
Robert, still unclear as to what he had gotten himself into, is offered shelter in Sienna’s apartment. The two come across the first clue which was hidden in Langdon’s belongings. A small projector reveals a modified version of Italian painter Sandro Botticelli’s map of Hell which is displayed across the wall of Sienna’s apartment once activated. It is soon revealed that Zobrist, obsessed with humanity’s survival and Italian poet Dante, had created a virus named ‘Inferno’ intent on culling the world’s population. As Sienna and Robert break the first clue and learn where to inspect next for further clues, they are chased by their assassin. The World Health Organisation, which is aware of the existence of the virus, also attempt to capture Langdon for reasons that are not initially clear to the audience.
I have read or watched some of Dan Brown’s works but my experiences are somewhat limited as I have only read Angels and Demons and Digital Fortress, the latter of which is unrelated to the Langdon series. I also have another standalone novel entitled Deception Point but haven’t gotten around to reading it at the moment. I have also seen the Angels and Demons film starring Ewan McGregor but have yet to watch the Da Vinci Code. In regards to the Inferno film, I found some of the plot points to be a little confusing and this was exacerbated with the film not really explaining who certain characters were. This caused issues when it was clear they were meant to already have relationships with other characters but these were never really explored in the film. As far as I am aware, the book and the movie differed in quite a lot of plot points as well as the relations between various characters. Hans Zimmer, one of the industry’s most famous figures, conducts the score for Inferno as he had done for the previous two movies. Overall, I believe that it is a watchable film but in the end I preferred Angels and Demons over the third instalment.
Plot=6/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=6/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
How are YOU, sir? I can speak English. I learn it from a book.
Manuel
Fawlty Towers
Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Greetings, Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the third video game in the Call of Juarez series. It was created by Polish developed Techland and was released a few years ago in 2011. The game was notably ill received by critics, urging the studio to return to their roots and continue with the original western themes for 2013’s Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. Gunslinger received a much warmer welcome and better reviews than the previous instalment. I was already aware of the Cartel’s less than stellar reputation before playing it and was curious to see what had caused the negative reaction. I also wanted to get my hands on it so I could experience the Call of Juarez series in its entirety. The game was intended to be multiplayer experience and had aspects with this in mind, such as the optional quests to steal items or by completing secret missions without being caught by your team mates. I played the campaign mode alone and witnessed the story from the viewpoints of one of the protagonists, Ben McCall, rather than through the other two playable characters.
As already stated, the Cartel was not set during the era of the Wild West but takes place in 2011. Obviously, it is centred on new characters as the events occur several decades after the original two instalments. The plot revolves around three playable characters in the form of Ben McCall of the Los Angeles Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Kimberly Evans and Eddie Guerra from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The story begins with a bombing at the DEA offices. The attack is carried out by unknown individuals with unspecified motives. Eddie Guerra, who should have died in that explosion save for receiving a private phone call and leaving the building, is highly suspected of being involved in the bombing.
Assistant deputy director Shane Dickson establishes a cross-agency team, consisting of the three protagonists, to investigate the crime and track down the culprits responsible. The team are also forced to protect a person of interest, Jessica Stone, daughter of the late Patrick Stone. Patrick had been an old friend of Ben McCall’s and was investigating the Mendoza cartel until his murder in the DEA explosion. It is revealed that the cartel had been purchasing high grade military technology and weapons from an unknown source. The team have to work together to uncover an intricate conspiracy involving the Mendoza cartel, while also being wary of each other due to each of their shady personalities and complicated backgrounds.
Overall, the game is best described as generic. The storyline wasn’t particularly interesting or coherent, at least as far as I was concerned. Some of the voice acting, especially that of the more minor characters, is grating to the ears and sounds unprofessional. Call of Juarez: The Cartel also has issues with its various characters in my opinion as they all seem to be boring stereotypes and their characterization seemed overly forced in an attempt to make them interesting or simply cool. Eddie Guerra in particular is a character that I found especially unlikable and irritating. On the positive side, Techland learned from its mistakes and released a superior game in 2013 with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. I am unaware of any plans for future instalments in the series and I am not sure if there is really any need to continue a series that already has four titles within it.
Plot=6/10
Characters=5/10
Graphics=6/10
Overall=5/10
Quote of the Day
I am a Shepherd. Folks like a man of God.
Shepherd Derrial Book
Firefly
