Summer and Smoke Review

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Summer and Smoke is about an old school romance that doesn’t go so well this time. See, you’d usually expect the classic trope of the innocent girl who falls for the bad boy to play out in a certain way. She gets him to be a little less wild and he gets her to live it up a little and it’s happily ever after. This takes a more serious look at how this would typically play out and while it does end up being a lot more realistic, it’s definitely not what I would call a feel good movie. It drags on a lot and since none of the characters are particularly likable that puts you in a rough spot right out of the gate.

The movie introduces us to Alma as a child who didn’t get along great with the other kids. She was always off on her own but she did like John who was fairly popular. John was definitely a tough kid already by that point and didn’t have time for the kind of serious romance that she was looking for. Many years have passed by and things haven’t changed. John lives a very problematic lifestyle and is always leaving town on adventures while Alma has been the dutiful daughter who takes care of her sick mother and keeps living on the straight and narrow. With John back in town Alma had been hoping they could finally get together but that isn’t working. Will she have to descend to his level for them to get together or is there a better way?

Of course the answer to this should clearly be that if you have to lower your level to be with someone then that’s not worth it. A true relationship can only blossom when you are being yourself and are with someone where you are comfortable doing that. If you feel like you need to change yourself then that’s already a massive red flag. Additionally John isn’t someone who could possibly be trusted to have a stable relationship with. Throughout the film he is involved in lots of different affairs and it is clear that he likes to play the field. He always goes for the most attractive girl in the group and then moves on when someone even more beautiful arrives. It’s a very clear pattern even if Alma tries to deny this.

Now you absolutely can feel bad for Alma. She has had a rough go of it as her mother has lost a significant portion of her mind so she acts rather crazy on a day to day basis and her father can be quite strict. So she has grown up in a way where she had to be very mature from a young age which didn’t help her when it came to mingling with the rest of town. Even her high education ends up getting in the way a bit as others think she is looking down on them. Ultimately it can be hard to make friends but if she was less obsessed with John then perhaps she could have found someone. She does have a few friends including one guy who likes her but she only really has eyes for John in the end.

Ultimately by the time she is ready to make a move like that it is just too late and it’s still probably for the best. The way her character ends in the film is not very satisfying though. I would instead argue that the ending is pretty bad since she is basically settling for someone else as she is desperate to have any man and she’s not thinking straight. An affair born out of desperation just isn’t going to end up working out. Ironically John probably has a more stable future ahead of him. Hey it’s great that it worked out but it can also be a bit annoying to see considering how much trouble he had caused beforehand. It’s just hard to forget that.

He’s also what brings the film down quite a lot here. See this is a very dramatic romance film. It’s not part comedy so you are going to have a lot of serious plots here like John’s decisions causing his father to get shot and a lot of feelings are hurt all the time. So by the time he has his offscreen redemption after a long timeskip you’re just tired of this guy already. You just don’t even want to see him because you know just seeing the guy is going to get you really annoyed. That’s just the kind of character he is. It’s like watching someone destroy a town and then show up a few years later to build a house. It’s great that he got his life back together but you just would rather he do it somewhere else.

The only really solid character in the whole film has to be the young lady who shows up at the end to deliver one last blow to Alma. Technically this girl doesn’t know any of the backstory so at no point does she have any malicious intentions. It does feel like there is a bit of an age gap there but ultimately she seems like the only character to be very nice with no ulterior motives so it’s easy to root for her. Everyone else can just be annoying.

I feel like the movie didn’t even need the plot about Alma’s mother. All it served to do was make the film a little more dreary and downcast with how Alma couldn’t even rest at home. The film already had enough of that so this was just throwing things over the edge. There’s also not a whole lot of fun to be had in the movie. You will barely find any real happy moments at all. I don’t count the crazy drunk parties John would have because that’s not the kind of happy moment I’m thinking about. You always see the negative connotations there. I’m talking about an actual lighthearted upbeat moment and those are rare. The closest may be when Alma and John go to the carnival and even then you know something bad is about to happen.

Overall, This is definitely a film that I highly recommend skipping. For starters it is a very long film. It drags on and on and on as the relationships keep going back and forth. The cast is weak and the story is annoying at best. The romances here are all awful so you’re not rooting for anyone to get together and the ending is really the big arrow to the heart. It ends things off on such a sour note and whether the relationship works or not, it feels like a pure desperation rebound which is never what you want to see here. There’s just nothing wholesome about that. Maybe the film should have taken place in the winter instead so as to work as a metaphor about how hard all of their hearts became by the end.

Overall 2/10

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre Review

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It’s time for a very old school supernatural type film that works really well. It’s definitely one of the biggest examples of a slow burner that you will see so I definitely suggest keeping that in mind. That said, if you really enjoy the slow build up and anticipation then this will be right up your alley. Particularly in the first half there is a lot of walking around and examining the backgrounds as the hero has to decide whether or not this adventure is supernatural or not.

The movie opens up with Nelson being hired by a lady named Vivia. Basically her husband believes he is being haunted by a ghost and Vivia needs Nelson to either get rid of the ghost if it is real or prove that it is all in Henry’s imagination. This is right up Nelson’s alley so he agrees but no worries he won’t charge anything if it turns out that the whole thing is a scam. That’s awful generous of him at least. Nelson is incredibly confident but is this confidence really earned or is he about to be in for a rude awakening? Only time will tell here.

I do love how sure of himself Nelson is though. You really do need to have that kind of confidence in this business or you’re going to be in trouble. No mind games are going to work on him, that’s for sure. This guy has been around the block a few times after all. If anything his only weakness is that he can be extremely slow to react to things. Like if a door is closing it will absolutely close all the way before he really notices. Still, he will be ready for a fight and that’s what counts although in his line of work things will rarely get physical. What’s a ghost going to do here right?

The first half of the film is when the movie is at its strongest as we walk through a rather huge crypt and the whole thing seems very spooky. It doesn’t go very well for Vivia as she is seemingly attacked by a ghost and panics but it is hard to deal with the supernatural so I’ll cut her some slack. Vivia is confident in her own right as well like when she declared that she would go back into the room by herself just to prove that she wasn’t scared. It may have backfired but the intent was on point. She’s a very mysterious character as well and the instant she appears a part of you absolutely has to write her down as a suspect. Surely she would be in a good position to be fooling Henry into thinking ghosts were around right?

Then you have the maid who is rather frightening. So much so that even though she works for Vivia, she scares her just by approaching. That scene near the beginning was probably the funniest moment in the whole film because out of context it just seems so crazy. Presumably the lady has been here for a while so why should her appearance startle Vivia so drastically? It’s not like she ran into the room either, she just calmly walked inside. I guess those things just happen sometimes. The maid actually gets a whole origin story taking place in the village with a case that could have been its own movie.

Basically Nelson was there as well on a prior case and the village wanted him to find out what evil sprit was there and to exorcise it. Unfortunately he determined that there was nothing supernatural there and it was a human behind the poisonings and trouble. This didn’t fly very well in the village and so Nelson was considered to be a scammer and the maid certainly felt that way to this day. So Nelson has to work at a slight disadvantage with Henry here since his reputation is partially shot. Unfortunately Henry is also completely convinced that there is some kind of spirit going on here and doesn’t give Nelson a great chance to make his case.

One detail I should add here is that the spirit appears to be Henry’s dead mother so that’s another wrinkle to consider. Why should she want to haunt him? Still there are a lot of things going on that are hard to explain conventionally. He receives calls from the phone installed by the dead mother’s grave and nobody should have the code for this line to work. Additionally the ventilators make sounds and then Vivia seems to get possessed at one point.

Yeah there may be more to this than meets the eye. There is also a lady who randomly shows up at one point and talks with Nelson but she vanishes soon after. I suspect if this series had kept on going as a TV program or a movie series she would have been a recurring character because otherwise that was the most random part in the movie. The writing is on point and the pacing is good so you have all the makings of a solid movie right here.

I would say the film’s only weakness is that after the first half it never captures that same spooky atmosphere that it did in the original. See, at first you’re jumpy like the leads because everything is cloudy and mysterious. Vivia waiting for Nelson in the dead of night while in the middle of the cemetery is spooky in itself because clearly she isn’t nervous about being out that late at night. The cars also get conveniently stranded fairly far out from the estate so if Nelson has to leave at any point then it will be more difficult than expected.

Then in the second half it’s more about the info dumps and while we still get strong dialogue from all the characters, it’s not very spooky. A lot of the scenes are in the daytime now and every character slowly loses their mystique. Maybe this was inevitable as we started to close out the case but I dunno it would have been cool to have kept this going just a little bit longer. Honestly having them get trapped in the crypt during the initial scenes could have been great and you have the whole film take place down there. That would be absolutely terrifying since nobody wants to be trapped in a crypt like that with someone they don’t even know.

Overall, The Ghost of Sierra is a pretty fun film. I do stress that you need to enjoy the slow burn kind of horror film here because it is fair to say that not a whole lot happens for a while. So there are going to be decent stretches of time where you’re sort of just waiting for something to happen and in a way the whole point is that you’re enjoying the atmosphere rather than the events that are going to happen. In that sense I feel like the second half fumbles a bit but it doesn’t lower this from being a pretty solid film either way.

Overall 7/10

Guarding Tess Review

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It’s time for a fun secret service comedy about how hard it can be to guard someone who doesn’t really respect you. Guarding Tess is a film I didn’t really know about beforehand but after seeing it I can definitely see the appeal. It’s a fun movie all the way through with a fairly small cast so it’s more about the banter. Doug really takes the hits in stride and even when he does inevitably have his blowup moment of standing up to Tess, he does it in a much more constructive way than most leads would. Ultimately he is a big part of why the movie is good.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Doug as a secret service guy who is really good at what he does. He used to even guard the president directly but unfortunately he is now stuck guarding the first lady to a previous president. He doesn’t find the job very satisfying or fulfilling and is really eager to get back to the more important jobs. Unfortunately on his last day when he is supposed to leave Tess contact the president and extends the service to another 3 years. Doug is not happy about this but if he declines then his chances of guarding the president again is pretty much 0. He needs to convince Tess to let him go but how will he do that?

Of course Doug didn’t like this assignment but clearly Tess liked him enough to want him to stay. Basically we find out that this was a power move to an extent as Doug was the only one who would hold his ground against Tess. At least to the degree that he could. See, the movie does a good job of showing just how helpless you are when you’re not in the union and serving someone who could get you fired at a moment’s notice. If Doug ever stands up to her too much then he will be next on the chopping block so it’s really not an easy move for him. He does his best though and Tess seems to take it as a personal challenge to try and break him.

Of course by the end she gets better with this but for most of the film she is absolutely just being as mean to him as possible. She is really spoiled and really just likes to do things her way even if it means forcing Doug and his men to break protocol whenever it suits her. Not the most generous thing to do eh? Well that’s basically her style. Ultimately it also means that she does the equivalent of crying wolf a whole lot which makes it extra tough on the team. They get humiliated in front of the local cops as well when she forces the driver Earl to take her away without the secret service in the car. Her tricks and pranks take a whole lot out of Doug.

It also makes the response time at the end a lot slower since they don’t know there is a real risk for a little while. While most of the film is a full comedy, it does suddenly get very serious near the end. We get a kidnapping and everything which did feel a little out of place but I’m always up for some action. The villains are all throwaway characters who we don’t learn much about. They’re just crazy I suppose. The villain who set everything up was definitely the worst one though as he made a lot of excuses at the time but still followed the mission. That just means he’s a bad guy but also spineless.

Doug really got to prove himself in the end though and show why he was a top secret service agent. He’s definitely someone who will do his best at all times. The standout character here had to be the President though. Whenever he ended up calling it made for a great scene. You always knew that Doug was about to be in a whole world of trouble. The president always talked tough and I really liked his mannerisms. He was an important guy and he knew it. Even when he was hurling threats, he always did them in a very subtle way so you couldn’t be exactly sure of what he was saying and then all of a sudden you knew that it was legit. Yeah he was definitely a lot of fun.

At the end of the day the film succeeds with how comedic it is. The setup is fairly unique and just works really well with Doug sort of living out his worst nightmare but trying to stay professional about it. I love all of the sarcasm used throughout the movie. He always has attitude about Tess’ orders and just has to make sure he does a good job of showing it or it’s all over. That’s something that he can’t really take lightly. Of course the rest of the agents love the gig because they’re being paid well to not have to do much at all.

It’s the difference between liking your job and loving it. When you like your job, you’re cool with just doing it and going home. If it’s easy then that’s all the better but Doug really loves his job and so he wants to be challenged and have to rise to the occasion. There is no challenge or skills to be honed on this mission and that’s really his big problem. It’s also what makes the comedy work since he’s so frustrated the whole time. Ultimately the climax could have probably been averted if he had stayed true to the book for just a bit longer. Ultimately though he gets to see the benefits of this guard detail as well and Tess lightens up so you have to imagine that things will be going much more smoothly in the future.

Overall, Guarding Tess is a pretty fun movie. The main dynamic between Doug and Tess is what really sells the movie. There is just a whole lot to unpack there and the amount of times Doug quite only to have to go back there was intense. It is certainly tough when the president himself is calling to put more pressure on you. I don’t think anybody really looks forward to receiving a threatening call from the President like that. It’s enough to make anybody real nervous right away. The film certainly shifts tones at the end but you should have a good time with both halves and this is one that I’d recommend.

Overall 7/10

Aliens Area Review

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I finally checked out Aliens Area which sure got cancelled awfully quick. It’s a shame because it did sound pretty fun from the premise although after reading through it I can see why it was cancelled. Ultimately it doesn’t deliver on the action you’d be expecting and while it’s not a bad thing to try and be different from the usual action experience, it didn’t feel like the series really knew what it wanted to do. You end up just being really confused by the end and wondering what the whole purpose was. The ending is rushed due to being cancelled of course so that part doesn’t really count but even before that it didn’t really have a focus.

The basic story starts with Tatsumi taking care of his siblings. His parents died a while back so he’s on his own but he’s done a pretty good job of raising them so far. Money is real tight though and then one day he is attacked by an alien. He manages to fend it off with his mysterious arm which worked out really well because otherwise he was definitely going to be in a true jam there. Somehow his arm was able to stretch as if he was Monkey D. Luffy. A guy named Hajime appears and explains that he is the leader of a group that looks into aliens. He wants Tatsumi to join and it pays well so his family will be looked after now. Tatsumi agrees to this but can he keep his new job a secret from the kids and is he really ready for this?

The core premise is solid enough. It’s sort of like Men in Black, this organization deals with aliens. Often times that is done through force but sometimes they will let the aliens know that they are breaking the law and that’s that. What makes things more complicated is that there is another group known as A3 and their mission is to simply destroy all aliens. They figure it will save more people in the long run and in some ways they think it’s more just as the main org will deal with aliens peacefully but they rarely help out on the follow-up. So often times if they provide housing for example, if the alien bombs out then he is exiled anyway. It seems like the manga was going to run with this as a fairly big subplot because Tatsumi had his share of issues with the organization. They do seem extremely shady. They aren’t straight up murdering everyone like A3 but it would be a stretch to fully call them heroes.

The series ended with 20 chapters so there wasn’t time for a whole lot of missions. After the first chapter we have Tatsumi accompany Hajime on a mission. This one had them protect an alien princess from the greatest assassin in the universe. I may as well add now that this is already a mistake. You can’t have the best in the universe appearing this early in the story unless he is going to win. The problem is that Hajime defeats him rather easily….so just like that the power creep has gone absolutely crazy. It does work well as an initial battle to teach Tatsumi the rules of how to fight and all. It’s just the context of knowing that they just defeated the greatest assassin in the universe that is a problem. You can’t convince me that this was a good idea, it just doesn’t make sense. The assassin loses all of his hype immediately.

Of course he returns later as an ally but by that point you still don’t think he’s nearly as strong as his reputation once was. It’s still a solid intro arc and shows Tatsumi more of what the aliens can be like and what their missions are but it wasn’t executed quite as well as it could have been. I do like Tatsumi’s arm since he seems like it would have a lot of uses in combat. He uses it here to block a blast that was aimed at the princess. This leads to my next issue though…he doesn’t get to fight. Aside from the punch he landed in chapter 1, he never gets another fight after that. 20 chapters should absolutely be enough for the main character to do something.

Instead he ends up feeling like a side character in his own manga. Maybe Hajime would have ended up becoming the main character but the way the manga presents him is as the mentor figure. Tatsumi even went through some training so they were gearing up to some fights and took too long. This is a pacing issue that you have to blame on the actual manga because there was no excuse not to have him fight earlier. Just throw in some minions for one of the bad guys and we’re set.

To an extent the series wanted to be subversive with how Tatsumi was always ready to fight but then sometimes it would be a peaceful thing like a parking ticket. I think that’s good for a few gags but it wouldn’t be enough to cover the series longterm. This one wasn’t built to be a slice of life adventure even if the author wanted to pull that off afterwards. You have to learn into the battles because that’s what everyone is looking for here. Having another group was already a good start and you could do a lot with the aliens but the series just wasn’t preparer to do that.

Right off the bat I think what the series should have done was skip to the next arc first. Basically the heroes head into a bar where a girl there knows about aliens which shouldn’t be possible since the heroes mind wipe everyone after a mission. Well, she has been taking care of aliens and so Hajime wants to remove her memories and take the aliens while Tatsumi isn’t a fan of this. As payment for staying free the lady gives them intel on the other group but ends up getting murdered by a high ranking member of A3, Yutaka. This leads to Tatsumi being upset but Hajime saying they can’t make a move due to their job descriptions. This would have been a good way to introduce the hero group from the start and have Tatsumi quit for a while or declare that he will change the group. Give us a good reason to root for him like that and then the whole series would get more emotional.

That doesn’t happen though and the problem here is that every arc gives us more and more reason to dislike Hajime and his group. The whole group just looks incredibly shady and unlikable so why would we root for them? It feels like Tatsumi has to work for them or they will erase his memory so it’s not like he wanted to be here either. The biggest red flag though is when Hajime introduces us to the heads of the group. These are the most powerful members in the whole organization and most of them have completely disposable designs. You know those random characters in any show who don’t stand out and you know they are background characters immediately? That’s the kind of design I’m talking about here and that’s crazy because these are supposed to be the top tier epic characters. It just didn’t make any sense at all. Maybe by then the author knew the series was over but it didn’t feel like a ton of effort was put in there.

Even when Hajime introduces Tatsumi to his squad, the characters don’t really stand out there either. They’re okay designs I guess but you won’t remember any of them. Despite that, the art is actually really good. This feels like a very experienced artist who knows how to draw a good action scene. It’s just the designs that need work but otherwise this one is solid all around on the art front. The fights are good which is what you are reading the series for, it’s just a shame that the rest wasn’t quite as solid. Then this could have had a really good future.

Ultimately Tatsumi is a good main character. He can be a bit too passive and follows orders without making enough complaints but he is new to the alien world so I’ll cut him some slack. Give him a little extra time and he should end up doing a lot better in the long term. His overall motivation of wanting to protect his family is a sound one and so I wasn’t bored when he was on screen. He should have held his own easily enough. Then you have Hajime who is good at what he does. In terms of personality I find him to be a little too shady to the point of being a villain. Some characters act tough but you know it’ a bluff. With this guy I didn’t get that impression. Instead he seemed really serious about what he was saying and that’s a bit concerning. This is definitely not the guy you want to have your back.

The way he uses the gravity powers was interesting. Basically the way the power set works in this world is that the humans have manipulated the alien tech in a way to simulate super powers. Each person can use 3 equipments at once and Hajime opted to use 3 gravity sets at the same time. This lets him attract objects, negate gravity, and jump around using that as a way to propel himself forward. The fighting style with this was fun and he uses a cane which is a rare weapon for any fighter. Just make him a little more heroic and we’re in business.

There is a whole group of people working with the heroes but most are totally forgettable so we don’t need to get into those. Yumeko is the only one with a fairly big role as she ends up being a tough mentor for Tatsumi. She believes in using power to get her message across and definitely beats Tatsumi up quite a bit. The guy can never catch a break when she is there but she is also quick to help him out when needed. She’s a fun character and I expect her role would have only grown bigger as she appeared more.

Finally you had the main villain Yutaka but he is a character who gets hurt big time by the series ending fast. Basically in the final arc he decides to randomly take down all the villains on his own and cause a giant explosion to wipe out a bunch of aliens. Naturally this would wipe himself out as well and more aliens would still exist so it’s like he’s finishing his goal halfway. They do give us a reason foe why he suddenly made such a drastic move and it was a sad plot twist that he learned about. It still doesn’t make this feel any less rushed though. The final arc is the big invasion as the heroes rush the villains but it doesn’t feel earned and we don’t know almost anyone yet so it’s hardly emotional either. In the end Yutaka goes out like a chump and just isn’t cool at all.

I had a lot of issues with the series so this one probably came across as rather harsh. It’s because this should have been a really good title but ended up fumbling the bag almost immediately. In a lot of ways I dare say it was trying to be like Kaiju No 8 but without a lot of the things that made the other title so successfully. If you see this one in stores if it gets a physical release then I would recommend checking it out. You’ll still be entertained without a doubt even if you do see the lost potential floating around throughout the adventure. There is just so much that they could have done with this series but ultimately didn’t.

Now if the series did want to go for less of an action angle while still being serious throughout, then the only option would be to be more of a horror/suspense title. You saw that octopus image from earlier? The series has its jump scares like that and part of the tension is that aliens can be anyone. Some wear human puppets so you can’t tell and they can jump you at any time. Having the main character infiltrate different establishments while looking for them could have been a good idea. It’s absolutely an angle that the series could go for but it is fairly incompatible with huge power levels so again I would say that you remove the whole best assassin in the universe getting immediately defeated in the pre arc aspect out as soon as possible.
Overall, Aliens Area should have focused more on the aliens and the combat. Ultimately this one didn’t last very long but at the very least the art is good and the action scenes are fun when we get them. The series also has some crazy horror visuals that come in from time to time so it is trying to do a whole lot but never finds its footing in the end. sometimes you have to go slow and just knock one thing out at a time. If they ever brought this manga back I’d still be interested in seeing it continue. It is good…it’s just not Very good.

Overall 6/10

Kid Icarus: Uprising The New Myth of Light – The Mirror of Pathena Review

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That title’s definitely a bit of a mouth full. You probably don’t need to write all of that out since part of it is almost like the full title that usually doesn’t make it over but I wasn’t 100% sure either way so I figured I would just do it like this. It works well enough anyway and what’s more important either way is the actual manga. The story and art here are definitely on point. You’ll definitely have a good time with this one although as a oneshot that means it is really over as soon as it has begun since it’s only around 20 pages or so.

Basically Pit had defeated the forces of evil a long time ago but for some reason monsters have started popping up again. The only way to stop them is to take down the leader. Palutena believes that it may be a powerful dog like creature which has popped up. It looks like the Cerberus but only has two heads. Is Pit really going to be a match for this guy? Also, he seems strong but is this creature really the leader or is there more to this battle than meets the eye? The chapter mainly focuses on this battle and then ends with a solid cliffhanger to keep you going to buy the game. It’s definitely handled well and gets you excited.

The artwork is pretty solid here with some real action all around so it’s easy to read. Granted, the scanlated version uses that blue tint that seems to happen when you turn a color chapter back into black and white so it can be a bit more difficult than it should be but you could see that the art underneath that was very solid. This is a title that definitely goes all out with the pages that it has. Realistically though I suppose you won’t remember this one for too long before you have finished it. That’s just the way that these things go because it’s really short but I like to think that this hopefully convinced at least a few people to buy the game.

The lore around Kid Icarus was always fun. You’ve got a lot of monsters and gods fighting it out and it’s like Nintendo’s take on the old Hercules myths. With Nintendo’s seal of quality it’s also not surprising that it’s so good. They never really give you anything sub par and I wish they would do more serious manga. The Mario and Kirby gag titles are an exception to this. When they bring their A game then you have great titles like with the various Legend of Zelda ones. You could absolutely do a good Kid Icarus ongoing story as well. I’d say that they shouldn’t even feel like they have to follow the game and can just do their own thing. There is so much to explore with the world and so many characters to introduce. It would be a whole lot of fun.

Overall, there isn’t much more to say here because of how quick the manga is. You’ll be breezing through this one in no time and I’d say that’s just a good thing. The story is on point and it never drags on. The characters are likable so oneshot or not, it covered every base here. The fundamentals are sound and it’s why I can confidently say that this would have been an ongoing. The ultimate purpose of a oneshot is to draw you in. Whether it is to sell a video game or just to try and get an ongoing from the oneshot, it has to grab you quickly because there aren’t very many pages. I would say that the game definitely succeeds in that.

Overall 7/10

Virtuosity Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more n

Virtuosity is one of those films that reminds you of the dangers of virtual reality. I still think we’re probably a good 20-30 years away from anything quite this advanced but hey if it ever does happen then I could see at least parts of this film being really realistic. You just know that the A.I. will be used in dubious ways almost right away. Honestly it’s the best argument against VR being a big thing because someone will immediately find a way to turn the pain sensors back on and just like that you are in a tough spot.

Well, the film opens up with Parker going through a training mission where he enters a computer world and has to try and take down an A.I. Parker was once a police officer but he murdered the killer who took out his family and is now serving hard time. This will help to reduce the sentence at least but the training doesn’t go well as SID (The A.I.) murders Parker’s partner and the lead barely gets out of there. It turns out that the training simulation wasn’t quite so safe eh? Well, SID breaks out anyway thanks to one scientist being a sucker and SID’s creator being a villain anyway. SID is now determined to torment Parker as much as possible. Why is it so personal though?

The film explores a connection with Parker and SID right away. The answer to this question becomes clear fairly early on and it’s really just a lot of bad luck for Parker. I mean the film probably would have been tough for him either way but the chips just happened to fall in a way where things were just as bad for him as they could have possibly have been. He’s already in jail which is pretty rough in itself and now having to deal with a powerful A.I. like this is just throwing extra salt to the wound. Not playing the game with SID isn’t an option either because the guy will hunt Parker down and frame him if that’s what it takes to keep the battle going.

Good luck trying to destroy SID as well because the guy has super strength and a whole host of supernatural abilities that put him above the rest of the rank and file. He can regenerate and move really fast too. In a way the film makes him just a bit too powerful because you know there is no way the heroes should be able to really do much of anything to him. It would just be hard to buy at that point but that’s just how it goes I suppose. For the most part this is more of a chase film than an action one but there are some fights and you may shake your head at those.

I do really like the visual effects used for the cyber world though. We don’t spend a whole lot of time there but the intro scene was very effective. You know that something is wrong right from the start with how everyone has the same kind of shirt on. Then the shooting starts and you realize this isn’t exactly the real world. I would have been cool with the whole film taking place in virtual reality to be honest even if it probably would have been tough on the special effects team. It’s why we need that Sword Art Online movie already but I guess we’re going to have to wait a long while for that one.

SID makes for an intense villain. The guy is completely insane but the thing is that he knows it. So he’s still really clever with his attacks. He just enjoys making everyone feel terrified and we get a whole scene where he creates music using people’s yells. That was certainly very twisted. The scene drags a bit too I would say. With a villain like this, you’re more interested in the banter with the main character as opposed to seeing him just terrorize the civilians who can’t fight back.

Parker is a good lead. He definitely had his share of trauma and baggage over the years. He doesn’t regret what he did to avenge his family by any means though but it does mean that he has had to put up with an awful lot in every category. It’s why he had to crush the first prisoner who tried to mess with him so that hopefully he wouldn’t have to get into any other fights after that. It’s really the rule of the jungle out there and if you aren’t the most powerful then you are going to be in a whole lot of trouble. He works well as the lead and never gets bitter about the whole thing either. At the end of the day he is still trying to save lives at every opportunity.

Madison is the main heroine here and she does well. She may tend to get in the way a little at first but by the end she is actively contributing and doing her best to help out. Her son ends up getting into trouble so she really has to take a big role in the climax. The climax is handled well with the elaborate trap used at the end and Parker having to use his past experience to deal with it. The voice clips were also a lot of fun as you hear some lines on loop and it ends up being memorable.

I was a little mixed on the film by the end because I really liked the premise but I think they could have done more with it. Of course you could do more with the virtual reality for sure but also more with the interactions. SID still kept his powers while in the real world somehow so I’d like to expand on that and see what else he could do. Giving him the memories and personalities of various serial killers was an unexpected move but it’s not a bad idea to really make this villain as terrifying as possible. The character cast is good too although for most of the movie I felt like the researcher got off easy. Yes most of the characters didn’t know that he planned this out but you’d still think that he would be getting some heavy blame here since this is his creation. Even if he hadn’t helped SID out, this was going to be inevitable after a while and every company needs a fall guy. I wanted more of corporate’s reaction to this.

Overall, Virtuosity was an interesting movie to be sure. It had its fun moments and it never dragged on. The way Parker’s family was bumped off was also an especially tragic one to really make him feel a lot of guilt. It was done tragically but without being overly violent which I thought was clever. The film can be a bit violent to be sure but it’s not as excessive as you may think and so it doesn’t take away from the overall story. I would recommend this if you are interested in seeing more of the virtual world.

Overall 6/10

Kiss Me Deadly Review

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Kiss Me Deadly is an interesting noir title in that you are effectively watching a villain as the lead. Not saying Mike is downright evil or anything but he is basically a shady guy who ends up getting tangled with the actual crime syndicate and that ends up leading to a whole lot of trouble. The story is good but it is another title that is held back by the main character. It can also get a bit gritty and gruesome for an old school noir title like this.

The movie starts off with Mike on a drive when he comes across a lady who is running for her life. She says her name is Christina and to drop her off at the next bus stop and then to forget her. However, if they don’t make it, then he must remember her. Unfortunately the two are captured by a group of villains who torture Christina to death and nearly bump Mike off too but they get sloppy and he survives the encounter. Mike has no idea what is even going on but he figures it has to be something big when he is questioned by the cops right away. The mysterious villains also start to threaten him into dropping the case so now he wants to look into it more.

Mike runs a bit of a shady business where he tries to find proof on if a husband or wife is cheating on the other. He has a secretary who takes care of the seducing while he begins to work on playing both parties against each other. It’s definitely not the most noble kind of work and the cops call him out on it but Mike doesn’t care. He will keep doing this so he can get more and more money as needed. This is one of the reasons why you just find it hard to root for the guy. His secretary Velda even basically begs him to let her stop doing this kind of work but he refuses which really tells you what kind of guy he is.

Now there are some fun parts to this. When the villains show up to intimidate him, Mike is able to respond in kind and doesn’t fold so easily. The guy makes threats of his own and has a lot of shady connections throughout the city. So that part is pretty neat and it makes for an interesting wrinkle into the mix but at the same time it just doesn’t erase the less desirable traits he has. It’s just too bad he couldn’t keep the tough attitude while beating up the enemies but still staying somewhat heroic. It would have really worked well. By the end he ultimately starts looking rather sad and defeated as he finally tells the cops that he was out of his depth. It wasn’t a great way for his journey to end.

The early torture scene was also really intense. Definitely not the way you expect to start this film off. For the most part it’s got a rather sullen atmosphere and it’s more about how everyone appears to be suspicious but it’s not generally all that dark or violent. Perhaps they wanted to start the film off with a bang but they definitely could have chosen a less gruesome way to do this. Additionally if you’re friends with the lead then you’re probably doomed but that’s usually how it goes.

The dialogue here is sharp as always though. I love all the veiled threats and how everyone is talking really tough. There is a lot of sarcasm thrown around and the fact that Mike is so tough does lend itself well to the banter. All of those things are good points within the movie. It definitely goes by rather quickly even though it is a long movie. It all feels like one well connected adventure and that element of the story, the lead having a lot of connections is one that they should bring back. Mike may be a questionable private investigator but he is still a PI so when the villains go after him it’s nice that he has some way to defend himself and figure out what is happening.

Meanwhile Velda definitely should have quit the business right away. Ultimately things are never going to go all that well for her in this business and so the sooner she gets out the better. Lily is an interesting character but again not one you would want to trust very much. She is always ready to put on the charm to try and get Mike to do what she wants but he’s not the kind of guy this will usually work for although he will enjoy the situation when it’s something he would have done anyway. She is desperate as she runs from the villains but that’s never really the approach you want to go with.

Mike’s friend Nick was a nice guy even though you knew he was doomed. I like that the guy always had Mike’s back at least and was eager to help. If anything Mike was using him since he didn’t really let Nick know just how dangerous this whole thing was. If he had been straight with Nick then things could have been different but Mike is all about using those who are close to him. Definitely a shame when you think about it.

The supporting characters were solid here. I liked the villain with the glasses who was always very polite but as one of the ringleaders of the villains you knew that he couldn’t be trusted. Definitely someone you had to be cautious with but the demeanor was pretty funny. Then there is the main cop who doesn’t get along with Mike at all. Their first impression was certainly lousy which didn’t help matters for either of them for a long while there. Still he was okay at his job. I think the cops could have ultimately done more on their end but it’s not like they had a lot of help either so they were on their own since Mike wasn’t cooperating.

The ending here definitely escalates really quickly though. The special effects for this were fun, it was like we suddenly entered a sci-fi movie or something. I wasn’t expecting that at all although in a way that’s why it worked. It just hits you like a sudden tank and that could have really tied in as a sequel with characters picking up the pieces. The film does work as another example of the viewer not knowing all the answers since we’re looking at things from the lead’s point of view though so I understand the appeal there.

Overall, I think a noir film that is basically villain against villain could be really good. The film would just need to lean into that more by having him be a full fledged villain. He certainly acts the part like when he shoves a drawer closed while someone’s hand is in it and slaps around a poor receptionist. This guy doesn’t play nice and won’t take no for an answer when he wants answers. You just need to do that without him sacrificing the main heroine’s dignity and I could also do without the torture. This ends up being a weaker noir title as a result and you’re better off skipping it for now.

Overall 4/10

Shvaughn Erin vs Hawks

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Suggested by iKnowledge Shvaughn Erin returns here but she won’t be doing much against Hawks. As a pro hero Hawks has dealt with his share of enemies over the years and many of them were significantly more powerful than Shvaughn Erin. All he has to do he stay on the offensive and keep on firing some feathers. A single one would be enough to take her down for the count and no amount of hand to hand skills can really be enough to deal with super powers of this caliber. Hawks wins.

Shvaughn Erin vs Namor

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Suggested by iKnowledge Shvaughn Erin has good hand to hand skills and she is also equipped with a gun so she won’t be going down very easily. At least if she was up against someone who didn’t have any powers. Namor has super strength and speed at his disposal though and her attacks wouldn’t really deal much damage to him at all. He’s just in a different tier of power and there is no area where her stats exceed his. As a result she is really out of luck here. Namor wins.

Teclis vs Namor

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Suggested by iKnowledge Teclis is a strong mage type fighter with a whole lot of energy attacks at the ready. Ultimately they will not be enough though as Namor’s raw power is far too great. He can make the oceans themselves bow to his power. That is an extreme amount of power with the Phoenix Force as he can just burn everything into nothing. Teclis will have a hard time landing any hits on him and there’s no way to endure the shots either. Namor wins.