At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
SYDNEY, 13TH May 2016 – Later today will see the first Elusive Target appear in HITMAN™. Elusive Targets are part of the live content being published for HITMAN in-between episodes and represent a new game mode debuting for players. The Elusive Targets are specially crafted, unique targets, which come with particular rules:
An Elusive Target is a once in a lifetime experience
They are available for a limited time only in game – this first Elusive Target will last 48 hours
Intel on the target will be limited
They will not appear in instinct mode, or the mini map and their locations will not be revealed to you – you’ll have to go and find them
Plan accordingly before you engage your target
Your target can only die once
If you die during the mission, that’s it
When the time runs out, they are gone for good
If you fail, there are no second chances
As this is the first Elusive Target we wanted to let players know in advance, however there may not be so much warning next time so keep your ears close to the ground, visit the forums or follow HITMAN on social media to ensure you don’t miss out – Bonne chance .
HITMAN is available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC.
SYDNEY, 13TH May 2016 - The legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano expands the Final Fantasy XV universe with a Big Bang!
Yoshitaka Amano is world renowned for his work on the Final Fantasy franchise. His artwork is synonymous with the identity of the series and for Final Fantasy XV he has created another masterpiece called “Big Bang”. This tapestry depicts the universe of Final Fantasy XV and for the first time ever, Amano’s artwork has been brought to life. Join us on a journey through this magnificent piece of art like never before!
Final Fantasy XV will be released worldwide on September 30, 2016 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Meanwhile....
LEGENDARY ROLE-PLAYING CLASSICS, FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD REMASTER,
ARRIVES ON PC TODAY
Available Now via Steam With a 20% Discount
SYDNEY, 13TH May 2016 – Square Enix Ltd.,today announced that FINAL FANTASY® X/X-2 HD Remaster, two fan favourites in the FINAL FANTASY series, is now available on STEAM®. FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster brings two timeless classic forward to the current generation of fans, both old and new alike, now completely remastered in stunning High Definition. FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster for STEAM offers various new features including;
Characters, monsters, and environments have been refined in HD detail - providing a richer and deeper FINAL FANTASY visual experience.
Remastered and rearranged BGM
International Edition content
Auto-save functionality and 5 game boosters including high speed and no encounter modes
Full Steam Trading Cards and achievements.
FINAL FANTASY X tells the story of Tidus, a star blitzball player who journeys with a young and beautiful summoner named Yuna on her quest to save the world of Spira from an endless cycle of destruction wrought by the colossal menace known as Sin.
FINAL FANTASY X-2 returns to the world of Spira two years after the beginning of the Eternal Calm. Having been shown a mysterious but familiar image in a sphere, Yuna becomes a Sphere Hunter and, along with her companions Rikku and Paine, embarks on a quest around the world to find the answers to the mystery within.
Watch the ‘FINAL FANTASY X | X-2 HD Remaster for Steam
Cast: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anne Hathaway
Director: James Bobin
If 2010's Alice In Wonderland was a mish-mash of concepts and colours, this sequel six years after the last is a drab dour psychological piece.
When Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to land after years away at sea, she finds that she has to head back to Wonderland to escape the confines of Victorian life. However, when she arrives there, she discovers her friend the Hatter (Depp) is no longer the man he used to be due to deep-rooted psychological issues.
When told by the White Queen (Hathaway) and her chums that she may be able to save things if she heads back in time. So setting out to steal the Chronosphere, guarded by time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), Alice heads off on a dangerous mission to change the past and future.
Essentially riffing on Back To The Future 2, and feeling like every time travel cliche you've seen, the FX laden fantasy Alice Through The Looking Glass is anything but a colourful blast back into Lewis Carroll's world, preferring more to be a Daddy issues film and a sibling rivalry exploration.
With Baron Cohen providing an extended riff on Werner Herzog / Christoph Waltz as Time (and his minions coming together like Transformers when it's needed), and Depp looking like a sullen faced Beetlejuice reject, the film has Tim Burton's breath all over it, even if the Muppets and Flight of The Conchords' James Bobin is directing it.
The themes of escape for Alice and of damage for The Hatter are perfectly fine, but give the whole thing a wash of deep darkness whose hues it's hard to escape. It's a psychologically oppressive piece that darts back and forth through time and is anchored by a relatively strong Wasikowska who has little to really work with.
Despite being told she could do six impossible things before breakfast, Alice this time around is slightly thwarted by a plot that's more about showcasing its effects and costumes than it is about delving into character. Consequently, characters like Hathaway's White Queen waft ethereally in and out without much depth or commanding much attention.
Depp's nicely muted and forlorn as the Hatter whose world is crumbling at the loss of his family, but really he looks like Edward Scissorhands in another get up, and his zaniness that zinged the first film is much missed here.
Moving away from the book's original story was perhaps a brave and bold move, but the fact the film hardly stays in one place for long enough as the protagonists zoom through time in gyroscopes does little to fully engage, despite period details and settings doing much to create an atmosphere that's almost stifled by the over-complicated yet somehow underwritten moments.
Even though the darker and dourer elements of this Alice, What's The Hatter piece are welcome, the film's whole lasting impression, despite the politics of Alice wanting more from her life than conforming or what society sets down for her (a commendable message to young girls), is one of missing Burton's original vision for - and his whimsical touches on - the cinematic Wonderland.
Spanish Affair 2 movie to open the NZ leg of the Spanish Film Festival.
17 Spanish language films spanning genres from romantic comedies to thrillers will take the stage at the Academy Theatre this May as the Spanish Film Festival returns to Auckland after a hiatus of several years.
The New Zealand Spanish Film Festival will run between May 19th- 5th June at the Academy Cinema in Auckland CBD.
Opening the festival with a gala screening on May 19th is the Spanish romantic comedy Spanish Affair 2. The film tells the story of Rafael, a Sevillian who has never left Andalucia who decides to leave his homeland to follow Amaia, a Basque girl unlike any other women he has ever known. The film was the highest grossing film for 2015 at the Spanish box office.
Also making its New Zealand premiere at the Spanish Film Festival is the Oscar nominated Colombian film Embrace of the Serpent. Directed by Ciro Guerra, Embrace of the Serpent film won the Art Cinema Award in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
Embrace of the Serpent
Other festival highlights include Penelope Cruz's starring turn as a woman fighting breast cancer in acclaimed director Julio Mediums (Sex and Lucia, Chaotic Ana) newest feature, Ma Ma, and an indepth behind the scenes portrayal of one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world, FC Barcelona, in Barça Dreams.
Penelope Cruz in Ma Ma
My Big Night brings together a cast of Spanish superstars, and a hilarious story that could only come from the mind of cult director and former comic book artist Alex de la Iglesia (Witching and Bitching). Eva No Duerme, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, brings an incredible true story to the festival, telling of the movement of Eva Peron’s body through the Argentinean political revolution.
The Spanish film festival runs from Thursday 19th May - Sunday 5th June
More information here - http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com/
The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 3 What We Deserve: Review
Platform: PS4
Released by Telltale Games
It ends exactly as you’d expect in The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 3: What We Deserve.
Having ended ep2 with the decision to bash antagonist Randall to death, the fact his sister was heading to the house where Michonne was holed up and wanting to get him back was never going to be anything short of a mess.
But in this final ep of the miniseries, while Telltale Games do the obvious in many ways, it’s the way it’s played out and the background to Michonne that are the real reasons to enjoy this.
With ep2 being a little heavier on the action and the lead up to the convergence of the storylines of Michonne’s kids and the kids at the house, it seemed like subtlety was being abandoned in the narrative in favour of convenience. And there are times during the concluding episode where it feels more of a coincidence than plotting that conflicts arise, but The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 3 is very much a culmination of what Robert Kirkman’s created in his own world – a post-apocalyptic world where chances are given and the consequences of actions inform a lot of how the going to hell in a handcart ethos can kick in.
The third episode feels shorter and there’s a lot more exploring the house within to get some depth and context to Michonne and the inhabitants, but these sidelines are optional. It’s the smaller, quieter moments in this episode which stand out more; the brief conversations where you can either be accommodating or abrupt which give the choices an edge. Granted, you can argue that the choices make little difference to the overall outcome, but it’s how you choose to live as Michonne that informs so much of what you take away from this series.
Some of the walking around feels a little clunkier at times as the exposition comes, but there’s a lucidity to the gradual reveals of what happened to the family that perhaps the episodic structure hasn’t favoured. As a whole, the PTSD elements hang together a lot more in one chunk, but it’s the troubled nature of Michonne that feels more engaging this time around. It’s a shame given that some of the lesser characters around her aren’t as well shaped as they could be (Pete being the prime example of what more could be done to build the characters) – but Norma’s interaction is up there with some of the show’s worst. She’s there for love, for the return of her brother, but her behaviour is a testament to doing things the wrong way.
The action in Episode 3 plays out well, but it’s the tension of the gate encounter with Norma that stands out. It’s here the suspense of the piece becomes unnerving and here that there doesn’t feel like there is a right answer/ interaction, which is an interesting dynamic that Telltale Games are instigating into proceedings – the fact that some choices can’t actually be made is a fascinating one to execute in future titles.
While ep3 is not a major mis-step by any stretch of the imagination, the fact it feels rushed in parts and occasionally padded in others means that as an individual ep it doesn’t hang together as well as it could.
However, as a whole and as a final chapter of the mini-series, it’s a more integrated story and part of a wider tapestry. While this mini-series has seen Telltale Games experiment with their format, it shows that at its core, character is still more important than any bells and whistles.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - Character Trailers
Activision Publishing, Inc., Nickelodeon and developer PlatinumGames Inc. have released four character trailers from the upcoming action game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Mutants in Manhattan.
Each video highlights a different Hero in a Half-Shell, showing off their unique fighting styles and personalities in the heat of combat. Whether it’s Leo’s determined focus, Raph’s explosive attacks, Donnie’s calculating genius or Mikey’s wild energy, every Turtle brings something special to the fight. The series also reveals some of the many distinct enemy types and locations players will have to overcome as they battle the legions of the Foot Clan across New York City, from sewer to skyline.
Made with PlatinumGames’ one-of-a-kind brand of high-intensity gameplay and eye-popping visuals, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is a third-person team brawler that supports single-player and four-player online co-op. Upgrade and equip your squad with the best weapons and abilities, then face off against the Foot’s mightiest bosses, including Shredder, General Krang, Karai, Bebop, Rocksteady, Armaggon, Wingnut and Slash. The game also features colourful, cel-shaded graphics and an original story with comic attitude from IDW Publishing author Tom Waltz.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is expected to launch in Australia on May 24th as a retail and digital release on the PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows PC via Steam.
