The Hitch Hiker is a movie that had a unique idea, but it wasn’t handled the best way possible. Two guys are heading out to go fishing, but they pick up a hitch hiker on the road. He turns out to be evil and he’s got a gun. None of the two are brave enough to try anything and they must do everything that he says. Can they get enough nerve to do something or will they die!?
Well, the two main characters are very frustrating to watch. They let slip over 100 chances that they could have used to escape. Sure, seeing a gun can be unnerving, but there are two of them and one of him. If they both rushed him, they would have done just fine. Not to mention that if they quickly tackled him when he wasn’t expecting him, he’d only be able to get off one shot. It’s a risk that they definitely should have taken. It’s better to die on your feet than to die on your knees after all. Now some would argue that it was better to just go along with the guy and hope that he doesn’t destroy you, but not in this case. He tells them multiple times that he is going to destroy them when he’s good and ready. So, either way they’re going to die. Might as well put up a fight before you go down right?
The film is pretty short and it’s barely over an hour, but it drags on a bit. It’s really just them in the car and making little stops for the whole time. The police get involved and show why they’re the best in the biz, but I would have liked to see them appear a little more. There’s also a very unneeded scene where a dog dies and that definitely took some points away from the film. Animal violence in any film is pretty sad and always unneeded. That’s why real films like (The Avengers and Man of Steel) don’t resort to such things.
Overall, if you want to watch a movie about the good ole times before cell phones, then maybe give this one a shot, but to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’d be better off checking out the legendary Twilight Zone series. This film may not have been the best, but at least the cops finally got their due respect.
Overall 3/10
My stats in Super Paper Mario
Play Time 17h 11m
Level 14
Health 50
Attack Bowser 16 Everyone else 8
Score 520660
Coins 248
Cards 17/256
Recipes 4/96
Pit of 100 Trials –
![reply_card [Converted]](https://dreager1.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/super_paper_mario_na.jpg)
Paper Mario has always been a pretty solid spin off to the main Mario game series. They switched up the gameplay and also featured some pretty deep plots. They were a big step away from the casual Mario plots and I’d say that it was a good move to keep things fresh.
Super Paper Mario is a game that I’m pretty familiar with. A long time ago, I rented it from the library and was able to complete most of it. Unfortunately the game was due back before I could complete it and my Wii ended up breaking two to three years later. So it wasn’t until the other day, that I finally got to complete it.
This installment of the Paper Mario series changed the gameplay so that it was more like the traditional Mario games. I missed the turn based gameplay that the other games had, but this gameplay is still pretty fun. It’ll feel like you’re playing one of the retro Mario games, but you can also shift the gameplay into 3D temporarily. While in 3D, Mario will lose energy and eventually lose all of his health, so use this ability at your own risk. It is essential to shift to 3D throughout the game, so just keep an eye on your energy meter.
The plot involves Count Bleck attempting to use the legendary Chaos Heart to destroy all worlds. The only thing that can possibly stop him is the seven Pure Hearts. Mario and his new friend Tippi must gather them as quickly as possible before the Dark Void consumes everything. There is also a subplot involving Luigi. (Who foiled Count Bleck’s plans in the first place) Luigi looks pretty awesome in this game, but more on that later. Mario and Tippi must also locate Bowser and Peach because only the 4 legendary heroes teaming up can possibly stop Bleck and his group of…loyal followers. The best part of the story mode was when the villains would have a meeting. It was pretty epic and surprisingly intense for a Mario game. I definitely enjoyed each meeting and they felt like a true villain group. (Like the Espada, Spiders, or Akatsuki)
Mario makes for a pretty good protagonist and he never seems to back down from a fight. He’s definitely very brave and heroic, plus he gets the job done. Throughout the game people mention his mustache in a very positive light and it would appear that he may have one of the best mustaches of all time!
Luigi is the real star of this story and he performs better than Mario for a majority of the game. Not only is he the one to stop Count Bleck in the initial meetup, but his defense seems to be better than Mario’s. When the team are knocked out during the end of the game, Luigi wakes up before Mario. Luigi also takes on the powerful Dimentio and proves that he’s not to be messed with. Since Luigi can talk (unlike Mario) he steals all of the epic lines for himself. Unlike the main Mario games, Luigi is incredibly brave in this game and talks tough to all of the villains. Just about all of his lines are pretty epic.
Tippi was a pretty good helper to Mario, but I didn’t really care much for her back story. She talks to herself a lot, but luckily Mario and his friends never seem to notice. Otherwise she may have blown her cover a little too early. Princess Peach was a pretty solid character in this game and she’s tougher than you may have guessed. She can fight and doesn’t need anyone to save her for the most part. Bowser is as strong as always and he never fears the opponents. Next to Luigi, he definitely gives the villains the hardest time.
Mr. L is a mysterious figure who appears towards the end of the game. He bears a bit of a resemblance to Luigi, but we quickly dismiss the notion since Mario would probably have recognized him….right? He goes on to help Count Bleck and the gang, but he seems to have an ulterior motive. He’s very smart and he was even able to build a powerful machine known as the Brobot. Mr. L was easily the best villain in this game and he quickly stole the show with his epic lines and comebacks.
Count Bleck is the leader of the villains, but he’s not quite as interesting as the other characters. He gets some character development, but it’s pretty predictable (Once they start hinting at it) and he doesn’t strike me as a big villain. Once Mario and friends took him on, Count Bleck went down pretty quickly. His other minions O Chunks and Mimi were all right. O Chunks has some pretty impressive strength and he was actually keeping up with Bowser. Mimi has a very cool moment where she turns into a twisted spider like creature and terrorizes the heroes.
Dimentio is a pretty tricky villain and you can never guess what he’s thinking. He’s constantly goading the other villains into attacking Mario or hinting that he knows more than he’s letting on to Count Bleck. He can teleport around whenever he wishes and he was a pretty powerful opponent. His cube attack is deadly and he actually destroys several of the heroes…he DESTROYS them. Who knew that a Mario game would have so many fatalities. In one of the best scenes in the game, Dimentio and Mr. L have a climatic battle.
The soundtrack in this game is pretty good and I particularly like Count Bleck’s theme. It’s a fun piece to listen too and helps to elevate the anticipation to even greater levels. The final boss theme is also pretty exciting and I found the quiz theme to be catchy. Once again, Mario never disappoints with the music.
There is one thing that I wasn’t too fond of in this game. There was several puzzles and things to look for that just felt like time wasters. Locating the star pillars was a bit more work than it needed to be. It takes forever to walk across the town and look for them all. Of course, there weren’t too many of them so it’s not a huge negative. All right, there’s one more mildly negative thing in this game. They played up the romance a bit much towards the end and I don’t think that it was a needed subplot to add in this game.
Super Paper Mario was definitely a fun Mario game and it’s something that all Mario games should strive to be like. The plot was deep and there was a real sense of danger. The fatality count has never been so high and the fate of all planets was at stake. I’d definitely recommend this game to you gamers out there and it was pretty fun.
Overall 7/10
Another installment in the new Superman chapter book series. This one definitely has a lot more action than the others and some old characters like Lois Lane and the General appear. Superman sticks to his character for the most part except that he maybe acts a little nervous in some scenes.
Superman is flying around when he notices that a large alien invasion army is approaching earth. He flies in to check it out, but unfortunately they won’t leave peacefully. These aliens want Earth’s water and minerals. Superman quickly tells them that they can’t have it so they send in some grunts to take him out. Superman destroys one and notices that they are all Doomsday clones. Luckily they aren’t alive so he can go all out. Can Superman defeat all of these Doomsdays!? It seems unlikely until Doomsday joins the fray.
Superman looked pretty good as always, but I didn’t like how he was captured. This is Superman we’re talking about after all. The red sun can be tricky, but Superman’s too fast for any of that to work. I’m also skeptical as to how they kidnapped Doomsday. Doomsday looked pretty good once he broke free and he took out a large number of clones. Since his regeneration is better than Superman’s, he was able to recover pretty quickly. One scene that I didn’t like was when Doomsday was afraid of Superman. Sure Superman’s powerful, but Doomsday has no reason to fear him. They’re both about equal in power and he has regeneration. Not to mention that Superman was pretty weakened. Ah well, I guess he made the right call in leaving.
On the earth side of things, the military prepares to take down the Doomsday clones. The army does all right and they look decently good, but the dialogue between Superman and Lois felt a little robotic. He felt like he was reminding the audience about who she was with his extended monologue.
Overall, this was probably the best Superman chapter book so far and it had a lot of action. Doomsday looked pretty good for the most part and Superman stayed tough through thick and thin. Saving the earth can be pretty tricky, but Superman is always up for the challenge. I’d recommend this to comic readers and good ole fashioned Superman fans.
Overall 7/10
Superman is back in his next adventure! While Superman has many comics and TV appearances, he hasn’t gotten to appear in many books. This series is quickly changing that and is helping Superman to become more of a prominent figure again. The plot makes for an interesting read.
Superman is attacked by a Lexcorp employee whose armor makes him 1000X stronger. That’s a pretty big power boost and the guy actually gives Superman a decent battle. After Superman defeats the robot, he stops a large tidal wave from hitting the area. He finds out that living machines are taking away the moon and transporting it to their planet. Superman can’t let them do such a thing and he heads off to stop them.
Well, it’s an interesting beginning to the story and Superman has an epic battle with them. The only problem is…it’s a little hard to believe. Superman should have no problem dealing with these guys, but they actually beat him up pretty badly for the most part. We are reminded of Superman’s speed twice and it’s how he wins both of his major battles. The other JLA members are mentioned, but they are too busy defending their cities from tidal waves to save the earth. It was an interesting excuse, but I think they could have come to help. Maybe they just figured that Superman wouldn’t need their help, which is a pretty valid excuse. Lex nearly gets the last laugh in this book, but we all know that Superman has to get the last word in.
Overall, it was a pretty good depiction of Superman and the DC universe. The book was pretty short, but quality always defeats quantity. It’s good to see the DCAU art back and it’s a good homage to the 90’s show. I’d recommend this fun read to Superman fans everywhere.
Overall 7/10
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