Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot: PS4 Review

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Bandai Namco
Developed by Cyber Connect 2

There are already a plethora of Dragonball Z games - so whether you're a fan or not, it's more than likely that you will have heard of them, but if you're a non-fan, you may have ignored through fear of not knowing what you were letting yourself in for.

With that in mind, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has shown up on the scene as a mix of RPG and fighting game to take the uninitiated through the Dragon Ball lore and to provide the fan with a game of nostalgia and challenges.

There are free-roaming moments as well as cutscenes, and while the length of some of the cutscenes may prove a trial, it certainly gives you the background you'd be needing for the game's rich anime history.

What's good about this though, is the chance for you to play at your own pace, to do whatever you want, rather than to feel the need to rush through to achieve a story goal, or an aim to do before moving on. For fans, that will be a bonus to discover Easter eggs, or the joy of moments from within the series; for others, it's just about accessible enough to seem worthwhile.

Granted, there's an element of button mashing in the combat, but with adaptive enemies, you do have to vary your game to get through, as well as nurturing some of your skill tree elements before applying them - it's a game that slowly rewards those willing to put time into learning.

Ultimately, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot offers a nice portal in for non-fans, and a nostalgia-fuelled ride for fans of the anime. Whether that's enough to convince you to take on the story of Goku, his saga and his friendships remains to be seen. 

Midway: Film Review

Midway: Film Review

Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Aaron Eckhart, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Nick Jonas, Luke Evans
Director: Roland Emmerich

One-note, thin characters and some dialogue that's purely about gung-ho jingoism rather than deep insight, B-movie Midway is exactly the kind of film you'd expect from disaster movie director Roland Emmerich.

Based on a true story and a sequel of sorts to Pearl Harbour, Midway is the story of what happened next as the Americans scrambled to prevent another attack from the Japanese after December 7, 1941.

In the wake of the attack, a group of fly-boys, led by Ed Skrein's Dick Best scramble to take to the skies, while Patrick Wilson's intelligence team tries to work out where the next attack could come from.

Midway has potential - Emmerich certainly knows how to effectively present disaster on screen, with his Pearl Harbour attack channeling some of his Independence Day roots with ease.

But the script sends the Japanese to one-note villains, dressed in black and huddling to contemplate their next move (it's alarming the Chinese have backed this film so heavily) and it elevates the Americans to do gooders with whiter-than-white intentions. It could be hagiography, if it were deeper and more insightful in its character realisation.

However, as it stands, what Midway becomes after an interesting opening, is simply a series of attack scenes, which jump around the different viewpoints from within the American world. Much like levels of a video game, Midway doesn't have time to go deeper than the surface to get to its action.

CGI and jeopardy mix hand in hand, and granted Midway never aspires to be more than a computer-generated spectacle. Yet, with Wilson's stoic work, a practically wasted Eckhart, and Harrelson in a wig, the film wastes its best assets on the exploits of the gum-chewing, chiselled jaw jutting, rule-floutin' Dick Best, who's embodied by Ed Skrein with all the delicacy of a paper cut out; there's no nuance in this real life flyboy, merely a hollow shell filled with the script cliches, and brimming with nothing else.

All in all, while Midway delivers on its spectacle early on, it soon becomes clear that the bombast and bombing raids are all it has - narratives are dropped and ignored, only to be resolved right at the end, robbing the film of an emotional edge, and a human element to cheer for in one of America's darkest days.

Under The Silver Lake: DVD Review

Under The Silver Lake: DVD Review

That this piece of film-making, so sauntering and sleazy in its outlook should come from the director of the wonderful It Follows is a genuine shock.

Andrew Garfield stars as a slacker in David Robert Mitchell's attempt at a Hollywood noir that doesn't quite know what it wants to be, or how to execute its desires.

Garfield is Sam, who spends his days doing whatever he wants and perving over the neighbours in a Hollywood suburb where a dog murderer is loose. One day he comes across new girl Riley Keough and is instantly attracted (much like the camera's leering lens) - but when she disappears he finds himself ensconced in a mystery for the ages.

It's a loopy LaLa Land story in many ways, but Under The Silver Lake is an ultimately trying and confusing viewing experience.

The script affords Garfield a Spider-Man gag, but little else as his deeply unlovable hero wanders around trying to find out what's happened.

Meandering is polite for Mitchell, but the film's penchant for popping down narrative alleyways and rendering little results yields more frustration than anything definitive. Ultimately, Under The Silver Lake is a film that tries your patience and rewards you with very, very little.

La Belle Epoque: Film Review

La Belle Epoque: Film Review

Mixing The Truman Show along with a sweeter more heartfelt idea that could be part of Black Mirror, director Nicolas Bedos' romantic drama and comedy La Belle Époque makes great fist of its older lead's charisma.

Daniel Auteuil's Victor is jaded; his son works for a company making digital programming, and his wife is obsessed with the VR world, but he, as a former cartoonist, is stuck in the medium he has lived his life in and in the rut he's always been in.

However, his wife (Fanny Ardant) is not happy and kicks him out. Victor is offered a chance to relive some of his youth, thanks to an agency that builds sets from people's pasts and relocates them there for a night or whatever they want.

For Victor, the chance to live back in the past is too much to resist...

La Belle Époque is a light, frothy, romantic love story masquerading in parts as a drama and buried under a conceit that some may feel is just merely a construct to fuel a crowd-pleasing romance.

And that's fine, largely due to Auteuil who provides an earnest heart to the proceedings. The story may have some political allegories, and be a tale generally of how it's currently better to be living in the past (surely, French will get more from the political allegories and subtleties of Bedos' digs), but it's amiable fare that does what it needs to.

If there's to be a criticism, it's that La Belle Époque could have used some more of the randomness and levity it has in its opening moments, which surprise, delight and amuse, but that's not to denigrate the late-in-life romance story that fuels the fire of what makes it such an elegant success.

First look: Fast and Furious 9 trailer

First look: Fast and Furious 9 trailer

Here it is - your first look at the Fast and Furious 9 trailer.

Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, with Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron

Director: Justin Lin

XBox Game Pass - five best titles...for now.

XBox Game Pass - five best titles...for now.

There's nothing like a library.

In the times we now exist in, the roaring 20s will never see the return of the video shop. Housed within was a small section dedicated to letting you try-before-you-buy games.

It was a killer thing to do, to pay a tenth of what the studio was charging for their latest, let you take it away for 3 days and see if you wanted to buy it. Most of the time you clocked the titles,  and then didn't go back for more, but the seeds of an idea were there.

So it is with XBox's Game Pass.

Having been wary of a library online with over 200 titles around, the Christmas break provided the opportunity to look at some of the games within, and to fire the XBox up.

And it has to be said, the content's compelling enough to keep you heading back for more.

Here are five of the best titles currently on offer on XBox Game Pass

Untitled Goose Game

Sure, everyone raved about the Switch version of this, but the console version, which showed just before Christmas, is equally worth it.  A smart and small indie that brings the family together, Untitled Goose Game is one to revel in for silliness and honking rewards.

My Friend Pedro

You're a killer hitman, who sees a banana who gives you inspiration. Yep, it's that bonkers.
But this Guy Ritchie style shooter is as gangster as it comes. Bouncing around bullet time and hurtling from wall to wall with extreme violence, this stick and gun game is well worth the investment of time. Sure, the levels get repetitive, but when it's this fun, who cares?

Batman Arkham Knight

The Batman franchise has rarely been better than this bone-crunching return to the world of Gotham. Great voice work, stunning action and melee combat, this is a Batman to delve into and spend plenty of time in.

The Outer Wilds

Game Pass isn't just about the archive titles, with new games launched simultaneously. This sci-fi exploration title is one of the better launches, giving a deep dive into the heady worlds of beyond. It's compelling enough to stay in for long after you should have left.

LEGO Star Wars III

Sure, The Rise of Skywalker is in cinemas now, but you can't go past Travellers Tales' series of blocky silliness and fun. Playing on the Clone Wars and riffing on the comedy elements, Star Wars has been the perfect bedfellow for the LEGO series for a while now - and it's solid family entertainment that's as wholesome as it is fun.

A pass was provided for use of the XBox Game Pass.

Win a copy of Maleficent Mistress of Evil

Win a copy of Maleficent Mistress of Evil

To celebrate the release of Disney's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil on home release, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy!

About Disney's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.

Angelina Jolie and Dakota Fanning return - and are joined by Michelle Pfeiffer.

All you have to do is email your details and the word MALEFICENT
Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW