May 24, 2009
Terminator Salvation further solidifies the decline of James Cameron's original series. The combination of poor writing and mediocre direction are never a recipe for success and that is easily demonstrated by this film. The cast are completely wasted in their roles; Christian Bale has nothing to do, Bryce Dallas Howard is barely in the film, I could go on. There are also a lot of poorly implemented references to the previous films that fall incredibly flat. The filmmakers don't seem to understand that the repetition used in the first two films served to play on the time travel theme inherent to the franchise, which isn't present and barely mentioned in Terminator Salvation. Also the appearance of Arnold as an incredibly fake looking CGI terminator was especially awful.
All of this could have been forgiven if Terminator Salvation brought anything compelling to the franchise, but it fails at every turn. I think the biggest problem here is that it's much more interesting to talk about the coming future war and trying to avoid it, as they did in the previous films, than it is to actually fight said future war. To cap it off, the action really isn't that great. There is one set piece battle with an enormous machine that was cool, but other than that the action sequences are very pedestrian. Don't bother. 2/5
May 13, 2009
I am the definition of a casual Star Trek fan. I have seen a fair amount of episodes of the original series, the next generation and probably half of the movies. I know enough about the show that I can catch most of the inside jokes, but I don't know every bit of minutiae. That said I wasn't sure what to expect from a Star Trek reboot. While I enjoy the property, I have always had problems with the Trek universe and was apprehensive about what direction a new cast and director would push the series.
Star Trek is a solid action adventure movie with a great cast and fantastic effects. The biggest bright spot is definitely the cast, especially Chris Pine as Kirk. While some of the cast members don't quite make their roles their own, Chris Pine reinvents the role of Kirk. Eric Bana is also great as the villain Nero and Leonard Nimoy makes a fantastic appearance as old Spock.
The plot is unmistakeably Star Trek with its complicated, time bending storyline. My one major criticism is that the movie feels very rushed. The characters' introductions are very brief and most of the side characters do nothing other than inject some humor into the movie. In spite of this J. J. Abrams has a good history of making quality films and television and he solidifies this with a very well made film. 4/5
April 25, 2009
Killzone 2 is a fun, solid shooter with fantastic graphics. I really enjoyed the pacing of the game which allows for a great ebb and flow to the action. While certainly not reinventing the shooter, Killzone 2 hits all the important points: great weapons, excellent cover system, and a good variety of missions. I especially liked the grenades which are very effective and easy to use. While Killzone 2's graphics are very good, the animations are fantastic. Every reload is intricately detailed and takes an appropriate amount of time. So much time in fact that the player really has to watch not to reload at an inopportune moment.
With so much good stuff there has to be some bad to go along with it. I never expect much from the plot of a shooter and the storyline of Killzone 2 met my expectations. This isn't helped any by the atrocious amount of melodrama and mediocre voice acting (Rico is especially terrible). From a gameplay standpoint I didn't like how you can't carry more than one primary weapon along with your pistol. This dissuades the player from using any weapon other than common assault rifles since you probably won't be able to find a continuous supply of ammo for it. Even with these problems I really enjoyed my 12 hour experience with the single player campaign. If you have a PS3 Killzone 2 is definitely worth a look.
April 22, 2009
State of Play is the definition of a solid thriller. Good acting, tight direction, and political intrigue are all there. There is a great ebb and flow of plot development and twists that kept me very interested throughout the whole film. The final twist in State of Play, however, is somewhat predictable and follows a little too closely with thriller conventions. There had been such a buildup that the final reveal was a let down. The movie had already taken us in for a landing and then just dropped us on the deck with one last surprise. Aside from this I really liked the characters and thought the dynamic between the journalists was very entertaining. Worth a look. 3.5/5
April 06, 2009
Adventureland is director Greg Mottola's follow-up to Superbad, a movie that I loved. While Adventureland is not as much of a straight up comedy as Superbad, it is nonetheless a lot of fun. The characters are interesting and well cast. I really enjoyed the story of these people in their early twenties, either in or just graduated from college, trying to find their way in life. Some of the dramatic notes fall flat, but for the most part they work and the comedy is fantastic. Only adding to my enjoyment of the film was its setting. The scenes in the Adventureland amusement park were filmed in the Kennywood amusement park which I have been going to for years, having grown up and still living in the Pittsburgh area. This is one of the first times in a movie where I can recognize specific locations where I have been on a movie screen. It really added a layer of reality to the whole film. 4/5
March 31, 2009
The Knothole Island expansion for Fable 2 is a solid addition to a fantastic game. The expansion adds a series of quests relating to solving the weather problems of the new region as well as some new collection achievements. Knothole Island also features some new weapons, clothing, and potions to augment your character.
It took me around 5 hours to play through all of the new quests and collect all of the new items. For $10 I thought this was a fair amount of content for the price. Like most of Fable 2, the best parts of Knothole Island are the interesting asides and characters you encounter, not necessarily the main quest. If you liked Fable 2 I can definitely recommend this expansion and I look forward to the next expansion that appears be coming soon.
March 22, 2009
With the finale of Battlestar Galactica I felt like sharing my opinions on the show. I was a late comer, having watched seasons 1-3 on DVD during the hiatus between seasons 3 and 4. Ultimately I feel that BSG is a disappointment. For me the first two seasons were incredibly strong because I really enjoyed the action-adventure aspect of the show. Following the Galactica's journey as it fought for survival in spite of infighting and political intrigue was fantastic. I couldn't wait to watch the next episode.
Season 3, however, was for me a turning point. By planting the characters in one place on New Caprica the show's narrative contracted so much that it eliminated most of the adventure aspect that I loved so much. That combined with the increased presence of the Baltar character really took me out of the show.
The politics and mysticism present in the show always worked best as a background element, but as the plot progressed these elements took center stage. For this reason I liken BSG to another great scifi series, The X-Files. Both series had a fantastic start but were eventually overtaken by their respective mythologies. When I think back to some of the best episodes I think about how great of a space adventure BSG was, not the endless mythology that it became. For example the first episode of season 1, 33, where the Cylons follow the fleet's jump every 33 minutes is just great entertainment. It didn't need a thousand layers of gods, or angels, or visions, or prophecies, it worked purely as a human drama. That is where BSG's strength lied and that is why the show was worth watching in spite of it's over-the-top mythology.
The show's finale was a decent wrap-up as series finales go. The battle sequence felt rushed to fit in the rather drawn out denouement, but I was pleased to see some of the more annoying characters get their comeuppance. Some of the plot resolutions, however, were weak at best. In the end I like BSG a lot, but its slow decline has been hard to watch at times.