Little Big Planet: PS Vita Preview

Little Big Planet: PS Vita Preview

Sackboy, je t'adore.

Ever since I first clapped my chubby little fingers on Little Big Planet on the PS3 all those years back, I fell totally for the Sackboy experience.

It'd been a while since the creativity and cleverness of a little cloth character and his on screen antics had filled me with such joy (not since the childhood days of the Wombles in fact) so to say I have great anticipation for the handheld PS Vita Little Big Planet, fully interactive Sackboy experience is a complete understatement.

The preview for the BETA I was given is restricted only to the first world and the first level of the second - despite looking to all intents and purposes like it's the full game.

And if this is what we've got to look forward to when it comes out, then, boy oh boy, is the VITA going places quickly.

In this latest outing for Sackie and his cute ways, it's off to the people of Carnivalia for Sackboy's quest - and our visit to the world of the inventive.

It begins with the usual Stephen Fry narrative about the Imagisphere and then quickly moves on to providing a bit of background to the adventure.

Basically, a bad being known as the Puppeteer has snatched all the good from a normally fun place and is making the Sackboys and girls sad no faced creatures known as Hallows. Once a popular entertainer on Carnivalia, the Puppeteer's now filled with raging darkness and determined to take out the people of Carnivalia.

But as ever, Sackboy's here to save the day.

In this BETA preview, it's upto you as Sackboy to learn the skills needed to defeat the mean old Puppeteer while under the guidance of Colonel Flounder, a multi-whiskered gibberish talking man who talks you through the basics. There's an almost Tim Burtonesque feel to the shadowy world of the Puppeteer, and a lot of it feels like a darkly gothic world with shadow puppets and creatures lurking in the background.

If you're a LBP player, the basics of what's ahead won't be new to you.- jumping over things, dragging stuff about to reach those higher places, swinging off objects while holding on and customising your character to look cool (or hilarious).

But what is new is the use of the interactive tech offered up by the VITA.

First there appears to be the capability of moving objects around the screen to help Sackboy get through a level - blue blocks can be moved to ensure the little fella can head up higher into the upper echelons of Carnivalia. But what's great about this is that they can be shifted around while Sackie's in motion, giving you the feeling you're about to react on the fly to what comes up. It's a smart use of the touch tech for the VITA and one which offers up a heap of potential - not just some gimmicky feel to it all.

Equally as clever is the use of the rear touch pad to shift green blocks around (which turn blue once bashed but can be moved back and forth) - the great thing about this is that you can use a combination of front and rear to help reach higher up and complete levels.

It's the interactivity which appears to be the key to the latest version of LBP. Tilting the VITA helps give Sackboy some form of expression; heads up or heads down, using the joysticks and the L1 to help him wave or not; and NEAR tech apparently will help you find other Sackboys and girls nearby to get involved. Once again, some levels will need 2 to complete so this short term, quick fix gaming is going to pay off for the portable version.

Plus taking your own pics with the camera and splashing them around the world is quite a unique touch as well.

The levels of the first world which I've played are your fairly standard kind of challenges with hints of plenty more to come within the La Marionetta training camp. It's plenty playable enough and utterly addictive once again as Sackboy races between bubbles, scores and level completion.

The game frustratingly ends in the first level of the arcade, where you play a game called Tapling which uses the touch tech to bounce a ball with eyes and try to free some trapped lumino type characters. It's quite important to get the timings right on this, and fat fingers aside, the touch reacts so well and quickly to your timed moves.

Side levels look fun too - one sees you having to tilt the VITA to one side to essentially carry out a Sackboy version of Whack-a-mole. The inventiveness of this suggests real potential for the full game when it comes end of next month.

I have no doubt Little Big Planet will be a big hit on the VITA - there are plenty of building blocks to suggest a community life which will live on much longer than the story levels themselves. After all, that's what the initial joy of Little Big Planet was - an embracing of the interactivity, the fun and the sheer genius of the tools to provide a game which was bigger than anything beyond what the developers had in mind.

I cannot wait for the full game which clearly has bags of potential - Sackboy's reign will continue on the VITA - and long may it do so.

The Bourne Legacy: Movie Review

The Bourne Legacy: Movie Review

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Albert Finney
Director: Tony Gilroy

Matt Damon is gone from the Bourne movie, but his presence casts a shadow over this latest outing.

Jeremy Renner is now the Bourne again spy in this action thriller, which has been stripped of its original team but tries to revamp the Bourne series.

Renner stars as Aaron Cross, an agent being trained in black ops program, Operation Outcome. the training's brutal; abandoned in the wild, Cross is taking blue pills to increase his mental skills and green ones which enhance his physical skill sets.

However, when the events of the Bourne Ultimatum come to fruition with Jason Bourne exposing the details of Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone Project, the CIA decides to close all their ops down and eliminate their assets thanks to the involvement of Edward Norton's clandestine agent Eric Byer.

But Cross discovers he's been double-crossed and escapes...

At the same time, scientist Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) escapes a massacre at her laboratory (which was testing the subjects of Outcome) and finds her life threatened by her involvement in the undercover operation. Luckily though, Aaron Cross is there to save her and the two end up on the run...

What to say about The Bourne Legacy?

Firstly, this parallel-a-quel really does suffer from a murky and confusing script and not exactly heaps of tautly put together action sequences which proliferated the first three films, excellently put together by Paul Greengrass. There are chunks of heavy exposition from plenty of scenes of CIA suits standing around monitors and barking orders - which don't serve to add to the tension or suspense, merely to slow it down.

Secondly, it's incredibly hard to warm to Jeremy Renner's character, regardless of how well he acts throughout the film's rather dour, slightly stuffy and overlong running time.

Don't get me wrong, Renner is nothing less than electric as he launches  a career as an action man of the movies - even if he does lack the charisma of Damon; but it's symptomatic of the film that you don't really warm to Cross in a way you did with Bourne. It could potentially be something to do with what's at stake for each - with Bourne, it was about finding out who he was (a very personal motivation) whereas with Cross, it appears to be that he just wants to get his fix of his blue pills so he doesn't slump back in his mental prowess and slide back into average Joe territory. It's an odd motivation and one which lacks the humanity which is needed to grip you in a thriller like this.


While Weisz brings a permanently pained and shocked expression to her Marta Shearing, she adds very little else except to maybe serve as a potential love interest and to run about in need of saving. Norton's nothing less than icy and cold as Byer and presents a menacing presence for future films.

There's not enough action throughout The Bourne Legacy - and while there are some impressive sequences when they do show up, they're never as immediate or gripping as what's gone on in previous films.

In some ways, Gilroy's made a parallel franchise which is solid, but unfortunately unspectacular. It may seem a little unfair to tar this film with the previous trilogy so much, but given Jason Bourne casts such a pall over the film, it seems unfortunately inevitable. The final chase sequence which concludes the film ends abruptly and the film ends equally as abruptly immediately afterwards.

The Bourne Legacy feels like an extended first act with no face off or ultimate conclusion between the good and bad guys, giving it the feeling of one (over)long tease which offers hardly any pay off. Interesting it may be and a solid thriller it is, but it's just not quite enough excitement to sustain and enthral you for 2 and a quarter hours of your life.

Rating:

Bernie: Movie Review

Bernie: Movie Review

Cast: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Richard Linklater

Jack Black reteams with Richard Linklater in this latest film, a tale that loudly proclaims "What you're fixing to see is a true story."

Set in small town Texas, Black stars as the slightly effeminate Bernie Tiede, a local mortician and all round good guy - the kind of guy who'll go the extra mile to ensure the widows are all happy after the event by delivering flowers, hugs and the personal touch.

Plus, his dedication to his community sees him delivering everything they need - and more thanks to an over generous personality.

But when Bernie befriends the nastiest  (and latest) widow in town Marjorie (played with relish by Shirley MacLaine), the friendship pushes Bernie over the edge and he commits murder.

Jack Black impresses mightily in this straight role, finally showing some depth of performance which has hitherto evaded his career. His subtle dialled-down performance (as opposed to the usual OTT he brings) means his character feels multi dimensional and real;  MacLaine, by contrast, is monstrous, imbuing her widow with spite and nastiness. McConaughey spins out another lawman, taking on the role of a district attorney with a determination to catch whoever killed Marjorie.

Bernie's an odd film - Linklater uses plenty of talking head interviews from locals in the small town of Carthage to get into the mentality of what actually went on. Plus, the fact it's based on a true story adds a frisson of something deliciously different.

Bernie is charming and memorably warm - a subtly blended mix of small town ideology and dark comedy.

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Brand new Lord of the Rings LEGO trailer unveiled

Brand new Lord of the Rings LEGO trailer unveiled

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of the LEGO games - they're fun, inventive and respectful of the source material.

So, the latest trailer for LEGO LOTR was always likely to be a hit with me...No word on a Hobbit version yet

Based on The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy, LEGO The Lord of the Rings follows the original storylines of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, taking players through the epic story events reimagined with the humour and endless variety of LEGO play.  

Trusted with the dangerous task to destroy an ancient magical ring that threatens all that is good, Frodo is forced to leave his peaceful home.  But the ring wants to be found and the road to Mount Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed, will be perilous and riddled with Orcs and fouler things.  

To help Frodo, a Fellowship is formed —Aragorn the Ranger, Gandalf the Wizard, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Boromir a Man of Gondor, and Frodo’s Hobbit friends Sam, Merry and Pippin.  Players relive the legend through the LEGO minifigures, as they explore wonders, solve timeless riddles, and overcome endless foes in their quest to destroy the Ring.   

LEGO The Lord of the Rings is scheduled to be available this spring for Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3, Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Nintendo 3DS™, PlayStation® Vita, and PC. 

Dr Who - The Krotons: DVD Review

Dr Who - The Krotons: DVD Review

Rating: G
Released by the BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

It's a crime some of the most exciting of Dr Who stories 49 years of TV are missing.

And it's even more of a crime that some of the most interminably dull stories exist in their entirety.

So it is with The Krotons - hardly vintage Dr Who but it has the auspicious title of being the last complete Patrick Troughton Second Doctor story released onto DVD. From 1968/69, the 4 part tale sees Jamie, the Doc and Zoe on the world of the Gonds who live under the control of the Krotons. But once the Doctor shows up, the seeds of revolution are planted and soon, society's gone to hell in a handcart.

Largely unremarkable and with baddies which seem to wobble and talk in South African accents, The Krotons is a watchable if unexciting tale from the 60s. It succeeds largely because of the trio - Pat Troughton's never been less engaging as the Doctor and the trio of him, Jamie and Zoe have such chemistry that they propel you along this story.

Much more pleasurable though are the extras on this set - in particular, the Second Time Around doco which looks at the challenges faced by the production team as they gambled on the show's future. It's a fascinating and enthralling watch and is worth the price of admission alone. Part one of a doco about Frazer Hines' companion Jamie is also enjoyable.

The Krotons may be an unremarkable release but thanks to the completist nature of these DVDs, it's an essential own - but not for the story, merely for the additional content which is stand out.

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Wrath of the Titans - Blu Ray Review

Wrath of the Titans - Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

The sequel to the Clash of the Titans has a lot to live upto after being widely derided upon release two years ago.

While it wasn't a bad story and bringing to life of the old Greek myths, it really was lambasted for its poor use of 3D.

This time around though, The Titans are hoping for a new lease of life.

Set a decade after he defeated the Kraken, Sam Worthington's Perseus, the demigod son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) is trying to live a quieter life than the action man of yore.

But above him, all hell is breaking loose among the gods as they begin to lose control of the imprisoned Titans and former enemy Kronos - and Zeus, the father of the gods, starts to lose his grip on what's around him. Plus throw in betrayal into the mix and an old enemy and it's all on.

Worse still, Kronos' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth.

Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Pike), Poseidon's demigod son, Argenor and fallen god Hephaestus, Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus and save mankind...

So, the big question is if this sequel is better than the first one a couple of years back?

Well, the answer is sort of.

You're not really in any danger of having your cerebral cortex being troubled by any major plot or character development - but then this really was never that kind of film. Any subtleties of Greek mythology have been jettisoned too in favour of actions and fiery explosions.

It's more about spectacle - which I have to say this delivers a lot more than first time round thanks to some truly apocalyptic CGI.

Acting wise, Worthington holds his chops and gives Perseus a gruff exterior; making him more of a fighter doused with love for his son; Fiennes and Neeson have a little gravitas as the warring Hades and Zeus; Toby Kebbel brings a bit of self awareness and levity as Poseidon's son Argenor, and Pike brings a bit of class to a slightly bland Queen Andromeda. Bill Nighy deserves some praise as a nutty and insane Hephaestus who talks in a broad Yorkshire accent - his is also the only nod back to the previous generations of the film thanks to an iconic Titans artefact.

But the film, at its heart is simply a sequence of action sequences; a brash and noisy blockbuster that cares not for its characters merely services them with moments to hack and slash their way through their next challenge.

You may feel the luck of the gods has finally run out in this visually stunning and epic film, which is lacking in depth but is perfect popcorn entertainment.

Extras: The Path of men or the Path of Gods choices, storyboard comparisons, focus points, picture in picture

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Twenty Twelve: DVD Review

Twenty Twelve: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

Hugh "Downton" Bonneville, Jessica "Spaced" Hynes and a cast of others come together for this docu-fly-on-the-wall comedy series, looking at the build up to the London Olympics 2012.

Perfect timing perhaps, but what's more surprising is how prescient this show was.

It takes in the work of the London Olympic Deliverance Committee as they gear the capital up for the Games which kicked off in July.

Dry, wry and a little bit lighter on the satire front than the likes of The Thick of It, Twenty Twelve benefits from solid performances all around - everyone gives their all to this perfectly timed comic piece of mockumentary.

Ironically, some of the topics covered by the show came up in real life (clock breaking down, athletes delayed on roads), suggesting that Twenty Twelve wasn't too far removed from the truth. Bonneville and Hynes give the best performances throughout - but it's a gently wry, mocking UK comedy which the Brits do very well.

Twenty Twelve gets the gold and is certainly worth watching.


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