Batman: Arkham Origins trailer is here

Batman: Arkham Origins trailer is here

We get our much awaited first look at Batman: Arkham Origins here...

Deathstroke Confirmed as Playable Character in Batman: Arkham Origins Challenge Mode

Pre-Order Now for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for Exclusive Early Access to the Deathstroke Pack

Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment confirmed that Deathstroke will be a fully playable character in the challenge mode for Batman: Arkham Origins™.  Fans who pre-order the game for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 system or Windows PC will receive exclusive early access to the Deathstroke pack. 

Deathstroke will come complete with his own unique weapons and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that will be included with the pack.  The pack will also contain two alternate Deathstroke character skins. 

Developed by WB Games Montréal, Batman: Arkham Origins features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City.  Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, players will meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships. 

Batman: Arkham Origins is the next installment in the blockbuster Batman: Arkham videogame franchise and will be available for the Xbox 360®, PS3™, the Wii U™ system, and Windows PC.  The game will release worldwide Oct. 25, 2013 along with Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™ for Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system and PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system.

First images of PlayStation 4 revealed

First images of PlayStation 4 revealed

Sony's given us a first sneaky look at the new PlayStation 4.

In a cheeky video released this am, they've revealed that the PlayStation 4 will be properly unveiled at E3 on  June 10th....

Life of Pi: Blu Ray Review

Life of Pi: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by 20th Century Fox

Winner of 4 Academy Awards and now on the small screen.

It's the tale of Pi (Irrfan Khan), whose father owned the animals in a zoo in India. When the family falls foul of a dispute with the government, they decide to pack up the zoo and head to Canada, hitching a ride on a freighter with all the animals. But tragedy hits and a massive storm sinks the freighter, leaving only Pi, a hyena, a zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger on a boat.

This is the tale of how the 16 year old Pi survived the 227 days he was at sea and the magical adventure which befell him. And as with all fables, it's rife with interpretation.

Life of Pi certainly hits a visual high note thanks to the work done by director Ang Lee.

Aside from the animation of the tiger, scenes where the 3D really soars are the ones where the visual experience is extended, enhanced and expanded. A scene where Pi is afloat on the waters at night positively glows with magic as the sea creatures and jellyfish around him come to life - and to light. Awash with greens, blues and yellows, there are definitely echoes of the sprites sequence in the first Avatar. When Pi comes across a floating island inhabited solely by meerkats, there's character aplenty in each critter rather than the soulless mass rendering of the animal. The FX work is truly second to none on a tale which is essentially a boy in a boat with a tiger (though Sharma deserves credit for his acting work to what must have only been a greenscreen)

Likewise, Richard Parker, the tiger is brought wonderfully to life, yet another digital masterpiece, so three dimensional that we feel an instant emotional connection to the beast. And speaking of the animation of this beast, it's utterly incredible and totally flawless, drawing you in through his eyes and pulling at your heartstrings as the journey unfolds. It's utterly impressive how far the technology has come in  the years and how the work has resulted in us occasionally having more of a connection to a virtual world than to the actors on the screen. And much like Tom Hanks had Wilson in Castaway, Pi has Richard Parker.

Which makes it a shame to say that some of the narrative choices serve to only detract from the magical mystical tale (though one suspects that is not director Ang Lee's choices as he's clearly adhering to the structure of the book,)

The decision to keep pulling back to current day with Pi telling his story to Rafe Spall's writer.is disruptive on this journey of the senses. Voiceover would have worked equally well and particularly given these scenes add little narratively other than to show you that the reminiscing is continuing, the structural choice is a jarring one to the overall experience.

Sadly, the spiritual and philosophical tale isn't one which connected at all with me and I think the seed of doubt which is sown by the final moments of the film is detrimental to what's gone beforehand. I left, not knowing what the true story of Pi was but having seen a film which visually enriched my soul - even if some of its ideas failed to even light an ember.

Extras: Featurettes, on the FX and story and picture gallery and storyboards. a 3D release brings together some stunningly recreated FX scenes and deleted scenes

Rating:

Les Miserables: Blu Ray Review

Les Miserables: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

After countless years of stage shows and several cinematic attempts, it's time for another take on the Victor Hugo story, Les Miserables.

In this latest set in 19th Century France, Hugh Jackman takes on the role of Jean Valjean, who's served his time after stealing bread to feed a family member. Under the watch of beastly Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), Valjean is supposed to report in for parole, but he doesn't.

And that sets off decades of pursuit from Javert as Valjean tries to turn his life around - but the pair's dogged back and forth all culminates in the tragedy of the 1832 French revolution in Paris....

(Relatively) fresh from Oscar success, Tom Hooper returns with this, which makes much of the music and song being sung live rather than recorded and redubbed within the confines of the studio. And yet for all the plaudits that it should deserve for being brave, it's somewhat of a hollow experience.

Don't get me wrong - Les Miserables is certainly a hell of a visual spectacle. The sets and settings are incredibly evocative and hit the right note all through out. Talking of hitting the right note, it's really all about the singing, with maybe only 20 words all up being spoken throughout. (Which will tell you whether you want to see a film where every last word is sung at you for narrative purposes).

Of the main cast, all have varying degrees of success, all having some pedigree of musical history. Hugh Jackman gives his all and manages to imbue his singing with some level of emotion throughout - as opposed to Russell Crowe, whose staunch visage is emotionless as he barks his way through his dogged pursuit. It means you never really fully get his state of mind throughout and I can't for the life of me begin to explain why he's pursued this man for so long after he broke parole after being jailed for stealing a loaf of bread....

As Fantaine, Hathaway runs the gamut as her tragic journey plays out and certainly does a belter of a performance for I Dreamed a Dream. But, here's the curious thing - I never really felt any sympathy for her plight. And it's an odd discrepancy with this version; there's a real lack of an emotional connection through its somewhat overly long duration. I don't know whether it's the fact the action is on celluloid so you're more disconnected than you would be with a stage version but I never got the heart in my mouth moment at any point that I would have been expecting during any of the revolution scenes, various character demises and so on.

Perhaps, because there's so much music and musical on show throughout, you never really get a moment to catch your breath and wallow in the spectacle before the next iconic musical morsel is boisterously blasted in your direction and in quite extreme close ups in some cases.

After the unrelenting misery of the start, Sacha Baron Cohen brings some much needed humour to the proceedings as the innkeeper, but it's short lived as the main story continues. Eddie Remayne is a little squeaky as the love interest too; but Amanda Seyfried makes up for it, giving them the stronger bond and making them a likeable pair. Its ensemble cast, overall, do good work (and I'd expect the production of Les Miserables to be Oscar nominated) but the lack of relative emotion and overly long running time (a few songs could have been trimmed) mean Les Miserables remains unfortunately thwarted by its ambition and doesn't quite hit the high peaks you'd have expected.

Extras: Feature commentary, docos

Rating:

Anchorman 2 trailer is here

Anchorman 2 trailer is here

It's here - the first trailer for Anchorman 2!



For those who've been wanting to see how the legend of Ron Burgundy progresses, then Anchorman 2 will be the perfect opportunity.

In Anchorman 2, the sequel to the Anchorman movie, Will Ferrell returns as Ron Burgundy.

Anchorman 2's release date is in December.

Stay classy, New Zealand.

Jack Reacher: Blu Ray Review

Jack Reacher: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Pictures

In downtown Pittsburgh, a sniper kills five people, seemingly randomly. A series of clues lead the police easily to the criminal, named Barr, believed to be behind this attack. When questioned, the suspect writes only one thing to the police - "Get Jack Reacher"....Ex-military cop Reacher (Tom Cruise) sees the case and joins the attorney Helen (Rosamund Pike) who's defending Barr.

But as Reacher begins to investigate further, a wider conspiracy opens up...

Based on the novel One Shot (the 9th of some 16 Reacher books), it's clear that Jack Reacher isn't going to satisfy the vocal masses who are unhappy with the casting of Cruise as the titular hero. I've not read the books, but I am acutely aware of the fact that Reacher's supposed to be 6'5", brawny and with blond hair. And yes, based on Cruise on screen, he's clearly not all that. But with a casting that's been approved by the author of the books himself, saying that "Cruise brings 100% to the character with only 90% of the height," I'm pretty sure that should be enough for the fans.

So, as a non-Reacher fan, I have to say Cruise brings a focussed, much pared down performance, with nary a sighting of his trademark megawatt smile and manic energy in the Jack Reacher movie. In fact, if anything, this is a darker and more opaque Cruise than we've come to expect - an outsider, a character (a drifter natch) who inhabits a morally grey area and is not above using a bit of violence and intimidation to get what he needs to. Reacher is an interesting character on screen and verges on anti hero as the action plays out. In some ways, a sinewy rough looking Cruise plays him as a traditional drifter and loner type, a guy who you want on your side for vengeance but wouldn't want to cross at other times. But then there are the other moments in this film which border on the pantomime - Reacher curls up his hand into a fist when he's angry,Rosamund Pike spends an inordinate amount of time overacting, demonstrating with wide eyed horror the reality of what's going on as it hits her and there's some pretty borderline comical dialogue in places too - Barr describes Reacher as a man "who doesn't care about proof, doesn't care about the law, he only cares about the truth." (The kind of writing which works well on the page, but doesn't cut it on the big screen.) And also, the plot is a little muddled in terms of resolution / motivation of those involved - I wasn't quite 100% sure what the wider conspiracy was fully about - which is a bit of a surprise from the film.

Director Chris McQuarrie's also brought some impressive touches to the directing of the action sequences. In some ways, they're very traditional - a bar brawl and a car chase - but they're exceptionally realistic, shot in duration rather than a gratuitous number of cuts and really impress in their lack of showiness and restraint. And a final showdown in a quarry, with rain dampening down the action is the least Hollywood fight sequence I've seen in a long time.

Be advised though, this Jack Reacher movie is not a Hollywood blockbuster by its usual standards - there's not gratuitous explosions and trite bon mots; it's a film of intensity and surprises - though if you're a Reacher fan, it may take a heck of a lot to get you in the cinema in the first place. My advice though, is to give it a (one) shot - you may well be pleasantly surprised.

Extras: Combat and weapons,commentary with Cruise and more.

Rating:

Latest ZB Movie Review

Latest ZB Movie Review

This week, Jack was dished up humble pie and I talked about Snitch and KonTiki as the latest Newstalk ZB Movie review took place.

Take a listen below

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/player/ondemand/1299625008-darren-bevan-at-the-movies--may-18