Mini Reviews

     

1#: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

     
     Of the three Indiana Jones films (yes, I know said three), The Last Crusade is by far my favourite. For the longest time I went without seeing any of the films in the series, but after finally purchasing all of them and marathoning them, I realized what I had been missing out on. The film is fun and exciting the whole way through with a straightforward but interesting story. The set pieces were amazing and made the film that much more entertaining to watch as they jumped from Venice, to Germany, to the desert. As well, Harrison Ford remains one of my favourite actors to watch in action and adding Sean Connery to the equation only makes it that much better. Ford and Connery together never fails to make me laugh and their father-son dynamic was fantastic carrying the film wonderfully through every scene. It's a movie that knows how to have fun and how to do it well. It's become a mainstay in my list of favourite films, by far one of my favourites from the 80's, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

2#: Batman: The Killing Joke

     The iconic Alan Moore comic, The Killing Joke, is known as such for very good reason. The comic centering deeply around the Joker, his relationship with Batman, and why he is the way he is, is dark, intriguing, and dramatic, much like the Joker himself. In the story, Moore develops what is still the most used story for the Joker's origin, a simple but tragic story that gives some reason to the madness and even makes the reader feel bad for our favourite psychopath. It also takes a fascinating dive into the relationship between him and Batman, particularly why Batman refuses to kill him and the Joker will never see Batman's reasoning. Along with the torture of Commissioner Gordon and the iconic paralyzing of Batgirl Barbara Gordon it makes for a gripping Batman story. The art within the comic is also wonderful. It's straightforward but portrays each scene effectively, framing shots like a storyboard for a film; it helps drive the impact of the narrative home. I love the Joker as a character and what makes the comic for me, though, is the Joker's "Memories can be vile/One bad day" monologue in the Tunnel of Love towards the end. To me, it is the pinnacle of the Joker as he is in the comics as well as most other forms of media and never fails to suck me in and keep me there.

3#: Fallout 4

     I've been a fan of the Fallout franchise ever since I first watched my brother play Fallout 3 on the PS3 when it came out back in 2008. Since then, its games have ranked amongst some of my all-time favourites, with me always able to come back to them and enjoy myself. One of the things Fallout has always done is create an interesting and vibrant (if not strange and somewhat depressing) world for its audience to explore; Fallout 4 does exactly that. The revamped graphics and new engine did wonders for bringing The Commonwealth to life. The new story was intriguing as well; allowing the player an unexpected glimpse of the world before the war right before having them watch it ripped apart by the first nuclear blasts. It then takes the player all over The Commonwealth, through real life landmarks to ground zero of the first nuke in search of answers.

    

     The game was also acknowledgeable because Bethesda was treading a lot of new water with the newest installment in the franchise. They took many of the systems within the game and made them completely new, adding new features along with it; like perks and skills, as well as the new immense crafting and modding systems. This coupled with the modern marvel graphics made it feel like an entirely different experience in the world of Fallout. That's not to say that the game was flawless, mind you, the game had it's share of issues. Some of the features Bethesda revamped became somewhat watered-down in lieu of the new crafting system and condensed the dialogue system. This left some players feeling as though Fallout was less of an immersive RPG experience. In the end though, I really enjoyed this game-loved it, in fact, and while it may not be my favourite of the series, I still highly recommend it.

4# The Walking Dead

     For me, The Walking Dead for a long time was one of those popular series you hear about that you keep meaning to get into but just can't find the time to do so. But I finally did quite recently, more so the comic than the show, and I'm glad I did. After getting a few seasons into the show and several volumes into the comic I found myself really enjoying them. Both forms provide drama-heavy and immersive stories detailing the lives and struggles of the people caught in this world. It begs the question, 'What would we really do if faced with a world like this?' and begins to answer it right away with the tagline "Don't fear the dead, fear the living". The characters are dynamic and don't feel like archetypes, and, particularly in the comics, you care about what happens to them. Very few are no more than zombie fodder and each death feels like it matters and carries weight. It then comes down to a matter of which do I like more. Well, while I do enjoy the television version of the story, I find myself drawn more towards the comics. I enjoy some of the changes Rob Kirkman made when the comic was brought over to television, but in the end, I enjoy the comic more. It moves at a better pace and it feels like it has more weight to it, as opposed to the show that can get bogged down due to the restraints of television. Overall though, The Walking Dead is still a very good series.

5# Blade Runner

     Blade Runner is yet another one of those iconic films that I always said I'd watch but never did until I was sat down and made to. And just like many of the other films I have had a similar experience with, by the end I had realized what I had truly missed. From the beginning it had a different vibe from what I was used to in action films, the city's wet and grungy vibe lending nicely to the movie's atmosphere overall.I found the plot interesting as well. Although it may have been a bit philosophical for a media studies class, I enjoyed the questions it raised about what it means to be human and alive, and what makes us so. The conflict between humans and replicants was intense and carried a lot of weight. Harrison Ford, as usual, was great to watch in this film as well but, for me, he was kind of out-shined towards the end. As much as I love Harrison Ford, Rutger Howard made the film for me. His famous "Tears in the rain" monologue on the rooftop with Deckard at the end gave my chills and really drove the whole 'replicants are people too' argument home for me. You can hear so much emotion in his voice, and hear that fear of dying and it makes the scene as well as the movie. Combining the awesome acting of Howard and Ford along with the cool vibe and interesting story the film has, it comes together to make a film that is both memorable and thought-provoking. 

The Future Summative: Project Integration

     The following transcribed are the journal entries of one Douglas "Razor" Adams, a 'raider' here in The Commonwealth that we here at The Institute have been monitoring and have selected for "replacement" in order to better collect information on these savage gangs running in the city above. These logs, along with additional data on Adams are to be uploaded into unit X7-89 before deployment to ensure maximum effectiveness.

  **********

[October 21 2287]

Whoo! We're rollin in guns now, baby! Caught some caravan heading toward Diamond City and boy they were packin! Dumbasses didn't even see us coming. With this we'll be sittin pretty for a while, no need to worry about any Diamond City assholes giving us trouble. Can't wait till I can rub this in that asshat Jared up at Corvega's face. 

Might as well go meet up with Knocker and Rintin while the party's still going to celebrate.

{X7-89: Make note of any and all of Allen's 'relationships' with other 'raiders'}

[October 25 2287]

Hadn't heard anything from Jared or anyone up at Corvega for about two weeks so Rintin, me, and a few of the other boys went to go scope it out. The whole place was dead. Literally. Somebody went and cleared the whole place out. Even Jared was laying there gathering flies next to what was left of those stupid turrets of his. 

Whatever. Serves the bastards right.

We otta keep an eye out just to be sure, I don't want my ass to be next in the fire and whoever could just roll up and wipe Jared and his crew out must have a lot of firepower.

[October 30 2287]

Man, Carrey's got a wicked punch. Nice ass though.

Haven't heard anything about whoever ganked Jared and his crew. Figure we should be safe for now, with all these guns we have from that caravan, I figure we'll be fine. Should scope out some more hits soon, though. My stash is running low and no fuckin way I'm gonna go without my Jet fix.

Saw some crackpot running around earlier screaming about "The Institute" and how they're going to replace us all with robots or some shit. What a load of crap. Knocker, Rintin, and me spent an hour taking potshots at him from the wall till we got bored.

Fuckin crazies.

{Subject and his cohorts have no knowledge of Institute activities on the surface. This will prove useful.}

[November 5 2087]

So, get this. Word is, Jared and his crew weren't iced by some group like those glorified doormen over at Diamond City. Nope.

Word is it was one person. Some chick and her dog, apparently. Don't know if I believe it, but Jared always was a pussy so maybe it is true. Last I heard is that she was seen goin from Diamond City heading towards Goodneighbor. 

If it is true, that bitch had better not burn that place to the ground or whatever. I need Fred alive in case my stash gets too low. Hopefully she'll just stir up trouble and that mayor Hancock'll ice her. Until then, if she stays outta me and my boys' territory, she can keep her pretty little head.

{Subject seems to be hostile towards Father's 'special guest'. Make note.}

[November 9 2087]

What the hell is this!? First that crazy chick that whacked Jared and now the fucking Brotherhood of Steel are here!? With some giant ass blimp hovering over the city!? This place is nuts. 

Whatever's going on, thank god those Brotherhood dicks are staying out of the city for the most part. It's bad enough dealing with all the damn mutants around and the occasional Deathclaw eating one of my boys. I don't want to have to deal with that crap too. 

Maybe I'll put more boys on watch from now on just in case.

{Subject seems to be hostile toward the Brotherhood of Steel. Subject seems, in fact, to be hostile toward anything that is not another 'raider' within his 'gang'. Make note.}

  **********

Take all data above and load it into the package to be uploaded to X7-89. After upload, prepare for deployment and make a copy of all data and reports to be sent to Father. 

Video Games Day 4: Batman

A
     When portraying Batman throughout the media, particularly in movies, comics and video games, there are always differences caused by the different media forms and different creative minds. Overall, I think comics are the best form to portray Batman in because they allow by far the most freedom. The stories that are written and the set-pieces possible are only limited by the ability of the artists for the comic, allowing the writers to take the character to places not possible for film and even video games. Video games provide a good amount more room to work with when portraying Batman, particularly his gadgets and brutal fighting style. The problem with video games is that, while they provide more freedom than films they take an extreme amount of time and effort to make and can't have the consistency in their release like comics. Films are by far the weakest as they have many restrictions on their storytelling. Films have to stay grounded in a certain amount of realism. They also take nearly as long to make as video games and can be effected by companies funding them and have to be watered down to appeal to a wider audience. This makes it a weak format to portray Batman in as it has very little freedom to portray Batman in an interesting and dynamic way.

B
     Music and atmosphere are rather important to Batman games because of the importance they place on the world. In Batman games, the world is key to the story and who Batman is a character. Gotham is a dark and sinister place and using music and a well crafted atmosphere to show this makes the world within the game all the more effective to the player. It really helps for scenes like The Scarecrow's nightmare scene where the atmosphere is what makes the sequence so effective.

In Conclusion

     Over the past few days it has become rather evident that, for the most part, music and atmosphere are essential to video games. This is quite noticeable when playing modern games as many of them focus on the story or at least the world in which the game takes place. For example, Fallout placed a great deal of emphasis on both it's story as well as the detail and immersion making the music and atmosphere key to the game. Zombie games like Left 4 Dead don't rely on music and atmosphere as much because their game focuses on slaughtering zombies, whereas games like The Last of Us focus on the characters and the world they live in, making them important. Blockbusters vary wildly depending on the type of game but many utilize atmosphere when showing off their new and cutting-edge graphics. Batman also makes hefty use of both in order to create the dark and sinister vibe that the city of Gotham radiates. Overall, music and atmosphere play an incredibly essential role in video games and their creation.

Video Games Day 3: Blockbusters

A
     Franchises and sequels is a growing staple in game development and video gaming in general, as to whether or not it is a good thing remains to be seen. Many games these days that see a noticeable amount of success 9 times out of 10 end up with a sequel. Bayonetta, for example, was a game that garnered quite a bit of success for it's original and before long had a sequel that ultimately ended up feeling unnecessary. By far one of the biggest issues with this is franchising. There are companies (*cough cough* EA, Activision, Ubisoft) that form franchises and pump out a new installment every year. They expand on concepts within their game on occasion, but otherwise often change or innovate very little. Most notably of these are series like Call of Duty, or Battlefield, or FIFA. We can always count on another every year, the only question that remains is whether or not it'll be fresh enough to be worth buying.

B
     The value of music and atmosphere in blockbuster varies greatly depending the game in question. Blockbusters differ greatly in content and that change can effect the importance of music and atmosphere. Older blockbuster games like Doom, focused a great deal on action and explosions. This requires less of a need for impressive atmosphere and music so long as the gameplay is exciting and bombastic. Many of today's modern blockbusters, The Last of Us for instance, like to show off the impressive graphics of their systems and focus a lot more on story and world-building. This places a lot more importance on music and atmosphere as they're key elements to effectively conveying a compelling and vibrant world to an audience.

Video Games Day 2: The Future Part 2

A
     Unlike movies and television, today's zombie video games don't always focus on the survivors and the effect the zombies have on them; it's more of an even balance. This is due to the popularity of two types of zombie games. The shooters that revolve primarily around killing hoards of zombies pay little attention to those wielding the weapons bashing their heads in. These are games like Call of Duty or Left 4 Dead. Other games, RPGs and action adventure games, tend to be more story driven and focus on the characters within the game. These are games like The Last of Us and Telltale's The Walking Dead. The fear and tension in video games comes primarily from the threat of the zombies and how the interactivity of games adds that extra threat that you control the character and the zombies could kill you.

B
     In games like these, music and atmosphere changes in importance depending on the type of zombie game. If it is the shooter type of zombie game than music and atmosphere becomes far less important because the game is more about pumping as many bullets as possible into the zombies running at you rather than immersing yourself in the world around you. In RPGs and action adventures like The Last of Us the music and atmosphere become immensely more important. Those games often focus on the people caught in those worlds and it's effect on them, how they survive in the world around them. This makes the world-building that comes from good music and atmosphere all the more important to fully bring the player into the experience.

Video Game Day 1: The Future Part 1

A
     The world of Fallout is vastly different from the world of The Walking Dead. Fallout focuses around the world after a nuclear apocalypse caused by a war with the Chinese communists, following a pre-war survivor. The Walking Dead, however, focuses on a world that is in the midst of a zombie plague following a group of survivors. Of the two, I think The Walking Dead is more likely in the way of a possible future for us. The world of The Walking Dead is a lot closer to home as it takes place in a world identical to ours in the early 21st century, often making cultural references that are contemporary in our world. Fallout, however, is set in a world that is 200 years in the future in a universe split off from our universe. The people in The Walking Dead, save for the zombies, are also not really that different from us. They don't have special powers, their just normal people with guns. In Fallout the people aren't totally the same. Many of them have mutations and deformities even so far as to become ghouls leaving them a far cry from us. What Fallout has over The Walking Dead in realistic possibility is how the apocalypse started. The Fallout universe came about via nuclear war, which is a far more realistic apocalypse in our world. The Walking Dead, on the other hand, is in a world caused by an unexplained zombie apocalypse, which is significantly more unrealistic than nuclear detonation. Overall, the world of The Walking Dead is more realistic as a future for us but Fallout does have some realistic elements.

B: Is Music and Atmosphere Important to Video Games?
     In a game like Fallout, music and atmosphere are proven to be immensely important. Games about the future like Fallout often rely immensely on world building and music and atmosphere play a key role in that. The world-building is issued to immerse the player within the new world created. A good soundtrack helps effectively immerse the player and help them get in the mood of the world. This also helps establish a good atmosphere that the player can lose them self to. Fallout achieves this by using a weighty, well-constructed soundtrack and highly immersive atmosphere. Overall this improves the gameplay experience and makes Fallout more enjoyable to play, proving its importance to the game.
       

The Dark Knight Returns Response

     

    
 #1. 
      In Frank Miller's comic, The Dark Night Returns, we the audience are introduced to a Batman, and by extension, Bruce Wayne, that is significantly different than we knew before. The story opens on a 55 year-old Bruce Wayne who's been out of the vigilante business for ten years after the loss of Jason Todd on the job. He's a little bit older, a little bit more experienced, and noticeably more unhinged. 
     When we're first introduced to Miller's Wayne, he is in the middle of a race and wrecks his car doing so. It's clear then that he's having trouble adjusting to life without the thrill of being Batman and after all this time hasn't managed to settle down in his retirement fully. When the opportunity arises to return to the Batman mantle, he barely hesitates, heading out into the streets to track down Harvey Dent and find out if any of them can really escape these masks they crafted for themselves.  

     I for one like this version of Bruce Wayne; not because he's a good person mind you, the opposite, actually. I like this version of Bruce because it does seem very close to what I imagined an older Bruce would be like after years of fighting psychotic villains all over Gotham only to lose one of the few people close to him along the way. He's old, he's angry, and he has a vendetta against the criminals in Gotham and doesn't plan on letting anything get in his way. This certainly isn't the most morally good version of Batman ever given to us, but it is one of the more interesting versions we've had. 

#2
     One of the biggest questions raised by this new portrayal of Batman, and by extension, Bruce Wayne is "Is he good?". Throughout the comic, Batman is significantly harder on and more brutal towards the enemies he fights. He shows little mercy and puts more emphasis on fear and brutality when he fights. It's not only the criminals who have to deal with this either, the police and Gotham's citizens do as well. As Batman's brutality and recklessness increases, so does the damage done to Gotham's police force and anyone who gets caught in the middle.
     This new brutality is seen most clearly when Batman is dealing with the Mutant gang. He decides that to truly rid Gotham of the Mutant gang, he needs to make an example out of their leader who outmatches him in speed and strength. This leads him to challenge him to hand to hand combat in a mudhole in front of the entire gang. He then brutally beats the Mutant leader and leaves him with several major injuries to make his point to the rest of the gang, fully demonstrating the new levels of brutality he has resorted to.

      While Batman's new, more brutal methods might not have flown in the Gotham most of us know from the films and other comics, it seems a bit necessary in Miller's Gotham, at least from Bruce Wayne's perspective. The world of Gotham ten years after Batman's retirement is far more brutal and unforgiving than it once was. This Gotham seems to require a more vicious hand in order to quell the chaos and violence it has fallen into since Bruce's departure. Rape, murder and assault happen on a large scale nightly and it has become a kind of terrible norm for the people of the city and the gangs don't seem to be willing to give up control. This gives Bruce only one option: He has to take it from them.