Spyro Reignited Trilogy: PS4 Review

Spyro Reignited Trilogy: PS4 Review

Released by Activision
Platform: PS4

Everything old is new again.

What with the
release of the PlayStation Classic console, Crash Bandicoot, remasters of the likes of Tetris and WipeOut, PlayStation's gone back to the late 90s in a wave of nostalgia.

Unsurprisingly joining this party is Toys For Bob's rehash of the three Spyro The Dragon games.

For those unfamiliar with the purple dragon, The Reignited Trilogy brings together Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! and Spyro: Year of the Dragon; all of which were originally developed by Insomniac Games, with music from The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

And it's pertinent to note that your nostalgia's not been messed with either, with level layouts and item locations the same as they were in the first games some two decades ago.

But what Toys for Bob has done is given the whole thing a spit and polish.

Spyro feels more formed and kind of cutesy than he did originally, his purple skin given a fleshy feel and a lick of paint which is both fluid and eye-catching. The camera motion issues which irritated in the originals still lingers though, making portions of the jumping and reaching higher up difficult to negotiate.

At its heart, this is a nostalgia raid on your heart - and in all honesty, the platforming is fairly simple with the cutesy edges you need to feel like you're pulling on an old jumper locked away in the back of the cupboard for years and only recently rediscovered.

If you're not a fan of the originals or have never even played them, there's still much to adore here. Simply put, The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is solely about platfom gaming, and given the simplicity with which it's executed here, it's endlessly playable whether you're new to it or not.

A few minor niggles with the camera aside, Toys for Bob has turned The Spyro Reignited Trilogy into a nice cosy remaster - it shines when it should in its HD coat, and also reminds you of why the games from 20 years ago still work - they're about playability, not sophistication and show that inclusivity comes in all forms and doesn't need you to work at it to enjoy.

Win a Bumblebee prize pack

Win a Bumblebee prize pack

To celebrate the release of Bumblebee, in cinemas from December 12, you can win a prize pack.

Included in this pack is a double pass and also a keychain.

About Bumblebee

On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town.
Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

BUMBLEBEE is produced by “TRANSFORMERS” franchise veterans Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Michael Bay, along with executive producers Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. Chris Brigham (“ARGO,” “INCEPTION”) will also executive produce.

The screenplay is written by Christina Hodson (“UNFORGETTABLE”).

Directed by Travis Knight (“KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS,” “CORALINE”), the film stars Hailee Steinfeld, Pamela Adlon, John Cena, Stephen Schneider, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

New Captain Marvel trailer

New Captain Marvel trailer

A New Captain Marvel trailer has arrived.


In the trailer, which features an old lady who can also kick butt, Larson’s Captain Marvel begins to question her history after she start remembering her previous life on Earth — before she became part-Kree and a superhero. The trailer also features Samuel L. Jackson, looking much younger, and gives audiences a look at Jude Law as Mar-Vell.

Larson is starring opposite Jackson, Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening and Clark Gregg.

“Captain Marvel” is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck from a script by “Inside Out” scribe Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman. The project is based on the Marvel character Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. She becomes Captain Marvel after she gains the superpowers of strength, energy projection and flight. “Captain Marvel” is set in 1995.

Larson was announced as the character during San Diego Comic-Con in 2016. Details of the plot have been kept under wraps. Disney plans to release the movie on March 8, 2019.

“Captain Marvel” will be 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle: Film Review

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle: Film Review

Vocal cast: Rohan Chand, Christian Bale, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander
Director: Andy Serkis

The latest take on the Kipling story takes a decidedly mixed tone as it moves from being a cinema release to getting its premiere on Netflix.

Director Andy Serkis and a CGI Family of animals re-tell the Jungle Book with a darker edge in this re-imagining of the tale of the man-cub Mowgli.

With an all-star cast taking on the voice duties, Serkis' tale mixes in both a stance on the environmental damage made by human intervention and a story of a coming-of-age of the man-cub Mowgli (played with reasonable aplomb by Chand).

When Mowgli's brought into the tribe after Benedict Cumberbatch's sneering Shere Khan kills his family, it creates divisions for Peter Mullan's Akeela and crew, who veer between embracing him as their own while being fearful of how he may divide their world.

But when humans edge closer into the jungle, and Khan kills some of their own, battle lines are drawn, as inexorable schisms open.

There are moments early on when some of the CGI creaks and looks a bit off in Mowgli; combined with the slight human face look to the animals, the whole thing looks a little like Babe takes on the jungle, obviously mirroring the classic Disney looks but sitting at odds with the darker edges presented within.

It's clearly a family film, but never quite settles on a tone, even as it dispatches messages of standing up to bullies and its comedy cockney tones delivered by Serkis as Baloo.

And yet, this coming of age tale, with some contemporary darker themes and edges, and with some hints of environmentalism, works in the back third after initially skewing younger.

At times, it almost seems afraid to embrace some of the darker edges, and not fully embrace the spirituality within. There are wonderful scenes when Mowgli is taught about fixing a kill dead on its eyes to accompany the soul when it departs, which hint at a depth and emotional edge that feels under-explored.

But while the final third exposes the darkness, it feels slightly bereft of the weight needed to get it over the line, and remarkably it also feels hurried in its conclusion.

Ultimately, Mowgli is a film that knows what it wants to do in terms of re-telling the tale. It doesn't always quite hit those highs that it's aiming for, but it's a fascinating attempt at re-pitching The Jungle Book - which could have been a touch more successful had the tone been set on earlier on, and the course remained true.

PlayStation Classic Review

PlayStation Classic Review

PlayStation Classic: Console Review

Released by Sony
Platform: PlayStation One

It's nigh on twenty years that PlayStation's been a part of our gaming lives.

So it is that as the talk of the PlayStation 5 grows ever louder, Sony have decided to unleash a small console rather than going big (for now).

The first thing you notice about The PlayStation Classic is how light the actual console is. At just 170g (with a controller weighing 140g), the thing feels lighter and more portable than a phone, and perhaps, were it not for the fact you'd need the bulkier controller and the HDMI cable, you could cart it around to your mates for some fun and games.

Well, I say fun, but the reality of the PlayStation Classic is no matter which way you cut it, the game choices are puzzling at best, disappointing in some ways at worst. Rights issues or licences, whatever it is, gamers won't care too much about that - they'll simply want the genre-defining nostalgia fix they got when they were young and more easily pleased with the likes of pixel heavy Tomb Raider, speedy WipeOut and the harshness of Crash Bandicoot.

Connecting up the handsize console is easy as; its primary puzzle is why it doesn't come with a plug though, with the console needing you to use a phone charger to power it up via a USB. HDMI goes into the back of your viewing port, and the old school controller connects in the usual manner at the front. So far, so satisfactory.

Firing up the console, it's easy to get a goosebumps moment as you remember the simplicity of the execution and the sounds. And from there, it's into a carousel of the 20 titles for the 20 years PlayStation has been going.

It's fair to say they are a mixed bag - and will be a disappointment, as mentioned, to those who'd be looking at the system to provide the likes of Crash, Spyro and even WipeOut - all of these titles have recently had remasters, but if you're releasing a retro system aimed at provoking nostalgia, you can't really overlook the titles which defined a console.

Some of it makes up for the loss - there's the original Grand Theft Auto, with its pixelated violence still in tact,  there's Final Fantasy VII, Ridge Racer Type 4, Resident Evil and the ever-wonderful Abe's Oddyssee.

Like any decent emulator, the PlayStation Classic makes some of them look good, and some of them look bad - playing Cool Boarders 2, the game still goes blocky and suffers from bad controls as it did on release; and frankly, it's not the case that it would be wanted any other way.

Navigation is simple enough, but you need to press the reset button every time you want to go back to the menu - not exactly a massive burden, but really a sign that Sony was so headstrong in keeping this console as it was that it's almost stubborn in its execution of it. But it's such a little thing of beauty in terms of its physical representation, that it's almost hard to stay mad at the choices the designers have made for it - and one suspects, licences would have been the biggest hurdle to getting some of the games you'd want for it.

All in all, as a blast of nostalgia, the PlayStation Classic does what it says on the box, but ever so slightly fumbles the Classic part when it comes to the games.

It's a beautifully executed piece of design that's hand-sized and has as much heart as the brand does.

And while the lack of a plug is puzzling, the fact there are two controllers means it's immediately set up for play and go is great for socialising with some mates.

There's just an irony that for a games console,  some of the game choices that shaped a generation aren't present in the PlayStation's wonderfully detailed mini nostalgia burst.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Film Review

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Film Review

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant, Jane Curtin
Director: Marielle Heller

Lee Israel won't be a name familiar to many.

But thanks to an exceptional turn from a downbeat Melissa McCarthy, a few more people will be aware of what the literary faker did.

A failing writer facing extremely hard times and needled by Tom Clancy's success, Israel's unable to sell her agent (a tart Curtin) any ideas, but hits on an apparent goldmine when she discovers a letter from a subject she's researching.

Trying to sell it, but upon being told she can get more for more personal letters, Israel hatches a plot from desperation and begins faking literary letters. Enjoying the spoils of her lucrative market, and finding her voice for the first time in years, Israel ends up enlisting Jack Hock (Grant, in flamboyant mode) to help with her scam.

However, the authorities are edging closer to being onto her game.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a great reminder that McCarthy can do more than simply broad comedy; in this one, there are signs of repressed anger and frustration that she channels well by underplaying, rather than her usual modus operandi of broad comedy laughs and easy hits.

As a result, Israel is a deeply empathetic character, even though what she's doing is so obviously criminal; along with Nicole Holofcener's script, which gives scenes the zing they need, lots of Can You Ever Forgive Me? works well.

Grant's never been better - imbuing his rascally coke-dealing flamboyant with flourishes that mean every single scene he's in is a joy to behold; and he spars well with McCarthy.

But this is McCarthy's film without a shadow of a doubt; her quietly frustrated take on it all lends the film an edge of engagement and a warmth to undercut the prickliness that lies within. There's an outsider vibe to both Lee and Hock, but rather than make them victims, the actors and script embed them in proceedings and give them a life beyond the text.

There's a delicious irony that McCarthy brings her best work to someone channelling someone else, but Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a surprising film that enchants, amuses and engages - it's some of McCarthy's best work yet.

Win a copy of The Incredibles 2

Win a copy of The Incredibles 2

To celebrate the release of The Incredibles 2 on DVD and Blu Ray, you can win a copy.


About The Incredibles 2

Featuring an all-new mini-movie starring Edna Mode, alternate scenes, never-before-revealed details about the making of the film, featurettes highlighting Pixar’s genius artists, and much, much more

It’s not a stretch to say audiences have missed their favorite family of Supers over the past 14 years. Disney•Pixar’s “Incredibles 2,” the sequel to 2004’s beloved Oscar®-winning “The Incredibles,” received a mega-strong reaction from critics and audiences — earning a 93 percent critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, rocketing atop the list of highest-grossing animated films, and surpassing $1 billion at the global box office. Fans can reunite with this incredible family of Supers on 4K Ultra HD,™ Blu-ray ™ and DVD on Nov. 28.

Blu-ray™ Bonus Materials Include:

• All-New “Auntie Edna” Mini-Movie

- When Bob Parr visits super-suit designer Edna Mode looking for help with his high-energy toddler Jack-Jack, Edna pulls an all-nighter designing a suit to harness the baby’s seemingly limitless powers.

• 10 Deleted Scenes With Introductions

– Suburban Escape,  Kari Revisited, Return of the Supers, Chewed Out, Late Audition, Slow Day, Frozone and Honey, Restaurant Robbery, Fashion Show and Security Breakdown.

• Super Stuff

- From buildings and vehicles to costumes and props, every action movie requires a lot of really cool stuff. Meet the makers and learn what it takes to design and build such a uniquely incredible world.

• Heroes & Villains

– A collection of mini-docs about the backstory and major design ideas behind the “Incredibles 2” characters — featuring voice actors, director Brad Bird, and Pixar artists talking about the many elements that make these characters feel real.