Captain America: The First Avenger review.

Review: 3.5 out of 5.

Listen, before you read the rest of this review, I would like to say I remember promising you all for doing a preview of Phoenix Da Icefire's upcoming new album, Quantum Leap. But I thought rather than show you a video of 5 Jewels why not review the whole thing when it comes out. Alright, now that is clear, let me say, after having viewed a backlog of superhero films this 2011 with the Old Norse God, Thor, mutant supremacist, X-Men First Class, along with the emerald - wise cracking - Green Lantern I decided to take on World War II veteran Captain America The First Avenger.

Directed by Joe Johnston, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, it is based on the Marvel Comics character that is created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Again helmed for production with a duration of 124 minutes by Marvel Studios, this is the last Paramount Pictures film that will dare to distribute any of their characters. This was produced by Kevin Feige (Iron Man). Movies in this genre are hard to pass ahead, you got to leave the cliche factors behind and it can't take itself too seriously and mustn't be a spoof. I think that's where Green Lantern and Thor didn't nail. Another, is you can't ground the main character too much otherwise they run around without any purpose. That is what I hated the most about the last two I mentioned.

Good:

The film stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a young man who desperately wanted to aid his country in the war effort during the 1940's. Deemed unfit for service and denied several times in five different locations for military duty, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) gives Rogers the benefit of the doubt and is recruited in a super soldier experiment. Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and British MI5 Officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) head the program. Doused with a unique serum and vita-rays (seriously who names these things?), Rogers is then genetically altered into the star-spangled, American hero.

The first act ended nicely with the broader, courageous, Rogers subduing Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage), Nazi assassin of Johaan Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Marcus and McFeely did a great job in making the script tight; action, drama, conflicts and humour were in the right places and did not feel over-complicated and was very easy to follow. Apart from Chris who nailed the feel and spirit of the leading role perfectly, Hayley did well in her depiction of Peggy Carter as did the majority of the supporting cast with Tommy Lee Jones.

My favourite scene is the rescue of Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and when Captain America meets Red Skull for the first time. The next was the battle with HYDRA in the full red, white and blue suit in an enemy base. The action sequences in that location were fantastic, particularly the shield throwing moments which are iconic. The set designs, visual effects and costume designs were solid; Cap's final outfit were obviously inspired by The Ultimate Marvel universe in the comics (an imprint separate from the mainstream comics). Although, the 3D were not visually an impact on screens.

Bad:

Despite all of the aptitudes that make this film look great, there were some inconsistencies. One is the inaccuracy of the actual time period, now I know Johnston stated in an interview this is not actually a period piece but is set within some alternate timeline in 1942, which does kind of justify some of the flaws (the advanced technology) and MI5 not known in those days. However, even so, it should be a little more consistent. I mean you don't see little green men in space pods running amok in Ancient Greece. I do appreciate the twists and turns in that era.

Another thing was character development of Red Skull was not good enough, Weaving got the accent right but it left him not having much arm stretches to enter his psyche and show why the concoction screwed him up the way it did. Yes he is a villain, but he is a pretty two dimensional one at that. The Red Skull I know is more than that, but instead he is reduced to just a super - cardboard - cut-out - version of the bad guy who promoted Hitler's fascist ideologies. The writers did not take enough time out to flesh him out more, if they gave Weaving a bit more screen time it could allow us as the audience to take a glimpse of the relation between the Captain and Red Skull. They are metaphors for the American Dream plus Nazi Dictatorship.

One more thing, we need to see more of the situation at hand with the war. Take for example, Saving Private Ryan, I don't mean blood and guts cause that will raise the whole certificate to about 15 but show what is happening rather than show Cap destroying HYDRA Bases. It may not be a war film but it is set in that period and not just show it in newspapers, TV, etc. People need to absorb the whole scenery and noise as if they were there. So, throw in a few more explosions here and there, possibly land Cap in with his Howling Commando's in a bit more missions and help out on the front lines. Cap has a gun, so make him use it. Editing was pretty standard, sound okay, music need to be a bit grittier and less campy.

Overall:

3D was a drag, but did not ruin the experience. Fantastic work Evans for your interpretation of Cap and a strong, collaborative, supporting cast. Thanks a lot Director Johnston for your vision of the earliest avenger, your flukes are forgivable. Great start, lazy writing by Markus and McFeely in the second act but excellent finish. To better capture the essence of your world's setting, it would have been gratifying if the director gave a deeper outlook of what life would have been like during World War II in Spring of 1942. Could do with a few more interconnections with the characters such as the Red Skull, Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) and Bucky Barnes but I can't complain. Nice treat at the post credits scene between Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Rogers setting the stage for The Avengers film next year in 2012. Flashy visuals, good touch and is worth buying tickets. It shows how fun and tough being a renowned protector is all about.

- Written by Kbon

Green Lantern (2011) review.

Review: 2.5 out of 5.

Now, to be honest, I was not into the character of Green Lantern. In fact I never got into DC characters besides Bat-Man and Superman. From trailers online, I figured this should be good, but I tried to sink everything I could get, therefore, on the day I made the most of it by eating a buffet. Plus it was for my birthday so I wasn't taking any chances. For some reason, I decided to give it a shot and before I knew it, I ordered my ticket as I had a few laughs then jumped in the hot seat. Apparently, this was very well anticipated but I blocked out any negative snaps at it and made a conclusion myself. The result, pretty disappointing, but can be quite feasible to those like me who did not invest in the character but went there for a barrel of fun. Sorry geeks, all you out there are gonna be crying your eyes out but not in awe but from having your childhood ripped away from you.

This pile of Flubber, Green Lantern, is the superhero film based on DC comics that was created by John Broome and Gil Kane. The film is directed by Martin Campbell and a collected number of writers by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg. It was released in the UK in June 22nd 2011 and distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures. Don't ask me why there's so many scriptwriters? Two of which, have written comics for big publishers. If you are not aware of the character, there are many Green Lanterns who hold the power of will - in retrospect to do anything as long as the bearer doesn't feel fear - through an incredulous ring. In this case, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a test pilot for airlines at Ferris Aircraft. Jordan is chosen to be a Green Lantern by the ring after he visited his predecessor, extraterrestrial, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison), of Sector 2814. Jordan must learn to past his jerkiness ways and leave all of his doubts and insecurities in order to face an ever present and intergalactic threat that could destroy entire worlds including Earth.

Good:

As much as the delivery was rubbish, the visuals in 3D were good but not the best. For once I want a film that stands out in 3D. For me, at this point, its either 2D or nothing. Ryan Reynolds was a good choice for the lead, but to be honest, I could not see anyone who could play Jordan. His smug, comedic, arrogant fly boy persona was done to a small degree cool to me. The problem is simple; I could not take him seriously. What I liked about this film is it used a thematic subject matter that is predominant within the entire walls of the movie, which are both fear and willpower. Unlike Bat-Man, Green Lantern does not use fear to overcome his foes as an advantage. Instead, he must use it to deal with the fear within himself. Jordan has been afraid most of his life, ever since his father, Martin Jordan (Jon Tenney) passed away in a plane crash. That is what stood out for me as humans are often terrified by things which they can't understand. Anything seen as breaking the realms of physics is a threat and must be under strict order.

The powers are great, but the visual effects are another story. I will talk about that later, now lets go through story-line; in the first 15 minutes or so pretty action packed. The being known as Parallax (Clancy Brown) is set free by siphoning fear and the life force of unfortunate victims of a crash site on the planet Ryut. Later, Abin Sur is mortally wounded by the creature in Sector 2814 and he crash landed on Earth. That sequence was put together, well but up to the point when Hal Jordan is recruited and he transported in a ball of energy to given the power ring and battery. He spoke the oath "In brightest day, In blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight, Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power! Green Lantern's light". After the 30 minutes closed the beginning, with the wary and confused Jordan sort condolence with Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), a fellow pilot. He got caught in a bar fight and his powers revealed itself. Meanwhile, Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), is summoned by his father Senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins) in a secret project to perform an autopsy on Abin Sur. Hector is mutated by a piece of Parallax then granted psychic abilities.

During the middle part of this plot, this is where things started to go downhill. The scenes with a training session on planet Oa between Jordan, Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush), Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan) and Sinestro (Mark Strong) were interesting, laughable and swell, especially sword-fighting using constructs. Despite this it was like irritant fly boy got a big wound, now he flies home to his mother. Jordan did just that, except the visit to clear Mum part over his own pride not being dignified after the battle. I expected a quick resolute of this, luckily he had a best friend back at Ferris Aircraft, Thomas Kalmaku (Taika Waititi), an engineer on the airlines who at least taught him how to be a "space cop" as he broke to Carol. Not much action had broke until the mysterious attack at the helicopter event. The overall premise had a brilliant concept.

Bad:

Let me start with the basics, Green Lantern had an exceptional premise for this kind of movie. I admired the character of the hero but there are instances where he was quite annoying, I mean he is a smart Alec plus a bastard. He was played a bit poorly but Reynolds is alright in some other situations. The script was terrible, one liners did not sink in well for some of the character's dialogue at their crack at in-jokes with the entire middle that had fell very flat. It made me feel that all four of the writers might of took a puff every now and then during lunch. Personally, I blame Geoff Johns, only kidding. Well someone needs a scapegoat, don't we all? The direction was pretty less warming but you could see poor Martin didn't have much to work with. So did the actors, which is not fair on them.

Another thing is visual effects of the ring's animation and energy projections were tacky. Some of them remind me of the Ki effects from one of the worst movies of 2009, Dragon Ball Evolution. We are talking about will power, get it straight people! That kind of might is infinite. Its not stunning enough and feel more like Eye-Toy flare ups. To top it off, the hero had not developed at all, okay he learnt key lessons but that was all. Even the super-villain, Dr. Hector Hammond did not accomplish much accept having successfully maimed his Dad over senseless resentment. Neither sides of the same coin had much to fulfill. It just felt empty, bitter and dreary.

Overall:

I would say to everyone, you most likely would be frankly disheartened. Go out and have a good time but make the most of it whenever you can at the rental store whether you are a comic fan or not. Visuals was quite satisfactory with music so trite you might think it was from a John Williams Superman score. Acting performances were better in the supporting cast than a few of the major casts, blamed with an out of place script and less than ideal SFX. Though nice vision, ideas, designs and sets. I got to say thank you to its promotion, very well done for an settled evening.

- Written by Kbon

Smallville Season Finale review.

Review: 4 out of 5.

Sorry people, it has been a long time since I reviewed anything for Kbon Reviews. Bad, I know but I have been occupied in the last few months. I wrote a piece on the Fast and Furious 5 plus I am set to examine the music video by Phoenix Da Icefire on the Five Jewels. Before I continue, I would like to recommend all of you to check on the posts by a friend call Andre. His blog is www.nemesisthehunter.blogspot.com and has been doing some interesting stuff recently. Look out for the animation trailer, which is during Nemesis the Hunter's Mark issue 1. Follow his blog and support the cause. Right, now its back to my review on Season 10 of Smallville.

There are so many episodes this show has I would like to comment about but the one I would be glad to review the most is "Finale part 1 and 2". Its been almost a decade since the first Pilot episode aired in 2001. Not many TV shows last this long, hardly any even make it past the third season. For me, I watched it on and off when it was shown on the T4 Channel in the UK and on E4. I got back into the show when it hit Season 8 when Clark Kent (Tom Welling) had to face "the Ultimate Destroyer", Smallville's answer to Doomsday (Davis Bloome) played by Samuel Witwer. It was more interesting, plus I never saw what the fuss was about in their showdown, it was not that great but it wasn't terrible either.

Good:

"Finale Part 1" written by Al Septien and Turi Meyer and directed by Kevin Fair, to be honest, had a very slow pace. It was mostly about Clark's persistence in not being left at the altar, once Lois Lane (Erica Durance) began to have cold feet in the previous episode, "Prophecy". She became insecure of the fact she is taking on a big responsibility with grounding a lover of god-like calibre, especially a superhero. Despite its slow beginning it did have some good points. The messages of not forgetting the past but remembering them and learning from your history in order to put things right in the future was inspiring. These lessons were learned from Johnathan and Martha Kent (John Schneider and Annette O'toole) respectively. When it came down to the wedding, it just went out with a bang. Oliver Queen, Clark's best man, also known as Green Arrow, was unfortunately marked by the darkness in the form of an Omega symbol. It turned out Darkseid wanted to get rid of our Boy Scout for good by slipping Clark with gold kryptonite. This rare meteor rock could strip him of his powers for good.

Smack in the middle of "Finale Part 2", teleplay written by Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders but directed by Greg Beeman, after Clark lifts Oliver from the darkness by a calm, altruistic sense of persuasion, both heroes find an even larger threat in the form of a literal Hell on Earth. At this point, more action sequences kick in (finally) as it is where the script gets tight. One good thing about this 2 hour finale of this series is although it is a TV double bill, if you will, on the CW network, this feels more like a TV movie. This episode has the biggest cast, superbly talented, in season 10 and we have guest star galore with Allison Mack as the inquisitive, Oracle dweller, Chloe Sullivan. John Glover does well as usual in his portrayal of Lionel Luthor, this time of an alternate Earth. So too did Michael Rosenbaum who reprised his role as Lex Luthor.

Bad:

Despite all the highlights of this episode, there were some negative parts as well. Flaws of continuity have been present throughout e.g. the fight between Clark and Evil Oliver at the wedding. One minute they have toppled on a basin near the altar full of Holy Grail, the next shot both men appear dry. One instance, Lois, while in the Daily Planet arguing with a reporter about getting a seat at Air Force One and warning the President of an invasion. Here, Lois knocks out this reporter, but when she is on the ground, the victim is still moving afterwards. Its just these shots are not that consistent within the frames, either the editor did a bad job or its down to the actors. Another thing I am unsatisfied with is Clark's battle with Darkseid, in more ways than one, its the worst ever showdown with a major antagonist on Smallville. I can't ruin the whole show but expect the fight to be less than spectacular, at least his battle with General Zod in season 9 was better. It actually makes Darkseid too much of just a mere presence and not intimidating enough. The villain is supposed to be the hero's share in might or surpasses him/her in one way. Never his/her subordinate, although there are some exceptions but only to serve as comic effect. There is also lengthy montage during the little tussle, which was not at all necessary. Nevertheless, the production team did a great payoff at the end.

Overall:

Executive producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders did a fantastic job with the second half in the Finale. The beginning felt slow and unmovable, there were some parts in the 2-hour epic, which need a touch up but the rising force on an intergalactic scale allowed the pace to get more interesting. There was some brilliant set pieces, the lighting was perfect apart from messy cinematography and loud, blaring music in a few places. All the cast did wonderful with one small fluke by Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer, but her role has served a purpose that was true in character. As for the Superman suit, very Brandon Routh with a Christopher Reeve edge but its a shame Tom Welling is not seen much inside the costume. This is a must see guarantee, go and buy the DVD along with the box set while you're at it.

- Written by Kbon

Tron Legacy (2010) review

Review: 3 out of 5 stars.

The first time I watched Tron was in the late nineties and I was around six years old. At the time, it was on satellite TV and this was before Sky had been widely available to everyone. I had NTL Broadband, the company is known as Virgin Media now. From what I remember, Tron was about a computer whiz named Kevin Flynn who is an employee at ENCOM, a software company, where he used to make the best video games for.

It was a well contrived film that is known for its remarkable imagination and stunning graphics at the time in 1982. Rumours of a forthcoming sequel in production and being green-lighted had spread. I even swore I saw a small ad for Tron 2 at an old rental store where I used to get blockbuster movies and thrilling martial arts films. At last, though, Tron Legacy is here in 2010 and reached theatres in December in most of Europe. When I first saw and heard what they were doing with this movie, I felt it was going to do an appalling job at the box office, but actually, it did become a feasible hit.

Tron Legacy is directed by Joseph Kosinski who is known in the commercial television and feature world as a wizard in computer graphics and visual effects. It stars Jeff Bridges who reprised his role as Kevin Flynn from the previous film and plays the digital counterpart, Clu 2, Garrett Hedlund plays his fully grown son, Sam Flynn, Bruce Boxleitner took on the role of Alan Bradley, a stepfather of Sam ad Tron; a security program. With a screenplay written by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, the film lasted 127 minutes, produced by Steven Bailey, Jeffrey Silver and writer and director of the first film, Steven Lisberger. It was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

Good:

Where the last instalment of Tron left off, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) has become CEO of ENCOM International and led the industry by storm until his sudden disappearance in 1989. His son, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), is left an orphan and heir to his father’s multi-national enterprise. Over two decades later, Sam became a rebel; he does not have any interest taking control of ENCOM and often makes fun of members in the board meeting with his skills in extreme sports. His last stunt gets him arrested by the police after he parachutes off from the ENCOM building. Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) then approaches Sam about a message he received on his pager, mysteriously sent by Sam’s father, ironically, the connection was cut for years. This came from an old arcade, without hesitation, Sam began to explore the abandoned place for clues only to find a room at the other side of the arcade inside a laboratory. He finds the computer and gets digitized by a prototype machine, some kind of laser.

In the opening scene, a few minutes into the film, evidence of a dysfunctional relationship is found between Kevin and Sam. Told in a fairytale or story book archetypical narrative, eight year old Sam is told by Kevin about the digital landscape hidden within a computer named “The Grid” where programs are represented as humanoid-electronic beings inside systems. This gives new audiences some closure and fills us with necessary information in order to know what it is about. Fans of the original film also are given ideas on where its source began and where it is heading. From the initial 30 minutes, we learn before Kevin was missing, he promised to change society through science, religion and medicine from his autobiographical book “The Digital Frontier”. Also, that Kevin had created a new User friendly system where programs and users can integrate. Those who are Tron fans know Kevin visited the virtual world once before.

Hedlund provided a great performance as Sam and made a convincing, heroic, protagonist in the sequel. His moments of loss, missing his Dad, can be felt by viewers but how the character deals with such aggravated emotions is quite intriguing. Any calculated or observant individual can see through his very hardened exterior and realise he is lonely. The story is not all that fantastic, considering it took at least thirty years to get a visionary project off the ground. However, its visuals and cinematography are nothing short of beautifying. The disc battles and light-cycle races are cool. This is where IMAX 3D comes in handy, it’s done in an ultraviolet fashion on a grand scale. Dark, lightning-filled, skies give the notion you are inside a videogame with futuristic cities. About forty minutes into Tron Legacy as Sam encounters the enigmatic Clu 2 (Bridges) and facing Rinzler (Anis Cheurfa), a masked warrior who fights against users or rogue programs, in a deadly battle with discs, he meets Quorra (Olivia Wilde).

Bad:

The problem with Tron Legacy is there is not much character development and the script is not that engaging to be on the level of Inception neither is the plot original. I have no qualms toward how successful this film is, on the other hand, it seems the film crew have leaned too much on the lens of 3D rigs and cameras plus various angles on the whole landscapes in the setting than actually focus upon the structure. There is an obvious style over substance here, and it did not help with two writers whose credits include television shows like One Tree Hill and Lost being under the wing of a fan boy director who only so far as done adverts. Another thing is the movie has a few holes in continuity and storyline; the positioning of characters within some medium and long shots and timeline. For example, how can a program (Clu 2) send a message to a pager? No sort of intelligence can do that. Plus how come Sam does not have the same god-like abilities as his father, I mean he is a user?

By the time Sam and Quorra locate Kevin in a wasteland off The Grid, tragedy is replaced by a need to leave which is a bit too quick. If given enough time, the dynamic between all of them should have been show more, especially from Kevin and Sam given that it is a father-son story. In the middle, Kevin reveals his gift to the real world were ISO’s (isomorphic algorithms), special beings of unknown origin who can unlock mysteries in the human condition. Clu 2 destroyed them as he believed they were a threat to the system. The message here from this meeting is hubris and perfection, which are good topics in action/adventure but more details of the purge of ISO’s and those contexts and themes should have been dealt with more. Sound was deafening including the robotic voices of programs, save for the Sirens, but was layered over by a superb music score from Daft Punk. I will not spoil Clu 2’s master plan but it’s not hard to work out.

Overall:

Tron Legacy is a fun, simple, thrilling motion picture with stunning 3D inspired CGI visuals in place of a slapdash script and faithful direction. Actors have played the characters with gravitas and energy. Although, I do feel Sam could have shown a little more resentment towards his Dad for being missing for so long but there was a sense of unsettlement, so I can’t really complain. The high point goes toward the score by Daft Punk, which is a very good choice and works extremely well along with the picture. With a lot to work with, sustenance would be the key in making us feel more satisfied. This is for people that want to be on their seat feeling energized and fans of the previous film.

- Written by Kbon

Buried film Review

Review: 2.5 out of 5.

Sorry guys, I've been slacking these past couple of months but I have got at least two reviews up there that are ready for my inspection. I am concentrating on films at the moment, but I will get back to music very soon. This year has been my luck watching so many rubbish films, I may have to call this site "Kbon Worst Reviews". Joke aside, this movie was not too bad, however, it could possibly be chucked into the gutter if not brought to the right hands - like mine.

Buried was released in September 24th 2010 in the United States and everywhere sometime in October. It is directed by Rodrigo Cortes starring Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, a truck driver buried alive in a casket in Iraq with only his Blackberry mobile phone, torch, lighter and Zippo. It turns out he was captured by an Iraqi kidnapper (with a ridiculous Middle Eastern accent) and threatens to put the lives of his family in danger if Paul does not make a ransom video and the wire transfer of up to $5,000,000 dollars. Through Reynolds' cynical and innocent attempts at black humour, we learn about the mysterious captor from the FBI official; on another, similar, case who is called Mark Wright. Not much is known about this man, only that he is buried in a location not far from where Paul was trapped. Reynolds did very well to convey the anxiety and harshness of his character, we know he can pull off the wise-cracker as shown in films such as Blade Trinity (2004) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

Good:

Spanish director Cortes did well to provide the intensity of the drama, although he did not have much of a thorough concept to work with, he showed us how many tools he has got in his disposal to keep you watching for 94 minutes. Credit goes out to Chris Sparling with a methodical script about our most common fears in human nature: claustrophobia. There is one flaw I did not like with this, but it might just be me and this is the ending of the story. Apart from that, I give Sparling prompts for a carefully built character arc. The performance by Reynolds is what carried the film in a spiral of emotion. He nailed the persona of Paul very well and it allows us to go deep into his psyche - from anger to desperation and from sarcasm to kindness - with the Green Lantern movie coming in theatres in Summer 2011 we know he can breeze it like pulling tricks out of a bag to use his magic torch. The camera shots give us a way of reaching out to the character and tells the viewer he may not get out of here. Music is beautifully composed and sound is not overused.

Bad:

You are probably wondering if this is so greatly constructed why did I give it just 2 and 1/2 stars? This is the reason: now remember when I told you I felt the ending of the story was poor, well that is only partly my deduction. I won't go into specifics of the scene for the sake of spoilers but I will tell you it left me disappointed. I was expecting more from it and this let the film down. Secondly, I know that depending on the actor, movies that feature merely one character on screen can be quite difficult to gauge interest. Now the director has made up for these strict limitations of characters and locations - he is in a coffin from start to finish - with mystery and some action sequences. Despite this, the kidnapper cannot be taken seriously and I laughed to myself and nearly choked on popcorn at how stupid this guy is and his supposedly broken English does not help things. Its nearly enough as though we are witnessing a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon at the other end of the line. The next mishap is Buried is riddled with holes as deep as Paul is, maybe even more down under. It did not explain or grant any background information on what led him to be trapped? Who are his enemies? And why did they bury Wright plus what is the link between him and Paul?

Overall:

A film with a strong premise of being faced living under the earth forever, this has a rich writing style, tough visuals and stunning performance by Ryan Reynolds. On the other hand, the mystery flattens by unsatisfied answers, untied plot ends and mediocre ending that loses itself along the way. This could have been done more better if the director had pushed it a little beyond its limits. The money for tickets was not much of a waste, but its worth your bet not wasting your time and just go for the DVD or Blu-ray.

- Written by Kbon

Inception film review

Review: 4.5 out of 5

To all of you people fanatical about film,

Kbon is now at it again. It has not been long since I reviewed Prototype, but I always wanted to take a chance in going through another item that dares pass my keen judgement. I just never had time. This, in particular, is the one movie I was intending to use before I watched A-Team. Well, today folks the film I am going to review is by Christopher Nolan, Director of The Dark Knight and The Prestige. Yes, it's Inception. Nolan and his younger brother, Johnathan, are geniuses when it comes to making Hollywood blockbusters. I don't need to mention anymore credits as their status as filmmakers are more painted on cash notes and worldwide than any word on the street. Oh, what the heck, Christopher has been nominated and won many Academy, Satellite and Empire Awards, notably for winning Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and more. He now has the next Batman film in development while adapting a whole twist on the Man of Steel everyone knows, Superman.

The newest contender in the film world introduced his idea of dreams to Warner Brothers in 2001, which started with an 80-paged treatment. Christopher then decided he was not ready to produce something at this kind of scale. I understand this due to how grand a concept it can actually be once you start talking about the mind. My question is does it live up to it's expectations as does, say The Dark Knight? Well, I have little anxiety towards Nolan's works and Inception borders on an entire new level of The Matrix. In short, this guy knows exactly what he's doing. Recruited in Nolan's team of actors is Leonardo DiCaprio who did films such as Shutter Island who plays extractor, Mr. Cobb, tasked with stealing dreams. He leads a team of extractors to perform a process called inception; store an idea in a subject's mind while unconscious. A pretty insane length to rob an item, don't you think? Maybe, but you got to love the odds with this. Imagine planting a suggestion into your teacher's head and convincing them of giving you straight A's. That would be cool. So, what is the plot?

Inception has a total of 148 minutes and was made by Nolan's own studio, Syncopy Films, and Legendary Pictures. This was distributed by Warner Brothers. Mr. Cobb is first shown on the beach, waking up to find an old man who describes a symbol, a spinning top, which is the perfect indicator of whether he is sleeping or not. Cobb, with his right-hand man, Arthur, (Joseph Gordon Levitt) embark on a mission within the mind of Japanese business man, Saito (Ken Watanabe) via drug inducement methods. The mission becomes awry thanks to Mal (Marion Corillard), a formidable woman always ruining missions and who poses a threat against Cobb. It appears this was a test, forcing Cobb to help Saito convince Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) in terminating his rival's empire, father of Robert, Maurice Fishcer (Pete Postlethwaire). In return for the mission's success, Cobb will be free to visit America and see his children. He drafts in Eames (Tom Hardy), the forger who can alter his form within dreams, Ariadne (Ellen Page), the architect in charge of building dream worlds and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who specializes in sedatives that causes these mental projections to occur. With a team assembled, they face danger in every corner and death in this realm could result in the mind to enter a relapse: being lost forever in-between fantasy and reality.

The Good:

Alright, now that we sunk deep into our creators' madness, I got a few more things I got to say about Inception. The strengths is down to construction. Nolan, where have you been in my whole life? This is stupendous, not only has our writer/producer/director has got everything down to the cast, he's got an intelligent script and mesmerizing visuals courtesy of Wally Pfister. The drama creates urgency making you realize no matter how precise your skills are or how clever you can be, anything can go wrong. Brilliant acting plus a moving score by Hans Zimmer provided that unsettling build up. My favourite is the hotel scene where Arthur battles henchmen while escaping his team in a floating sequence. It will be memorable and is really breathtaking to watch. Nolan has obviously worked on this for a long time as the whole story is broken into layers split in the shape of an onion that connects like a domino effect. Of course, it does have some low points.

The Bad:

Unsurprisingly, this feature does not have many downsides. However, every watcher of Nolan's films knows his tendency to confuse audiences. Many can be a bit more than baffled at how well crafted his multi-strand plots are. It did the same to a friend and he almost slept near the bitter end of the movie. Me, being the film buff I am prevented this and I continued to watch. I got to admit though, I did pull a "What the--?", a couple times but it all made sense to me eventually. Another defect is the pacing is slow and quite daunting, it makes you lose sight of what Cobb's motive for the mission are? Finally, the main conflict against Mal as we learn in the close of the first Act that she's merely an avatar of Cobb's late wife is gotten rid of too easy. It would have been great if she had more screen time to fill her presence as someone imposing. I believe the actress, Marion, had potential and would have been more suited better as the film's villain if she was given more opportunities to be shown more of her character. At least she had enough for exposition but she felt a bit flat.

Overall:

Inception was a terrific film and is, believe it or not, one of the best films of this year. I can't wait until it hits DVD and Blu-ray release. My advice to anyone who goes to see a film like this, go watch it in IMAX theatres. I didn't have a chance to do that but it is worth the experience. This is by far the most fantastic use of mind blowing action since The Matrix or even Equilibrium. While those gratifying pieces built the foundations of imaginary settings, Nolan beats them by looking at the minor details that distinct them from this.

- Written by Kbon

[Prototype] game review

Review: 4 out of 5

Okay, I'm going to take a break reviewing films just for a short while.

I haven't made any critic responses since Predators and that was a long time ago. Well, I'm back in my favourite desktop seat, but this time I share many view points on a video game. Non other than a large step of the most entertaining game of the year. It is Prototype, now because game's are very complex, I will judge it and break it down by the "Story", "Game play" and "Design" rather than how I critique films, music and other media.

Prototype is published by Activision and developed by Radical Entertainment, featuring Barry Pepper who voiced Alex Mercer, the most powerful character in the Wildstorm universe. It was released over a year ago in June 2009 for the X Box 360, PS3 and Windows PC, they also released a comic book published by DC comics Wildstorm, which ties in with the game. Players get to become the anti-hero in an open world environment and do battle with an ever present black ops military organization called Blackwatch and the Infected, (Resident Evil, anyone?) mutated victims of a plague spread throughout New York City.

Story:

Mercer wakes up in the middle of a morgue just before two surgeons were about to dissect him. He escapes a facility, Genteck, who are the main figurehead and centre of genetic manipulation and several conspiracies within the game. Though it is not long before the Blackwatch soldiers confront Mercer, attempting to shoot him down. Mercer, obviously survives and exhibits superhuman abilities. He discovers that he carries in his palms shapeshifting abilities that grant a range of different powers.

Eventually, he makes contact with his sister, Dana Mercer. Not only do we learn her connections to Alex and Gentek as the reporter dug enough information to fight against the company while her brother was undercover. Alex subsequently encounters a psychopathic woman called Elizabeth Greene, who like Mercer is altered by a virulent weapon dubbed "Blacklight", which changed her in ways that literally trashes Darwin's theory of natural selection out the window. Feeling a link towards Greene he frees her only to get smacked by her ungrateful "mother". Greene births hideous monsters such as Hunters and other abnormalities while she infects the entire city, which sets the stage for what's to come. The effect of that and how it stretches in with his constant search for those who is responsible.

I have played some levels and this is a largely progressive, incredible storyline. The interesting thing about this is although this game is linear, many of the audiences is able to feel attached to Mercer. This is especially on side missions e.g. Web of Intrigue. Mercer, through a system like this can steal memories from targets who are involved with his past by absorbing host's body's. The feature allows the audience to veer down memory lane to uncover secrets and growing mysteries relative to the main plot. Nothing I found wrong in the story that is pretty well written except the pacing can be a little tedious.

Game Play:

Mercer has the ability to disguise himself by consuming others. This enables the user to regain health after it decreased from attacks. In addition, stealth is a major issue when it comes to infiltrating army bases at some point in the game. There is a reticule at the bottom of the screen in your Heads Up Display (HUD) that measures your discretion. If you are spotted in your host's guise doing suspicious activity, it will be harder to escape.

Another factor is Mercer gains 'upgrades' or special manoeuvres during the course of the game. These abilities come across in a few options for defensive and offensive powers. For instance, he can transform parts of his body into blades that can penetrate almost any material. A defense would be a shield he envelops that blocks most attacks. Going through a catalog of powers is not as tough as it sounds. It's simple to activate plus this does not interrupt normal play.

In addition, the character has super strength and gymnastic capability that makes use of his parkour movements. Alex can go anywhere, you are basically unstoppable. The only problem with the mechanics is the controls are crazy sometimes. I think one point in level 2 I had a problem throwing a car onto a helicopter, but it easily clears that flare up. The other trouble was difficulty adjusting to his agility, he just goes on and on non stop. It compels the fluidity of his travels slightly because you cannot go up a building without falling off the top of it.

Design:

The presentation is descent, but not perfect. A lot of things can be done here besides the story like working alongside the Infected or military during Events section. That is only just a sample of the potential you can try in this game. These help to keep the gamer busy, nevertheless, collecting medals in a sort of arcade tone maybe fun but can get old very quickly. The graphics on the monsters are believable and is a good spokesperson for very mature levels of gore. At least it is not too demanding though, visuals are crisp, especially when diving into Alex's subconscious in vague but effective flashbacks. Sadly, there is always drawbacks with entertainment so I hate to break it like this, but the skyline has low quality and the drastic change transitioned from pre-infection to post-infection in the setting does not do much for me.

Overall:

Developers at Radical Entertainment balanced a sharp cut apocalyptic premise with a gritty, open world, superhero game for single player. With a few improvements this would be a masterpiece. Prototype still is more than just an idea, it is a collector's item that coups up a conspiracy that fits it's way on a control pad snugly as much as slipping into footwear. With intense game play, remarkable graphics and clever story I could play it in fortnights. You can truly change everything and become anything within this ball of a game.

- Written by Kbon