Reversing the Sands of Time
Everybody has made mistakes that we wish we could take a mulligan on, but life is not a game of golf, nor is it a video game inspired movie involving turning back time like Price of Persia: The Sands of Time. Jake Gyllenhaal and Ben Kingsley star in Disney’s movie version of the video game of the same title developed by Ubisoft.
The movie begins with a young boy (Dastan) being captured by Persian soldiers for standing up to them when they were about to execute another boy. As they are about to execute him, the king stops them and takes the boy in as a son for showing bravery and standing up to the guards. Fifteen years later, the child, now an adult played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is storming a holy city that was supposedly supplying weapons to Persia’s enemies. During the siege, he dismounts a rider that was attempting to flee the city to protect a special dagger that turns back time when the sands inside are released. Treachery is afoot when Dastan is framed for a murder he does not commit and is forced to flee with the dagger and princess who was sworn to protect it.
I haven’t played the video game version of Price of Persia: The Sands of Time on which this movie was based, but I have seen gameplay footage of it. I have also played Braid which has a Mario Brothers sort of feel to it with the same concept of rewinding time to where you made your mistake so you can replay it without having to restart the level. The movie definitely had the feel of a video game to it from Dastan’s leaping from rooftop to rooftop and running up and off of walls which made for a very fun experience.
A couple of things bothered me about the movie though. Several times throughout the movie, there were times where a bad guy would come out of nowhere that didn’t make any sense for him to be there, or Dastan would slip into somewhere stealthily without anybody noticing, and also skipping how he did it. We were just to assume that everything went all smoothly. To compare it to modern times, he snuck into a hearse surrounded by guards who would recognize him on sight, and he wasn’t wearing any disguise, save for a veiled cloak.
What I did like was the interaction between Dastan and the princess transitioning from a point where they strongly dislike each other and give each other grief when they get the opportunity to eventually falling in love. Like I said above, I thought the whole turning back time a few moments earlier to correct a mistake was a very neat concept to play with. There was also plenty of sword play, dagger throwing and all around action in there. If you’re a video game lover, this is one of the better movies adapted from a video game that have been made.
I’m Attacking the Darkness!
Think back to your childhood. What was one of your biggest fears growing up? Was it spiders, snakes, robot monkey squirrels? Maybe it was being afraid of the dark. This past week, I’ve been playing the latest release from Microsoft Studios: Alan Wake which centers around darkness.
Alan Wake is about a writer who is struggling to finish a novel after not having written anything since his last best seller two years ago. The game is narrated as if you were playing through a novel and hearing a voice to sort of guide you along. You even get to collect pages of the manuscript throughout the game which give you a glimpse into what will be happening very soon. The main character (Alan) and his wife are taking a vacation so he can get away from writing and relax. Little does he know, his scotophobic wife has planned a meeting with a doctor who specializes in helping artists find their creativity. He doesn’t like that idea, and his anger leads to the disappearance of his wife. That’s pretty much where you step in.
The quick tutorial at the beginning of the game is really neat, because you start off in a dream where things happen that don’t make sense, but you get a feel for the game by learning that you use light to overcome the darkness that shrouds enemies called “the taken,” and even to heal your character. Each chapter after the first begins like it was a television series with “previously on Alan Wake,” and a cut scene with a song to end the chapter. There are little things to collect throughout the game that serve no purpose as in a lot of other games that draw out the need to keep playing the game to finish it to 100%. In order to get the full effect of the game, you should play at night when you can definitely appreciate the darkness and creepiness.
I wasn’t too fond of the controls for the game. A lot of games have trouble getting the animation of jumping correct, and Alan Wake is no different. One thing I can’t stand in games is when you definitely see that you have the clearance to get over an object, but the game wasn’t designed to let you get over the object. Sprinting is also difficult, because the sprint button is also the same as the dodge button, so when you mean to sprint, you actually do a quick dodge and then start running. Dodging and avoiding attacks are also a little awkward, but there is a neat slow motion animation when you successfully dodge an attack, although turning your character around can be quite time consuming.
So far, I have been getting a lot of enjoyment from the game. I really like the dark aspect to it. Anything dark and creepy gets my attention and really makes me want to play the game. From what I have seen, Alan Wake has been getting good reviews and high scores which says a lot coming from the bigger name critics. It’s definitely one of the more interesting games I’ve played this year.
Shrek Forever After Review
Shrek Forever After is the final chapter of the Shrek series featuring Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas. The movie begins with a flashback to when Princess Fiona was still locked up in the tower waiting for her true love to rescue her. The king and queen of Far Far Away were ready to strike a deal with Rumplestiltskin that would free Fiona in exchange for their kingdom, when the deal was interrupted by a messenger telling them their princess had been rescued. Rumple’s dream was crushed until he came upon Shrek, who was having a very bad day from dealing with the same old routine day in and day out. A deal is made between them that would lead to Rumple taking control of Far Far Away and putting Shrek in a position to save not only himself, but the entire ogre race.
This happened to be my least favorite of the Shrek movies. It was still a very good movie to watch, but it didn’t have quite what I was looking for after seeing the previous three movies. My favorite was Shrek 2, mostly because of all the references to other movies and television shows. Of course, the clip that I like the most is when Puss in Boots climbs inside Shrek’s shirt and bursts out like a chest burster from the Alien movies. This movie didn’t seem to have too many of those moments and kind of left me hanging.
The situation that Shrek was in with pretty much living a Groundhog Day situation where he lives every day in almost a complete copy of the day before, and the day before that made me sympathize with him. One thing I don’t want is for my life to become a series of indistinguishable days and nights. Life pretty much puts the majority of us in that situation now with having to get up and go to work everyday, and coming home to have dinner, watch a little television, play a video game, go to sleep, rinse and repeat. That’s a rat race I hope to escape in the near future.
Overall, it was a fun movie and I did enjoy it. We didn’t see it in 3D, as I didn’t think it would really be worth seeing in 3D. I am also a cheapskate, which is why we went to the early bird special and didn’t pay extra for 3D or a later show. Spoiler alert! I did like how it was set in an alternate reality for most of the movie. That happens to be one of my favorite settings for movies or shows that have run a long time and need a bit of a shake up.
Robin Hood Review
It has been almost two decades since there has been a remake of the tale of Robin Hood; the most recent being Robin Hood: Men in Tights. This year, we are given another telling of the hero who robs from the rich and gives to the poor, but not the way most of us are accustomed to. Russell Crowe stars as Robin Hood with Cate Blanchett as the Maid Marion in the telling of how Robin Hood came to be the hero of the common folk.
The story begins with Robin Longstride as an archer fighting for Richard the Lionheart’s crusade against France at the end of the twelfth century. Fighting along side him are Little John (Kevin Durand), Will Scarlet, and Allan A’Dayle. After a discussion with the king, they fall out of the king’s favor and flee the battle, and set a course for Nottingham where they meet up with Friar Tuck (Mark Addy) and Maid Marion. It is here where the legend of Robin Hood begins to unfold and the movie ends with what we are familiar with from other movies.
I thought this movie was better than what I have heard coming from the bigger critics. It wasn’t at the same level as the Gladiator, but that is a very lofty goal to reach for, and no other Russell Crowe movie should be expected to be of that caliber.
What really made the movie for me was the main villain, Godfrey (Mark Strong). Every time this character was on the screen, it made me dislike him even more than the last scene he was in. He had a great interaction with William Marshall (William Hurt) where he were in a hallway together and Marshall told Godfrey to choose carefully where to place the dagger in his back. Godfrey showed Marshall a ring that Marshall originally was wearing and walked ahead with the same gesture Marshall gave to him with arms open exposing his back to Marshall to send the same message back.
As with most movies I tend to like, there was a great score to go along with it. Again, the best parts of the score came when Godfrey was on the screen. Strong makes a good villain.
Overall, I would have to say this is going to challenge Iron Man 2 as my favorite film of the summer. I would also like to say sorry to Kevin Costner and Cary Elwes. Your Robin Hood’s were good and funny, but Russell Crowe is the better man in tights.
Iron Man 2 Review
I would say the most anticipated movie of the summer arrived in theaters this weekend, and Iron Man 2 did not disappoint. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to do battle with those who try to steal his work and threaten the new time of peace the world has been enjoying. The new villain in this sequel is physicist Ivan Vanko, A.K.A. Whiplash, played by one of the most bad ass bad guys: Mickey Rourke. Two other additions to the Iron Man series are Natalie Rushman, Stark Industries’ legal counsel, played by the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson, and Don Cheadle who replaces Terrence Howard as the new Lt. Col. James Rhodes and War Machine.
The sequel did have a different tone than the first Iron Man movie as Tony Stark is now struggling with a health issue. You get this hopeless feeling for a while as opposed to the spunky, wise-guy antics from the first movie. I was a bit thrown off by Stark not being as cocky as he normally is and just the whole change in his attitude. This did give the movie more of an empathetic feel to it, which I’m sure most audience members weren’t expecting and may have turned them off a bit, but I feel was great for shifting gears to not deify him as much. There was a scene where Stark thinks the end is near and sits down with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) at a diner to talk about the Avengers and how to save Tony’s life that reminded me of the diner scene in Pulp Fiction. I don’t know if anybody else noticed that too, but I thought it was pretty neat.
I love seeing the futuristic technology used in this movie. It wasn’t just the battle suits of Iron Man and War Machine, or even the drones that were the most impressive pieces of technology. The 3D projections of interactive displays and menus that you could walk through and crumple up like a piece of paper were amazing. They were even more impressive than the consoles and displays that the characters in Avatar were using. Seeing technology like this makes me want to live forever so I can see just how far we can advance with science.
Robert Downey Jr.’s stardom continues to grow with the Iron Man titles and the new Sherlock Holmes series. If you haven’t seen Iron Man 2 yet, you need to see the first biggest blockbuster of the year so far. Also, be sure to stick around for an extra little scene at the end of the credits! There is a little taste of a movie to be released next year!
