Pacific Rim
Greetings, Pacific Rim is a 2013 film that was directed by Guillermo del Toro, fusing together the two genres of Kaiju and Mecha into one movie. The most prominent cast members of Pacific Rim include Charlie Hunnam as the main protagonist, with supporting roles from actors such as Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Pearlman and Burn Gorman. Ellen McLain takes on a role similar to her infamous character GLaDOS from the Portal series by voicing the AI system of a Jaeger called Gipsy Danger, a humanoid mecha designed to kill the Kaijus. A sequel had been announced earlier in 2014 and is set for release in 2017.
The plot is mostly set in the 2020s and begins in 2013 when Earth is attacked for the first time by an aggressive creature named a Kaiju that emerged from the Pacific Ocean. Existing military vehicles and weapons prove to be useless against the monster, leading to the creation of the Jaeger program. Jaegers are large combat robots that can only be operated by two people who are able to drift together, a term which means the two pilots must mentally link their minds together to control the mecha. The program is successful in the beginning of the invasion until the Kaiju attacks become more frequent and more powerful as the creatures adapt to humanity’s counter-attacks. It is revealed that the Kaiju come from another dimension and are able to enter earth through a portal hidden in the Pacific Ocean floor.
In the year 2020, the protagonist and his brother, Raleigh and Yancy Becket are sent on a mission to stop a Kaiju. Yancy is killed in action while still in drift with his brother, Raleigh manages to survive the fight but ultimately leaves the program due to his failure to protect his brother. Becket becomes involved in another form of defence, the construction of giant coastal walls that are designed to keep the Kaijus out of major settlements. Due to a change in strategy, the Jaeger program lead by Stacker Pentecost is about to be closed down until one of the coastal walls fails as a Kaiju breaks it down. With humanity facing the possibility of extinction Pentecost suggests a suicidal mission as a last resort in which the remaining Jaegers fight their way to the portal and destroy it by detonating a nuclear bomb inside of it.
Overall, it is an enjoyable movie that is visually pleasing with plenty of fight scenes between the Jaegers and the Kaiju. The actors and actresses deliver a strong performance, with the characters of Pentecost, Dr Herman Gottlieb and Hannibal Chau being among the most memorable. While the film does have some intriguing characters and ideas such as the concept of the drift, I still wouldn’t call it a must see film but it is one of the better ones I have seen lately and would encourage you to watch it. I’m not sure what the planned sequel would be like due to the events of the first Pacific Rim but I am looking forward to what it will add to the story.
Plot=8/10
Characters=8/10
Special effects=9/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
Kill him and I'll pay whatever you want. Make him suffer and I'll double it.
Black Mask
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins
Greetings, Batman: Arkham Origins is the third instalment in the Arkham series and serves as a prequel to Arkham Asylum. Unlike the rest of the franchise, including the up and coming Arkham Knight, Origins was developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady Studios. A few of the voice acting cast had been changed as well such as Kevin Conroy handing over the role of Batman to Roger Craig Smith. Mark Hamill had also ended his career voicing the Joker after Arkham City and the part was passed over to Troy Baker, who had voiced Robin and Two-Face previously. Similar to Arkham City, Origins has side quests that are centred on villains including the Riddler, the Mad Hatter and Anarky. The open world also provides the player with the opportunity to find hidden Anarky tags hidden throughout the large map and to stop crimes in order to gain experience points that can be spent on upgrades.
The story takes place on Christmas Eve, five years before the events of Arkham Asylum and begins with Black Mask escaping from Blackgate penitentiary. Black Mask, who is actually called Roman Sionis, is Don of the most powerful criminal syndicate in Gotham, facing competition from the Penguin and the Falcone family. After his successful escape he places a bounty of £50 million on Batman’s head, attracting the services of the world’s most notorious assassins. The most notable of the eight killers are Bane and Deadshot, who had appeared in the series beforehand, as well as introducing Deathstroke.
When trying to track down Black Mask and avoiding the assassins, Batman uncovers that the Penguin knows of Roman’s location. Batman then boards Penguin’s ship called the Final Offer, defeating two of the killers sent to kill him and finds out the location at an apartment complex. It appears that Black Mask, along with his girlfriend, had been murdered in that room but Batman deduces that the corpse is actually a body double, suggesting Black Mask was still alive and being targeted by an unknown villain. As such Batman attempts to unravel the mystery of the murder case, find the real Black Mask and fight off the world’s greatest assassins.
While I did enjoy the game I didn’t think it was as good as the two that came beforehand due to the plot being a bit thin. I also thought that while it does provide introductions for characters, including Batman’s future ally Oracle, it was missing the opportunity to provide other iconic characters that were in the other games, such as Two-Face or Poison Ivy, with an origin story. I’m looking forward to how Rocksteady will conclude the series but Arkham Knight won’t be released until 2015. Another issue I had with the game was that it didn’t seem to add any new elements to the series but this might change with inclusion of the Batmobile in Knight.
Plot=7/10
Characters=8/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
At some point in their lives, 1 in 6 children will be abducted by the Dutch.
Fact Core
Portal 2
Mass Effect: Retribution
Greetings, Mass Effect: Retribution is the third novel written by Drew Karpyshyn and it is set after the events of Mass Effect 2, acting as a link to the third instalment in the game series. The plot follows the main characters of Kahlee Sanders and Paul Grayson, both of whom were in the original two novels, as well as witnessing the return of David Anderson. Retribution also introduces new characters including the Cerberus assassin known as Kia Leng, one of the prominent antagonists in Mass Effect 3. As with the other two books commander Shepard is only mentioned in passing rather than included in the storyline because it would be too difficult to include him or her, depending on the player’s choice, in it.
The storyline begins with Paul Grayson, an ex-Cerberus operative who had defected from the organization a few years earlier during the events of Ascension, hiding in the Omega station. Paul works as a mercenary for the criminal matriarch and leader of Omega, Aria T’Loak, who is also known as the Pirate Queen. The Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus, manages to track down Grayson with the help of Kai Leng and captures him alive. As Paul had known his cover was blown he had sent an encrypted message to a friend of his, Kahlee Sanders, who had helped him in the previous novel. Grayson warned her that Cerberus agents might be hunting her as well because of her role in resisting the organization. He also provides her with secret information on Cerberus, the data was previously kept a secret for insurance and would damage the Illusive Man if used correctly.
Sanders receives the notification and asks Admiral David Anderson of the Alliance for help in rescuing Paul. They in turn ask for help from the Turian embassy as some of the human representatives are secretly loyal to Cerberus. Once Grayson is captured by Kia Leng and brought to a secret location, the Illusive Man uses him as a test subject for experimentation with Reaper technology. The experimentation makes Pauls susceptible to Reaper indoctrination and the machines change him physically, making him stronger and quicker than is humanly possible. The Reapers use Paul as their spy, finding useful information on all the species of the galaxy, discovering their weaknesses and preparing for invasion. With the information that Grayson gave Sanders, the Turian military finds and attacks the Cerberus station that Paul is being kept prisoner in. In the chaos, the Illusive Man loses control of the station and Grayson manages to escape as a weapon of the Reapers.
Overall, it is a good novel on par with his previous book called Ascension and adds more details to the characters of Anderson, Kai Leng, the Illusive Man and Aria that was not seen in the games. I still believe that his first book, Revelation, was the best of his novels and I’m not sure if he will be writing any other Mass Effect books. The latest book follows on from Karpyshyn’s work and was released in 2012. It is called Deception and was written by another writer, William C. Dietz. I do intend to read it and review it even though the novel was heavily criticized by fans for contradicting previous lore.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Wording=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the day
Welcome to the madhouse, Batman! I set a trap and you sprang it gloriously! Now let's get this party started.
The Joker
Arkham Asylum
The World's End
Greetings, The World’s End is the third film in the Cornetto trilogy, a movie series that stars British actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It was released in 2013, following their two previous projects Shaun of the Dead Hot Fuzz, which were revealed in 2004 and 2007. While both Pegg and Frost are in the 2011 comedy, Paul, it is not regarded as part of the trilogy as it wasn’t directed by the same director, Edgar Wright. Prominent actors in the main cast are mostly British and include Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy and Pierce Brosnan.
The plot revolves around the protagonist, a middle aged man called Gary King who is played by Pegg and still behaves like his teenage self and has a desire to re-experience his youth. He attempts to achieve this by tracking down his old, estranged school friends and to complete the “Golden Mile”. The mile is a pub crawl of 12 pubs in their local town of Newton Haven and which concludes at a bar named The World’s End, a target they failed to reach in their teenage years. King eventually manages to persuade his old and now successful friends to join him in completing the challenge.
There are tensions between Gary, who had never grown up, and his best friend Andy who criticises King for not doing something constructive with his life. The conflict is pushed into the background when the group begin to suspect that residents of Newton Haven are acting unusually. Gary claims to have been a local legend of the town but few of the inhabitants remember him and seem to have changed their personalities, warning King that something is wrong. His suspicions are confirmed when he accidentally starts a fight with a teenager in the men’s bathroom, to his surprise the youth doesn’t appear to be human. He ultimately wins the fight with the help of his friends and once the group realize that they tangled in a conspiracy they attempt to complete the “Golden Mile” to avoid raising suspicion of the locals and escape Newton Haven.
I liked the film but I believe that Shaun of the Dead is still the best film in the series. If you enjoyed the previous instalments in the Cornetto trilogy you would most likely like this too. The actors provided the film with good performances, it is quite humorous for the most part with an interesting plot and colourful characters. Overall it is a movie that I would recommend, especially if you are a fan of their previous work, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Plot=8/10
Characters=8/10
Special effects=9/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the day
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "i" in meat pie. Meat is the anagram of team... I don't know what he's talking about.
Shaun
Shaun of the Dead
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Greetings, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is the fourth game in the Juarez series and brings the franchise back to the Western genre. The game was released in 2013, offering the player the chance to complete three different playable segments which include the campaign, a duelling section and an arcade mode. The story has a minor link to the original plot that is covered within the first two games as the McCall brothers are only mentioned in Gunslinger’s storyline rather than involved in it. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger follows the adventures of a new protagonist over a long time period that begins and ends in the year 1910. I’m unsure if there are any references to the third instalment in the series as I haven’t played the Cartel but I would imagine that due to its negative reputation, Techland and Ubisoft would want to distance the two games.
The plot begins with an old bounty hunter, named Silas Greaves, entering a saloon. Greaves entertains a small group of patrons as he drinks by retelling stories from his bounty hunting career that involve him hunting down legendary bandits and outlaws such as Jesse James. The patrons play only a small role in the plot, mostly asking Greaves questions, and as such they lacked a chance to develop their personalities. Despite this criticism, the main protagonist of Silas is an interesting character with an intriguing style of narration. Greaves’ storytelling contains elements of humour and exaggeration in his recounting of his adventures as he is an unreliable narrator or is misheard by his audience, leading to confusion.
The plot is short and very simplistic with only one twist at the end but in my opinion that doesn’t make the game any less entertaining. It is revealed at the beginning of the story that Silas is seeking revenge on three bandits for crimes they had committed in his past, his most prominent target being a man named Roscoe Bob Bryant. His motivation for tracking down Bryant and his companions isn’t revealed until later on in the story. While on his quest for vengeance Greaves often hunts down infamous outlaws, a factor that makes the patrons question the authenticity of his tales.
While the game is short in the campaign mode it makes up for it with memorable music, an interesting art style and two other playable modes that were already mentioned. The story mode contains an additional task for the player to complete. The player is meant to explore the map and discover the locations of nuggets of truth, items that provide information on historical figures and events. It took me a while to get into Gunslinger but I enjoyed it in the end. I am unsure what the future of this series will look like or if there will be another instalment.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
Don't talk like you're one of them! You're not... even if you'd like to be. To them you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now, but when they don't they'll cast you out, like a leper. See, their morals, their "code"... it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you - when the chips are down, these, ah, "civilized people"? They'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
Joker
The Dark Knight
Coma
Greetings, Coma is a thriller novel that was written by American physician and author, Robin Cook, in 1977. It was his first major published work although he had previously penned a short book called ‘The Year of the Intern’ in 1972. Since then Cook has published many novels, two of which I have read. They are named Invasion and Abduction, both about extraterrestrial life on Earth, and I found that reading them was an enjoyable experience. Coma was the first story of his that I had read which lacked a supernatural element or tangent in it. Instead of being a paranormal genre, the story of ‘Coma’ is based on a medical premise with an underlining conspiracy theme.
The story follows a young medical student, Susan Wheeler, who is training at Boston Memorial Hospital. As the events are based in the 1970s Wheeler is practicing in a heavily male dominated field of occupation, a major theme in the novel that is often detrimental to Susan. When she is placed under the supervision of a young surgery resident named Mark Bellows, Susan comes across a comatose patient called Nancy Greenly. It is unclear what caused the patient to fall into a coma as Nancy had entered the operating room for a simple medical procedure that was needed to cure a minor condition. Something went wrong during the operation resulting in the patient becoming unconscious and non-responsive, an event that left the experts puzzled. Greenly is the same age as Wheeler, providing a motivation for Susan to uncover what had lead to the coma.
It isn’t long before the medical student meets her first patient, a man called Sean Berman, who required a small operation on his leg. Susan prepared him for his operation but after a few hours it was revealed that Berman had also mysteriously fallen into a coma. A determined Wheeler starts to research the two cases and begins to find similar incidents that had occurred within the hospital. Her discoveries and investigation are often irritating to the medical staff. As such, Susan comes to the conclusion that there is a conspiracy within the hospital due to the negative reaction her research receives and she attempts to bring Bellows into her investigation despite risking her entire career over a hunch.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy ‘Coma’ as much as the other two stories and that is due to a few issues with the novel. These problems include having too much of a long build up to the interesting part of the plot in which the twist is revealed. While it is an interesting story line I felt that some scenes and characters were unnecessary and didn’t add much to the plot. Another notable concern considerable is that a number of characters were not expanded upon, lacked personality and didn’t have much time dedicated to them. Overall, it is a good novel with an interesting protagonist and premise but it pales in comparison to Cooks later works such as Invasion or Abduction.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Wording=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the day
Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!
Walter White
Breaking Bad
