Moonlight: DVD Review

Moonlight: DVD Review

More is unsaid in Moonlight's triptych than is actually revealed and in parts, it's as intoxicating as it is tantalising.

Drawn unequivocally from its roots as a play and transposed on screen as such under a three act structure, Jenkins' film of the coming of age story of a black man growing up in Miami delivers subtly and with swathes of nuance as it plays out, relying heavily on the viewer to listen for minor details and to bring the tapestry threads together.

But not once does Moonlight ever shift the intimate scale or focus from its leads as we take in three stages of Chiron's life.

From badgered kid to bullied teen to ultimate manhood, Chiron's tale is finely balanced and precariously executed as the world swirls around.

A minimalist score and pared back soundtrack give Moonlight a resonance and a power that compel, but it's the personal moments which leap head and shoulders above anything else here.

This is never anything more than Chiron's journey pilgrimage through life from start to finish, and if that sounds like a trite dismissal of the film and its protagonist, it's not. Over 3 phases of Chiron's life, the struggle for his identity and his place in the world is carefully, quietly and powerfully positioned.

Whether it's bathed in the titular moonlight at the edge of the sea at the beach or swathed in the red glow of the room of his combusting addicted mother (Naomie Harris) as she rails against him, Jenkins' eye for visual detail predicates the story's journey.

But it's the raw and humane delivery of the story by the different age leads that build a dramatic powder-keg of a personal portrait in a (less successful and more obvious) wider tableaux of social commentary that's dripping with sub-text.

And while there's an argument that Jenkins' script shines a light on the continuing problems faced by black Americans, the truths espoused within are universal and yet intimately dispatched.

It's hard to resist Chiron's story or not empathise with his heartbreaking situations - from bullying at school, to violence from a mother, to seeking acceptance from and continually being rejected by his peers. There are universal truths within Moonlight that work as powerfully as they can because of the simplicity of the story's execution and the pared-back nature of the film's execution.
Ultimately, it's the stripped back almost play-like feel of Moonlight that helps it shine - even though there are abrupt cuts at times that are symptomatic of a dramatic curtain call, the emotion is never lost as the story unfurls. With a sparse OST and large periods of silence, Jenkins' builds a veritable atmosphere that ironically, helps it to speak volumes.

From Mahershala Ali's dealer surrogate father figure to the three iterations of Chiron, the vulnerable veracity and tale of acceptance seep through, be it in the dialogue or within the relatability of the story.

As a contemporary portrait of African-Americans, it's vital;  and it's also easy to see why awards are being showered on this occasionally Oscar-bait piece; but as a piece of film alone, it's a strong cinematic experience that never once loses its focus and nuances to help it connect to global audiences.

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition: PS4 Review

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition: PS4 Review

Released by Gearbox Software
Platform: PS4

In many ways, with its spit and polish and release on the next gen consoles via the Unreal Engine, great swathes of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition feels like some kind of successor to last year's Doom.

It's not, because the original was released way before then, but with the next gen version of the game now hitting consoles, the fight and fight mentality, coupled with the popcorn style violence and lunkhead action movie dialogue, is really something to behold.

Set in the 26th Century, you take the lead as one of the black ops teams and run the gauntlet of the game as Grayson Hunt, a lamb chopped nutter with a gun, whose squad is taken out. Stranded on a nearby planet Stygia, and with most of his colleagues killed, apart from one Ishi, who's been blended with an AI, it's a race against time and against hordes of marauding gun happy killers.

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition ain't going to win any awards for subtlety. Nor will it garner any praise for its extreme violence, but goodness gracious, if it's not playable fun.

Using an electric leash to lassoo victims towards you, and then killing them by either kicking or shooting them as they slow-mo through the air, isn't half fun - even if it's not exactly cerebral stuff. It helps that the game looks slick (and in no real way looks like a remaster) and plays well.

Bodies explode, environmental kills can be unleashed and explosions can take out multiple targets. Leashing into electronic pods gives you a chance to upgrade and opportunities to cash in skillshots rewards for other weapons - it all feels like something that comes together more than it actually should. Kicking people into poles, firing them through the air into spikes all sound like a homicidal wet dream, and in fairness, they play out like that.

It won't win any originality stakes, and while it's quite cool to play the game as Duke Nukem, it has to be said that Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition is simply leave your brain at the door shooter gun fun. It's a hell of a good time, and is more entertaining than it really has a right to be.

Why Him?: Blu Ray Review

Why Him?: Blu Ray Review

It's the eternal dilemma.

Your beloved brings home a better half that is less than desirable in your eyes.

This is the crux of the latest comedy from director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly, I Love You Man) with Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as Ned the dad threatened by his daughter Stephanie's choice of beau.

Stephanie's fallen for Silicon Valley CEO Laird Mayhew (a fully committed James Franco), a tats and all stoner slacker whose infatuation with Zoey Deutch's Stephanie is evident from the start. When Stephanie diverts the family on their Christmas vacation to spend the break getting to know her new other half.

But this is the last thing on Ned's mind with his paper company facing extinction and now his beloved daughter shacked up with the wrong man, the scene is set for conflict as Laird tries to win Ned over...

Why Him? sets its stock out in its first scene - there's a hint of raunch, a liberal dose of foul language and a feeling that low hanging fruit is the easiest option to go for.

From the uptight Cranston to the free and easy Franco, each commit fully to their roles but are never asked to deliver much by the lazy script.
The sense of opposition isn't trowelled on and any conflict is tantamount to nothing more than a few forced in scenes and moments which fail to garner much drama or humour.

Fortunately, Keegan-Michael Key's estate manager Gustav delivers the lion's share of some gags with some strait laced deadpan performance moments giving the film the energy it needs and the laughs it so desperately craves.Along with one scene where Ned tries to fend off his stoned wife (Mullally), there are a few scenes that genuinely offer some laughs and unexpected pleasures.

And there are no scenes which offer any depth to the main characters - particularly Zoey Deutch's Stephanie whose apparent rift with her father is given no rhyme or reason, and therefore no dramatic weight.

But they're too few and far in between in this patchy comedy that underuses all of its team players. There's a nice side element of the old versus the new conflict as is demonstrated by Ned's being in paper, Laird's being in the internet and Ned rolling out a Pink Panther reference that's lost on the younger end, but there's not enough to give any meat to the relatively thin bones.

The young and old conflict may be there and is woefully under-exploited - Why Him? ends up being a lazy, unfunny comedy that misses the mark so often and drags that the only nagging thought you're left with as you leave the cinema, is a resounding "Why me?"

Styx: Shards of Darkness: PS4 Review

Styx: Shards of Darkness: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Cyanide Studios

The last set of goblins that were sneaking about to be recalled were those pesky ones in the Lord Of The Rings.

So it's with some glee that Styx: Shards of Darkness perpetuates the sneaky nature of the goblins and continues to build on that reputation in this fun and foul-mouthed game. With a very basic story, you take control of the Styx, and have to infiltrate the Dark Elven city of Korangar to find out why the dwarves have teamed up against your race.

Using a variety of tricks, such as clones, and traps, such as acid related shenanigans, this take of Assassin's Creed is quite eminently playable and fun in a disposable way. With the stealth mechanics and the simplicity of execution, Styx is actually a game that makes it frivolous and flippant as you traipse around portions of the world trying to achieve your aims.

Ropes, grappling hooks, the chance to turn invisible and plenty of others come to mind for Styx to help you achieve this, and while the game's ease of execution means you can dive right in, it does also mean that it's actually quite simple and easy to fail in your ambitions, leading to replays and growing levels of frustration.

Styx, as a character, is also fun. Loading screens see him taunting you and death scenes see him mixing in both film references and cocking snooks at other games to give the game a sense of flippant meta-touches which prove to be both amusing and clever. As the fourth wall is smashed with regularity, you actually get a growing bond with your goblin, even if he has the tendency to flip you off for doing so.

Ultimately satisfying, but also extremely gratifying when this character gets offed, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a game that's as foul as it is fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: Film Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: Film Review

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Kurt Russell, Michael Rooker, Sylvester Stallone, Elizabeth Debicki, Karen Gillan
Director: James Gunn

It's a tough ask to discern how exactly you follow up one of the freshest films in an ever-expanding Mavel Cinematic Universe catalogue of superheroes, fantastical figures and weighty mythology.

The 2014 worldwide $773 million smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy's riposte by way of its first outing was to largely confine a lot of what had become Marvel's stuffy staple to the sidelines and present a bright blast of technicolour goofiness, set it all in space and against a backdrop of 70s music tunes.

Loud, brash and above all fun, Guardians Volume 1 was the perfect tonic to the growing tedium of the MCU, injecting humour into a ragtag bunch of reprobates who quickly became family.

So, how do you follow that up?

Like that tricky second album syndrome that blights so many artists, James Gunn and Marvel's answer is - let's do it all again and throw more music and more humour at it.

But, disappointingly in parts, that sadly doesn't quite make this sequel quite as spectacular.

With the central themes of family and familial conflicts thrust largely to the fore, the sequel concentrates on two simple storylines. When Rocket rips off the group's latest employers, they're forced to go on the run.

Stranded on the planet Berhart after their betrayal's discovered and the Milano, their ship, crippled, the issue of Chris Pratt's Starlord's parentage comes to the fore when his father (played with 80s style gusto by Kurt Russell) mysteriously shows up....

It's not that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is a bad film, it's simply that it feels like it's squandered some of the promise and good will of the first.

Visually, Gunn and his team have assembled a truly vibrant universe. From its opening moments where a squid-like creature takes on the gang spewing out all the colours of the rainbow from its mouth, to the gold-covered race The Sovereign, via planet vistas adorned with hues of reds, blues and greens, there's plenty visually to admire and wallow in. And once again, music is the sixth Guardians character, with sounds from the 70s and 80s providing a proliferation of grooves and moves among the CGI.

But the film too often falls back on its humour as a constant crutch to punctuate scenes, and it becomes repetitive and irritating. 

Whether it's the constant bickering between the Guardians, or Bautista's literal Drax saying inappropriate and initially amusing things or members of the Ravagers making comments, there's way too much of this throughout to do anything other than a) feel lazy and b) set your teeth-grinding. And whilst it was part of the fun of the first, the sequel adds much more than is necessary.

Equally, if it's not the humour, it's the reliance on the Baby Groot ex Machina to help with the story. Though, admittedly, Groot's cuteness and abject tendency towards adorable are initially very appealing and amusing. (The aforementioned fight is brilliant in its execution thanks to a combination of ELO's Mr Blue Sky, an out-of-focus battle in the background and a shimmying couple of inches tall tree character).

As the film goes on, the over-use of the humour tends to scupper the more obvious emotional edges of what transpires. If everything's a joke to everyone all the time, it really does make it hard to care about what happens to these self-professed a*holes and the various predicaments they face.

More successful are the quieter moments of the film.

There's a distinct profoundness to some of the more humane scenes involving the ongoing conflict between Saldana's Gamorra and Gillan's Nebula, as well as Pratt's portrayal of a man who just desperately wants to know who his father is. Add in a nuanced turn from Rooker's Yondu, seeking redemption, and there's more than enough meat to keep the narrative running and just enough to provide distraction from the incessant hilarity that's injected at every turn.

It's here that Gunn excels and imbues some love for the wise-cracking characters we came to care about in the first film. He achieves the required poignancy with ease, and masterfully delivers it. 

But in among the day-glo colours, superb visuals from the WETA Digital team and 80s references (The Blob, Journey To The Centre of the Earth, arcade games and other Easter Eggs too fun to spoil et al), it's these kernels of emotional truths which resonate in Guardians Vol 2 and which give it the heart it so desperately needs and so perfectly achieved in its first outing, setting them above the usual smash and grab CGI world destructions that have become the Marvel denouement norm.

But they're nearly overwhelmed by everything else that transpires on screen; and while it felt fresh the first time around, the over-insistence on a "More, more, more" ethos means it comes dangerously close to destroying the good-will it had previously generated.

With a third outing for the Guardians of the Galaxy already signed up, it's no stretch to say that this latest, with its flaws and occasional bloat, is a good time at the movies, and a cut above the usual blockbuster fare.

However, all of that candy-blast and sugar-coated reliance on humour prove sufficiently corrosive to Gunn's stated intentions of going deeper with the characters; and, worryingly, if they don't ease up on those elements in the third outing, it could end up inducing a diabetic cinematic coma to audiences.

Drawn To Death: PS4 Review

Drawn To Death: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Part of the PS Plus line up for April

We've all spent time doodling, passing away those endless hours at work or at school employing our creative juices in an all together more fruitful pastime.

This latest, from David Jaffe, takes the pencil-drawn shenanigans to the next level and places it all in an arena shooting match, that's an online 4 player experience.

It begins in what feels like a VR Experience as you find yourself in a classroom, with the teacher droning on in front of you. But glancing down at the doodles on your book and the silly scribbles below, brings the world of the ballpoint pen scrawl to life.

Taking you into the game, you get to play a character that looks like a Sid Vicious punk dragged through a 2000AD prism and sprayed in Viz like sensibilities. Tutored by a frog that fires insults your way, the opening levels give you the basics on how to shoot, spray bile and survive, before you end up in an arena and fighting others.

Drawn to Death's visuals are pretty incredible when you consider that basically, they're just paper drawings brought to life via computer. They manage to stand out from the background, and feel like they have depth even though your mind tells you this can't really be possible.

As you enter the arenas and take on others, the game's juvenile disposability comes to life and the game's cheaper and simpler premise makes the whole thing more playable than it should be. Chasing others around an arena and using an array of weapons to take them out while racing to the top of the leaderboard makes the game's simple MO its one pleasure.

Sure, the childishness comes through, but the game's in keeping with its puerile point of view. From drawing women with melon shaped breasts to general abusiveness, this is a game that feels like it's been torn from the mind of a teenager.

While occasionally some of the matches suffer because of different weapons being better than others, the playability of the game itself helps over-compensate for its own failings. If you're willing to put up with a degree of repetitive gaming and also a fairly shallow experience, then Drawn To Death is for you. If you're looking for more depth in an online shooter, then there's plenty more fodder in the PlayStation Store for you to unload cash upon - but given this one is free as part of PlayStation Plus for April, you can't really complain.

Troll and I: PS4 Review

Troll and I: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Developed by Spiral House

It had such potential, but, unfortunately, Troll and I never quite reaches the heights it's aspiring to, thanks to a muddied combat system and graphics that don't give the game the best look.

Loosely, the story concentrates on Otto, a boy who's separated from his mother after tragedy hits their village. Forced out into the wilderlands and to fend for himself, Otto finds he's ultimately not alone with the discovery of a friendly Troll.
The pair team up and have to perform a series of quests and missions, guaranteed to showcase the co-operative bond and capabilities of the game.

However, what it actually offers is simply a case of switching between the two once they've teamed up to perform limited moves.

With his Derek Zoolander clipped way of talking, Otto's not the most verbose of characters and his penchant for muttering a limited amount of catchphrases soon grinds gears than inspires wanting to spend more time with him.
Equally, with the troll looking reminiscent of a dread-locked ET, the characterisation doesn't perform very strongly in this piece, which is a real shame.

Limited moves for both, along with crafting, make Troll and I feel like a budget game rather than a big scale adventure with heart and soul that was initially promised in the trailer.
It doesn't help that graphically the game looks like something from the PS2 era and the baddies look unfinished in their design. But it's frustrating in the extreme as there's clearly a great adventure to be had here, with this sub-par rip off of the buddy dynamic not really cutting it from the get-go.

Early scenes see you having to duck and dive, hunt and trace around, but the game's difficulty curve throws a substantial spanner into the works with moves you make not being recognised. That further exacerbates frustration as the game seems intent on ensuring repetition of mistakes despite you trying all different ways to achieve your goal.

Crafting brings a bit of an edge, but there's little else to collect in the world, other than weapons which perform adequately, but not sensationally.

It's a shame as there are some moments that really hang together for Troll and I - its adherence to the folklore and friendship aspect of the game makes its premise eminently playable and there's pain to be felt when either side of this buddy-friendship is hurt.

But ultimately, Troll and I's frustrations and sub-par rendering make it feel like a head-smashing experience and an exercise in what could have been.