At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
Welcome to a new era of entertainment. Time to sit down, strap in, and battle other would-be opponents in the greatest orgy of sports and automotive gladiatorial combat in human history.
The most deranged vehicles! The most brutal weapons! The biggest crowds!
Run your own workshop, craft your own juggernauts of destruction, and track your own carnage-filled career. Live from the Maze Bank Arena, this is Arena War.
You signed up for glory, and it's showtime. Step into destruction derbies, rain fire from strategically placed artillery and wreak havoc from the Spectator Box with EMP Drones, self-destructing RC Cars and much, much more.
No mercy, no disqualification, no safe word. Utilizing a host of new weaponized Bikes, Cars and Trucks specifically engineered for maximum destruction, be the last contender standing in an all-out vehicular brawl under the dome of the Maze Bank Arena.
Two teams, two flags, one objective. The classic capture the flag formula — reworked Arena War style to include enough gasoline-chugging violence to appeal to a mainstream audience.
If you're any good at driving really fast and turning to the left, then you're off to a good start. Sure, it's theoretically possible to win a round of Wreck It by crossing the line first in a fair-and-square lap race. But that's never happened, because the competition, recently departed Spectators and an ever-evolving set of traps and obstacles are conspiring to reduce you to a smoldering heap of scrap metal. Like the old saying goes, if it's not a race to the death, you're just not taking it seriously enough.
Arena War isn't all about ruthless individualism. Sometimes there really is safety in numbers - and in Tag Team you're going to need it. Each team has one player in the arena at a time, and their only objective is to immolate the opposition. Teammates holed up in the Spectator Box have an array of weapons at their disposal to give their partner a destructive edge.
When it comes to brutal arena designs, you can install the most exquisitely hazardous death traps on the market, but there's just no substitute for the sheer ingenuity and sadism of a properly incentivized human being. One team collects checkpoints, the other uses every fiendish tool the Arena has to offer to make their plans go up in smoke. And be sure to hold onto your grudges: after every round, you switch places.
For centuries, gladiatorial fights to the death have brought unbridled joy to the masses. In Here Come the Monsters, one team takes to the arena in monster trucks capable of crushing metal and bone into the same bloody dust. The other guys get compact cars and a dose of anxiety meds - but if even one of them survives, they win. Let the games begin.
Life isn't about holding onto good things, it's about passing them on. Like inherited wealth, or a sense of entitlement. Or a high-explosive device. In Hot Bomb, one player has the bomb, and the only way to get rid of it is by crashing into someone else. Throw in a timer and a baying crowd, and survival of the fittest just got an upgrade.
If you're eliminated from a match, pull up a stool in the greatest spectator lounge ever devised: kick back and get a drink or play the Arena War Wheel to claim a variety of prizes (the only form of roulette that has “take control of a weaponized drone” as a possible outcome).
Step into the Arena this week to receive Double GTA$ & RP across the entire Arena War Series.
While the Arena War Series is open to anyone with a dream and a death wish, those that are serious about a career in automotive violence can invest in an Arena Workshop to begin customizing their own fleet of death machines.
After purchasing your Workshop from the new ArenaWar.tv website, an onsite mechanized warfare specialist can help you strip down and supe up an assortment of vehicles. From fitting steel-shredding Buzz Saws to pelvis-shattering Ram Bars, create a chariot fit for battle and lay waste to any unfortunate bastard foolish enough to get in your way.
Head to the Career Wall in the Arena Workshop office to keep track of your progress. In addition to cash & RP, every Arena event you complete awards Arena Points based on your performance. The more AP you earn, the more rewards you'll unlock such as discounts on specialty attire & Outfits, upgrades, modifications and more. You’ll also earn awards and trophies to adorn your trophy case as you progress through your career.
Head to the ArenaWar.tv website in game to browse listings for all 12 new Arena Contender Vehicles, each available in Future Shock, Apocalypse and Nightmare styles. Some are ready to go as soon as they’re delivered; some start life as humble road cars, with arena workshop upgrade options that’ll have them ready to burn in no time.
Introducing the Bravado Sasquatch, a Super Heavy-Weight Arena Contender vehicle. Compete and destroy in three styles: Apocalypse, Future Shock and Nightmare.
All GTA Online players who log in now through December 17th will receive the Annis & Bravado T-Shirts.
Step outside the Arena and benefit from up to 35% off the following:
Mk II Weapon Upgrades & Customization – 35% off
Luxury Finishes – 25% off
MG & Combat MG – 25% off
Snipers – 25% off
SMGs – 25% off
Shotguns – 25% off
Pistols – 25% off
Explosives & Throwables – 25% off
Body Armor – 25% off
For more information on all the latest GTA Online bonuses and coming Arena War events, head to the Social Club Events page.
The World of Ashen Comes to Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass
The World of Ashen Comes to Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass
The wait is over! The dark world of Ashen will finally see the light and launch on Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass on December 7… and what a journey it’s been to get here!
To celebrate the upcoming launch of Ashen, the ID@Xbox team recently visited our studios in Wellington, New Zealand to find out more about our open-world, action RPG that Xbox gamers around the globe will soon experience. We’re excited to share a snapshot of that visit here, and a preview of Ashen as we get ready to welcome players to a mystical world to discover, defend, and share with each other.
Thrown into a world of darkness, Ashen follows the story of a fantasy world with no light, that is suddenly reborn with an explosion of sunlight. It is your role to understand and protect this light, fighting the evil and darkness in stamina-based action combat, either independently or with the help of helpful strangers through passive multiplayer gameplay.
Your journey through Ashen will have twists, turns, and magical moments as you discover both the enemies of the light, and the strength of a community that creates amazing moments together. With passive multiplayer in Ashen, you’re only ever alone if you want to be – you’ll never die or battle alone, because you’ll have a helping hand next to you from others in the game…. if you need it.
But that’s not to say you won’t be challenged. Whilst accessibility has been key to our design, players who seek brutal boss fights and challenges will find a wealth of worthy battle sessions in the game.
Our virtual studio tour video above will give you a snapshot of our journey, our partnership with the ID@Xbox team, and the excitement we feel finally bringing this game to launch on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox One and enhanced for Xbox One X. While the game’s first preview at the 2015 Xbox E3 Briefing set us on the path to an exciting trajectory of development and new ambitions in the games design, what’s most exciting is finally getting the game into the hands of players.
We’re excited to welcome you as you join us in Ashen!
Overwatch League 2019 Regular Season Schedule Revealed; Tickets On-Sale Now!
Overwatch League 2019 Regular Season Schedule Revealed; Tickets On-Sale Now!
Hello,
Mark your calendars! The Overwatch League 2019 regular season kicks off on 15 Feb. 2019 AEDT/NZDT, with opening day featuring a marquee Grand Final rematch between reigning champions, London Spitfire, and runner-up, Philadelphia Fusion.
New to Overwatch League’s 2019 season is the introduction of Homestand Weekend events. Three teams – the Dallas Fuel, Atlanta Reign and Los Angeles Valiant – will host regular season matches in their respective territories, giving more fans their first taste of live professional Overwatch before all teams move into their home venues in the future. Tickets for Homestand Weekend events will be put on sale by the individual teams at a later date.
The 2019 season will also have a revamped playoff structure and end-of-season format. For the 2019 season, the league’s top six teams will automatically qualify for the postseason, with the Atlantic and Pacific Division winners receiving top seeds. Two final playoff spots will be decided via a play-in tournament in August. The tournament will feature teams that finished seventh through twelfth in the overall standings, with the top two teams from this tournament advancing to the postseason. This play-in tournament will replace the Stage Finals at the end of the league’s fourth and final stage.
The prize pool will be increasing from $3.5 million USD to $5 million USD in 2019. Details on prizing, and the map pool for Stage 1, are available now on OverwatchLeague.com. Specific dates, formats and other information for the All-Star event, playoffs and Grand Finals will be unveiled next year.
Tickets for regular season matches at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles are on-sale now at AXS.com/OWL. New this season are team-specific ticket packages that will allow fans to attend player signings and other promotions for each of the league’s 20 teams. Special ticket packages from the 2018 season, including season tickets and more, will continue for the 2019 season.
All matches will be broadcast on OverwatchLeague.com, Twitch, and MLG. Select matches will be broadcast in North America on the ESPN / ABC / Disney XD family of networks. The complete regular-season linear broadcast schedule will be announced shortly.
THE PRINCESS GUIDE BRINGS THE ART OF WAR TO PLAYSTATION®4 AND NINTENDO SWITCH™ IN APRIL 2019!
THE PRINCESS GUIDE BRINGS THE ART OF WAR TO
PLAYSTATION®4 AND NINTENDO SWITCH™ IN APRIL 2019!
NIS America is happy to announce that The Princess Guide arrives on Nintendo Switch™ and PlayStation®4 on 5 April for Australia and New Zealand.
About the game: In a land torn by chaos and war, a new evil rises. Now, four princesses from four different kingdoms must learn how to lead their people to victory. Commence the princess knight training regimen! As an experienced knight, you will choose a princess to become your apprentice. Teach her the art of war, and push back the evil that threatens to take over the land! With your choices directly impacting the way your princess knight fights, The Princess Guide gives military training a whole new meaning!
Key Features:
A Unique Tale Times Four! - Each princess knight has a unique story to tell, and your choice affects how the tale unfolds! Will you train the vengeful Veronica, the gluttonous Liliartie, the chivalrous Monomaria, or the dragon princess Alpana?
Fast-Paced Strategic Battles - The battlefield can get intense! Issue orders to your princess directly on the battlefield, and watch them clash with the enemy forces! Their performance is directly affected by your tutelage!
To Praise or To Scold? - Your princess’s growth depends on you! During conversations and battles, “Praise” or “Scold” your princess to enhance their abilities on the battlefield!
Look out for more information on The Princess Guide shortly!
Cast: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye
Director: John McPhail
Christmas films are a notoriously tricky beast to negotiate; either they are a syrupy sentimental mix or they're loosely connected to the season and a miss.
So it's heartening to report that Anna and The Apocalypse is a mix of horror, High School Musical, Shaun of the Dead and Christmas edges.
A well cast, and down-to-earth Hunt is Anna, a teenager looking to get out of the small Scottish town she lives in. With a plan to take a gap year rather than go to university, but unable to tell her father (Benton) that that's what she wants, Anna's trapped.
But she finds her world changed when a pandemic suddenly sweeps her corner of Scotland...
In truth, Anna and The Apocalypse is more a fun that's a light and fluffy genre rejoinder to both horror and the musical. Meshing poppy power ballad songs that follow the usual trick of revealing feelings, some impressive choreography and throwing in pop culture references early on, the film's clearly hellbent on being a Buffy-style musical via John Hughes' sensibilities.
However, it kind of works, with a degree of joie de vivre and Edgar Wright quick cut editing homage carrying it through.
It helps greatly that Hunt's engaging and affable, as she negotiates a moping best friend who's in love with her, an ex who's gone from nice guy to bully and a father who doesn't want to see his daughter go. There's a heart and relatability to her performance that's hard to deny.
Occasionally, it lapses close to parody, and silliness, but in terms of the festive season, it sits nicely within the pantheon of Christmas films that are slightly awry from what's expected.
Its goofy edges and self-obsessed teens, wrapped up in their own issues, rather than the global concerns collide nicely to make a charming film that meshes genres to pleasing and surprisingly emotional effect.
Cast: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth
Director: Rob Marshall
How do you solve a problem like Mary Poppins 2?
With the longest gap between sequels ever recorded in cinema history, it seems like the return of the English nanny that so delighted so many decades ago was always bound to be divisive.
So it is with Mary Poppins Returns, a film that is both respectful of its nostalgia and yet also seems to be bound up by it, unsure of its own path to follow.
Set in the Great slump, London is facing a post-war depression with the inhabitants of Cherry Tree Lane in the firing line of the Depression. Newly widowed Michael (Whishaw, in mournful elegaic mode) and sister Jane (Mortimer, perky, but under-used) face losing the family home due to lack of mortgage payments.
With 5 days to find a shares certificate which will give them fiscal freedom, the Banks children and their own children are more in need now of a visit from Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins....
There's a sense of loss pervading lots of Poppins 2; and there's a lot of juggling needed for the tone of the Depression and balancing it with the edges of an old school Hollywood musical. It doesn't always quite work, in all honesty, and the film's blighted with the fact it's barely blessed with some truly memorable songs in the vein of Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee et al.
There's one central song that does soar - even if it has Lin-Manuel Miranda's Jack and his lamplighter brigade firing around on bikes like an outtake of a BMX festival - and that's Trip a Little Light Fantastic With Me. This one mixes both the terrible Cockney accent along with a memorable chorus, to produce an ode that gathers speed and is brilliantly translated to the screen.
Blunt's Poppins is a nicely starched character, with moments of eye-twinkling mixed with some sad mournful looks as she realises how far the children have fallen - and how much the London depression has hit.
In many ways, it's easy to see Mary Poppins Returns as a rejoinder to current political climates (the celebration of London, the demonising of the banks, the Depression) within the UK, but the timelessness of the first is what is, at times, missing from this, even if there is a sweet sense of escapism on offer this time around.
Yet, there is magic within Mary Poppins Returns, as it tries to rekindle an "excess of imagination" in both its subjects and the cinema audiences, who are becoming more enamoured with musicals (La La Land, The Greatest Showman).
"She never explains anything," says Miranda's Lamplighter Jack, a dismissive oneliner which says much about Poppins' appeal and the nonsensical edges of the flights of fantasy within. It's a meta line if ever there was one, and one which applies to Mary Poppins Returns - it may hit a younger audience, but an older audience, brought up in the memories of the first replayed through the years, may find it lacks a killer hook to keep you whistling along afterwards.
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Kidman
Director: Jason Wan
The litany of DC movies is scattered with almost-rans.
For every Marvel success, there’s been a thudding DC failure, a reminder that tone and story still triumph in the comic book medium.
So it’s pleasing to reveal that Aquaman goes some way to addressing prior failures, by telling a story early on that packs heart and heft, before the usual rote destructive CGI chaos steps in to clean up in the final act.
At its heart, in terms of plot, Aquaman is DC’s take on the political in-fighting last seen in Marvel's Black Panther.
Momoa is Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, a half-human, half Atlantian, who's keeping the seas safe from the likes of marauding pirates, when he finds himself hauled into a political coup after red-haired Mera (Heard) emerges from the waters of his long-lost home world.
Warning him that the war that's unfolding at the hands of King Orm (Wilson) will affect his beloved surface dwellers, Aquaman's thrown into a battle over the rights to the underwater throne and a birth right he doesn't potentially want...
Aquaman offers a Tron-like spectacle with an underwater world that's vibrant with life and teeming with visual creativity and depth. Atlantis looks like it's a lived in world, a world that breathes as it floats below, and as various sea creatures float by, with CGI in overdrive to showcase its very best.
Sadly, the same can't exactly be said about the more human elements of the film which are overwhelmed by the script's over-stuffed nature.
Momoa treads a thin line between knowing cheesy dialogue and performing endless action sequences while revelling in the OTT nature; but he has the charisma for Curry (and performs enough hair flips through water to look like he's advertising premium shampoo), and lends Aquaman the kind of reverence - and occasionally irreverence - the DC material affords him.
The problem is some of what is populated around him.
With one-note characters like Mera offering mainly exposition (and a clumsy attempt at romance that should have been drastically re-worked at the script level before being committed to screen) and Orm proffering petulance and discord, the film's tonal shifts are seismic in their execution and occasionally jarring as it swims between cornball and seriousness.
Meshing the myth of Excalibur, Karate Kid training, Splash's inter-species love story with a pro-environmental message, and the politics of power and squabbling brothers that we've seen in Thor and Black Panther, Aquaman never really lays any claim to originality - nor would it expect to with some of its utter po-faced dialogue and frankly creepy digital de-ageing of stars like Morrison and Dafoe.
What Aquaman does deliver is spectacle, and radically changes the game for what's to be expected of DC films - it still has the pomposity of the dialogue of Batman Vs Superman and ends up in an utterly messy CGI fight as its denoumenent, but those troubles are inherent to all comic book films, not just the long derided DC Universe.
There's a lack of emotional investment in Aquaman's central character, but there's plenty on show early on in Morrison's heartfelt turn (some of his best work yet) and pre-credits love story with Kidman's Queen of the sea. It's a welcome touch, before the continual shock and awe of the action overwhelms everything and builds to a deafening crescendo.
In terms of cache, there is no denying this is a major step up.
But Aquaman's over-reliance on CGI spectacle, bombast and underwhelming quest a-to-b type story, coupled with a lack of depth on its hero and his glistening abs, means that Aquaman is more a film that delivers on its outlandish promise, rather than holding back a little and running with what sticks to the wall.
It's clear early on that Shane Black's Predator film is not going to be a serious one.
Despite opening with some sci-fi trappings as a Predator-piloted spacecraft plummets down to earth, within minutes, we're back in Black's trademark comedy way of life. A satellite is smashed as the Predator's ship tumbles to the ground, and this brash, in-your-face opening is really all the 2018 Predator is about.
After being picked off by Boyd Holbrook's sniper Quinn McKenna, the Predator's gear is shipped off to his autistic son (Tremblay) for safe-keeping and to protect Quinn from the authorities. But as the scientists pick at the Predator, he re-awakens, bringing a desperate fight for survival to life.
It's hard to exactly pinpoint why The Predator doesn't quite fully work.
Perhaps it's the abandoning until the end of why the films have worked previously - ie man vs something bigger than itself and slowly losing; perhaps it's the injection of comedy that tips over into the downright unfunny and unnecessary - step forward, a soldier with Tourette's for nothing more than gags or a line about a "retarded" kid that's woefully out of place with 2018 - or perhaps it's the fact that the film lacks any defining set pieces or visual moments of flair.
But all combined, The Predator is perhaps the biggest disappointment of the year when all its parts come together.
Kudos must go to Olivia Munn whose scientist kicks as much ass as the boys, and whose support is more about her skills than anything else; and even Holbrook manages a sort of soldier grunt edge that's hard to beat, even if the human edge is lacking.
There's a climate change message thrown in as well, as Black tries to re-start the franchise with some cunning ideas and reasons why the Predators have been coming here for years, but the threads are so weakly constructed that pulled narratively tighter they simply unravel and make you bemoan the fact more could be on the way.
In the jungle's final sequence, Black reminds us why The Predator has worked, with some smartly and tautly executed kills which fill the quota. It's easy to see why he went for a band of misfits taking on the bad guy, as it's suited to his writing style, but mostly, thanks to misplaced comedy that's out of step with the zeitgeist, this flags badly when it should zag wildly.
If this was an attempt at a reboot of the film, the seventh in the series, and one that was meant to evoke the 80s trappings of the originals, Black has failed The Predator miserably. If it was an attempt to produce something scrappy, something unenticing that lacks a warmth and empathy for its characters, then it's succeeded wildly.
Either way, the set up for the sequels feels like a missed moment, a killer film without a killer edge and a film that in parts leaves a distinctly unsavoury taste in your mouth.
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun, Patton Oswalt, David Cross
Director: Boots Riley
Possibly this year's most biting satire, Sorry To Bother You's ramshackle approach to its story wields unlikely dividends for an audience looking for more beneath the surface.
Get Out's Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a down on his luck unemployed man searching for work.
Conning his way into a telemarketing job, sakjfdsfds learns that there's money to be had by putting on a white man's voice and selling. So against the odds, and desperate to get out of living in his garage
with his supportive girlfriend Detroit (Thompson, on fire form), Green takes the advice on board - and it works.
Swiftly rising in the corporate world, Cassius finds his life at odds due to his former telemarketer colleagues protesting conditions. But there's much more going on at the mysterious company than Green realises...
There's a lot to digest in Sorry To Bother You, a savage indictment of the underclasses in America and also building on the work done by last year's Get Out.
Boots Riley's frankly indefinable film offers many joys in many ways, and will reward a second viewing with more finer details to be picked up. Suffice to say that Stanfield anchors it with a great deal of heart and innate likeability as the gonzo approach to the film veers into both creative and lunatic territory with veritable aplomb.
There's something of a Twilight Zone here, and an alternate universe as tsadjdsakdsak's world descends into a place of utter disbelief - be it the reality of what's going on where he works, or the commentary on the dumbing down of TV and the reality TV craze that continues unabated.
But Riley's smart enough to pepper these elements throughout, causing viewers to find much for discussion once the lights have gone and once the unease over what's happened has cleared.
Ultimately, Sorry To Bother You may be 2018's most unconformist and subversive ride, but it's also one of 2018's most compelling too - just don't be surprised if the final feeling is one of sickening nausea as you begin to accept reality's coming as close to anything insane produced within.
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Dylan O'Brien, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr
Director: Travis Knight
Essentially an origin story for everyone's favourite Transformer, the clumsy Bumblebee, Kubo and The Two Strings director Travis Knight's relatively stripped back approach to the noise and bombast of the Transformers series actually pays charming dividends.
Set in 1987, with Cybertron fallen, Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to Earth to set up a base for the Autobots to stop the Decepticons. But when Bumblebee loses his memory, he finds himself in a town near San Francisco and stuck in a VW form. Stumbling across Bumblebee is Charlie (Steinfeld), a on-the-cusp of eighteen outsider, who's struggling after losing her dad.
These two form a friendship, but the Decepticons are soon hot on their tail, intent on wiping out the Autobots for good....
It's easy to be cynical about Bumblebee, a film that really doesn't need to be made.
Starting with the fall of Cybertron, and then grounding Bee on Earth and saddling him with an 80s setting, complete with the tropes of an eighties alien invasion film, it's easy to dismiss Travis Knight's intentions as puerile for a franchise that's largely until now, been clothed in sturm and drang.
Yet, there's something pleasingly earnest and charming about Bumblebee, a film that embraces its innocence and gives it a kind of Spielbergian 80s family vibe throughout, and meshes it with the Herbie overtones.
Sure, there are one too many triggers here and there from the overuse of 80s music, to the shoehorning in of references, but the clearly ET influenced plot works nicely as this earnestly acted, occasionally underwritten and oddly cliched here and there buddy movie progresses along.
Smartly settling on less Transformers and subsequent clutter and feeling like an episode of the 80s TV cartoon delivers a stripped back approach for Bumblebee; one which feels like a pleasant ride in many ways, as it juggles the comedy (largely from Cena's gung ho military jock) to the heartfelt relationship between the two. Equally, the actual transforming action benefits from a crisp clarity of vision and not so much overkill - and there's much to love from the expressive CGI eye work too.
All in all, Bumblebee is a film that benefits from being about a Transformer, not about the Transformers - it's an important distinction, and while it won't win any creativity awards, the decision to make a film in this franchise breathe a little more is a more than welcome change of robot pace.
Placing the psycho among the psychotropic, Panos Cosmatos' Mandy is a curious beast, likely to satiate an Incredibly Strange audience, but unlikely to burst out of its cult bubble.
Starting with Nic Cage in full lumberjack mode felling a tree (not a euphemism), Cosmatos's under siege piece takes its 80s vibe and fully runs with it.
Cage is Red, who lives with Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) in a remote cabin. Their dream existence is granted a rude awakening when the Children of the New Dawn pass Mandy on a path one day, determining that she should be with them.
Their leader (Linus Roach, in full messianic mode) orders his followers to steal her away - needless to say Red ain't having that.
It's a case of 80s style over substance with Mandy, which is no bad thing if that's what you're looking for. Drenched in a Johann Johannsson score, the film's atmospherics hit every level they're intending to, but it's a case of genre style ahead of anything else in effect here.
Cosmatos makes his piece a masterclass in lighting, soaking many scenes in red and backlighting the fight scenes with spotlights - it's a visual lunacy that's worth embracing.
Mandy may drag a little in parts, a fever dream that's extended beyond need, but Cage's fans will be happy to see their hero, in his tighty-whiteys, doing what he does best - chewing up the scenery (and doing a large amount of cocaine at the end of one scene).
Mandy fulfills its exploitation vibe well, but beyond the deaths and gore it proffers up, it offers little more.
As much a blaxploitation piece cum shaggy dog story as a "Is that really true?" story, BlacKkKlansman is as exaggerated a story piece as it is unsubtle.
Director Spike Lee shines in large swathes of the film, but the final 4 minutes, which chooses to insert real life Charlottesville footage into proceedings, shows how cancerous the insertion of real-life footage is proving to be in dramas and documentaries.
BlacKkKlansman is the story of a rookie Colorado Springs cop, Ron Stallworth (Washington, in a mesmerising and yet grounded turn) who in the 1970s wanted to join the police force. After being subjected to a rather degrading interview, Stallworth finds himself working the evidence room, but pushes his bosses to join other divisions.
That's granted and he's sent undercover to a Black Power meeting on a surveillance job. It's here that he meets Laura Harrier's Patrice and finds himself going deeper into the movement than he expected as he wrestles with the idea that he can change their world outlook from within.
However, things get spookier for Stallworth when jokingly one day he decides to call the Ku Klux Klan and gets co-opted in. But, he can't attend meetings so he sends Detective Flip Zimmerman as his body double (Driver, in a suitably stoic turn) - but things get more complicated the longer the ruse goes on...
"Dis joint based on some real fo'sure shit" is Lee's opening gambit - and once past the use of Gone With The Wind and Alec Baldwin's weirdly out of place ranting, BlacKkKlansman becomes a film that feels like Superfly got mixed in with the DNA of a buddy cop movie and a undercover cop falling in love film that you've seen a million times before.
However, that's also where Lee's ability to subvert your expectations works best - he shuns the cliched and presents a film that crackles with contemporary commentary (Make America Great, America would never elect someone like that are lines mentioned a few times in throwaway lines) and seethes with indignation when it should.
Which is why it's a shame that later in proceedings, this black humour film where no one is really laughing drops the ball in favour of less subtle forms of visual protest. A sequence involving Harry Belafonte recounting a real life racist situation as he addresses Black Power activists and the aforementioned Charlottesville footage feel like a hammer being used to crack a nut.
Perhaps there's an argument stating that desperate times resort to desperate measures, but it's infinitely irritating to see a master craftsman like Lee stepping back from letting his work do the talking.
It's the only thing which derails Lee's BlacKkKlansman - perhaps if he'd been reined in a little, the glorious dialogue, utterly ludicrous reality and the subtleties would have been more powerful; instead, the over-egging leaves a bad taste in your mouth, a feeling that Lee's vitriol has got the better of his creative edges.
Washington is mightily impressive, imbuing Stallworth with both heart, indignation and naivete; equally Driver's turn shows why his dependable performances are becoming the most important assets he brings to films he's in.
Sure, there are shocks throughout, and rightly so, but Lee never presents the KKK as anything other than inept, crippled by their bigotry and sidelined by their stupidity of belief.
Ultimately, for the most part, BlacKkKlansman is a film that ripples with unease, humour and gallows jokes in a mix that proves potent. It's just a shame that the hammer - nut approach employed at the end makes you feel like it's less Fight The Power, more Shout the Power down and then keep doing so.
UBISOFT BRINGS A SPECTACULAR POST-APOCALYPTIC SETTING TO FAR CRY UNVEILING FAR CRY® NEW DAWN
UBISOFT BRINGS A SPECTACULAR POST-APOCALYPTIC SETTING TO FAR CRY UNVEILING FAR CRY® NEW DAWN
Sydney, Australia — December 7, 2018 — Today at The Game Awards, Ubisoft unveiled Far Cry® New Dawn, the newest installment of the award-winning Far Cry franchise. Set in a breathtaking post-apocalyptic world, Far Cry New Dawn will release on February 15, 2019 for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and Windows PC. Players can pre-order Far Cry New Dawn now for $69.95 AUD.
To watch the announcement trailer please click image below
Set seventeen years after a global nuclear catastrophe, Far Cry New Dawn brings players into a wildly beautiful and radically transformed Hope County, Montana. Life has begun to emerge from the chaos, but the survivors now face a new threat – the merciless Highwaymen and their leaders The Twins, Mickey and Lou. Raised in a lawless frontier, the twin sisters and their band of scavengers live only for today and have descended upon Hope County to take all available resources. To push back this devastating threat, players must help the Survivors grow stronger, craft a makeshift arsenal and form unexpected alliances to fight for survival in a dangerous new frontier.
At the Homebase, players will prepare to face off against the threat of the Highwaymen. The Homebase, called Prosperity, is the stronghold of the Survivors. Here, players can craft makeshift weapons and vehicles and train their Guns for Hire – including new and familiar faces. As players progress, they can upgrade the Homebase for more powerful weapons and gear. The Homebase is also a launch-pad to Expeditions, where for the first time in Far Cry, the adventure is more than local. Set in memorable locations across the US, from wetlands to canyons and more, Expeditions drop players into unique locations where they must grab a package of valuable materials and get out, quickly.
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal with support from Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Kiev and Ubisoft Bucharest, Far Cry New Dawn is a first-person shooter set in a completely open world. The standalone sequel to Far Cry® 5, Far Cry New Dawn thrusts players into a brilliant post-apocalyptic setting where they will encounter a dual threat – The Twins, Mickey and Lou. Players can recruit an eclectic cast of Guns and Fangs for Hire, or a Friend for Hire for co-op play, to experience unpredictable, unforgettable Far Cry Moments where anything can happen.
