Moss: PSVR Review

Moss: PSVR Review

Platform: PSVR
Released by Sony

There is something adorable about Moss.

Whether it's the fact it's 3D platforming brought to life via the PS VR headset or the fact that it shows PSVR isn't just limited to experiences, Moss offers hope for VR in 2018.

Set in a fairy book world, Moss sets you in the position of Quill and puts you to task roaming through a growing number of puzzles and on a quest to save her kingdom from trouble.

Quill can attack with a sword, jump around and generally scurry like the best of mice, ensuring that the platforming feels like something anyone can achieve.

That's the thing with Moss, its simplicity makes it so evidently appealing to all those around. Plus the fact you are part of a team with Quill makes the game so much more immersive than would initially appear.

As the reader, you get to manipulate objects in the Moss World to ensure that Quill's never-ending journey is as easy as is possible.Puzzles are never fully taxing and Moss's approachability means it's an all ages kind of affair which really does make it a step up for the VR world.

With gorgeous landscapes within the world to behold, and an engaging feel to keep all ages interested, Moss makes a case for what VR can do. Effortlessly merging the best of both worlds, without ever really being showy, it does make you believe that this is what VR should be - simple, entertaining and mighty mouse levels of fun.

The Disaster Artist: DVD Review

The Disaster Artist: DVD Review

There will be a large portion of the audience who've never heard of Tommy Wiseau or his film The Room.

Released in 2003 to riotously bad reviews, and dubbed the Citizen Kane of Bad movies, The Room has since gone on to be a money-making affair that revels in its awfulness, terrible writing and appalling acting.

With an opening sequence that gives some A-list Hollywood names and talking heads the chance to voice their appreciation for the film, James Franco's film delves deeply into a bromance and a Carpe Diem attitude that evolved from Wiseau's friendship with collaborator Greg Sestero (Dave Franco).

Based on Sestero's 2013 book 'The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made', James Franco's affectionate re-telling of how it all came to pass is nothing short of affectionate and life-affirming.

Charting the friendship that grew from Wiseau and Sestero's initial meeting at an acting class in San Francisco in the late 90s, it's the classic tale of jealousy and success in the Hollywood realm.

When Sestero (Dave Franco, genuine, bubbly and full of hope) begins to get a degree of success and a girlfriend (Alison Brie, underused), Wiseau's fragile insecurities begin to bubble up and threatens to derail the duo.

But deciding to channel it into writing his own film, after a casting agent says he'll never be more than a villain, Wiseau was galvanised to self-fund, write and direct The Room.

The thing that works about The Disaster Artist, is quite simply, the reverence that it holds for its subject and its central protagonist.

James Franco is utterly mesmerising as Tommy Wiseau, disappearing completely into the role and channeling both Wiseau's idiosyncracies and quirks. But no character piece, what Franco does is make his Wiseau both human and fallible, never leading him to being an object of mockery (which could so easily have been done).

An intrinsic knowledge of The Room's sheer awfulness isn't necessary, as the infectious film-making on the display and peek inside the Hollywood machine is nothing short of contagious.

Complete with late 90s/ early 2000 period details, and a taut eye for the central duo of Sestero and Wiseau (others outside the orbit tend to get a little short shrift unfortunately), The Disaster Artist is nothing more than a chasing your dreams tale.

But under Franco's watch, and by refusing to exploit either the story or its general eccentricities weirdness, it becomes a film that shows why the power of Hollywood continues to live and why those who step outside the norm continue to thrive in its wake. 

Pitch Perfect 3: Blu Ray Review

Pitch Perfect 3: Blu Ray Review

It's the pitches final call in this latest, aimed squarely at the fans and those who tolerated and enjoyed the Barden Bellas' last two outings.

This time around, with the threads of a story stretched perhaps as far as they could go, the Bellas return for their final tour.

After leaving the singing with the next generation of young things in the previous film, the girls reunite to take part in a US Army tour after deciding being grown up and having jobs is not as much fun as they thought it would be.

But their quest to secure the opening spot for a DJ Khaled set sees them forced to compete with other bands (including one led by Ruby Rose) who have electrical instruments.
And things are further complicated when Rebel Wilson's Fat Amy finds her dad (John Lithgow, complete with atrocious Aussie accent) showing up after years in absentia...

Mixing meta touches and some nods to their previous outings, including a hilarious dissing of Cups, Pitch Perfect 3 isn't exactly tone deaf, but does struggle to hit some of the narrative notes it needs.

Primarily, it's in the narrative flow, which seems to be hit by things randomly happening for no good reason and suddenly without warning.

In places, this causes the film to jar and judder around and quite noticeably so.

But given its 90 minute run time and the reason for the film's existence is to farewell the girls and give everything one last go-around, it generally fulfills that rather than greatly challenging it.

Kendrick's easy-going charm comes through again, though Becca's hardly bothered with story, with much of the third film feeling like a repeat of the arc of her character's first film; and later in the film, Pitch Perfect 3 very much becomes the Rebel Wilson show, with Fat Amy stealing the lion's share of the spotlight and the gags as well.

Mostly, this feels like a 'Now That's What I Call Pitch Perfect' as we bounce from one rendition of a song to another (certainly, Ruby Rose's sneering is kept to a minimum and her once-over lightly character's relatively underwritten), but it has to be said that director Trish Sie, who directed OK Go's infamous 'Here It Goes Again' treadmill video, imbues the musical numbers with a great deal of urgency and vitality.

Ultimately, Pitch Perfect 3 has a finality to it, and while it's a shame that, outside of a flimsy father-comes-home and mish-mash of Britney's Toxic video in terms of spy antics and song, it does little more to challenge its audience outside of its genial preppy outlook.

But at the end of the day, the target market and those who truly enjoy the Bellas and their choreographed shenanigans and songs won't be bothered by the odd bum notes which land throughout.

Blockers: Film Review

Blockers: Film Review

Cast: John Cena, Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, Geraldine Viswanathan, Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon
Director: Kay Cannon

The sex comedy cum coming of age is a well-mined story trope.

Guaranteed easy laughs, combined with some gross-out gags, mean simple box office returns and plenty of brain-on-cruise-control viewing.

So it is with Blockers, a film that promised little, but manages to deliver more than expected, despite a depressingly obvious slide into sentiment on the final run.

Cena, Mann and Barinholtz play a triumvirate of parents, with varying degrees of issues of control.

Thrust together when their three daughters start school and bond, the group's now at the cusp of dealing with womanhood from their siblings.

On Prom Night, all three of the girls (Viswanathan, Newton, Adlon, all solid and fully formed) decide they plan to lose their virginities to their respective partners. Forming an apparently secret pact, they set about their plans.

But when the parents find out, they decide to set out and stop it from happening...

The thing with Blockers is that its mix of being a take on uptight parents letting go, kids growing up and moments of gross oddly brings the funny when it should without ever really going too far.

As the aforementioned slide into sentimental growing and hugging mush descends (something Seinfeld always railed against), Blockers depresses a little in that it doesn't quite buck the trend in the way it initially sets out to do so.

Whether it's really a female take on the situation given it's written by five guys is debatable.

But what it does do throughout is it gives the female youngsters equal pegging and they feel real rather than sexual constructs and conquests. While their story pales as the parents' quest intensifies, the overwhelming take-out is that these kids are alright, and sensible in the face of parental paranoia.

Plus special commendation must be given to Leslie Mann's physical work towards end, which is nothing short of genius.

Cena's uptight jock father is solid, and Barinholtz's estranged dad, looking to reconnect, feels real and grounded during the awkward moments.

In fact, that's where Blockers succeeds, it feels more grounded than outlandish, more sensible than sensational - and as a result, whilst it's not riotous laugh a minute fare, it's infinitely more entertaining than its woefully worn out genre would lead you to believe it could - and should - be.

Far Cry 5: PS4 Review

Far Cry 5: PS4 Review

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Platform: PS4

The Far Cry series returns - this time, with a modern day setting and a timeliness that feels a tad too realistic.

With an initially engaging baddie continuing the franchise's desire to set enigmatic leaders against you, this sets the action in the fictional (but feels real) Hope County. You get to play a rookie cop, helping to take down a cult leader (The Father) as the game begins.

Entering the Edensgate compound, with followers all round, it's clear that what lies ahead is fraught with danger, and while you arrest The Father, the journey out is anything but simple, and soon, you're back to basics, scrabbling around for survival and doing the usual Far Cry thing.

But it's here that Far Cry 5 really sets the bar above the rest.

With a world that feels much deeper, the game almost begs you to spend time doing anything but its main story missions.

Set free in Hope County, my character did little but explore early on, taking on cult members as more of a pasttime than a story necessity and just exploring the rich world which has been created.

From checking out doomsday preppers underground holes to liberating outposts and building up colleagues (of all species), Far Cry 5 gives the widest case yet for a game to be lost in for the year.

It's got rid of things like crafting and the endless time you have to spend hunting in previous games to ensure you can get on with what's necessary. But it's also freed up your time to actually do other things than just the main story mission.

There's never a dull moment in Far Cry 5 and while the main story sees you liberating provinces from the the cult's acolytes and their followers before getting to the ultimate big guy, there's more than enough to do.

Multiplayer, online maps, the possibility of some out there material from the Season Pass (Far Cry Mars??) means there's more than enough to do in Ubisoft's latest - and while the bad guys may lack the charisma of the franchise's previous baddies, there's simply something which has to give during this game.

Ultimately, Far Cry 5 makes a major swing for a Game of The Year title - from a deeply open world to a feeling you're never wasting time, it's really what gaming should be about - pure unadulterated immersion and fun.

Win A Wrinkle In Time prize pack

Win A Wrinkle In Time prize pack

To celebrate the release of A Wrinkle in Time, out in cinemas April 12th, we have 2 prize packs to giveaway, worth $40 each. 

The prize packs consist of:

• 1 x Cap
• 1 x Key chain
• 1 x Adult Watch
• 1 x Notebook

Directed by Ava DuVernay and filmed in New Zealand, A Wrinkle in Time hits cinemas April 12th 

#WrinkleinTime

To win a copy, all you have to do is email  your details to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Please label your entry WRINKLE

Competition closes April 24th

Rampage: Film Review

Rampage: Film Review

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Joe Mangianello, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy
Director: Brad Peyton

There is only so far Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's charisma and endless muscles will go - and his latest flick, Rampage where he re-teams with San Andreas director Brad Peyton, sorely tests that.

Johnson plays Davis Okoye, a former species forces cum animal saviour who's now a primatologist.
Bonded with a white silverback gorilla called George (and who gets a brief back story flashback later in the piece), Davis finds his world rocked when a science experiment from space causes his friend to change from gentle Curious George Harry and the Hendersons' beast to roaring destructive angry King Kong type.

Things are further complicated when the evil corporate bigwigs, who created the genetic editing process, want their DNA back and hatch a plot to get the creatures back to the city.

In a race against time to save his bud, and with a shady government agency on his heels, headed up by a hammier friendlier version of The Walking Dead's Negan himself Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and a former genetic scientist (007 star Naomie Harris) in tow, Davis has it all to do.

Based on the 1980s video game where monsters menaced the city and picked off human armies, Rampage shows clearly its video game edge - ie little to no cohesive plot, scrabbling from one section to the next without any care for logic or anything to trouble the brain.

The problem with Rampage is that if you're expecting dumb, you'll get it in spades.
If you want some god-awful dialogue thrown in there as well (Morgan's agent spouting the line that "When science shits the bed, I'm the one called in to change the sheets" being the worst), then you'll be happy.
And if you simply want to see a bit of rote CGI monster smash city / Kaiju fight, you'll be satiated, but not satisfied.

Rampage, despite Johnson's usual charisma as he plays Dr Doolittle and beast bestie, is just not enough of anything to warrant much more than dumb.

Characters are woefully underwritten (step forward, Naomie Harris' expositionary scientist) and the bad guys are laughably paper-thin, but Rampage tries to take itself too seriously, when really it should just embrace the stupidity of what its premise is. 

There are signs that it does this in the end, with Johnson rolling out his action jackson figure that we've all been expecting, but it comes too late in the day to really resonate.

WETA Digital's work with George is, as you'd expect from the Apes trilogy, stellar; but their work on the other creatures, while homage to the original villains of the game, stands out as looking a bit wobbly in places and less realistic than it could be.

Ultimately, and unfortunately, Rampage is not quite the popcorn thrill it should be - while it's at heart, a mash up of buddy movie and monster flick, the B-movie pretensions are what hold it back. It may be as dumb as a bag of spanners, but it's not smart enough to use that to its strength.

By refusing to embrace fully what it could be, Rampage goes from being a slam dunk to a film that shows that not everything Johnson touches can turn to gold, even if he coats it all in a few knowing nods here and there.