I picked up Dead Space : Downfall, an animated prequel to last year's survival horror masterpiece, during the Circuit City closing a few months back. I recently watched it again and found it to be really quite good.
Perhaps I'm starting to jones for more Dead Space, and with the next game slated to be a Wii title this fall, and a rail shooter at that, it might be awhile before I get to really stomp around like I did last year. So, this movie is all I have.
As stated, it's a prequel that picks up the story at the point where the marker is found on the planet's surface that will eventually drive everyone nuts and turn them into those life-of-the-party necromorphs. It's soon after that when the Ishimura arrives to crack the planet - which is a cool sequence that we get to see - and the action begins.
The main story revolves around the Ishimura's security chief, a standard sci-fi tough chick, who leads her team against the transformed members of the crew. In futility of course, since anyone who has played the game knows how it ends for them all.
Still, it's a good ride - action packed and gory. We see some familiar locales like the bridge and the mess hall, and some familiar enemies, who they soon figure out need to be shot in the limbs to slow them down. There are also references to the lore of Dead Space, such as the Unitologist movement and their designs on the marker, but noting revelatory beyond what was told in the game. It all ends with one final heroic act, just as the rescue ship from the game arrives, signalling the start of the game.
Dead Space : Downfall isn't oscar-worthy, but for fans of the game it's a recommended dose of more Dead Space that can hopefully sustain them until we see more, and hopefully learn more, about this fascinating and well-crafted universe.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Star Trek : Initial Impressions
It's a busy week for me, with the approach of Mother's Day and all that, but tonight at 9:30 it hit me. There was a new Star Trek movie in theaters this evening, and I was about to just let it slide until after the weekend.
Um, no way. I had to see it, exhaustion be damned.
And I'm glad I did. This re-invention of the classic characters, cleanly explained through the plot, really knocks it out of the park. It's two hours of good storytelling, fast paced and at times funny.
There is one deep part of the plot's very foundation that seemed to be shaky, but it is only touched on for a moment, so I will withhold any comment on it until I see it again and listen more carefully to what I thought was said there.
Other than that, I walked away from the theater at 2:30 AM with the glorious feeling that Star Trek is back, and the future is looking good again.
Um, no way. I had to see it, exhaustion be damned.
And I'm glad I did. This re-invention of the classic characters, cleanly explained through the plot, really knocks it out of the park. It's two hours of good storytelling, fast paced and at times funny.
There is one deep part of the plot's very foundation that seemed to be shaky, but it is only touched on for a moment, so I will withhold any comment on it until I see it again and listen more carefully to what I thought was said there.
Other than that, I walked away from the theater at 2:30 AM with the glorious feeling that Star Trek is back, and the future is looking good again.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Iron Man - Stay Through The Credits
There are some spoilers ahead. Stop reading unless you want to be pauked.
I saw Iron Man on Monday. Luckily, I was tipped off to stay through the credits for the real final scene of the movie. Thanks, Speedman.
What happened was so mind-bogglingly cool that I stood up in the theater, raised up my arms, and yelled "YES!". The theater attendant who was waiting to clean up said she had a similar reaction when she saw it.
I won't say what it is, but in an amazing coincidence, as soon as I got home later that day, I read on the internet that Marvel Studios announced Iron Man 2 and a Thor movie both coming in 2010, and a Captain America movie preceding an AVENGERS MOVIE in 2011. Ant-Man is also in development.
As for this Iron Man movie, well, it rocked hard. Robert Downey nailed the role of Tony Stark and made it his own, Jeff Bridges was great as bad guy Obadiah Stane, and everything else in the flick, including the ending (before the post-credit one) was simply heaven for an old fan of the comic like myself.
We've entered the second age of Marvel Movies. Now that Marvel has and is its own studio, it has control and is clearly building up the "universe" aspect of it. And the quality of the care for the property far exceeds what the other studios have done with Marvel properties over the last eight years.
Blade paved the way, and X-Men really started what I thought was going to be the great, golden age of Marvel Movies. At the time, I was totally blown away by the X-Men movies, the Spider-Man movies, and even Daredevil and the Hulk, in spite of most people's disdain for some of them. Looking back, though, I realize that I had settled for movies that were "good enough", and that could never be linked together like the comics are.
The clear failures of the last few years - the Punisher, Elektra, Fantastic Four movies, and the terrible Spider-Man 3, had me giving up hope that Marvel even gave a rats ass about these things, as long as the money kept pouring in. There were great things about these movies, don't get me wrong, but they failed on a lot of levels (Doctor Doom is the most blaring example).
Iron Man has kickstarted everything and there is hope again. I can't wait to see if the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie keeps the momentum going.
I saw Iron Man on Monday. Luckily, I was tipped off to stay through the credits for the real final scene of the movie. Thanks, Speedman.
What happened was so mind-bogglingly cool that I stood up in the theater, raised up my arms, and yelled "YES!". The theater attendant who was waiting to clean up said she had a similar reaction when she saw it.
I won't say what it is, but in an amazing coincidence, as soon as I got home later that day, I read on the internet that Marvel Studios announced Iron Man 2 and a Thor movie both coming in 2010, and a Captain America movie preceding an AVENGERS MOVIE in 2011. Ant-Man is also in development.
As for this Iron Man movie, well, it rocked hard. Robert Downey nailed the role of Tony Stark and made it his own, Jeff Bridges was great as bad guy Obadiah Stane, and everything else in the flick, including the ending (before the post-credit one) was simply heaven for an old fan of the comic like myself.
We've entered the second age of Marvel Movies. Now that Marvel has and is its own studio, it has control and is clearly building up the "universe" aspect of it. And the quality of the care for the property far exceeds what the other studios have done with Marvel properties over the last eight years.
Blade paved the way, and X-Men really started what I thought was going to be the great, golden age of Marvel Movies. At the time, I was totally blown away by the X-Men movies, the Spider-Man movies, and even Daredevil and the Hulk, in spite of most people's disdain for some of them. Looking back, though, I realize that I had settled for movies that were "good enough", and that could never be linked together like the comics are.
The clear failures of the last few years - the Punisher, Elektra, Fantastic Four movies, and the terrible Spider-Man 3, had me giving up hope that Marvel even gave a rats ass about these things, as long as the money kept pouring in. There were great things about these movies, don't get me wrong, but they failed on a lot of levels (Doctor Doom is the most blaring example).
Iron Man has kickstarted everything and there is hope again. I can't wait to see if the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie keeps the momentum going.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
What A Difference A Month (In Ohio) Makes
Don't you just hate it when you go to one of your favorite gaming blogs or web comic blogs only to find that, instead of blogging about the latest game or geek news, the author is rambling on about their boring - ass personal life like you really give a shit?
I know I do. That being said, let me drive away the few readers I have by doing the exact same thing.
Less than a month ago, Columbus, Ohio was buried under a huge blizzard and its residents huddled in their homes as the city was virtually shut down. Today it was sunny and warm in the high sixties and everyone was outside in shorts and tee shirts, with children playing and folks washing thier cars.
It was my day off after a fifty-plus hour week (I picked up a second part-time job at night a few weeks back), and while I was looking forward to making some progress in Apollo Justice : Ace Attorney, I only played about a half an hour before deciding to enjoy the warm weather by washing my car, inside and out. After an Ohio winter it needed it.
One thing you never do in Ohio is declare winter "over". Especially in early April. Sure, the forecast for the next week shows all 60s and 70s for highs, but after living here four decades I know damn well that the weather can still shift back to winter with little notice. I've seen snow as early as September and as late as June in Ohio.
Still, it really felt like spring today. Not just the weather, but the collective mood of everyone around me. Plus, there are new episodes of Battlestar Galactica on the air, and a friggin Iron Man movie is less than a month away.
If anyone's left reading this, fret not. Mario Kart Wii comes out in three weeks and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be blogging about that one.
I know I do. That being said, let me drive away the few readers I have by doing the exact same thing.
Less than a month ago, Columbus, Ohio was buried under a huge blizzard and its residents huddled in their homes as the city was virtually shut down. Today it was sunny and warm in the high sixties and everyone was outside in shorts and tee shirts, with children playing and folks washing thier cars.
It was my day off after a fifty-plus hour week (I picked up a second part-time job at night a few weeks back), and while I was looking forward to making some progress in Apollo Justice : Ace Attorney, I only played about a half an hour before deciding to enjoy the warm weather by washing my car, inside and out. After an Ohio winter it needed it.
One thing you never do in Ohio is declare winter "over". Especially in early April. Sure, the forecast for the next week shows all 60s and 70s for highs, but after living here four decades I know damn well that the weather can still shift back to winter with little notice. I've seen snow as early as September and as late as June in Ohio.
Still, it really felt like spring today. Not just the weather, but the collective mood of everyone around me. Plus, there are new episodes of Battlestar Galactica on the air, and a friggin Iron Man movie is less than a month away.
If anyone's left reading this, fret not. Mario Kart Wii comes out in three weeks and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be blogging about that one.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Triple Feature
On Sunday, Monique and I decided to catch up on some summer blockbusters. For me the priority was seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I left the decision of the second movie up to her.
The fifth Potter flick was amazing. Before I continue, there are spoilers ahead, so please exercise self-discipline now. Okay. I won't go into the whole plot, but there were some amazing developments. Like South Park, Harry and his friends live in a world where the adults are for the most part clueless - they refuse to believe that the evil one (he who shall not be named) is back, and make themselves as much a hinderance as possible for Harry and the few sensible adults (the Order of the Phoenix).
Most of the movie is that fight - against the intractable magical establishment - rather than the evil one. At the end, when Harry and his now-trained friends do what they have to do to fight the bad guy and his minions, the real greatness begins. We see magical battles far beyond people waving sticks at each other, especially when the Order shows up. It was like Star Wars Episode 1 when Qui-Gon and Obi-Won fought Darth Maul. We'd seen stilted lightsaber battles in the other three Star Wars flicks, with Luke and Vader, but suddenly in Episode 1 we were seeing real, trained Jedi fighting all-out. The magical battles in Harry Potter 5 felt like that kind of upgrade.
Another plot development that shocked me was the revelation that Harry's dad James was not so squeaky - clean and perfect, and that when he was Harry's age at Hogwarts's school he bullied the young Professor Snape. This explained quite a bit about Snape's behavior toward Harry in the previous movies. I think that this will play out more in later movies, too.
After Potter, we went to a cool new restaurant for lunch, Noodles & Co. Man, it was delicious. When we got back to theater, Monique was torn between seeing Transformers and the fourth Die Hard movie. She finally decided on Transformers.
Transformers was pretty cool, in that it was a great big screen action flick. Some of the parts at the begining really bogged down, though, with the young teen boy getting a car and dealing with the standard cookie-cutter jock alpha male and the hot supermodel he wanted to steal from him. Once we got to the fighting giant transforming robots, though, it moved a lot better. I hated some of the attempts to be cute, with lots of peeing involved by both dogs and robots. I also hated the Al Pacino - wannabee secret government guy. Another example of the clueless adults cliche.
After Transformers was over, I was ready to go home, having the beginnings of a mild headache from all the loud stuff I'd spent the day listening to. Monique, however, suggested we try a third movie and make it a triple - feature. I grudgingly agreed, as long as she paid for it and got me some cold bottled water. We made it into the crowded, small theater while the previews were still running.
Live Free or Die Hard was great, and I soon forgot my mild headache. Nothing can touch the first Die Hard movie for greatness, but this one was pretty solid, even with the addition of the smartass hacker sidekick. Bruce Willis did a great job making the character of John McClane do what he does best - fight bad guys in extreme situations and escape impossible deathtraps. It was a fun movie and the perfect ending to our triple - feature.
I still had a headache at the end of it all, though. And we still have a few movies out there we want to see, but that is for another day.
The fifth Potter flick was amazing. Before I continue, there are spoilers ahead, so please exercise self-discipline now. Okay. I won't go into the whole plot, but there were some amazing developments. Like South Park, Harry and his friends live in a world where the adults are for the most part clueless - they refuse to believe that the evil one (he who shall not be named) is back, and make themselves as much a hinderance as possible for Harry and the few sensible adults (the Order of the Phoenix).
Most of the movie is that fight - against the intractable magical establishment - rather than the evil one. At the end, when Harry and his now-trained friends do what they have to do to fight the bad guy and his minions, the real greatness begins. We see magical battles far beyond people waving sticks at each other, especially when the Order shows up. It was like Star Wars Episode 1 when Qui-Gon and Obi-Won fought Darth Maul. We'd seen stilted lightsaber battles in the other three Star Wars flicks, with Luke and Vader, but suddenly in Episode 1 we were seeing real, trained Jedi fighting all-out. The magical battles in Harry Potter 5 felt like that kind of upgrade.
Another plot development that shocked me was the revelation that Harry's dad James was not so squeaky - clean and perfect, and that when he was Harry's age at Hogwarts's school he bullied the young Professor Snape. This explained quite a bit about Snape's behavior toward Harry in the previous movies. I think that this will play out more in later movies, too.
After Potter, we went to a cool new restaurant for lunch, Noodles & Co. Man, it was delicious. When we got back to theater, Monique was torn between seeing Transformers and the fourth Die Hard movie. She finally decided on Transformers.
Transformers was pretty cool, in that it was a great big screen action flick. Some of the parts at the begining really bogged down, though, with the young teen boy getting a car and dealing with the standard cookie-cutter jock alpha male and the hot supermodel he wanted to steal from him. Once we got to the fighting giant transforming robots, though, it moved a lot better. I hated some of the attempts to be cute, with lots of peeing involved by both dogs and robots. I also hated the Al Pacino - wannabee secret government guy. Another example of the clueless adults cliche.
After Transformers was over, I was ready to go home, having the beginnings of a mild headache from all the loud stuff I'd spent the day listening to. Monique, however, suggested we try a third movie and make it a triple - feature. I grudgingly agreed, as long as she paid for it and got me some cold bottled water. We made it into the crowded, small theater while the previews were still running.
Live Free or Die Hard was great, and I soon forgot my mild headache. Nothing can touch the first Die Hard movie for greatness, but this one was pretty solid, even with the addition of the smartass hacker sidekick. Bruce Willis did a great job making the character of John McClane do what he does best - fight bad guys in extreme situations and escape impossible deathtraps. It was a fun movie and the perfect ending to our triple - feature.
I still had a headache at the end of it all, though. And we still have a few movies out there we want to see, but that is for another day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)