Gravity Rush: PS Vita Review

Gravity Rush: PS Vita Review

Platform: PS Vita
Released by Sony Computer Entertainment

Oh my goodness - I think one of the ultimate PS Vita gaming experiences has arrived.

From the director of Silent Hill Keiichiro Toyama, comes Gravity Rush as exciting an experience as you'll ever get on the handheld device.

Set on a floating world, you play Kat, a girl who wakes up with no memory of who she is. As she awakes, she finds herself accosted by a black cat who mysteriously gives her powers to control gravity. Kat suddenly discovers that she has the power to save the world around her from attacking forces known as the Nevi and hopefully ensure they survive the oncoming Gravity storm threatening their world...

Melding comic book sensibilities into the hero and some radically impressive controls, Gravity Rush is a joyous game which is Manga-esque in its execution. It's also beautifully presented with the OLED screen producing a crisp, tight and sharp set of graphics.

You explore the open world around you, get set missions which range from the important such as protecting the world from the Nevi to the more obscure levitating furniture around to deck out your new pad. All the time, you get to flip gravity, fly through the sky and fall as you try and work out how best to control your new powers, as well as standing on walls, negotiating floating objects and generally using your skills to your advantage.

You also get rewarded with boosted powers as your game play and skills evolve; it's a cunning move and one which is perfectly in line with the ongoing storyline; anyone with intelligence grows in skillset and in Gravity Rush, patience and endurance are rightfully rewarded.

Cut scenes on the game play out in comic book panel form and it's a brilliant touch with gives this game a wondrous feel and a perfect setting. Fighting can be rough and ready as you hurtle through the air to fight Nevi, if you're not in control, you smash into buildings and walls rather than your intended target. It's a nice raw touch which gives the getting a grip on the game something to aim for. Add into that mix, a series of timed minigames and pretty much, there's something for every game player here.

Gravity Rush is indeed a rush - it's a scintillating PS Vita experience which deserves to be cherished, experienced and raved about - I've yet to find any flaws with this inventive and unique game and am convinced one of the ultimate VITA titles has just been unleashed.

Rating:

Men in Black 3: Movie Review

Men in Black 3: Movie Review

In Men in Black 3, Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) return as they fight Boris The Animal (Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement)

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Alice Eve
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) return in the third outing of this series in which they’re dudes in black suits protecting the earth from the scum of the universe.

This time around, when angry baddie Boris The Animal (played as badass biker by our very own Jemaine Clement) busts out of the moon prison Agent K put him in years ago back in 1969, he’s only got revenge on his mind.

So, he decides, with a bit of techno trickery pokery to head back in time and erase K from time to ensure that he’s never caught in the first place…

But when K simply vanishes, (somehow) Will Smith’s wise talking J is the only one who remembers him and he also heads back to 1969 to ensure history’s not changed….

However, it’s not just Boris the Animal waiting for him, but a younger K, played by Josh Brolin.

Men In Black 3 comes a long time after the sequel (a decade on from 2002) and with it, a feeling that something really needed to be shaken up in the partnership between Smith and Jones.

Sadly, it appears, that magic ingredient was sidelining Tommy Lee Jones’ curmudgeonly emotionless K – and replacing him with a younger, livelier version played with utter brilliance by Josh Brolin who really does make you feel that he’s the younger version of the character thanks to a spot on impression.

It also means that Will Smith is prone to going back to his motor mouth wise talking sassy dude because at the start he’s a bit of a sad sack moping about as the partnership appears to flounder. He works well with Josh Brolin and by giving K a bit more life, the spark is revitalised between the duo.

Jemaine Clement is good as Boris; it’s a step away from his comedy acting. Though under layers and layers of prosthetics, he spends most of the movie glowering and fighting but to be honest, it’s a good solid performance in a relatively thankless role and really does show this Conchord has wings. Equally worthy of mention, is Rick Baker’s monster menagerie which is created for the start of the film – the creature work is stunningly good and realistic and it’s definitely missed from the middle of the film onwards.

A twist at the end of the film hints at a poignancy and resonance between J and K’s relationship and may be a nice pay off for fans of the genre.

But it’s not without its flaws – Emma Thompson and Alice Eve are woefully underused as Agent O, the head of the MIB agency and hardly have any major screen time, rendering any moments they’re in utterly pointless.

And I have to say, one of the biggest flaws of Men In Black 3 is that it’s not peppered with a lot of humour (ironic, given that the three main leads are the first three letters of JOKE) and it desperately needs some of that throughout.

That’s not to say it’s overly po-faced, merely that an injection of some smart humour would have given the film a bit of much needed zing throughout – granted, there’s a few one liners here and there which work but more would have been welcome.

All in all, Men in Black 3 isn’t a bad and unwatchable film, it’s a reasonable capper to the trilogy but if they’re to plough forward with this franchise, there really does need to be something more added. As a light, frothy piece of 90 minute entertainment, it just about makes it – but as a blockbuster promising action and comedy, it’s sadly left wanting.

Rating:

More NZ Film Festival titles revealed

More NZ Film Festival titles revealed

A further clutch of new film titles have been released for the upcoming New Zealand International Film Festival - and this year's new look too!

More films have been unveiled for the upcoming New Zealand International Film Festival which begins its roll out from July this year.
It follows on from the news of Cabin in the Woods' release as well as other titles in the New Zealand International Film festival.

And a new look as well...

First up, the much anticipated, potentially social changing doco Bully.
"A potent and provocative look at a problem that’s out of control, what with 13 million American kids a year being bullied, and some of them even taking their own lives. Lee Hirsch goes beyond statistics to focus on a handful of bullied students alongside the families of two suicides trying to organize on a national level, to pull the issue out of dark corners and take a stand for the silent. As one parent says to a school official who tries to brush the topic away: ‘You politicianed me.’ Bully isn’t politics. It’s a heartfelt cry for help.” — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone"





Secondly, Peter Jackson's much vaunted, West of Memphis.
"In 1994 three Arkansas teenagers were convicted for murdering three eight year old boys – on the strength of an implausible confession and ‘expert’ testimony that characterised them as Satanists. A film about the case made by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, alerted the world (including NZIFF audiences in 1996), proved the founding document of an international movement to free the ‘West Memphis Three’, and led to the participation from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh in producing this film. For 18 years the West Memphis judge who oversaw the initial trial denied successive retrial bids. Then suddenly last August, facing formidable legal expertise funded by supporters, the court caved, sort of: the three were released without retrial but had to admit culpability whilst proclaiming their innocence."



Thirdly, the story of six ballet dancers in First Position
"Never putting a foot wrong, the touching, enormously satisfying First Position follows six gifted ballet students from disparate social, regional, economic and ethinc backgrounds as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, a prestigious competition at which the world's top dance companies and schools prospect for new talent... The film [facilitated by the competition organisers] combines the built-in drama, tension and suspense of documentaries such as Spellbound, with exciting, beautifully lensed variations performed by the virtuosos of the future..." — Alissa Simon, Variety



And last but by no means, least, Jack Black's latest - Bernie
"Reunited with his School of Rock director Richard Linklater, Jack Black has his best ever role and meets it with inspiration and amazing restraint. Playing a real-life, world-famous-in-Texas character (whom you can see Black meet if you stay for the credits) he provides a wonderfully full portrait of a closeted small-town guy who has sunk his enormous personality into round-the-clock, upbeat, apple-pie niceness.

Blessed with a golden singing voice, attentive to anniversaries, generous with gifts, Bernie Tiede was an assistant undertaker so popular with the old ladies of Carthage, Texas, that when he confessed to murdering one of their number, nobody in town was prepared to listen. And if he did it, they say, victim Marjorie Nugent (a sour, purse-clutching Shirley MacLaine) had it coming."



I'll bring you more information when I have it.

The Great Gatsby trailer is here

The Great Gatsby trailer is here

Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo di Caprio and Carey Mulligan??

Has to be the first trailer for The Great Gatsby....take a look below

New Dark Knight Rises character shots

New Dark Knight Rises character shots

What with the A Fire Will Rise - Dark Knight poster hitting the streets yesterday, it's a busy old time for Bats as we ready ourselves for the release of the film on July 19th in New Zealand cinemas.

Today, there's three new character portraits from The Dark Knight Rises which have just come available on the internet - and here's how they look....

What do you make of Catwoman, Bane and Batman here in these poses?

Trishna: Movie Review

Trishna: Movie Review

Cast: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed
Director: Michael Winterbottom

In this adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbevilles, Slumdog's Freida Pinto stars as Trishna, a poor girl living in Rajasthan.

One day, Trishna meets Jay (Four Lions' Riz Ahmed), whose father runs a string of hotels. There's an attraction but when Trishna's father is injured in a jeep accident, the financial pressure facing the family is severe.

Jay intervenes, smitten with her and offers her a job in one of the hotels. With no choice, she accepts, and heads to the city, away from her family to ensure their survival.

But Jay won't let Trishna suffer and despite her serving the hotel industry, she's lavished with a TV in her quarters and given a slightly better quality of life than the rest of the employees.

Eventually, Trishna gives into the attention and attraction - but there are severe consequences for the relationship continuing.

Trishna is an odd beast of a film, blending a mix of the source material with a more shocking sense of moral outrage by setting it in Rajasthan, it's at times a slowly- paced but slow burning emotional watch.

Thankfully, a strong performance by an alluring Pinto as the girl whose journey sees her lose her innocence in many ways and makes her suffer in ways you can't help but be appalled by. It's a bravura turn by her as she goes from meek creature to being in control of her final destiny.

Winterbottom's also managed to capture a side of the region, seldom seen on the screen. Plenty of scenic cutaways, along with the hustle and bustle of the streets really helps sets the tone and create a sense of the lifestyle there.

With scenic snapshots and stolen glances, Trishna's tale is an apparently powerful but rambling one which plays out; a tale of desperation and tragedy. Thanks to some stunning cinematography and some strong acting, it's a curiously affecting film but never as strong a piece as it could be.

Rating:

New Dark Knight Rises poster is here

New Dark Knight Rises poster is here

The geek is getting a little excited over news overload today.

We've got a brand new Dark Knight Rises poster for you to enjoy.

The Dark Knight Rises hits cinemas here in July.