Croik in the media
Jul. 15th, 2006 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
croikI've been doing some movie watching and game-playing lately, so I figured I'd write up some opinions. Just because I like reviewing things :9
I saw the new Superman movie last weekend Saturday, with TK. As soon as we sat down in the theatre we decided up front that we were going to give the movie a chance. We wanted to like it. And overall, we both did. The CG was very well done, even though there was a TON of it. The action scenes were good, Lex Luthor was awwwwwesome, the new Superman actor was an adorable Clark, and though the plot was almost painfully simple it had every element necessary for a Superman movie. There were only a few little things that bothered me (and one big thing).
The little things being that I didn't like who they cast for Lois. She reminded me too much of Katie Holmes in Batman Begins - she looked too young, imo. That and her just wandering onto Luthor's boat to move the plot along seemed rather silly.
The big thing that brought the movie down for me (not ruined, it wasn't THAT bad) was the romantic angle the movie tried to take. I liked the idea that Lois had an every-jilted-woman reaction to her man leaving her, but I can't figure out why the authors chose a movie premise which prevents any of them from being really happy. I'm all for realistic portrayals of relationships, but in the end Clark can't have the woman he loves, Lois is going to keep on lying to her fiance, and Richard's devoted to a woman who will always love someone else more than him. It's more frustrating than it is tragic and I didn't really like how it fit into the movie.
I know Lois and Clark couldn't just get together, that would be the end of Superman's movie career :P. But I can't help feeling there was a better way to have handled the romance issue. And I REALLY wish they would have indicated whether Richard thought the kid was his or not. Because they kind of implied Richard thought it was his kid, and if Lois assured Richard it was his son, that kind of makes her a ho (considering it's a lot easier to pinpoint date of conception these days, she would have had to jump in bed with Richard pretty soon after Superman disappeared...).
TK argued maybe Lois told Richard it was just some other nameless fling that got her pregnant, and Richard's just such an upstart guy that he decided to raise the kid as his own. And that would be fine. But I wish they'd said that at some point.
...Despite all that, I did enjoy the movie up until the cheesy ending :P.
After Superman, we went to see Pirates on Monday with our brother and his friend. I walked out of the theatre saying, "Eh, not bad," but the more I think about it the more I don't like it. I know it's not a movie you're supposed to "think" about all that much, but oh well :P
It reminded me of a Koei sequel. Everything you liked about the first one they did again, and did it to death. There were tons more special effects but they weren't necessarily better than the original, and in some places downright purpose. The entire 20 minute section on the canibal island they keep showing in the trailers was absolotely pointless and was more a parade of stunts than anything.
There was also a lot more blood and death this time around, which I didn't like. Not that I have any problem with violence in movies - on the contrary - but after watching the original PotC the night before going, the violent bits felt out of place in the sequel. Most of them didn't need to be there anyway.
There's a lot of talk about the characters in the movie, too. I really liked Will in this one, I have to say. I enjoyed seeing him take charge and the rest of the crew responding to him. A lot of people complained about Norrington but I thought he did a great job. My only beef character-wise is with the women (women in action movies don't seem to fare too well...). I liked Kali fine but I couldn't understand a word through her thick...whatever accent it was supposed to be. And Elizabeth was just all over the place, character-wise. One minute she's the strong-willed woman from PotC, the next she's panting on Jack, the next she's jumping up and down screeching. I don't know where the writers thought they were going with her but I think they did her character a disservice.
In short...I didn't really like it all that much. Everything was either, "Ho hum, wasn't this just in the first one?" or "WTF didn't I read this in a crackfic...?"
And our group all agreed, Norrington should have hurled one last time.
Shifting gears, of the anime I've watched recently the only one really worthy of mentioning is Ouran High School Host Club, which has infected the interwebs. And I have to say, I love it. I'm really not a shoujo person, and especially not when it comes to the "girl pretending to be a boy" genre which has popped up recently (I really did NOT like Hanazakari no Kimitachi e). But Ouran features a rarity in anime, that being a genuinely likable and down-to-earth female lead. Haruhi is great, and somehow very refreshing. The show is funny and colorful and just plain well written.
I haven't read the manga yet, because quite frankly I don't like the art all that much. But TK bought a few volumes the other day so I'll give it a chance, too.
On the video game front, I went against everyone's advice and rented Drakengard 2. Despite my last post on the series, I really did enjoy the original up until its 5 crappy endings, and I was just curious enough as to which ending they picked as canon to check out the sequel.
So far it's pretty much like I expected. Nowe's a cute main character but he's nowhere near as fun to play, or as interesting, as Caim. The gameplay is pretty much the same. I like that there are more playable characters that can actually level up now, but I HATE HATE HATE how they changed the dragon levels. The breath spheres were a horrible idea and I want them to die.
The story isn't all that engaging so far, either. The only interest really comes from wanting to know more about Nowe's past, and wondering whether Caim's gone crazy or if he really knows what he's doing. It's a lot more political than the first game in a way that I don't care for. And though the side characters are interesting and well designed, they all get swept away (or killed off) too quickly for you to learn anything about them. Gamemakers have to learn that character death is only dramatic when you give a shit about that person. And for that, s/he needs to stick around for more than a chapter.
I'm expecting the end of the game to be just as poorly done and awful as the first game's, but until then, I'm looking forward to Caim acting crazy.
I miss Inuart, though :(
I saw the new Superman movie last weekend Saturday, with TK. As soon as we sat down in the theatre we decided up front that we were going to give the movie a chance. We wanted to like it. And overall, we both did. The CG was very well done, even though there was a TON of it. The action scenes were good, Lex Luthor was awwwwwesome, the new Superman actor was an adorable Clark, and though the plot was almost painfully simple it had every element necessary for a Superman movie. There were only a few little things that bothered me (and one big thing).
The little things being that I didn't like who they cast for Lois. She reminded me too much of Katie Holmes in Batman Begins - she looked too young, imo. That and her just wandering onto Luthor's boat to move the plot along seemed rather silly.
The big thing that brought the movie down for me (not ruined, it wasn't THAT bad) was the romantic angle the movie tried to take. I liked the idea that Lois had an every-jilted-woman reaction to her man leaving her, but I can't figure out why the authors chose a movie premise which prevents any of them from being really happy. I'm all for realistic portrayals of relationships, but in the end Clark can't have the woman he loves, Lois is going to keep on lying to her fiance, and Richard's devoted to a woman who will always love someone else more than him. It's more frustrating than it is tragic and I didn't really like how it fit into the movie.
I know Lois and Clark couldn't just get together, that would be the end of Superman's movie career :P. But I can't help feeling there was a better way to have handled the romance issue. And I REALLY wish they would have indicated whether Richard thought the kid was his or not. Because they kind of implied Richard thought it was his kid, and if Lois assured Richard it was his son, that kind of makes her a ho (considering it's a lot easier to pinpoint date of conception these days, she would have had to jump in bed with Richard pretty soon after Superman disappeared...).
TK argued maybe Lois told Richard it was just some other nameless fling that got her pregnant, and Richard's just such an upstart guy that he decided to raise the kid as his own. And that would be fine. But I wish they'd said that at some point.
...Despite all that, I did enjoy the movie up until the cheesy ending :P.
After Superman, we went to see Pirates on Monday with our brother and his friend. I walked out of the theatre saying, "Eh, not bad," but the more I think about it the more I don't like it. I know it's not a movie you're supposed to "think" about all that much, but oh well :P
It reminded me of a Koei sequel. Everything you liked about the first one they did again, and did it to death. There were tons more special effects but they weren't necessarily better than the original, and in some places downright purpose. The entire 20 minute section on the canibal island they keep showing in the trailers was absolotely pointless and was more a parade of stunts than anything.
There was also a lot more blood and death this time around, which I didn't like. Not that I have any problem with violence in movies - on the contrary - but after watching the original PotC the night before going, the violent bits felt out of place in the sequel. Most of them didn't need to be there anyway.
There's a lot of talk about the characters in the movie, too. I really liked Will in this one, I have to say. I enjoyed seeing him take charge and the rest of the crew responding to him. A lot of people complained about Norrington but I thought he did a great job. My only beef character-wise is with the women (women in action movies don't seem to fare too well...). I liked Kali fine but I couldn't understand a word through her thick...whatever accent it was supposed to be. And Elizabeth was just all over the place, character-wise. One minute she's the strong-willed woman from PotC, the next she's panting on Jack, the next she's jumping up and down screeching. I don't know where the writers thought they were going with her but I think they did her character a disservice.
In short...I didn't really like it all that much. Everything was either, "Ho hum, wasn't this just in the first one?" or "WTF didn't I read this in a crackfic...?"
And our group all agreed, Norrington should have hurled one last time.
Shifting gears, of the anime I've watched recently the only one really worthy of mentioning is Ouran High School Host Club, which has infected the interwebs. And I have to say, I love it. I'm really not a shoujo person, and especially not when it comes to the "girl pretending to be a boy" genre which has popped up recently (I really did NOT like Hanazakari no Kimitachi e). But Ouran features a rarity in anime, that being a genuinely likable and down-to-earth female lead. Haruhi is great, and somehow very refreshing. The show is funny and colorful and just plain well written.
I haven't read the manga yet, because quite frankly I don't like the art all that much. But TK bought a few volumes the other day so I'll give it a chance, too.
On the video game front, I went against everyone's advice and rented Drakengard 2. Despite my last post on the series, I really did enjoy the original up until its 5 crappy endings, and I was just curious enough as to which ending they picked as canon to check out the sequel.
So far it's pretty much like I expected. Nowe's a cute main character but he's nowhere near as fun to play, or as interesting, as Caim. The gameplay is pretty much the same. I like that there are more playable characters that can actually level up now, but I HATE HATE HATE how they changed the dragon levels. The breath spheres were a horrible idea and I want them to die.
The story isn't all that engaging so far, either. The only interest really comes from wanting to know more about Nowe's past, and wondering whether Caim's gone crazy or if he really knows what he's doing. It's a lot more political than the first game in a way that I don't care for. And though the side characters are interesting and well designed, they all get swept away (or killed off) too quickly for you to learn anything about them. Gamemakers have to learn that character death is only dramatic when you give a shit about that person. And for that, s/he needs to stick around for more than a chapter.
I'm expecting the end of the game to be just as poorly done and awful as the first game's, but until then, I'm looking forward to Caim acting crazy.
I miss Inuart, though :(
