Peter Rabbit: DVD Review

Peter Rabbit: DVD Review

The 2018 Peter Rabbit is a rapscallion, a cocky self-aware bunny who believes he is entitled to plunder from old man McGregor's garden in whatever manner he chooses.

However when the old boy pops his clogs (Ta Ta then, gruff Sam Neill barely in it), Peter thinks he's won.

But, as they say Peter has another think coming, when young man McGregor (Gleeson, tremendously game) shows up on the land.

Will Gluck's Peter Rabbit has energy to spare early on with the bounding battle of wits in the garden a cleverly engaging opening.

But as the film goes on and ensconces itself in a coat of cuteness and sentiment, it seems to adhere to the rules of a jealous threesome as Peter becomes angered by young McGregor's pursuit of kindly neighbour Bea (Byrne in a sort of perky thankless role).

What emerges is a curious mix of Home Alone cum rom-com as a series of silly gags and pratfalls take the place of any winsome interplay. 

It works fine for those of a younger age with the charisma resorting solely to an over use of electrocution gags at one point to amuse.

But there's little beyond this for an older audience who may have been entranced by Potter's tales.

In fact as the animal anarchy rules supreme, it becomes clear that Peter Rabbit is more concerned with being here for a shallow amiable time rather than a reverence for its own material  - despite the wondrous and adept use of hand drawn illustrations throughout the CGI cartoonery..

It may be a Peter Rabbit for the times thanks to Corden's rambunctious tones and the script's fripperies, but sadly, it's not a Peter Rabbit for the ages. 

Early Man: DVD Review

Early Man: DVD Review

Aardman animations are a stellar bunch.

Able to shape gold from plasticine and clay models, the studio's been more than capable of turning out comedic perfection since the Vaudeville-inspired Wallace and Gromit came to prominence.
That their proclivity for ensuring the humour is universal, clever and crafty and has been recognised so, means that Early Man's inability to match up to previous highs is, frankly, disappointing.

Nick Park once again takes the helms of this flick, the story of caveman Dug (Eddie Redmayne) who lives with his tribe in a world after the meteor hit the Earth,

A charming pre-titles sequence sets the scene, with quippy subtitles like Neo-Pleistocene era, an actual time, but also a subtle blink-and-miss-it nod to Aardman's choice of animation materials perhaps?

Trapped in a kingdom with other lesser dreamers, Dug and his gang find their way of life threatened by the arrival of Lord Nooth, and the arrival of the Bronze Age.

When Dug finds himself in their world, he's offered a challenge by Nooth - win a game of football or he and his people must forever quit their forest...

So far, so sports underdog.

And this is perhaps the biggest surprise of Early Man - the fact that it's essentially a riff on England's World Cup continual failures post 1966 in the faces of foreign teams.
Nooth is given a French accent, a reminder of the sporting rivalries of yore.

It seems mean to knock Early Man, which in fairness, is very passable family fare.

But given this is the company that brought us the never-less-than-brilliant Wallace and Gromit, the wonderful Shaun the Sheep film, it does pale in comparison.
It's also perhaps no surprise that Dug resembles Wallace with his big overbite grin and Dug's constant pig--pal HogNob has the temperament and expressiveness of a Gromit style ancestor.

It seems in many ways that Park's chasing his own highs, as much as Early Man chases and evolves the idea that continual football losing nations can still win tournaments (as everyone in England nods repeatedly in agreement.)

The inventiveness is occasionally there - be it in replay puppets which channel Punch and Judy in their football replays - or in the odd one-liners and sight gags that pepper the film at certain points.
There's also a nod to sporting sexism as Maisie Williams' clearly gifted footballer is denied the chance because she's a girl, all washed up in elements of Escape To Victory.

Overall, Early Man lacks perhaps the loose zaniness and masterful touches that Aardman's gifted us with in the past.

It still entertains, but it's never quite as evolved or as clever as it aims to be - and while it's essentially a celebration of the beautiful game (and perhaps a sly commentary on how cavemen play it), it never quite manages a romping victory that you'd expect or hope for. 

Pacific Rim Uprising: DVD Review

Pacific Rim Uprising: DVD Review

It's not the easiest of tasks these days to unleash a sequel to a film that somewhat underwhelmed at the global box office.

However, that's not troubling Pacific Rim Uprising, a film that simply goes about the business of carrying on and moving on the series after an apparent conclusion of the threat facing humanity.

But it does it all without a great deal of emotional heft, heart and depth.

Star Wars' John Boyega is the roguish Jake Pentecost, son of Idris Elba's Pacific Rim hero Stacker and who seems to be trapped in his father's shadow, endowed with a legacy he neither wants nor can avoid.

Having abandoned the corp of Jaeger pilots, Jake is a raffish con-man, trading in the second hand business of illegal Jaeger parts. Stumbling across young kid Cailee Spaeny's Namani (a cross between spunkish sidekick, and questioning exposition deliverer), he finds himself dragged back into the corps, just around the time a new Kaiju threat begins to rise.

Pacific Rim: Uprising isn't surprising at all.

Director and Spartacus and Daredevil helmer DeKnight delivers crisp, clear and clean CGI action sequences with a degree of workmanlike aplomb, something which needs to be commended in the days of blurred action (something which dogged Del Toro's first Rim) and there's much to be said for the diversity of the cast on display.

But despite Boyega's considerable charisma and presence during the film (something which keeps large portions of it all afloat), there's little else round the edges to nourish the lulls between set pieces.

What there is feels hoary and rote.

A squabbling group of grunts (see Ender's Game, Starship Troopers) with little characterisation on show, a weakly written reason for doing it all again and a growing feeling of being underwhelmed don't do Pacific Rim: Uprising much to distinguish it from the soulless vapidity of the Transformers franchise.

Granted, you don't expect Shakespeare from a B-movie about essentially, robots fighting monsters and smashing CGI cities to pieces, but there's a nagging feeling that more narrative heft could have added a great deal to Pacific Rim: Uprising, especially with the threat of a third franchise piece being teased pre-credits end.

It's supposed to be big dumb, pulpy and trashy, but Pacific Rim: Uprising manages to bestow a sense of tedium in the final round of proceedings, even though it's carried out its promise of robots vs monsters, thanks to a lack of emotional involvement.

Younger kids with parents will probably have a just-about-passable time at this - and that's to damn it with feint praise.

Boyega lends much credence and charisma to proceedings, and while daddy issues clearly appear to be the current crop of blockbusters' raison d'etre, (see Tomb Raider) the lack of emotional stakes is keenly felt as the script writers clearly desired their film to be about hitting a series of beats rather than deepening the engagement, widening the franchise and upending the scale.

At the end of the day, Pacific Rim: Uprising does what it says on the tin - and perhaps, just perhaps, we should be grateful said tin isn't a Hasbro branded one. Although, in truth, it isn't too far off it... 

Ready Player One: DVD Review

Ready Player One: DVD Review

It's perhaps no surprise that Steven Spielberg helmed the film version of the Ernest Cline book.

It's almost as if the director was given a toybox, chock-full of things from his own past and his cinematic loves, and told to make a family film that was a sugar rush of fun, nostalgia bingo and little else.

So it is then with the highly-anticipated Ready Player One, a film that's as superficial and hollow as one of the season's chocolate treats, but looks as shiny and welcoming.

In the year 2045, Tye Sheridan's Wade Watts lives in a VR world, as the real world is a none-too-welcoming place. Sectioned off in the Stacks, a series of vertical caravan park slums, the inhabitants spend their time in the Oasis, a VR-led world that's as much Second Life as Geek heaven.

Living off the "you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone" ethos to avoid the fact "reality is a bummer", Wade is chasing a series of keys laid down by the departed Oasis founder Halliday (Rylance, a nicely pivoted turn of fragility and meekness).

With the promise that anyone who finds these could take over the empire, everyone's out to get it - including Ben Mendelsohn's corporate bigwig baddie Sorrento...

Ready Player One is a candy-filled flick, pumped full of sugary nostalgia and geeky Easter Eggs.

Certainly, the Oasis is a hive of activity and creativity - and bizarrely the real world is devoid of any colour and texture.

The resultant mix means that emotional attachment is enforced and attempted by voiceover and exposition, and Spielberg's desire to get to the first set piece, a CGI race that takes on King Kong, means the emotional beats are completely off immediately.
At least Pixels had the good grace to try and throw some character development before going hell for leather with its gameboy sensibilities.

It's not a crippling blow to Ready Player One, but it does render the emotional attachment little more than a shallow and hollow experience, one that sacrifices good dynamics for broadstrokes blandness from its leads - and subsequently squanders Sheridan's previously demonstrated depth.

There's no denying the set pieces, thrown repeatedly at your face, revel in their nostalgia blanket, with hundreds of easter eggs and gamer nods hurtling toward you on the screen.

It's here that Spielberg's eye for spectacle and desire to entertain in a family friendly setting come to the fore. But the tonal mix doesn't quite work - it's never fully kiddy enough to hit the straps, and hardly adult enough to warrant justice to some of the material.

Certainly a tribute sequence to The Shining and the Overlook Hotel is a great touch - but also, there's an element of Scooby Doo there, where there should be genuine fear and perhaps horror.

In many ways, this is the petard which hoists Ready Player One and foists it into forgettable fare.

Along with cheesy dialogue, brush strokes characters and a lack of a real villain (despite Mendelsohn's best attempts), Ready Player One emerges as perhaps a victim of its own zig-zag route to its denouement.
While the CGI delivers a spectacle to rival Avatar and banish the ghosts of the Polar Express, the story's refusal to adhere to any kind of emotional beats reduces it to a mere pixelated outing of a film.

In terms of spectacle, it delivers what you'd expect; but with its cartoony as hell ethos, Ready Player One squanders the chance to embrace a degree of profundity, thanks to a desire to satiate a quick fix.

Not exactly Game Over, but Ready Player One may have needed a little more development work to ensure it was a film that would be a welcome nostalgia treat when rolled out annually on the small screen.
It engages but the involvement is only brief; it provides vicarious engagement in its virtual world, but saddles its real world with nothing more than a fleeting investment.

Surrender to those rhythms and you'll be happy - go in expecting more, and you'll feel like you're watching someone play a video game, rather than experience it firsthand. 

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Film Review

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Film Review

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer
Director: Peyton Reed

That Ant-Man and The Wasp manages to be a self-contained caper, much like the first outing three years ago, is both a credit and an albatross to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It's understandable that following the "heavier" material tackled in Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel would want to put something out which was a little more knockabout and which only very loosely fed in to the ongoing threads.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Film Review

However, the danger is that Ant-Man (and, by extension, The Wasp) is becoming the outlier of the franchise, a film series where the stakes never quite feel high enough, and the levity is almost derailing.

As a self-contained piece, the return of Paul Rudd's comedic chops as Scott Lang is semi-welcome, but there's a feeling early on the film is trying a little too hard to flex said muscles.

In the latest, Lang is still under house arrest following his escapades in Civil War - and consequently, Hank Pym (Douglas, in a beefed up supporting role) and his daughter Hope (Lilly, easily this film's MVP) are on the run from the authorities.

But when Lang experiences visions of the Quantum Realm and somehow connects with Pym's long-lost wife Janet (Pfeiffer, in an ethereal role), the two's worlds collide once again. With Hope desperate to see her mother, and Pym keen to reunite with his wife, they team up to try and break on through to the other side.

However, their plans are thrown into jeopardy when a new threat (with echoes of the Winter Soldier) emerges...

It's interesting that Ant-Man and The Wasp demotes its titular hero to almost a supporting role in his own film, with Rudd definitively sidelined by Lilly's new heroine taking the lead.

And it's a most welcome touch in this cautionary tale of the Father / Daughter relationships, that even ties in with elements of the "Freak of the Week" early vibe of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Lilly leads most of the action scenes with such undeniable chutzpah that not even the overuse of deliberate pop-culture references to the 90s can derail. (Ant-Man and The Wasp perversely holds off from mentioning any time line to avoid the Infinity War question throughout).

It's a move Marvel have been too slow making, and Lilly seizes every opportunity to shine, imbuing her Hope with the fragility that's needed and the inspirational leading heroine that's been sorely lacking in the MCU for way too long.

Equally, the film's commitment to beefing up Douglas' role and giving Pym stakes is welcome, even if it comes at the cost of Rudd's own involvement in proceedings. IT's rare for older actors to be given such beefy roles, and Douglas (and to a lesser extent, Pfeiffer) grab them with gusto.

If Ant-Man and The Wasp is guilty of anything, it's that its central self-contained plot is entangled in sci-fi bunkum (one character even remarks that they're just throwing Quantum in front of everything) and feels slighter than anything proffered up before.

Sure, Ant-Man and The Wasp is solid enough, popcorn fare, gleefully executed by all and with crisp action sequences, but its charm only goes skin deep to feeling you're invested in the stakes. (And, whisper it, parts of it feel like a repetition of the origin story of the first in terms of antagonists, some action sequences.) It's slight, knockabout cinema, that shrinks its hero to a supporting role, but does wonders for female representation in a franchise that's been woefully short of taking the lead.

Marvel need to handle Scott Lang carefully in future, because otherwise, they risk turning Ant-Man into the minute character of its namesake - and that genuinely would be a crying shame.

2K announces Carnival Games for Nintendo Switch

2K Announces Carnival Games®For Nintendo Switch™

Come one, come all! Whether you’re at home or on the go, Carnival Games® brings 20 exciting family friendly games to the Nintendo Switch for the first time on November 6, 2018 

Sydney, Australia – June 29, 2018 – 2K has announced Carnival Games®, the next entry in the popular franchise that has sold-in over 9.5 million units worldwide, is coming to Nintendo Switch™ for the first time on November 6, 2018.  Built from the ground up for Nintendo Switch, Carnival Games is fun forthe entire family and can be played alone or with up to four players simultaneously, leveraging the unique accessibility of the console’s Joy-Con controllers.  The game features 20 exciting and re-imagined games in four unique alleys that can be played at home or on the go, alone or with family and friends.

Like a real-life county fair, Carnival Games allows players of all ages and experience levels to enjoyclassic games like ring toss (“Post Master”) and alley ball horse racing (“Roll-R-Derby”), as well as brand new attractions like drone racing (“Light Speed”) and cosmic bowling (“Cosmic Strike”).  Four uniquely themed alleys – Jungle Lane, Saturn Station, Vulture Gulch and Nuts & Bolts – provide a different look and feel for the games within them.  Players have the chance to win tickets by playing any of the 20 games and redeem them for new games and outfits for their customizable carnival guest characters.

Carnival Games will be available on Nintendo Switch for $69.99 in Australia and $79.99 in New Zealand on November 6, 2018.  Developed by Mass Media Games, Carnival Games is rated G by the Australian Classification Board. For more information on Carnival Games, subscribe on YouTube, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and visit http://www.2K.com/carnivalgames.

2K is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

Overwatch: New Hero Wrecking Ball Now Live on PTR

New Hero Wrecking Ball Now Live on PTR

Be warned, heroes:

“Do not anger the hamster!”

Rolling into the fray with his newly upgraded battle mech, the champion of the Scrapyard—Wrecking Ball—our newest Tank hero, is ready to flatten foes and bulldoze frontlines on his way to victory!

Overview

Hammond, also known as “Specimen 8,” was genetically modified during his time on Horizon Lunar Colony and, like Winston, was granted increased size and intelligence as a result. He is a witty and conniving creature that loves to cause mischief. During the rebellion on Horizon, he secretly attached his escape pod to the back of Winston’s ship, hitching a ride to planet Earth to save himself from imminent destruction. He crash-landed in the Australian Outback near Junkertown, and over time upgraded his escape pod into a formidable mech, soon becoming a force to be reckoned with known as Wrecking Ball. He doesn’t speak any human languages, but his mech automatically translates his voice in a fittingly menacing tone.

Wrecking Ball brings a plethora of unique traits to the roster of tanks available in Overwatch. He can switch between a bipedal Combat mode with high-capacity machine guns and a Roll mode allowing him to cruise through maps and enemies alike with great speed. Entering the fray, his large health pool and shield-generating capabilities give him resilience when initiating and finishing battles. If that wasn’t scary enough, he can climb and swing on surfaces using his Grappling Claw and perform Piledrive, a devastating ground smash, to enemies below. In addition to setting up Piledrive, Wrecking Ball’s Grappling Claw enables him to reach top speed. Top speed increases his basic movement speed, damaging and knocking back foes in his path. His ultimate ability Minefield is just as versatile, allowing him to set a trap and control routes, or simply trigger a large area-of-effect explosion for enemies in the immediate vicinity.

Abilities

• Quad Cannons: Wrecking Ball fires machine guns
• Adaptive Shield: Grants Wrecking Ball a number of temporary shields based on the number of enemies nearby
• Roll: Wrecking Ball transforms into a sphere with increased speed
• Grappling Claw: While in Roll mode, Wrecking Ball can launch a short grappling hook to attach to surfaces, swing around, clear gaps, and move upwards. Using this ability allows Wrecking Ball to gain momentum , dealing damage and knocking back enemies upon impact
• Piledriver: Wrecking Ball slams down from the air, pulling enemies towards the center of impact and dealing damage
• Minefield (Ultimate): Wrecking Ball litters the ground around him with damage-dealing proximity mines

Wrecking Ball is now live in the PTR! To learn more, please visit: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/news/21901631

Wrecking Ball’s new Origin video can be found here:  https://youtu.be/ZwC1AYAa2H4