The Hobbit Review

The Hobbit is finally here! We are finally returning to Middle-Earth after we fell in love with the world over a decade ago with the Fellowship of the Ring. Things are a bit different this time around though. Also, SPOILER ALERT. Much of this is written with the assumption that you are at least familiar with both the plot of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

 

 

What it is: The Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings written once again by Tolkien and directed once again by Peter Jackson. The Hobbit book was actually written before the Lord of the Rings and was a children’s book that publishers loved and pushed for more, so this time around we are going to be having a much lighter tone compared to the first trilogy. Many familiar faces returned for the project including Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellan as Gandalf, and Ian Holm shows up as Bilbo Baggins once again before we flash back to his younger self played by Martin Freeman.

My thoughts on it: Right off of the bat I need to stress that this movie is going to be different than the first trilogy. Because we are back in Middle-Earth with familiar faces means that this is obviously going to be compared to Lord of the Rings but that is a little unfair. The tone of the Hobbit and the tone of LotR is so drastically different that these movies are going to be drastically different. On top of that, LotR was a trilogy where each movie was based off the corresponding book. This means that each movie while building off the others also works well individually because each is given proper pacing and has solid concluding moments and natural climaxes. The Hobbit is very different once again in this aspect because it is only one book that is being expanded into three movies. Because it is being expanded as it is that means that some of the movies are going to end unexpectedly and that the pacing might be a bit off so it is hard to view those aspects as negative. Certain events need to be rearranged or exaggerated to give the movie the structure and flow it needs.

It is really hard because the Hobbit is not perfect and Lord of the Rings was and if it wasn’t it was pretty damn close to perfection. The Hobbit might not have been perfect but it was good, it was really good. But because it is so closely tied to LotR which was perfect, the Hobbit’s lack of perfection which would otherwise be completely acceptable now is construed as a negative simply because it is compared and held up to LotR.

 

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this movie. Parts of the movie were amazing and nostalgic and perfect and awesome and then there were other moments that totally flopped and literally made me cringe.

Martin Freeman was meant to play Bilbo. I loved Ian Holm’s take on Bilbo but Freeman just blew it out of the water. He does a great job capturing all of those little Bilboisms and alone provides enough comic relief for the movie with the clever and witty chatter that arises when he is outside of his elements and amongst the dwarves.

Ahh, the dwarves. The dwarves for the most part are pretty awesome. We get to know a few better than the others and the ones we do get to know are awesome. Dwalin, Balin, and Bofur were perfect and were exactly what I had been hoping for from the dwarves. While some of them were amazing some were not so much. I couldn’t stand Ori, Nori, or Dori. Perhaps it is the over the top hair or the high pitch squeaky voices but they just bugged me. Nori’s hair in particular was so oddly shaped that in any of the shots where short doubles were used the odd shape exaggerated the fact that doubles were being used and it takes you out of the experience for a moments. Despite my complaints about cosmetic details of three dwarves they were all pretty damn awesome. They were rambunctious and loud and rude and gross and perfect.

 

 

This was a complete relief because our first glimpse of the dwarves was once again, a little off-putting. The film starts similarly to LotR with a recollection of history. Instead of the battles against Mordor and Sauron narrated by Galadriel we had Bilbo going over the history of the Dwarves and explains their struggles. During this scene we get to see a lot of dwarves and again they look awesome but their home of Erabor bugged me so much. The fortress that is Erabor is a magnificent palace with deep sprawling halls full of gold and gems and smooth stone bridges web through the depths of the mountain and it is a glorious place. Unfortunately though, the magnificence of Erabor is too great to recreate practically so instead they turn to CGI to create it. The way they ended up animating it does it justice but the entire place looks animated. It looks fake! I mean I understand why they had to animate it instead of recreating it but it is just really distracting. But then again this doesn’t last for too long before we see Smaug show up and destroy the place. Erabor was the worst but there are couple instances where the environment seems completely blue screened.

Before I completely move away from the dwarves I want to talk about Thorin Oakenshield for a minute. First off, the dude is a badass. I remember from the book that he was pretty rough and tumble but in the movie this really gets emphasized. This is great and he provides us with a real emotional tie to their quest. With this being said he did feel a bit off. I have been trying to put my finger on exactly what it was but I haven’t found that exact thing yet. Maybe it is his eerie resemblance to Aragorn because you realize pretty quickly that Thorin really was designed here as a Dwarf version of Strider. Maybe it is because he is a bit one dimensional in his angry warrior attitude and he is a little over the top. Don’t get me wrong, Thorin like the rest of the dwarves was awesome and builds on the dwarves right to the mountain and the justness of their task. I just wished he had had a bigger beard to distinguish himself from Aragorn a bit more on top of looking a bit more dwarvish and there was just something else there that felt off.

 

 

One of the biggest complaints I heard about prior to this movie was that the CGI was excessive and that it made a lot of the goblins and orcs look a bit cartoony. I was incredibly thankful to find that this didn’t feel the case to me at all. In fact the CGI was really the most distracting and I guess for the lack of a better term, bad when it was used for some of the locations shots such as with Erabor. The goblins were very CGI but they still looked terribly hideous and nasty even though they lacked the scary, menacing element that the practical costumes provided. The orcs for the most part looked pretty good with the exception of a few, the Pale Orc in particular. The Pale Orc was a character which was only briefly mentioned in the book that was embellished here due to his relationship with Thorin. I know a lot of people hated this addition but by emphasizing this admittedly cool and menacing foe gave us a solid antagonist for this first film due to the lack of Smaug. He might have been added in but he was solid addition that ultimately added to the story. Except of course for the terrible animation. As cool as this orc was he just looked terribly fake and totally animated. A lot of the orcs use practical costumes which were touched up with CGI to move eyes further apart and break apart the traces of humanity in their faces a bit more and these orcs were done very well, but the Pale Orc at least looked entirely CGI. Nothing about him looked real. It was well done animation but not well done enough for us to realize that it wasn’t animated. Again not detrimental to the film but again incredibly distracting and kind of takes you out of the experience.

It’s a funny thing being in a situation where a lot of complaints about a movie adaptation are not about the material which was excluded but rather about what was added. For example, my single biggest complaint about the film was Radagast the Brown, or should I say the Jar-Jar of the film. Radagast was absolutely terrible. The wizards or istari are a powerful people and Radagast in no way reflects that and is just a complete joke. When I referred earlier to moments that made me cringe I was referring to every time Radagast was on screen. It was clear they wanted him to be the comic relief of the movie and perhaps the preteens out there who watch it will enjoy him but I have nothing good to say about the movies portrayal of him. I understand his role in the movie, he is completely necessary to facilitate the necromancer plot and he is admittedly the perfect character to do this AND incorporate more about the istari into the movie! In the Lord of the Rings book I found myself so interested in this character who has less than two pages of action; there seemed to be so much potential there and in the book he didn’t seem bat-shit crazy. Yes Radagast is cooky but not to that extent. He wouldn’t have bird shit on the side of his face and wouldn’t cross his eyes all the time and make weed jokes. Give him an ounce of dignity and self respect; Bilbo and the other characters already provide enough comic relief that they didn’t need to make him so silly. Perhaps this character was spot on according to the appendices and I am just disagreeing with how Radagast really is but I feel like it is more likely I am just unhappy with Jackson’s interpretation.

 

 

The last real complaint is maybe a bit nitpicky but it seemed like towards the beginning, more so than the end, the film was just a bit more sloppy. It seemed like some of the cuts were choppy, some the acting forced and unnatural. It seemed like the film was made in a rush and that because it was done in a hastened manner it suffered in attention to detail. Maybe Jackson was just a bit more thorough the first time around. It wasn’t bad, it just seemed like it could have been better if reworked a little more. Admittedly after leaving the Shire a lot of this decreased and the film just got progressively better.

 

 

The Shire. Just the sight of it back again was sweet enough to bring a smile to my face. The biggest complaint about the pacing of the movie has been that the beginning scene where the dwarves gather in the Shire takes too long but I loved it. Jackson has done an amazing job of making the Shire feel like home. Every time Bilbo walked through that circular door a wave of nostalgia hit me. It wasn’t just the Shire that looked as beautiful as ever but entirety of Middle-Earth. The world felt new and magical but familiar and comforting at the same time which made the movie feel the same way. Seeing Gandalf smile and having those sweeping helicopter shots with the amazing landscapes in the background just made me smile. It did an amazing job of creating throwbacks to the Lord of the Rings trilogy without bashing you over the head.The connections to the other movies weren’t the only nostalgic aspect of it. The Hobbit is presented as Bilbo’s telling and narrating of his adventure to Frodo and as he says the first words of his story I got absolutely giddy.

My absolute favorite part of the movie was the riddles in the dark scene. Other parts of the movie felt far from perfect but the entire scene with Gollum was absolutely perfect. While the CGI was lacking in other areas the animation teams clearly spent a lot of time on him. He looked better than ever and Andy Serkis once again blows the role out of the water. He really does an amazing job of showing the same depraved and sinister little devil but still with the innocence one was prior to being tortured by Sauron. And the emotion you get from him as Bilbo escapes is amazing. The despair in Gollum’s eyes at the loss followed by the absolute hatred he shows when Bilbo escapes make his motives in LotR blatantly obvious.

 

 

Compared to non-Lord of the Ring movies, the Hobbit is very good. Compared to Lord of the Rings it is not as good but still very good. I feel like the Hobbit could have been as good but it just wasn’t nearly as polished as it could have been. Most of my complaints could be very easily remedied by a bigger beard or a removal of a mannerism and the rest are just nitpicky quality details. While those little mistakes are indeed little they do remove from the magic of the world and experience and ultimately take away from how immersed you become.

Despite its faults it really is still a good movie that is just held up to a very high bar and the way it ended got me completely excited for the next two. I give the Hobbit 4/5.

Halo 4 Review

Sorry guys about the delay on the Halo 4 review. Honestly it’s just way too hard to stop playing it.

What it is: Halo 4 marks the return of the Master Chief and his faithful AI companion Cortana in the first Halo game not made by Bungie. 343 industries is now in charge of the series and for the first in a new trilogy they decided to take a more human look at the Chief as he faces Cortana’s inevitable deterioration. In the midst of this the two stumble onto a Forerunner planet, Requiem, and discover the dark secrets it holds.

Why I dig it: Where do I even start?

Before I jump in, I need to make it clear that while I may be considered a diehard Halo fan I didn’t come into this game expecting to love it automatically. A big part of my love for the franchise was the community that Bungie established on top of the in depth statistical analysis provided by bungie.net. It wasn’t just a game that 343 had to live up to but almost an empire.

With all that being said, 343 has more than lived up to what I had hoped for. From the story, to the multiplayer, to the support and the direction as a whole the game exceeds at ‘em all. As I have mentioned, the campaign kind of focuses on Cortana’s deterioration and this brings out a really human aspect in the game. The Master Chief has historically just been a very mechanical and cold bad ass soldier but this time around we get to see some emotional weakness in him as he struggles with losing Cortana.

Paired with this more involving story we get some of the most exciting and fun enemies in perhaps all of Halo history. The Prometheans are an enemy which spices up the story with a new challenge and the fact of the matter is that they bring something new to the combat table. The Crawlers are just a blast to unload into with head shot weapons and the Knights provide a new level of challenge and require the player to think about battle with them in a new way.

Thankfully the Prometheans are not restricted simply to the campaign but they also make their way into the new episodic Spartan Ops mode. Spartan Ops is made up of episodes that are released on a weekly basis. Each episode is accompanied with a short cinematic video and five chapters or missions for each player to play through. Spartan Ops is awesome. The single best thing about it is that it provides a narrative aspect of the game that will continue to draw people in long after they have completed that campaign. It is going to keep people coming back time and time again to see what is happening with the story. One of the cool aspects about Reach was that you were able to really create your Spartan and from there play with them through out every single game mode creating a more immersive experience. While we might be stepping into the boots of the Chief again this time instead of your own Spartans, Spartan Ops acts kind of like this mode where we get to be the Spartan.

Now the actual game play of Spartan Ops is decent but nothing amazing. Each chapter in episode one at least plays very similarly to a mission straight out of the campaign with one real exception: respawning. Normally in campaign at least upon death you restart at the latest checkpoint you hit but Spartan Ops does this a little differently. Upon death you simply respawn as you would in the multiplayer. You can rush two knights and kill one and get killed by the other and simply respawn and then dispatch of the other one. Things don’t reset upon death. The thing about this is that it makes these missions incredibly easy and provides us with little to no challenge. You are able to set the difficulty when starting a chapter but difficulty more or less just decides how many times you are going to die over the course of the mission instead of how much challenge is going to be presented to you. With all that being said there are quite a few Red vs. Blue easter eggs scattered throughout the mode that more than makes up for any of its down sides.

Now for the multiplayer. Oh my god the multiplayer.

Right off the bat I want to address some of the bigger alterations they made to the multiplayer. When it was first announced that custom load-outs were going to be added to the game, in addition to perks and ordinance drops everyone thought that Halo was becoming Call of Duty. While it might have gained inspiration from CoD among other FPSs out there the game still feels so much like Halo. At no point during multiplayer have I felt like this was anyway less Halo-y and more CoD-y. The load-outs really just allow players to start out with specific weapons that they would normally pick up along the way as well as fine tuning their Spartan to fit their play style. Other load-out based shooters provide players with a plethora of options allowing for a lot larger ranger of character designs i.e. shotgun classes, snipers, run ‘n gun, etc. but in Halo 4 it is much more focused. You aren’t able to design a completely broken class which you can destroy players with. This narrow range is absolutely perfect for Halo. It allows for variety among players while simultaneously allowing people to use the gear they want to use. It is a significantly superior upgrade from previous Halo games.

The ordnance was another point of concern of CoD mimicry in the game but ordnance doesn’t really fill the same role kill streaks did. Kill streaks were game changing events that were potentially devastating and again Halo has taken a much lessened approach. Ordinance is only dropping power weapons and brief custom power ups. The power weapons definitely give you an edge but they really just help perpetuate the game. Even if they give you a temporary advantage the fact of the matter is that for the most part they are all weapons that can be taken by enemy players as easily as allied players. Ultimately they just intensify the game in a completely fair manner as well as allowing players to choose the power weapons they stumbled onto into the late game.

The multiplayer also introduces a couple new game modes to the mix which both are amazing. The first is regicide, which is more or less free for all slayer and the leader has a mark over his or her head. The game plays like normal free for all but because of the cursor over the leader the game has a much more structured feel, almost a king of the hill kind of vibe. The king or leader draws everyone towards him or her providing everyone with a focused battle zone preventing things from getting slow and keeping the action coming.

The next is a new objective game type called Dominion which is one of my personal favorite playlist in the game so far. Dominion plays kind of like domination. Players try to capture key locations and then hold those areas as they become more fortified. A friend of mine kept comparing it to TF2 in the sense that each player really needs to take up different and specific roles if you want to be successful in the game. I am normally not much of an objective game kind of guy but I can’t seem to stop playing Dominion.

The entire time I was playing through Halo 4 I tried to remain as critical as possible so I would be able to identify any and all flaws but the thing is there really aren’t that many. The biggest complaint I have about the game is actually one that is entirely fixable and will probably be tweaked in the future but I found that Flood mode, the mode that I was most excited about, was a bit underwhelming. The problem I had with it was that 343 tried to make being infected less underpowered than being human and they did this perhaps too well. First off they nerfed the pistol. The pistol is normally a single shot to the head kill but they have replaced this with simply a three shot kill. In addition to the humans being weaker they gave the zombies some ridiculous armor abilities. The zombies are able to spawn in with a super ramped up thruster pack that can effectively take a zombie from one side of a map to the other in a matter of seconds. While they are using this ridiculous boost they are also still able to swipe with their flood claw removing the momentary safe zone that occurred when zombies rolled in Reach. On top of all of this they also cranked up the lunge distance for zombies ultimately making them the most powerful they have ever been.

It’s cool that they made being infected more bearable but the thing is that people don’t play zombies to infect as many people as possible. People play zombies because they enjoy lasting as long as they can, killing and wrecking zombies as they go. In previous infection modes you see players ending games with as high of score as 30 but here the highest score I have seen someone get is in the teens. This is my single biggest complaint about the game but like I said, a playlist update or two is all that is needed to really fix this and maybe it is a little counterintuitive complaining about how 343 made a game mode more fair.

The only other complaints I have about Halo 4 are all little nitpicky things which really don’t hinder the actual game playing experience. For example, the in game score chart is a little confusing at times in the sense that it is a little tricky figuring out how many kills you have in comparison to points. The only other notable complaint was the pre-game multiplayer lobby which is a tad confusing to navigate compared to previous games.

Other than that the game is incredible. While the game has seen many renovations, many non-traditional Halo changes, the game still feels like Halo. Its finds that perfect middle ground of new and familiar. I have thoroughly enjoyed ever single game mode I have tried so far with the exclusion of zombies which still isn’t terrible. So many things have been streamlined and while I have a couple complaints about how things are they have fixed an innumerable amount of complaints I have had about previous Halo games. I would argue that the campaign is the strongest story and narrative experience in a Halo game to date and the multiplayer is unmatched in its glory. All of this comes packaged in the best looking and sounding Halo game out there. While I have yet to fully explore all the juicy tib bits in forge I am familiar with quite a few of its features and I am sure that the potential maps that it offers will keep the game fresh and interesting for years to come.

Bungie left some big shoes for 343 to fill and they more than exceeded in doing so. Halo 4 is the definitive Halo experience and the single best installment in series to date. The franchise has been passed to more than worthy hands. I give Halo 4 a 5/5.

Dishonored – Review

My expectations for Dishonored were set pretty high. Everything I had heard prior to playing the game was positive and everything that I had seen before release was exciting. As soon as I put the disc in and started the game I was hooked on the experience.

I immediately felt at home playing the game because the graphics and the setting were very similar to a trilogy I really enjoyed–the Fable series. The story is a pretty simple one but engaging nonetheless. You play as Corvo Attano, Lord Protector of the Empire, and end up being framed for the murder of the Empress and the kidnapping of her daughter and the game takes off from there. A sea of calm while you get acquainted with the controls and then it throws you into the action and jump starts the story.

The game is similar to Assassin’s Creed in that it’s a stealth and assassination oriented style of play. Yes, you can go full on assault and barrage your enemies with bullets and grenades and crossbow bolts, but that’s an optional route. This game can be completed in a multitude of ways with different endings for each different style. It’s even possible to complete the game without killing anyone! This option presents a much larger challenge than the usual route of stealth killing everyone as you go along.

Each mission that you go on is a step towards finding out that age old question of “who dunnit?”. There are collectibles throughout each mission as well as side-quests that may unlock alternate endings to each mission. Among the different ways that you can finish the mission, there are also different routes on each map to get to the end destination.

The powers and upgrades available all help with the ease of completion of each mission. And depending on which powers and gadgets you choose to take and upgrade–it can change how you play Corvo throughout the game. Some abilities make it easier to avoid contact, while others drive you to engage the enemy–the same can be said for gadgets–some are not necessary if you don’t plan on killing anyone, while others will make killing and surviving melee combat much easier.

There were few things I didn’t like about the game, so few in fact that I find it hard to call them to mind and put down on the proverbial paper. I enjoyed playing the game, and the replay factor is pretty high considering the different ways with which you can go about each mission–as well as whether or not you plan on gathering every artifact and collectible. Let me know what you thought of the game. As of right now, I fully suggest the game!

Sphinxes, Demons, and Gorgons, Oh My! Part 1: Monocolored Cards

So yesterday a couple dozen new cards were spoiled so of course I started a new spoiler review. When I awoke this morning I checked MTG Salvation for new spoilers and found myself staring at a list of 120 new cards. Due to the large amount of new cards announced I am going to split these articles into two batches of reviews.

Now, let’s talk about Return to Ravnica.

Now this is a card I can get behind. With the loss of the titans and Wurmcoil the Standard environment is running low on powerful six drops and I really think that all of the powerful seven drops lying around are going to fill this void. Enter Angel of Serenity. So I think the big thing about Angel of Serenity is that it isn’t just three Fiend Hunters in one card. First off once it leaves play the creatures aren’t returned to play but rather the player’s hand. Now while a triple Fiend Hunter is cool and all it really paints a big target right between this angel’s eyes and that is where this girl really shines. Angel of Serenity allows you to remove three cards from not only the battlefield but also graveyards. It enters the battlefield and you remove one of your opponent’s creature from the game and two creatures in your graveyard. Your opponent can kill your angel and get his creature back but at the same time he is going to be returning two creatures to your hand. This card is more or less a 5/6 flying body with any combination of Unsummons and Disentombs. Definitely a powerful card, especially with Restoration Angels and Cloudshifts floating around. Keep your eye out for this one.

At this point we have quite a bit of graveyard hate but Rest in Peace might be the best ones available in Standard. The fact that it cleans out all graveyards upon entry and then goes on to completely shut out everything else that would enter the yard is way too awesome. Definitely going to be a sideboard staple.

Precinct Captain 

Creature – Human SoldierFirst strike
Whenever Precinct Captain deals combat damage to a player, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.Illus. Steve Prescott #17/2742/2

One thing is for certain: RTR definitely doesn’t mark the end of Humans. A 2/2 for two with first stike is pretty sweet but that last ability of the captain puts him over the top. If this human goes unchecked your opponent is going to quickly staring down a field of threats. Between the beaters like this guy and the white populate and detain cards coming out in the set, human decks or at least white weenie are getting quite a bit more fuel.

This card is awesome. Disperse was always sweet but it is also a rather limited card and isn’t spectacular late game. That is definitely not the case with Cyclonic Rift. Not only is it a Disperse but it also a potential finisher at the same time. It serves as great spot removal while simultaneously being a one sided board wipe in your favor all at instant speed. One effect is clearly more powerful than the other but the fact that it is both adds an amount of versatility to the card that almost guarantees that it will be seeing constructed play.

This might not be the most exciting spoiler of all time but dispel is a very powerful card and is going to be a crucial cog in any control decks especially with the loss of Mana Leak in the format. My fingers are also crossed for some sexy new art.

If you thought that blue aggro decks were gone perhaps you should guess again. A flying 2/1 for one is pretty decent and the fact that it is blue is a little ridiculous. Sure the additional cost of bouncing a creature could be considered a negative but if you really think about it there really aren’t a ton of creatures in a UW Delver list I wouldn’t mind returning to my hand. The decks that get the most out of this guy are going to be returning Snapcaster Mages or Restoration Angels or in the worst case scenario a Delver which you will simply recast. 2/1s are usually decent cards but when it is paired with both flying and the most powerful color you know you it’s going to be worth paying attention to.

Sphinx of the Chimes 

Creature – SphinxFlying
Discard two nonland cards with the same name: Draw four cards.Illus. Greg Staples #52/2745/6

Sphinx of Chimes could possibly be one of the go to win conditions for control decks. A 5/6 flyer for six is decent but that ability is just awesome. I could see this card ultimately missing but I can’t so easily overlook an ability that reads “draw four”. For control decks you spend most of the game controlling your opponent and shaping your hand. The decks that could benefit from using this Sphinx are the ones with large numbers of cards in hand and likely to have multiples. This card could definitely be a hit in standard but perhaps it will in Modern where it will really shine. By this I mean I really just want to see this dude in cahoots with Squad Hawk. Any who, this guy could be fantastic but at the same time I could see him flopping. I guess only time will tell.

I like this card quite a bit. This card feels a lot like Abyssal Persecutor and that card was incredibly powerful and saw quite a bit of play. Sure he doesn’t have trample but still a 6/6 flyer for four is the kind of power I want to be getting for four mana. Now your opponent does have the option to sacrifice a creature to tap him down which makes him a card you will probably side out against tokens but let’s look a little closer at that ability. So prior to declaring attackers your opponent can sacrifice a creature to take him out of the picture while at the same time making him a bigger threat. Now think about the scenario in which you would normally be attacking a 6/6 flyer. You attack and your opponent is either taking six or they are probably going to be chump blocking. His ability lets your opponent choose whether or not he is going to be chump blocking or taking damage prior to declaration of attackers which is significantly better than simply attacking and being chumped blocked. First off, if your opponent taps him he becomes bigger, something that is going to be incredibly relevant in a format dominated by finishers with five or six power. Second this all occurs before you actually attack. This means that you are going to be able to declare attackers with one less body on the other side of the field, fully aware that you are down one potential blocker ultimately letting you make a more informed move and play better. This is one of the cards I saw on the spoiler page and immediately knew I was going to be playing it. I cannot wait to start bashing with this demon.

As I just mentioned there aren’t a whole lot of creatures with six power floating around with the rotation of the Titans which is what makes this vampire worth paying attention to. Again, not only is it a bit bigger than the rest of the crowd it also has flying and one hell of an ability. If a 6/5 wasn’t good enough for you how about a 12/11? Attack with this vamp once and she is going to be able to pretty quickly go toe to toe with a Worldspine Wurm. Sure it doesn’t do anything immediately upon entering play but you can bet it is doing something the second you enter combat. Not only is it a notably strong body but it is going to turn all of your creatures –itself included—into absolute monsters. Necropolis Regent is definitely my favorite mono-colored mythic in the set.

Underworld Connections 

Enchantment – AuraEnchant Land
Enchanted Land has “, Pay 1 life: Draw a card”“If you need it, it’s available. The question is: how much are you willing to pay?”Illus. Yeong-Hau Han

This card is awesome mostly because it is so reminiscent of Phyrexian Arena. While being familiar it also different in several ways. First off the drawing is tied to a land. In some sense this is a negative in the sense that you are effectively losing one mana if you want to draw some cards. But with that being said it also allows for quite a few things. Being attached to a land also means you can do it at instant speed or in response to something, also allowing for potential Miracle triggers. Another big pro for this card is that you are in complete control for when you get to trade life for cards. Unlike Arena which will take that last life of yours regardless if you want it to or not, you can stop drawing cards whenever you like. If your life total is low this enchantment isn’t going to be grinding you that much closer to death. So again very reminiscent of the classic enchantment and like Phyrexian Arena you can bet it is going to be seeing constructed play. I know I want to abuse it.

When paired with a multicolored set this card might seem underpowered but there really are quite a few mono-colored creatures that are more than worth running a kill spell for. Depending on what archetypes become predominant after the release of the new set you can bet that people will be running atleast one these main board and maybe even a couple more in the side. Awesome kill spell that could trickle down to the other formats.

And those are just the mono-colored cards in this predominantly multicolored set. Be sure to check out Sphinxes, Demons, Gorgons, Oh My! Part 2: Multicolored Cards and Artifacts which comes out tomorrow! And you can check out the rest of the spoiler here, at MTGSalvation.com!

La Jetée Review

Now I don’t normally review shorts but I have found myself haunted by La Jetée, another reoccurring film that I kept stumbling on in my search for the best of the science fiction genre. I am thinking maybe a short review for a short film but I guess we will see.

What it is: La Jetée or The Pier in English is a 1962 French sci-fi film directed by Chris Marker and is a major inspiration of the 1995 Bruce Willis flick, Twelve Monkeys. Now the original is admittedly entirely in French but with that being said the entire film isn’t composed of actual moving scenes but rather is more of a slide show style film composed of several stills with a narrator speaking over it. Pssh, who needs 48 frames a second when you can have .5 frames per second. La Jetée like the 1995 remake takes place in a post apocalyptic world shortly after World War III and is more or less about time travel and the resulting paradoxes.

My thoughts on it: So admittedly those first two points I mentioned can both be construed as negatives but the two actually work pretty well for each other. I absolutely cannot stand watching a film where the dialogue doesn’t match the lips of the actors so I normally watch foreign films in the language they were originally recorded in. Due to La Jetée being mainly composed of stills and relying heavily on a narrator for audio input you are able to watch it in English without any real negative impact on the film.

Now the story of La Jetée is rather similar to that of Twelve Monkeys but it still has a bit of variation or at least as much variation as the half hour running time would allow. Now even thought the images and gist of it might be foreign all real plot twists, surprises, and revelations can be incredibly easily predicted if one has seen Twelve Monkeys which definitely is a bit unfortunate but that much could be expected when going into any remake or original of a remake. In the end, even though it is more of less the same story as the 1995 film it is still a very unique story and it is really cool seeing where Twelve Monkeys started from.

Now as cool as the movie is, the made-up-of-stills format is a little funky and ultimately takes away from the experience by making the film a little clunky a lot less smooth than it could potentially be. Sure it is an oldie but it was made in 1962; motion pictures have been around forty years at this point. By only using stills and narrations it prevented any of the actors from really shining and it made it a little difficult to associate and connect with them.

While ultimately this style wasn’t the ideal format it did allow for an absolutely haunting scene in both the movie and all of cinema. [SPOILER ALERT] This entire half hour short is filmed in this slideshow-esque style with the exception of one scene. For one brief second during a relative close up of the woman our protagonist has fallen for in the past, we see her move. It isn’t more than a gentle breath and the opening of her eyes but it is there. Out of these lifeless and dry stills we see movement and life. We see this girl whose existence we are partly questioning move and all of the sudden she is most real thing in the entire film. Due to the still nature of the movie this little shudder might as well have been a massive explosion. You find yourself struggling to understand the characters or placing yourself in their shoes but the second those beautiful eyes open you find yourself for at least a moment understanding why our protagonist has fallen so deeply for this woman. This one scene makes up for all other shortcomings the film has. [END OF SPOILERS]

Now it ultimately comes down to the question of whether or not you should watch La Jetée. Despite the funky format it is only half an hour long and that one scene/moment is one of my favorites in all of cinematic history. Regardless of whether or not you can watch it in English or simply follow along with subtitles I definitely feel that La Jetée is a film worth checking out especially if you love science fiction and/or Twelve Monkeys.

Without that one fantastic scene this movie would sit right around 3 or 3.5 but I love that scene too much to let it settle that low so I give La Jetée a 4/5.

For more reviews and more be sure to tune into Power Cords!

Darksiders II Review

Darksiders 2, being the sequel to 2010’s Darksiders (obviously) surprisingly changes things up quite a bit. Not Zelda II changes, but changes nonetheless. Where the original Dakrsiders was a rather well executed equation of God of War combat, 90’s comic book art and story, and Legend of Zelda dungeons/puzzles/items/world layout/gameplay…. basically, it was  a mature Legend of Zelda clone.

For the most part, Darksiders 2 remains true to this formula. Well, kind of. DS2 adds in a much larger and more open world(s) to explore, and most notably, adds in Diablo-style loot drops and weapon upgrades.

From the get-go, Dakrsiders 2 throws you into this apocalyptic world of angels, demons, mythic creatures and elder gods. You don’t need to have a strong understanding — or any understanding at all, in fact — of the previous game’s plot in order to follow Death’s quest to redeem his brother War, the main character of the previous game. Death is a cool, somewhat devious counter balance to the brooding warrior of War. Almost like the Deadpool of this universe.

The story revolves around Death trying to restore humanity, after earth was mistakenly destroyed by War. The story is good, exactly what you’d expect from a game like this, but in all honesty there’s much better out there, and as a guy who likes less story and more gameplay, I wasn’t that drawn in, save for a few rather badass moments. The art direction, however, is wonderful. The art and design of these worlds and dungeons give the setting an strong identity. Sadly, other than the dungeons and hub zones, the rest of the world feel bare and boring, despite the fact you don’t see much of it. Darksiders 2 spans two giant worlds (The Viking/Tolkien-esque Forge Lands, and the Kingdom of the Dead), but the inclusion of a fast travel system means you’ll mostly be popping between objectives, dungeons, and merchants, and not spending much time exploring. What little exploration you do embark on happens within the few optional dungeons scattered about the map.

Thankfully, Darksider 2 plays magnificently well. Everything from combat to traversal feels fluid and intuitive. The God of War-style combat makes use of light attack/heavy attack combos, dodges, and special abilities. The traversal is like a mix between Uncharted and God of War, playing a lot like 2010’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, making exploring dungeons quite fun.

This is all rather par for the course as far as Darksiders goes. Where the game deviates from it’s predecessor is in it’s items and loots system. Where in Darksiders players worked through puzzle-laden dungeons in order to find a new item or new ability, use said item to defeat the dungeon’s boss, and then use the item to access a new part of the map.

Darksiders 2 does things differently. Most everything is open fro the outset of the game, at least in terms of the first over world. You don’t gain nearly as many special items, though there are some, and you do use them to uncover secrets or secondary areas. Instead, the focus is on loot and equipment. Often enemies will drop loot and gold. This loot can be anything from health potions, to new weapons and armor. Like with any loot-based game, certain items will increase your stats, and other may even have a special effect, such as stealing health or ice damage. As you might expect, better loot can make a difference in combat, especially boss battles. There are even special weapons that can “eat” other equipment and level up, allowing you to increase damage and add extra buffs.

In addition to this, Death has 2 skill tress to develop — one for melee attacks, and one for summoning minions. As you level, you earn skill points, yada, yada, yada. It’s action RPG 101. And if you don’t like your choices, you can spend a few gold to respec at any time. I found I didn’t use the melee attacks much, but the minion tree proved to be quite useful, especially for life steal. Thing is though, the system feels odd. I didn’t feel all that compelled to upgrade, even to the point of forgetting to use my points for about six levels. In terms of progression, I hit a wall about halfway through and lost interest in the RPG aspects of the game. The base gameplay was good enough, and my progression through the dungeons quick enough, that I still stuck with it though.

All in all, Darksiders 2 is pretty great. It diminishes a lot of what I loved about the original game, but many of the new additions are pretty cool (even if the RPG elements feel tacked on a bit). Darksiders 2 represents a type of game that is slowly dying out: the B-level, super “videogame-y” videogame, that doesn’t take itself too seriously, knows what it does well, and offers a great experience that doesn’t have to be a AAA blockbuster (and shouldn’t). If you’re in the market for a new God of War, or action RPG, or Zelda, or Legacy of Kain, or Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, then you’d do well to pick up Darksiders 2.

Score: 3.5/5

Pros: Awesome combat; great dungeon design; fun exploration and puzzle solving; really great artwork and setting.

Cons: Story is a bit bland; the overworld is bare and boring; the RPG elements can be hit or miss.

Ravnica Spoiler Review

HOLY CRAP. Return to Ravnica looks ridiculous.

While spoilers for the upcoming set have been slowly leaking out for the past month or so it wasn’t until a few days ago when the first of the month as well as PAX rolled around the corner when the first big batch of cards showed up. Among them are a quite a few brand new and awesome cards but perhaps some of the most exciting cards revealed so far are reprints.

That’s right. The Shocklands are back and with new fancy art. Only the first 5 are showing up in Return to Ravnica while the other five will be paired with their respective guild in Gatecrash. At first it seems a little ridiculous including these powerful lands in a Standard environment but without Fetchlands they are a little less ridiculous. With that being said though I would still absolutely love for Fetchlands to get reprinted in the next block. Fingers are crossed.

The Shocklands aren’t the only exciting new lands in the set either.

Return to Ravnica is debuting a brand new type of land called Gates. Gates are more or less your normal dual color tapped land except it has an additional type. Now while these lands are a little underwhelming compared to the Shocklands they are still incredibly important for several reason, most importantly, because it is a common. By making dual colored common lands Wizards has made it so that in limited building multi-colored decks will be significantly easier due to the all the lands you will be easily picking up in each pack. Now continuing off that, it will also allow players who are building on a budget to still really get the most out of the set and still exploit the colorfulness of the set without having to fork out tons for top tier lands. Lastly, these lands are going to absolute all-stars in Pauper. I have been hoping for some sort of dual colored land in the format (other than bounce lands) ever since first trying the format out and now I finally have some.

Out of the Gates and Shock-lands as well as all of the other lands available in Standard multicolored deck building should come with relative ease.

So the percentage of the cards spoiled so far that I am excited about is significantly higher than usual so I am just going to start at the top of the spoiler and just start going down it.

Jace, Architect of Thought 

Planeswalker – Jace+1 : Until your next turn, whenever a creature an opponent controls attacks, it gets -1/-0 until end of turn.
-2 : Reveal the top three cards of your library. An opponent separates them into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other on the bottom of your library in any order.
-8 : For each player, search that player’s library for a nonland card and exile it, then that player shuffles his or her library. You may cast those cards without paying their mana costs.Illus. Jaime Jones #44/2744

New Jace! As disappointed as I was seeing that the new Jace was in fact not multicolored, my excitement about every other facet of the card outweighed that disappointment. First off we have to look at whether it passes the planeswalker test of being able to defend itself and here Jace gets an A for effort. While he cannot directly deal with any threats on the board he is able to shrink the attacks of any offenders with his plus 1 making him an ideal threat against decks with lots of smaller creatures. Now Wizards apparently realized exactly how much they love giving Jace an ability that is more or less a powerful draw spell from an eternal format. The Mind Sculptor had Brainstorm and the Architect of Thought has a mini Fact or Fiction. A -2 ability that is getting you at the most two cards is pretty dang good. Worst case scenario for Jace is throwing him out there when he isn’t really going to do anything and simply drawing 4 out of him over the next two turns. For 4 mana that is pretty awesome. Now his ultimate is one of my favorites seen on a planeswalker in quite some time. Being able to search your opponents’ decks in addition to your own for any spell to throw in your opponents face is too fantastic. I really want to see this new Jace paired with an Emrakul and used as a way to cheat that monster into play. While the Architect of Thought definitely is no Mind Sculptor he definitely brings a lot to the table and even though he can’t defend himself as well as others he is still a 4 drop planeswalker starting at 4 loyalty. Keep your eye on this bad boy for sure.

The next card isn’t nearly as exciting as Jace but is definitely one that could be a blast to play with.

Pack Rats paired with other fantastic and fun rats such as Ink-Eyes, Swarmyard, and Relentless Rats could make some incredibly awesome casual decks. I don’t really think this could be anything competitive but it would be a blast to play with. Rats for days.

Mizzium Mortars is pretty damn rad. This card shows off Izzet’s new mechanic and it is pretty awesome. Mortars un-supersized is a decent kill spell for 2 but once it is Overloaded it has the potential to completely wipe an opponent’s board. The versatility behind Mizzium Mortars is probably going to be enough to see it appearing in some Standard RDW builds.

Hey check it out Overgrown Battlement is being reprinted except it isn’t as awesome. Sweet.

Axebane Guardian might not be as effective as Overgrown Battlement it looks like there might be a couple of other exciting green defenders getting released in the new set so there is definitely going to be the potential of a green defender ramp strategy.

Joining the Guardian is Gatecreeper Vine which is able to fetch you some of those fancy new dual lands. Last time we saw these kinds of cards making it into constructed players were ramping into 15/15s and Eldrazi and what not. What can we ramp into this time?

Well we might not have any Eldrazi this guy sure is a worthy target. I mean you cast this monster and unless your opponent has an O-Ring in hand you pretty much win the game. 15 power on board for 11 is good but even after death he leaves you with 15 on board and that 15 is always attached to a trampling body. So for that 11 mana you are essentially getting 30 power with trampling. That’s alright I guess.

I kind of skipped over white due to a lack of anything too impressive yet but at this point it is definitely worth mentioning Selesnya’s mechanic, Populate. Populate lets you put a copy of any token you have on the field. When the mechanic was first dropped I immediately saw 1/1 spirit tokens and tiny humans and the idea of getting just another little dude wasn’t all that appealing.  But now we are seeing some big tokens. 5/5 tramplers and 8/8 vigilancers (it’s now a word) are definitely something I would be interested populating the field with. Populate is definitely going to be better than I originally predicted.

Now this card is definitely designed to fill the slot that Frost Titan had been holding onto for so long. Here is that control deck finisher that can single handedly shut down the field. Archon of the Triumvirate introduces us to the new Azorius mechanic, Detain and I am fan. While arguably less powerful than tapping down a permanent he is also able to shut down permanents with non-tapping activated abilities, *cough* guildmages and planeswalkers *cough*. This new Archon is able to shut down two at a time with double Detain and is attached to a flying body. This is a creature I can get excited about.

So we all know that charms are awesome. Instances with multiple abilities provide us with powerful and versatile spells. Sure some are less powerful than others but all are somewhat constructed worthy. Azorius Charm provides you with most importantly a removal spell that also can draw you a card or get you some life. If your field is set up well you could be looking at quite a bit of life gain for 2 mana. Not too shabby.

Carnival Hellsteed. Shows off the new Rakdos ability Unleash which is ok. It doesn’t blow us away but it could do some cool things. Regardless of whether or not you Unleash this bad boy you are still looking at a hasty first striking 5 or 6 power which is pretty good and pretty tough to deal with. Moving on.

Hey we got finally got the other half of Doubling Season after Innistrad’s Parallel Lives. Also it’s on a 4/4 body for 4 which is pretty neat. How neat is that?

Terminate is one of the best kill spells because for just two mana you can kill any creature. How do you top that? How about same mana cost except it also kills any planeswalker. While Dreadbore might not be at instant speed its versatility and power are going to make it an all-star in Modern, Standard and there is a very solid chance Legacy too. This card is probably not going to be less than 5 bucks at any point ever.

So a creature that makes all of your instances and sorceries cost one less is pretty damn good. That means that your Negates are one drops and your Searing Swords are Lightning Bolts. Now this ability on a 2/2 body for 2 is just too dang awesome to pass up. I love this card. Izzet is definitely shaping into one of the better guilds.

I doubt that Havoc Festival is going to be a hit in most competitive formats regardless of my love for it. With that being said I can see this card doing some work in an aggressive EDH or multiplayer build. Not a good card but a damn fun one.

Isperia shows off how much this set is apparently geared towards multiplayer. This sphinx is going to be so much fun to play with it. In multiplayer you are going to be more or less untouchable. In single player this card is going to more or less shut down aggro decks. Imagine having this dude on the field against Naya Aggro where you are looking at 2 or 3 attackers a turn or should I say 2 or 3 more cards per turn. This card feels like it is filling in the hole left by Consecrated Sphinx. Isperia is sweet.

Izzet Charm is awesome. It is definitely one of the more exciting cards in the set so far. It feels a lot like and functions very similarly to Fire//Ice. This one card is able to deal with small creatures, every other spell, and it can draw you cards in a pinch. Neither one of these cards is better than one another due to both being incredibly versatile and powerful but I will say that Izzet Charm is definitely at the same power level as the eternal staple. This card is going to do wonder’s in Standard, Modern, Legacy and perhaps even Vintage. It is an all around awesome card and just another reason to start worrying about UR Delver.

Lyev Skyknight is another example of the power of Detain. I can only imagine that this is going to help the outlook for UW Delver. This 3/1 flyer fits in way too well next to Delver and Restoration Angel. This card is powerful and works way too well in faster paced aggro/tempo decks. I like it a lot.

We were told Niv-Mizzet was going to be reprinted and we now we get to finally see the return of the brilliant dragon. So this new Mizzet is powerful and I love it but it really feels like Wizards took the original Niv and just kind of twisted things around just a little bit. The original read when you draw a card you deal damage and he had a draw ability but this new one reads when you damage someone you draw a card and he has a damage ability. Like I said it is an awesome card but it kind of feels like Wizards got lazy during the design process. With that being said this Niv is much more capable of machine gunning down an opponent’s army.  Unfortunately though you won’t draw cards for it. While his ability might be more powerful than the original he honestly feels a little underwhelming in comparison. Cool card but probably won’t make the biggest splash.

Blaze + Mind Twist = Rakdos’s Return. Cool card and likely to lead to a BR control build floating around. I feel like this shouldn’t be a mythic but then again I have yet to see it in play. Perhaps it will Shock us. Please forgive the pun.

Selesnya Charm like all of the other ones so far is going to rock socks. This one gets rid of a big threat, gives you a threat or makes one of your other dudes a threat. Versatile and incredibly fitting for the color combo. Good chance it will be seeing constructed play.

So apparently WOTC felt that green and white needed some sort of trump card against Delver and blue in general. Wizards also felt it was necessary to put this devastating ability on a one drop creature. They also felt it was necessary to make this one hell of a one drop by making the one mana casting cost even more flexible and by making it a 2/1. Green and White now have a powerful ability on a powerful creature for a dirt cheap price. Thank god it isn’t a human.

Also Cursecatcher is getting reprinted and is even easier to cast now. Hybrid mana rocks.

Darksteel Ingot and Coalition Relic should scoot over because there is a new 3-drop-mana-producing-rock in the house. And not only does this bad boy act as ramp but it also fixes the entirety of your mana base. Chromatic Lantern is more or less a Manalith with a Prismatic Omen mashed on top. I love that card so this new artifact is definitely one of my new favorites spoiled so far.

Even though only the first 70 cards of the set have been revealed so far I am pretty much sold on buying a box or two. Or five. Return to Ravnica is shaping into one of the most flavorful, exciting and all around kick ass sets to date for formats from Standard to Legacy to EDH.

For all of your RTR news be sure to tune into Power Cords! For a look at the entire Return to Ravnica spoiler head over to MTGSalvation or simply click the link here!

Final Fantasy IX – Retro Review

What it is: Final Fantasy IX is the ninth (obviously) main entry in Square-Enix/Squaresoft’s vastly popular Japanese RPG series, Final Fantasy. It was an important game as it marked a return to the series’ true fantasy roots, and was a salute to the then already-long-running series.

Why I dig it: I’m particular when it comes to fantasy. I can buy just about any apocalyptic scenario, and far-future sci-fi tale, and just about any superhero story, but for fantasy, it either works or it doesn’t.

All things considered, I shouldn’t like FFIX — whimsical setting, anthropomorphic animals and 15-year old theives with tails; immeninent, over-the-top magic and a sappy, generic love story at it’s core are all things I can’t stand. It’s almost like a fairytell setting, but for some reason, I love it. It could be the combat, the unique skill system, the great music, or perhaps it’s just the honesty and lack of melodramam and cynicism — things that have seriously marred the series ever since Final Fantasy VII brought in zippers and spikey hair, and filling it with more angst and moodyness than a Hot Topic. It’s truly a “fantasy” setting.

Final fantasy IX has a great — albeit goofy — cast of characters, including the mischievous thief Zidane; young black mage Vivi; adventurous Princess Garnett; and the mysterious dragoon Freya, to name just a few. You meet many characters along the way who all fit the Final Fantasy molds, but as with everything in FFIX, they have a charm and whimsy that characters in other Final Fantasies lack. Then again, it may just be that most of the NPCs are anthropomorphic animals, but who knows.

The story is good, balancing a s story book tale with perilous journey and warring kingdoms. There are some interesting twists, but because of the game’s lighter tone (when compared to games like Final Fantasy VI or VII), some of them don’t pack much of a punch, and for the most part, even when the villian’s plans have been uncovered, there isn’t a strong sense of peril. Still, the character-driven story is more than enough to keep you engaged.

When not reading through lines of dialogue, you’ll find yourself actually playing a game! (not to sound too facetious, but Final Fantasy isn’t exactly an action packed series). The good news is, it’s a good game. The combat is pretty similar to most Active Time battle systems, and features a “trance” meter, which builds throughout encounters, and allows you to perform powerful moves. Some scripted battles will begin with a party member already in trance (usually due to story reasons), giving you a bit of an edge in certain circumstances.

The skill progression in FFIX is probably the most interesting and unique system in the game. Skills and abilities are tied to certain pieces of equipment, meaning you can only have access to the skills your equipment comes with. However, the longer you wear the equipment, the higher a skill is leveled until it is “mastered.” Mastered skills can be used without needed a specific item. The catch here is finding the right balance between stat boosting and skills. You might find an much stronger weapon, but the one you have currently equipped may have a few highly beneficial skills tied to it. Do you wait and level your skills until they are mastered, or take the stat boost and be more effective in general combat? It’s a very fun and deep system, and one that requires a bit more strategy and planning than other skills systems in the Final Fantasy series. Unfortunately, it can also mean you’ll be spending quite a bit of time grinding, but the combat is good enough that having to do so isn’t always a chore.

I’m not as invested in this series as most. I’ve played a few titles here and there, but mostly, it’s not on my radar. That being said, Final Fantasy IX might be my favorite final Fantasy; 7 may be more widely beloved, 6 might have the better story and characters, and 12 might have the better combat, but 9 has an undeniable charm that has drawn me back to it time and time again. As I said, I’m not much of a Japanese RPG fan beyond the few titles I’ve mentioned in this review (and classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy Tactics), but for what it’s worth I feel Final Fantasy IX may just be the perfect Final Fantasy to play if you’ve ever been curious in the series or longing to return to the series.

Even thought the main antagonists are a giant clown queen and androngenous male with a visible g-string under his garments.

Score: 4/5

Pros: Fun story; combat is strategic, but still quick enough that it doesn’t become a bore; great skill/equipment system; returns the series to its roots and avoid the problems that have befallen the latter half of the Final Fantasy catalogue.

Cons: Dated graphics and sound; some pacing issues; saves system is archaic and can be frustrating; often feels more like an interactive story than “role playing” game.

The Dark Knight Rises Review

So the day prior to the release of the Dark Knight Rises I was absolutely exhausted. For one reason or another I got very little sleep before waking up early for work and I was the most exhausted I have been in years. I tried to make up for this exhaustion with coffee and energy drinks and naps but for one reason or another I couldn’t sleep and the caffeine was not helping. This one night where I was required to stay up until 3:00 am, a feat which I normally wouldn’t even bat an eye at had me worried about whether or not I would be able to fully enjoy the premiere. As the credits started rolling for the movie around 3:00 I found myself rather upset that the theater wasn’t playing a 3:30 showing. My exhaustion had vanished and if the opportunity had been available I honestly would have gone on to watch that show. As well as the 7:00 am show.

What it is: The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s final film with Batman and it is the epic conclusion to his much beloved trilogy. The film stars Christian Bale who is once again playing Gotham’s dark knight and he is accompanied by several familiar faces including Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine. Joining the cast for the first time is Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane in addition to other Nolan staples such as Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Why I absolutely loved it: So as you have probably gleamed by this point I kind of enjoyed the film.

The film starts out at a party marking the eighth year since Harvey Dent’s death. Right from the get go we are seeing the impact of the Dark Knight. We see the effect that the Joker and Dent had on Gotham as well as the strain it has had on the people of Gotham. It shows that each movie isn’t more or less its own thing with reoccurring characters but rather one chapter in a single story. Not only are the events of The Dark Knight established early on but as the movie progresses we also see that the events of the first film also have a big impact on the story. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were both brilliant movies but both were building up towards The Dark Knight Rises. Each movie isn’t its own standalone thing but rather a piece of the bigger picture in addition to each one being great when looked at individually.

While the old and familiar played a major role in the film in no way whatsoever was it stale and littered amongst the throwbacks and the recognizable were quite a few new faces. The first I wanted to talk about was Catwoman. To sum up Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Catwoman in one word would be ‘wow’. When it was first announced that the villainess/heroine would be making her debut in TDKR I honestly a little underwhelmed. Sure she is an iconic character in the DC universe but I just never really cared about her and never really understood why I should. TDKR completely changed that for me. Holy crap was she awesome. As much as I love Chirstian Bale as Batman I honestly felt that Anne Hathaway was a better Catwoman than Bale was a Batman. It really just felt like the role Hathaway was born for. She was intelligent, clever, cunning, fast, sexy, funny and completely badass; she was everything Catwoman should be and Hatheway perfectly captured the Catwoman essence. I found myself smiling every time she showed up on-screen which fortunately was quite often. Words can’t really adequately describe my glee at Nolan not only being able to portray Catwoman perfectly but he was also able to give her her iconic cat ears but in a not stupid “I am deliberately wearing cat ears” way.

The next new face I wanted to talk about was Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character John Blake. Blake is a new face not only to Nolan’s trilogy but also to the entire DC universe and he is an addition I am glad Nolan made. Blake feels a lot like a younger James Gordon with little splashes of Bruce Wayne sprinkled on top. While he is not a traditional DC character and is more or less is just another friendly cop –by friendly I mean one who likes Batman and eventually collaborate together—he does serve an incredibly important role in the film. In the past two movies it was really Batman and Gordon working together and other than that they were alone. Even though Gordon was a police officer more often than not he is alone in his support for the Bat and he is alone in fighting alongside him. With the addition of this single character fighting besides Batman and Gordon, Nolan is able to demonstrate that they are not alone this time around. It is not only Blake fighting besides them but all of Gotham is as a unified front against Bane.

Now Bane is one hell of a villain. Nolan has taken a few creative liberties throughout the trilogy but for the most part has stayed relatively true to the comics (one or another). With Bane, Nolan has taken perhaps the most creative liberties to date and I am sure there are some people out there who are unhappy about this. And by people I mean like two or three die-hard fans and Bane purists out the 7 billion people on Earth. Sure Nolan diverged some from the real Bane but his take on the villain is at least in my own opinion way, way better. Prior to this movie I had always really thought of Bane as this ruthlessly strong and massive brute. Nolan painted him as a ruthlessly strong and massive brute who also happens to be an evil mastermind. Not only is Bane able to physically dominate the Bat but he also has the intellect to outsmart him ultimately providing us with a much deeper villain with a much deeper relationship with our hero. Sure in the comics he was more of a mastermind and genius than Joel Schumacher painted him to be but honestly I never really thought of Bane as an evil genius until now. Another big liberty Nolan made was not covering Bane’s entire face. Bane has traditionally always worn a mask over his entire face and thank god Nolan decided to show off his eyes this time around. Tom Hardy has been one of my favorite actors for a while now and even with a mask covering up 75% of his face he delivers one of his most powerful performances to date. With just his eyes Hardy is able portray so many emotions and a ridiculous amount of intensity. With only his eyes he is able to deliver an amount of intensity than anyone else would need his or her entire face to accomplish. Nolan’s version of Bane’s mask not only is superior to other variants due to the uncovered eyes but the mask also serves to distinguish Bane from the rest of the crowd with an incredibly unique voice –which you can understand 95% of the time– and equips him with a mug that gives him the appearance of someone who could bite your face off.

As much as I loved Nolan’s take on Bane’s origin story they never really explain that giant scar running down his spine.

Everyone I have discussed the movie with has absolutely loved Hardy’s Bane but his incredible performance begs the question: is Bane better than the Joker? Most of the people I have talked to have most certainly felt that he was but I am not so sold. While I might not completely agree with them I can understand where they are coming from. Hardy delivers a powerful performance and is hands down one of the best movie villains of all time and if Bane and the Joker had a villain-off I would probably bet that Bane would win. So in some sense Bane is a better villain but regardless of Bane’s intensity and power, his performance didn’t haunt me the way Ledger’s did. I spent a lot of time after The Dark Knight trying to figure out a single word to describe Leger’s performance and that was the word I settled on: haunting. Heath Leger’s Joker was just so uniquely perfect and he perfectly captured that insanity behind the Joker which in my opinion makes him the greatest villain of all time. In no sense is Bane a bad villain. Like I said I honestly would place him in my top five villains of all time –do I see an upcoming list?— and off the top of my head the only other villain in movie history that might steal second from him would be Darth Vader.

As awesome as the movie and its cast were I do have a few minor complaints. First off I felt that there were a couple quick fixes that occur earlier on in the movie. For example we see in the beginning Bruce has a messed up leg, so much to the point that he must walk with a cane but then all of a sudden he gets an awesome machine leg brace and he is completely healed for the rest of the movie. I remember counting four real instances in the movie and they all happened early on. Every time Wayne or friends is faced with an apparently unfixable situation they quickly answer it with an unrealistic solution. It’s like every time he is faced with a hurdle he simply pulls out a step-ladder from his bat-belt and walks over it. These situations build up the tension and have you going crazy trying to figure out what he will do next and the answer has you mumbling about how stupid it was. These moments always feel like the creator gets really excited establishing an awesome situation and then exhausts all creative ability and just finishes it with some quick fix.

The Dark Knight Rises is the longest in Nolan’s trilogy clocking in at two hours and forty five minutes and it is absolutely necessary because there is so much content that needs to be covered. That’s my only other complaint actually that is wasn’t long enough. Several scenes felt like they were rushed and smushed to fit in. For the most part this wasn’t too excessive of a problem but there are a couple of scenes I really wished had been half an hour or so longer. Like I said this movie is closing in on three hours long and I honestly wish it was closer to four. There are few movies I can say that for and very few that I would encourage to increase the running time to an amount that high but TDKR is an amazing movie and at no point did I feel that those one hundred and sixty-four minutes were too much.

[SPOILER ALERT. Do not read the following section if you have not yet seen the film and do not want big chunks of the plot spoiled because I am going to be discussing several of the films major and final revelations. I am going to throw in a picture right here to mark the start of the spoiler zone and will throw in another one to signify the end of the spoilers.]

Christopher Nolan, I love you for being the genius that you are. From early on we were given several tid bits about the film from trailers and auditions about who was going to be joining the next Batman’s roster and once we were given a glimpse most people, myself included, thought we had gotten things figured out. When we first saw that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was going to be playing a young and idealistic cop we felt for sure that this meant we were going to be seeing Robin or Night Hawk make an appearance regardless of the character’s name being off. Even after Nolan expressed his disinterest in including the character in this final chapter I held on hope of seeing the Bat’s faithful sidekick showing up in one form or another. I mean how perfect would it be to see Robin come in as Batman left. Who would be dissatisfied with that ending? I understand the sidekick has a natural disposition of being cheesy and lame but if simply implied he would show up you wouldn’t even risk that on top of giving fans what they want. Walking into the theater I knew what I wanted to see happen but I knew that it most likely wouldn’t. The character’s name was completely wrong and even Nolan had pretty much shot down the concept. Because he did this it made that final revelation that much more fantastic. We had all but given up hope of seeing him and then there he was.

The next revelation is another one people figured out pretty early on. When it was first established that Liam Neeson was going to be returning and that Marion Cotillard was going to be joining the cast it seemed pretty clear that she was going to play Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter, Talia Al Ghul, arguably one of Batman’s greatest foes. Being a giant fan of Batman Begins and Neeson’s portrayal of Ra’s you can only imagine my excitement of the prospect of seeing his daughter make an appearance. Once again though as more information became available it appeared that Cotillard wouldn’t be playing Talia but rather some other lady name Miranda, again destroying our hope of seeing the character’s we wanted and once again, making her eventual revelation all that more exciting.

Now I have loved Nolan for his directorial abilities and storytelling for as long as I could remember names of directors but the way he handled these seemingly obvious secrets was masterful. Once casting calls go out the world pretty much knows what’s up with a movie and the basic gist of the plot. By using different names and denying what everyone wanted to hear he was able to maintain the power of every big revelation in the film and was able to make it an amazing revelation even for the people who figured it out on day one.

With that being said, it makes you wonder what else Nolan has lied about to maintain the significance of the revelation. Perhaps that whole statement about being done with Batman? I know it’s a long shot but he has established that he is a man who cannot be trusted in the best sense possible.

Before ending the spoiler section I wanted to mention exactly how stoked I was that Nolan included Bane breaking the Bat. This is arguably one of the most iconic moments in all of Batman lore and I know that I personally would have felt a bit cheated and jipped if this scene was not addressed. This scene in addition to the those two big revelations has got to more than make up for any artistic liberties Nolan took with the series. I hate to admit this but I was honestly squealing with joy at each one of these moments due to my inner comic book geek being overly ecstatic.

[END OF SPOILERS. The rest of the review is completely spoiler free so read on without fear.]

As Christopher Nolan has mentioned in interviews, TDKR is one of the most epic movies to be released in years and the fact of the matter is that it really is. Not only is it the ‘biggest’ of the trilogy but I cannot think of any other action movie that even compares to it or is even close to being on par with it. Admittedly the scale of the situation isn’t as large as the situation in The Avenger’s but the way Nolan paints the situation you really feel the weight of Bane’s actions in a way that few other movies have captured. Sure Nolan is responsible for the beautiful cinematography and perfectly constructed shots throughout the trilogy but he is also just a masterful storyteller. I am hard pressed to think of another director who would have done as well of a job with the trilogy as Nolan did if someone else had been given the script.

Batman is facing the most difficult and intense situation and villain he has ever before and this leads to an incredible movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat with your eyes stuck on the screen for all two hours and forty-five minutes. The amazing cast delivers great and spot on performances from all which means that both you comic book lovers and non-lovers alike will love this movie. The scale of which everything happens leads to not only the best super hero movie of the year but arguably the single best super hero movie of all time. As Christopher Nolan time and time again reminds us that he is force to be reckoned with I feel it would be only fitting to use his own word to end on. The Dark Knight Rises is absolutely epic.

While for the first half of the movie I was settling on something closer to a 4.5/5 than a 5/5 due to those few small complaints I had in the beginning the second half had me settling on something closer to a 10/5. I give The Dark Knight Rises a 5/5.

So with that being said, go watch this movie right now. There is a pretty good chance you will see me in the theater back for more. This is the first movie since the first time I watched Fight Club where I wanted to immediately watch it again the second I finished it. The Dark Knight Rises is such a good movie and it is so absolutely epic.

Guest Blog: The Newsroom Review

Mr. Graeme Dyehouse

Sunday, June 5, 2012 was the premier of the fourth episode of HBO’s The Newsroom and we’ve been hearing a lot about it, ironically, from the news media itself. What I’ve come across is a lot of negativity towards the show. Everything from the general premise, the plot devices, and the writing; all held in contempt by reviewers and media persons alike. A television series about the news, in critique of the news media, can certainly be expected to catch a certain amount of flak from aforementioned news media. I am not surprised but I do still believe that we must draw attention to what we can constructively learn from the series, that it does indeed have merit, and that that merit is based on the message the series broadcasts to its viewers.

What it is: Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy, the anchor of a fictional cable news show. The series begins with Mackenzie MacHale starts as the new executive producer on Will’s network, and institutes a new way of doing news with facts, straight, to the point.                    

John Gallagher Jr., Alison Phil, and Dev Patel join them as supporting staff in the newsroom. Dev Patel making a mind-bending 180 from his former role on Skins. Olivia Munn also appears as Sloan Sabbith, a co-anchor and she is much more enticing playing office politics in dress suits than she ever was pretending to really like videogames.

 

 Together this crew of newsmen and women work to undo what their industry has become; a bloated, ineffective entertainment outlet and it makes for good T.V.

Why I dig it: I wanted to point to a particular review I read in which the author, Michael Wolff, wrote in the role of fact-checker, pointing out the various flaws within the story line of the show’s first episode, which centered around the break in the BP oil spill story. Would I be naïve to question the purpose of an assessment of the truthfulness of a historical fiction piece? I missed the point. The purpose of The Newsroom is to make a statement; to draw attention to the cracks within modern journalism and doing so through our very own world events. The creators of a dramatic television show are allowed some creative license and it should not be the cause of detraction from the show’s following. The Newsroom walks a line between its message and its medium. Nit-picking the facts of the show does not make these issues go away, but if your in Mr. Wolff’s camp here are some facts for you: modern news media is lousy with salacious reporting. It is by and large ineffectual, sensationalist, and generally fails to properly inform the public, (I am specifically thinking of the media’s coverage of politicians and their antics rather than their philosophies). The show brings these issues into focus and will continue to do so as the season progresses.

 

Next I challenge Mark Lashley, who writes for that rag we’ve all been duped into calling news, The Huffington Post. Mr. Lashley agrees that the show isn’t that bad, which I should point out. His issue lies with the beginning of the first episode, in which the main character unleashes a diatribe upon college students for assuming America is the greatest country in the world and it makes Mr. Lashley uncomfortable. Here it is in its entirety for your reading pleasure, but I highly recommend watching it at some point, (the performances are spot –on and smart).

“And with a straight face you’re going to tell students that America is so star spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world that have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom.

So, 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day there’s some things you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, Number 4 in labor force and Number 4 in exports, we lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.

Now none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student, but you none the less are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation ever, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yosemite?

It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior.

We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?” 

He describes the monologue as “suspiciously statistic” as if numbers can lie. The reality is that the figures given by Jeff Daniel’s character are correct, and they speak volumes to where America is.

With statistics like that, how can you argue that we are not? What is it? We’ve been the greatest country for so long and we are having a hard time admitting it to ourselves that we may, in fact, not be anymore. The damning monologue should be seen as a wake up call, it should slap you into focus, it should invoke a visceral reaction, and it should make you think. If it does none of those things for you, if you feel insulted, cheated, or outraged you may need to stop and think critically; try arguing with your TV. Like it or not, America is a broken thing that is in dire need of fixing. What the show does is highlight this phenomenon taking place right here, right now. That is why I wanted to bring the show to everyone’s attention. It’s wonderfully done and has a truly powerful message for us. It’s a how that makes us think which is ultimately the real purpose of the entertainment we consume; to transmit thoughts, ideas, and concepts. The Newsroom has something great to offer us and I’d hate for you to miss out on it.

Graeme likes telling you what you like and more of his ramblings can be read on Twitter: @Mad_God