Inside / Out: Blu Ray Review

Inside / Out: Blu Ray Review

Rating: G
Released by Disney DVD

For a film that’s squarely pitched at the kids, there’s something definitively adult about Pixar’s latest animation, a piece that puts them back on top of the game, but may see some younger elements scratching their own heads simply because life has not fully dealt to them yet.

A kind of Herman’s Head for the 21^st century, Inside Out focusses on 11 year old Riley, a young girl whose safe and happy life is upended when her parents force them to relocate to San Francisco from their beloved Minnesota.

But the turmoil in her life is all controlled by her emotions within her head – team leader and upbeat Joy (Poehler), the purple and overly cautious Fear (Hader), the permanently blue Sadness (Smith), the fiery hothead Anger (Black) and Disgust (Kaling). When Joy and Sadness end up displaced within Riley’s mind, it causes chaos for the 11 year old – and the two lost emotions race to get back to their proper place before it’s too late.

Juggling predominantly adult themes while never once alienating the kids,Inside Out ends up being one of the richest emotional – and occasionally abstract - experiences Pixar’s created.

As Riley deals with impending adolescence and the natural and sadly inevitable need to put aside childish things, the anthropomorphic emotions come to the fore and with them, a growing realisation that the joy which leads the formative years needs to be mixed with other emotions, chiefly sadness as part of the growing up cycle.

In parts, Inside Out is likely to hit several emotional targets higher with its older audience, because of the transition of life, the journey of growing up and the reality of benefiting from experience. Darker moments, like the toys facing their demise in Toy Story 3, pepper parts of the film, dulling perky Amy Poehler’s exuberantly peppy Joy and increasing Phyllis Smith’s character Sadness, an emotion in the ascendant so pertinent to mastering life.

One sequence involving a childhood imaginary friend reeks of such universality and recognition that you’ll be hard pressed to find an adult swiping away a tear in the dark. Equally, a series of abstract jokes manage a cross-generational appeal thanks to Pixar aiming for the fun in among the emotion.

But it’s to Inside Out’s credit that the powers that be never lose sight of the age range of their audience, ensuring that the three remaining emotions in charge of Riley’s head give the film its more manic edge (specifically Lewis Black’s Anger and Bill Hader’s Fear) to appeal to the kiddies as the tone darkens.  Smartly balancing inside Riley’s head with the outside world doesn’t mean the world class animation becomes too introspective, and Pixar’s used its palette with bright colours of the emotions mixing with the washed out world that Riley lives in to maximum effect.

Inside Out manages a brilliant balancing act between celebrating the best of childhood, growing up and what hand life deals you while never forgetting the humour and heart. It's Pixar's most rounded and most grounded film - and it's an instantly inventive classic from them you can't afford to miss.

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Super Meat Boy: PS4 Review

Super Meat Boy: PS4 Review

Available on PS Plus this October
Platform: PS4

Oh my God, is this the hardest platformer ever to hit the console?

Quite possibly, and in terms of frustrations, it's up there with Manic Miner and Underwurlde way back when.

A Steam favourite from way back when, you play a cube of red meat, tasked with rescuing your beloved Bandage Girl from Dr Foetus.

Each level sees you reunite with your lovely, only to have the evil Foetus snatch her away from you and send you back to try again in another environment. Usually one with buzzsaws, and fiendish gravity traps. Jumping, timing jumps and simply hoping for the best occasionally may help - but chances are you're more than likely to be screaming your head off in frustration with Super Meat Boy, because it's so much about the timing.

Reminiscent of N++ and its gravity defying ways, Super Meat Boy is one of those games you start playing, only to lose hours constantly replaying moments because it should be so obvious. Most of the trickier levels see you bounding off walls to avoid saws in a sort of Rayman-esque way only to get caught by the timings of the saws or the fact you didn't jump high enough. Each death brings a touch of red to the environment with bloody entrails left on the side and teasing you with yet another failure.

And yet, the relentless pace, the sheer simplicity of the game and the fiendishly addictive way it plays out, means that you will go back time and time again - because it seems too easy to defeat. The reality is though, it is not. And yet, despite the responsiveness of the controls and the ease in which you leap and bound, you're only ever to blame for the failure.

That's the joy and the frustration of Super Meat Boy - with its almost Nintendo-esque graphics and its simplicity of play, it's more than a passing addiction. This cube of meat is one recipe for perfect gaming and perfectly compulsive disaster.

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Newstalk ZB Review - 99 Homes, Freeheld and Terminator Genisys

Newstalk ZB Review - 99 Homes, Freeheld and Terminator Genisys

This week it was the brilliant 99 Homes, the not so brilliant Freeheld and the frankly not worth it Terminator reviewed with Jack Tame on Newstalk ZB

Take a listen below

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-99-homes-freeheld-terminator-genisys/

Warcraft: The Beginning Trailer lands

Warcraft: The Beginning Trailer lands

Just released is the brand new Warcraft: The Beginning Trailer.

From Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on Blizzard Entertainment’s global phenomenon. 

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another.  As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction.  From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. 

So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

Warcraft: The Beginning launches on June 16th 2016.

Insurgent: Blu Ray Review

Insurgent: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home ent

In the second of the trilogy (made as is Hollywood's wont, which will be made into four films),Shailene Woodley returns as Tris Prior.

Now on the run, with fellow fugitive and love interest Four (James), Tris finds herself hunted by Jeanine (Kate Winslet) who's determined to wipe out the Divergent strain. But Jeanine finds that the Divergents suddenly hold the key to opening a mysterious box that promises to deliver a message for all their futures.

So, with the net tightening around them, and with the guilt of the death of her family playing heavily on her, Tris finds the stakes are higher than ever.

There's an irony that the word Urgent is in the title Insurgent, given how lax and relatively flat the film is this time around, with the angst dialled up to 11 and the distinct lack of much happening sucking some of the life out of Veronica Roth's series which started off so promisingly.

The first film had an affable feel to it as it toyed with the unoriginal idea of trying to fit teenagers into factions and life with some discovering their alienation was a sign they didn't fit in to their assigned box.

In the first, Divergent, Woodley thrived as Tris; this time around, she's crippled by grief and hamstrung by an inability to hit the emotional pitches needed for the character's struggle in this dystopian YA outing. 

In a sign of Tris' growing angst, she cuts her hair off and it proves to be the only really defining moment for the character, as the teen posturing / moping and bloodless action begins to kick in. It's potentially more a fault of the writing, given there's little for her to do but even so she really doesn't quite convey the emotional weight needed (which is a real shame as she dealt with it brilliantly in The Spectactular Now) and those involved in the script prefer to hammer home the "Forgive yourself" message to the point of distraction. It doesn't help that Tris isn't really a character you'd root for in the latest; the weight of expectations and guilt weigh and wear her down, and the audience along with it.

Equally, the supporting cast suffer the indignity of having little to do; James is solid but unmemorable as the pretty boy Four, whose life is changed when he meets Evelyn (a bizarrely miscast and emo Naomi Watts) but who ends up merely moping; Elgort is wasted as Caleb, who's about as wet as they come and narratively an empty vessel and Teller suffers from a lack of screen time as his snarky and obsequious Peter is diverted due to story necessities. Winslet manages to channel some icy villainess as Jeanine preferring to go for effective menace rather than scene chewing.

Schwentke, who directed the likes of Red and RIPD pulls together some nicely executed VFX scenes that are a step up from what you'd have experienced in The Matrix and The Lawnmower Man, but they feel like expanded hangovers from music videos in part; visually impressive and diverting from how little is going on on screen.

The Insurgent trailer promised to deliver action and scope but what the second film actually does is fail to fully deliver to that premise and ramp up the action stakes.

In parts, a lot of Insurgent is one-note with consequences that aren't really that dramatic given how lightly sketched some of the supporting players are; it lacks the gritty conviction of its dystopian premise and thanks to its relatively dour execution, it's nowhere near as engaging as a second portion of a trilogy should be.

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Spectre: Film Review

Spectre: Film Review

Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Scott, Naomie Harris
Director: Sam Mendes

That the latest Bond outing starts off in Mexico with the Day of the Dead festival seems too pertinent - it's an apt observation, given how much of the film is haunted by ghosts from its own past.

A more introspective piece set against a backdrop of an ongoing discussion about intelligence sharing, mergers and the place of archaic spies, the 24th Bond sees James Bond engaging in a more personal quest and forgetting about global concerns to mixed results. Setting out in Mexico on a rogue mission to track a man called Sciarra, Bond's globe-trotting finally leads him into the world of shadowy organisation Spectre - and a discovery that shakes his very core.

The new Bond film is steeped in the tentacles of its past and really struggles to garner a new identity for itself, with shades of deja vu a la Star Trek Into Darkness spilling in for reasons that verge on spoiler territory.

Half the problem of the film is that throughout, the sense of threat and urgency is rather misplaced within the long drawn-out pacing.

The film's opening in Mexico is breath-taking, with a gorgeous tracking shot that weaves between the crowds of The Day Of The Dead festival and along the rooftops as Bond precisely tracks his prey. Sharply suited throughout like some kind of walking GQ shoot and clad in Tom Ford (just one of many sponsors), Craig cuts an arrogantly icy figure as the Bond who's more aloof spy in the cold this time around; but the pre-credits teaser lacks some of the spectacle you'd expect even if some of the helicopter based stunt work borders on impressive and solid, rather than edge of your seat.

There's the obligatory globe-trotting too to Tangiers, Rome and Austria but as the story plays out the Snowden-esque elements of the global conspiracy end up being confined to the sidelines after propelling the narrative forward. Equally, Andrew Scott's C, who's the driver for the merger ends up being sidelined and part of a too obvious twist - even if he does play nicely off Ralph Fiennes' expanded M, with Fiennes delivering a quip that sounds like it could have come from the Roger Moore era (something which Craig also revels in to wry effect).

Confining to the fringes is a charge which could be laid against Christoph Waltz's villain too. His mellifluous tones light up the start of the film but then is damned to the back 30 minutes as the machinations and revelations come quickly. And however hard Waltz may try, he ends up feeling the victim of an extended set-up, as well as Austin Powers style parallels - even if foundations are laid for the future kind of character. (There are no spoilers here, but plenty of speculation on the character is already out there - and if you're a Bond afficionado, the film's title offers delicious hints of where exactly it could be going).

To be frank, the film very much teeters on reminding you why the series needed rebooting in the first place - it lacks the edge and gritty urgency of Casino Royale and sorely misses an emotional punch a la Skyfall as the potential finality of Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond plays out.

Revelling in its past (an original Aston Martin, an Odd Job type nemesis for Bond in the form of Dave Bautista and the other films from Craig's time as 007), Spectre never really finds a moment to definitively call its own. The stakes never feel high enough and the action sequences border on perfunctorily thrilling rather than edge of your seat gripping.

It also dangerously edges back towards underwritten female protagonists too that simply fall under Bond's thrall. Belucci is completely wasted and is simply there to be bedded and Seydoux who brings a hardened edge starts off strong and feisty before falling into cliched Bond girl in peril territory.

But there are moments when Spectre hits its straps; chiefly, while it falls down on pushing the wonderfully energetic Harris and Fiennes to the outer edges of the action, bringing Ben Whishaw's Q into the field delivers the flick some much needed points of difference and a sense of unpredictability - future outings could benefit from more of Whishaw's clipped precise tones and fish-out-of-water vibes as Q.

And while the action is tightly pulled together, its choreography almost strangles it of any danger, any life and any edge - almost as if Mendes and his team have story-boarded it to death.

Consequently the final verdict on Spectre is it's not exactly a Bond at its best but neither is at its worst; even though Craig makes the role definitively his own, the extended glut of the film, the resolution of past threads you didn't even know were loose and the lack of any urgency and threat make it more a ho-hum entry into the canon. It's easy to target Bond, but as the rebooted franchise has shown, it can play successfully with expectations while still delivering a spectacle that's rich in emotional resonance as it is flying bullets.

The credits promise that James Bond will return, but to really radically overhaul this film series again, it needs to shake off the ghosts of its own past, its own feeling of rote tropes and ensure that business as usual for this spy is nothing short of constantly thrilling - even if it is a more slightly traditional road to follow.

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Journey collection: PS4 Review

Journey collection: PS4 Review

Released by thatgamecompany
Platform: PS4

There's no denying thatgamecompany's influence on somewhat minimal gaming.

In its PS3 iteration, Journey was a game-changing title, a game that defied convention, description and provided more emotions than many other titles when it was initially released. Equally, the PS4 version upped the beauty of the game with the next gen console, but lost none of the power and feelings even though you knew what was coming.

So it is then, that the physical version of this, along with thatgamecompany's two earlier titles, FlOw and Flower are released into the market place.

There's little point going on about Journey as I've made my feelings on that title abundantly clear through its various iterations - it remains one of the greatest titles ever unleashed and one of the most emotional games I've ever played as you move a small Jawa-esque character through the deserts and icy tundras on some kind of quest / commentary on the soul.

And similarly the earlier titles FlOw and Flower follow a similar pattern.

In FlOw, you are an organism floating through the waters and collecting other similar organisms to add to your own body. Floating from one to the next, you gain or lose mass depending on how you play. It feels sensory but not quite as exciting as the promise of Journey would suggest, though one could argue this was perhaps the start of thatgamecompany's quest. The 2006 title has held up well, but it definitely feels like the start of a journey rather than an arrival.

In Flower, we are all just floating on a breeze. It's another simple, sensory MO for the gamer and sees you essentially floating as a flower through a meadow. Touching other flowers triggers their petals into the sky and sends sounds soaring in to the stratosphere as well. Combining a soundtrack as well as visuals that soar, Flower feels like the stepping stone to Journey and the continuation of thatgamecompany's evolution.

Thematically, all three games are interlinked and hang together well; there's no denying that Journey remains the highlight, but as an evolution of a company, this trio of releases charts why and how thatgamecompany shaped the gaming world, paving the way for the likes of The Unfinished Swan and firing a rocket up the triple A titles that emotion's infinitely more powerful than how big your gun is.

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