Trolls: Film Review

Trolls: Film Review

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, James Corden, Russell Brand, Christine Baranski
Director: Mike Mitchell

Finally, a film that will make you re-consider your opinion of Trolls.

Rather than the pain in the ass online lurkers, these Trolls are the Dreamworks film version of the Thomas Dam toys and quite frankly, this is going to be one of the summer family films.

The preternatural preppy Kendrick is Princess Poppy, the upbeat pink haired Troll whose life is all perpetual happiness. 20 years ago, she and her fellow Troll-kind escaped the clutches of the monsters of the Bergen town for good.

Believing the only way to happiness is to consume a Troll, the villagers of Bergen are furious but one day, their chef (Christine Baranski) stumbles across the Trolls' hideaway and snatches a couple of them. Setting out on a rescue mission due to their "No troll left behind" ethos, Poppy and pals - along with the grey stained and anti-Trolls happiness Branch (Timberlake) - try to save the day...

Make no mistake, the brightly coloured, utterly fluffy and energetic blast that is Trolls is a family film that will delight the youngsters and will keep the parents amused enough to paper over the fact there are shallow characters on screen and scant little story.

The film keeps on the right side of darkness (BFG style snatching, eating Trolls for happiness - it's all got a Grimm fairy tale element bubbling under) but even the three-year-old I was with was entranced from the get-go declaring that the Scary Lady (Baranski's marauding chef) was the best part of the film.

Mixing up CGI and some stop motion, Dreamworks' visual inventiveness for this one, keeps on the right side of upbeat as it trots out one retro tune after another. It's a visual candy coloured assault on the senses and while initially there may be elements of you sympathising with Doomsday Prepper Branch, the fun and frivolous nature of it all ultimately wears you down and wins you over.

While there's no real sense of an original film being rolled out here, and elements of The Odd Couple, Cinderella and Grimm Fairy Tales are all dusted into one overtly saccharine flick, the young kids will enjoy it and its message of happiness coming from within rather than being consumed.

Sometimes, subtlety is over-rated and Trolls is distinct proof of that - it's here for nothing other than a good time and running through its 90 minutes with exuberant energy and at a fair pace, it achieves that with ease.

Headmaster PSVR Review

Headmaster PSVR Review

Platform: PSVR
Developed by Frame Interactive

Ever wanted to be part of a stalag training camp aimed at ensuring you nod complicity while heading balls into a goal?

Well, then Headmaster is the game for you.

Cheekily dropping you into a training camp and pushing the idea that you can improve with practice, the game Headmaster is about little more than simply nodding the correct way and sending balls into the goal as you try to win your own freedom.

Using different angles, the ball heads different ways and it takes a little while to work out exactly what's the right way to send the ball flying into the goal mouth. The more you progress the harder it gets to knock the ball into the expected direction and the more obstructions are placed in the way.

It's a simplistic premise, and with the tongue in cheek humour (you train at night under the starry skies and with the silhouette of a watch tower in the background) the game's actually quite enjoyable when you consider how simplistic the actual premise of it all is.

Occasionally the tracking of the set makes it a little difficult to achieve the overall aim of what's required and goal attempts to the side are a little harder than you'd expect, but all in all Headmaster is actually a novel experience as you play through the Football Improvement Centre.

Newstalk ZB Review - The Accountant, Hacksaw Ridge and The Light Between Oceans

Newstalk ZB Review - The Accountant, Hacksaw Ridge and The Light Between Oceans

This week, while Jack Tame was in the USA getting ready for Trump-ageddon, there was time to look at movie releases and potential relief.

Up for discussion is Ben Affleck in The Accountant, Mel Gibson's war epic Hacksaw Ridge and NZ shot The Light Between Oceans.

Take a listen below:

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-the-accountant-hacksaw-ridge/

Batman: Arkham VR: PS4 Review

Batman: Arkham VR: PS4 Review

Developed by Rocksteady Games
Platform: PS4 VR

Hands down perhaps the closest thing PlayStation's released for the VR that is more than just an experience, Batman Arkham VR is a credit to Rocksteady's dealing with the franchise.

Completely immersive and utterly thrilling, the game puts you in the cowl and boots of the Bat (literally in the case of the cowl) and gets you into the world of Gotham like never before.

Following Bats through one Dark (K)night of the soul, it's a clever spin to get you around Gotham and meeting up with some of the Bat's most famous faces. It all begins with a flashback (which we've all seen time and time again) and a chain of events that put other things in motion.

But the thrill of Batman Arkham VR is the level of immersion that Rocksteady and the VR headset brings to you. From initially putting it on and getting calibrated, the game plunges you into the world of WayneTech and the excitement of transitioning from Bruce Wayne to Batman.

From grabbing a Batarang and hurling it around the Bat-cave with the use of Move controllers (which never gets tiring) to using the Batclaw and a scanning device at the side of your belt, this is a game that literally lets you become the bat.

Using the trigger motions of the Move Controllers, you can move from point to point in scenes and get into the story that way. With a floating hand (the only visual downside to this game) you can fire up the Batcomputer and dig into the story - it's totally immersive in a deeply satisfying way.

Interestingly, the only portion of the Bat world not fully explored is the vehicular side of Batman - there's no hurtling around in the Batmobile early on; everything is done via a cut-scene fade and may be a reaction to nausea hitting parts of the motion games of VR. It's a minor niggle that sort of takes you out of the full experience created by Rocksteady, but it is one that stands out.

Attention to detail is prevalent here - from the detail within the Bat-cave to the grime and grit of Gotham's seedy streets, just looking around gives a real tingle down your neck. The depth of the world is incredible and while it's perhaps a little off-putting that you simply can't fly off into the night, the scenery is well-worth taking in and shows that immersiveness is a real boon to this hybrid of experience and game.

It's perhaps prescient that so much of the VR takes in so much of the tech and deploys it so well, as this is what the headset does completely. In reality, you don a mask to don the virtual mask of the Bat - the synergy is impressive and the final result is nothing short of sensational.

Ultimately, Batman: Arkham VR is a great experience and demonstrator of what the VR simulations can do - it'll add weight greatly to the reveal of the tech and lend credence to the start of the pathway to a totally original and 360 degree gaming experience.

First look: T2 Trainspotting trailer

First look: T2 Trainspotting trailer

Here's your first look at the full T2 Trainspotting trailer which has premiered overnight.

Featuring the return of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie et al, the gang's back in the T2 film which hits cinemas next year!

First Wonder Woman trailer drops

First Wonder Woman trailer drops

Here's your first look at the brand new Wonder Woman trailer.

Featuring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, the trailer's one of the most hotly anticipated of the year after her very first appearance alongside Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in Batman v Superman

Doctor Who Power of the Daleks hits cinemas

Doctor Who Power of the Daleks hits cinemas

A special cinema event in New Zealand from Saturday 12 November

Featuring Patrick Troughton’s debut as the Doctor BBC Worldwide ANZ and Rialto Cinemas today announced a limited-run theatrical screening of Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks animated series from Saturday 12 November for one week only.

 The cinema event will also feature exclusive bonus content including interviews with members of the original cast. Fans throughout New Zealand will be able to enjoy the event in select Rialto Cinemas.

Tickets for Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks can be purchased by visiting www.rialto.co.nz for further information on participating cinemas, or at the cinema box offices.

 The Power of the Daleks is one of the most celebrated Doctor Who adventures, and yet no complete film recordings are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974. This brand new animation, being released 50 years after its only UK broadcast, is based on the programme’s original audio recordings, surviving photographs, and film clips. 

The six- part adventure features the regeneration - or as it was then called “renewal” - of First Doctor, William Hartnell, into Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and follows the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) as they do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.

“This is a great opportunity for Doctor Who fans to see all six-parts of Power of the Daleks brought to life using modern animation techniques, and to experience this as a shared event,” said Louise Hill, Live Entertainment Executive for BBC Worldwide ANZ. Kevin Gordon, Rialto Distribution Sales Manager, said: “This will be a landmark event in the world of Doctor Who, and we are hugely excited for Kiwi fans to discover the iconic lost episodes on the big screen.” Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks is produced and directed by Charles Norton, with character designs from acclaimed comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon.