Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China Review

 Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China Review

Developed by Climax Studios
Platform: PS4

The Assassins' Creed series gets a much needed step away from its usual format with an unusual first release in what will ultimately amount to a trilogy.

It's also the first of the franchise to feature a female lead in its 2.5D release and one which will see you either hating - or loving - the aesthetics of the game.

You play Shao Jun in 1526, during the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. With the brotherhood of assassins despatched, it's up to you to wreak vengeance and restore order to China from the shadows and from upon high or low.

Predominantly,  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a lot about sneaking around and killing from a distance rather than outright combat. Shao has only a few bars of health, and despite the ability to leap free like a very flighty thing, when it comes to fighting, she's somewhat easily despatched, even with swords and knives to use.

So, it's a lot of skulking which makes  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China the game that it is - and it suffers a little for it unfortunately. Also suffering is the story-telling and character as all you're doing is moving from location to location, trying to complete tasks, earning Assassin's Gold (your way of levelling up) by completing jobs in the best possible outcome (ie not a lot of combat) and moving to the next location. It's all very reminiscent of Counterspy which was released earlier last year and sees a spy infiltrating Russian locales trying to defuse bombs and save the day.

But it's not to say that it's not eminently playable, more that it's a frustrating occasion. Saves don't always seem to work, meaning you can complete a task, do what needs to be done, move on and die - and suddenly, you have to do it all again. It's time constraining, annoying and irritating to retrace some of your trickier steps to make it all happen again.

Anything but stealth alerts a series of guards (a countdown clock to alert comes up if you're discovered) and creates more trouble than it's worth; so combat is really quite limited. Equally, your ability to carry only a couple of weapons (no more than 2) is a niggle as well, causing you to have to think laterally to solve tasks.

Being graded at the end of each section helps you know what to achieve, but also points out the problematic nature of anything but stealth; points are docked for dead bodies being discovered - which I suppose is in keeping with the Assassin's nature.

But it's graphically that the game looks impressive.

From its side-scrolling which won't set the world alight, there's a lot been brought to bear in the feel of the game, which looks like an ancient Chinese scroll, complete with gorgeous paint brush swishes and blood red palettes. It's visually gorgeous and well in keeping with the actual world within. As you move between worlds, the next gen elements of the PS4 come to life, making it feel like a diaorama that's opening out for you to enjoy and be amazed at. Occasionally, with the platforming nature of it all, and the back and forth flatness in places, it does feel a little iOS and suited to a small screen, so it's not all perfect.

All in all,  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a good solid start to the spin off series. While it does feel like a DLC rather than a full-on game (even though it has a reduced price), it remains to be seen if the next two titles bring the series together in a surprising way.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 trailer

Official Call of Duty®: Black Ops III Reveal Trailer

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is a dark, gritty future where a new breed of Black Ops soldier emerges and the lines are blurred between our own humanity and the cutting-edge military robotics that define the future of combat.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 drops November 6th.

Paddington: Blu Ray Review

Paddington: Blu Ray Review

Rating: G
Released by Sony Home Ent

Marmalade sandwiches, an inquisitive nature and a duffle coat.

These are the quintessentials of Paddington Bear, a quintessentially English story from Michael Bond that's been updated for the big screen for 2015.

James Bond's Q aka Ben Whishaw is the voice of the bear, who's forced to abandon darkest Peru after an earthquake destroys the home where he lives with his aunt and uncle. Having been discovered years ago by a quintessentially English explorer, Paddington's been imbued with a love of all things English and believes that's where his future lies.

Abandoned at Paddington station (the metaphor for the displaced children of World War II freshly ensconced in your mind), the bear finds solace with the Brown family - its soft matriarch (Sally Hawkins, in endearing form) and its rather unimpressed patriarch (Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville in frowningly frumpy mode).

But within hours of arriving in London, Paddington catches the eye of Millicent (an icy and somewhat wooden Nicole Kidman) who's got plans for this little bear...

Paddington loses some of the sweet sophistication that blessed the books and the 1970s TV series narrated by Michael Horden in its transition to the 21st Century. In one scene in a bathroom the bear goes into full-on comedy scapegoat that would have been blessed with naivety back then but is now a series of CGI silliness aimed squarely at the youngsters.

It's a shame because King's uses some truly stunning directorial flourishes to great effect - in one, to illustrate the passing of time the Brown's downstairs is decorated with trees and blossom on their walls which wafts away leaving winter-time branches. Elsewhere Paddington watches a black and white film of his home and walks into the image, meshing with the Peruvian rainforests. These are truly remarkable touches in an otherwise relatively normal film.

The much-derided innuendo that caused an uproar in the UK smacks merely of traditional pantomime and seems a trite accusation to level at it.

Whishaw proves the perfect casting choice for the bear with his vocals mixing up innocence, childish naivety and misunderstanding that may have stood out more with the original choice ofColin Firth who consciously uncoupled from the movie. Equally Bonneville channels the usual depiction of an uptight Londoner in a city which always rains but somehow looks beautiful in the continual cinematic stereotyping of the capital, but he's likeable enough.

However, Kidman's icy wooden presence is an unwelcome addition to the bland family movie - while there has to be a villain in this origin story, she sticks out like a sore thumb thanks to some awful writing and lack of anything. Certainly, the denouement at the British museum feels formulaic and betrays some of the sparkle of what goes before.

Overall, this new Paddington may offend some fans of the original series and its innocent ways, but there's a reverence to the source material and a pleasant warmth in this unmistakably British bland flick that will ensure it's the go-to-movie for families over the holiday period.

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God Help The Girl: DVD Review

God Help The Girl: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

A crowd-funded musical about a depressed girl struggling to get her life back on track sounds on paper like a good idea.

In practice, the movie God Help the Girl comes across as a bubblegum mix of whimsical fey. Every scene is like a perfectly choreographed music video, with characters being somewhat secondary to the story.

Emily Browning is the strongest link in this cinematic chain as Eve, who's undergoing treatment in Glasgow, but who escapes to gigs through a window at her hospital. One day she meets James (a weedy Olly Alexander) a guitar player who's without a band and real inspiration. They decide to start playing and writing together, co-opting a third member, Cassie (Hannah Murray) a student of James' who's bored, rich and able to do whatever she wants.

Together, the trio make music and try to negotiate one summer of burgeoning romance, music and life.

God Help The Girl is a hard film to love if you're pre-disposed to be a cynic or not perhaps a hipster.

While Emily Browning is radiant as the lead sad sallow faced Eve, the consciously quirky and infectious music proves somewhat of an irritant and too much of a light hearted distraction throughout.

Directed by Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, with songs he wrote for the film, is partially the problem; way too close to the material and with an eye for a perfect pop blast and musical interlude, his narrative stumbles as Eve sings and dances her way through life's major issues from beginning to end. An entirely predictable sub-plot sees James fall for Eve and then watch her croon her love for others and end up with them. Therapy happens by way of musical interlude time and time again - and unfortunately, the cumulative effect proves to be more asphyxiating than intoxicating.

The whole effect is like a musical Michel Gondry, with Murdoch infusing so much of everything on the screen with music that despite the colourful interludes, it just feels all a little too much unless you're that way inclined.

It's perfectly pleasant blast of musical escapism and a mix of happy / sad that's a perfect accoutrement to Belle and Sebastian's musical folksy-ness - but it just wasn't for me, thanks to weak characters and a conceit that was too in your face rather than a little bit more subtle. 

Two Night Stand: Blu Ray Review

Two Night Stand: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Pairing together two of the hottest young actors at the moment, Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton, this rom-com offers a bit more than you'd perhaps expect.

Tipton plays Megan a frustrated single who joins a dating website and ends up meeting Teller's Alec and sharing a connection. But after a one-night stand the duo ends up trapped in the Alec's apartment when a snow storm hits.

But the snow storm could have more than just a few implications for the duo.

Initially pacy and zingy, Two Night Stand ends up losing its way as the truth comes out; Teller and Tipton make an engaging couple but the film just isn't up to par with them. Cyber dating and an engaging duo make it stand out, but they struggle to keep the piece moving despite the 85 mins run time.

It may have charm and be a little quirky, Two Night Stand is guilty of squandering its promise; it could have been a smart little film about cyber one night stands but ends up being a piece that panders to the tropes of the rom com genre. A pleasant enough viewing experience with some nicely written moments, but it feels like it could so easily have been more.

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Two Days, One Night: DVD Review

Two Days, One Night: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

The little mouse begins to roar in this take on redundancy in the Dardenne brothers' latest socially aware outing.

Marion Cotillard is Sandra, a worker due back after a prolonged illness, but who finds herself facing the life on the dole after the mainly faceless bosses force her co-workers to vote on her future.

The choice? A 1000 Euro bonus or Sandra to keep her job. The first ballot has gone against our downtrodden heroine, but thanks to a friend, a second ballot has been forced on a Monday morning. So, Sandra has two days to convince her co-workers to vote for her future by visiting them one by one and trying to persuade them.

So, the clock is ticking...

Two Days, One Night has a quiet power, largely thanks to the restrained and moving performance of Cotillard. With an ethos that "I don't exist", Sandra is the human face of a corporate by-product, a soldier of a social situation. But, as she gets knocked down, she gets up again with a frailty that makes you wonder how much more she can take in this take on the old quest movie.

While some of the encounters could feel a little forced as she pleads her case, everyone has their reasons for voting for the bonus - from just scraping by and staving off the demons to indulging in luxuries like a patio installation. There's no judgement placed on any of these reasons and that gives some of the power to the performance and the aching to the desperation that Sandra feels as she claws at the possibility of self-respect and self worth.

With a supportive yet insistent hubbie, Sandra's journey is more than about saving her job. It's also about regaining her own self and sense of worth in a world that's cruel and sees those struggling forced to make decisions that seem cruel and unusual punishment.

So it's sad to report that a final dramatic twist when all hope appears lost and the self-medicating Sandra is at rock bottom is a jump too far thanks to how quickly it's resolved. It's the one dramatic bum note that's sounded in this tale of a broken and beaten woman.

Final questions about how nefarious the boss has been are left unresolved and the largely faceless enemy appears too late in the piece and could provoke further debate, but Sandra's arc is the main raison d'être here.

Quietly moving, Two Days, One Night is a testament to Cotillard's screen presence and The Dardennes' prowess in tackling social reality in an unassuming and disarming way. 

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The Dead Lands: Blu Ray Review

The Dead Lands: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Transmission Films

With praise ringing in its ears from the Toronto International Film Festival, Toa Fraser's The Dead Lands hits cinemas, completing a veritable belter of a year for Kiwi fare at the multiplex.

Entirely in Te Reo, Boy and Dark Horse star James Rolleston is Hongi, a Maori chieftain's son whose witnessing of a desecration of ancient descendants by rival chief son Wirepa (Tuhaka) sparks a rift in pre-colonial times.

When Wirepa and his men attack Hongi's tribe in the night, slaughtering all the men and killing Hongi's father Tane, Hongi swears revenge on Wirepa, despite not being fully versed in the ways of the warrior. Hongi sets out to get his vengeance, and with Wirepa crossing the abandoned Dead Lands, he sees his chance to use the spirits of the land and the ancient ways of the warrior to achieve victory.

In among the lush, verdant land so beautifully captured by Fraser and his team, there's a potent mix of spirituality and brutality on show in The Dead Lands.

Rolleston cements his place as a national treasure by pulling in a performance that's a subtle blend of ferocious anger during the quick cut fight scenes and sensitively scared maudlin boy on a coming-of-age journey, teetering on the verge of manhood. Equally, Makoare as the Monster in the Dead Lands is also a frightening presence, a reminder of the simmering rage and yet sadness that lurks in the violence of the past within this taniwha.

But it's Fraser who's the real star of this piece, for pulling together an epic genre film that blends martial arts style fight scenes that spit over with brutality, spirituality, Greek tragedy (via Wirepa's hubris - which is cunningly subverted at the end), 80s action movies (quick zoom ins, an atmospheric synthesiser score from Don McGlashan) and full on te reo. The soundscape's also impressive too, with bone-crunching fight scenes sizzling among the violence of this old fashioned revenge flick.

The te reo is also a masterstroke, with the colourful enunciations delivering an evocatively emotional edge to the spiky dialect and dialogue when practically spat by some of the cast - it's a touch which wouldn't have worked as well were it in English or dubbed.

Presence is key here and Fraser crackles with it with his cast and behind the camera, even as the vengeance story goes on - and leads to a finale that somewhat lacks in final act showdown showmanship after plenty of posturing has filled out the screenplay and screen time. (And given that the haka is more menacing here than on any rugby field)

It's an interesting end where Fraser looks to bridge the violence that's gone on previously and has so wrecked Hongi's life and other tribes with the signs of a dawning of a new sensitivity in the dawning of a new age. Perhaps, a more mature response to what's gone on before.

The Dead Lands proves to be creatively fertile ground for New Zealand cinema in a year that's been unprecedented for Kiwi product - and a sign that when required, we can offer an unique spin on events.

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