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The Hand that Rocks The Cradle Review

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

There are some films where you wonder how the plot can work without the main characters looking awful and then you realize that they just do look awful and that’s how the film happens. This should be over in a few minutes if the main characters played it smart tbh but that’s how it goes I guess. I’d say this film’s more of a skip, you don’t really need to check it out.

The movie starts off with Claire and her husband Michael getting ready for her next baby to be born. Unfortunately the doctor at the clinic turns out to be a full criminal and takes advantage of Claire so they sue him and the guy quickly deletes himself. His wife tries to stay strong but fails and when she faints her baby is lost. The wife swears revenge on the main characters and changes her alias to Peyton. Peyton quickly heads to the house and is immediately hired by Claire to be the nanny to help out around the house. Now Peyton can begin work on splitting the family apart and ultimately murdering Claire. How will she pull this off though?

So it turns out that letting a random stranger into your house without any real background checks can be a real danger eh? Peyton starts misplacing items, destroying reports, and basically making Claire look really bad since it’s like she’s losing her mind. Peyton makes sure to threaten the gardener, manipulate Claire’s older daughter against her, and even directly handle the baby far more often than Claire so he stops liking her. Yes it’s all very easy…because the characters make it easy. Seriously none of this should be working out at all.

First off we have Peyton hanging out with the baby more than Claire. Claire should be with the baby as often as possible. Sure, she’s busy but why is Peyton basically left all day to give the baby walks, put her to bed, etc? That should still all be Claire’s duty and not because it’s a job but because you want to be with your baby right? Claire does have asthma and can get sickly at times but not all the time so this always felt a little forced. When you’ve just had a kid you’re usually going to be staying around the house a lot. I know they hired a nanny for a reason but yeah this was not a good idea.

Put it this way, even if Peyton wasn’t evil, it’s still possible that the kid and baby would end up bonding with the nanny over the parents if they spent so much more time with her. It just makes sense. It also would help if the parents actually listened a bit more. When Peyton frames the gardener, they don’t even try to listen to their daughter about how it was all fixed. Yeah the evidence was pretty bad so I wouldn’t expect them to be too reasonable but at least listen to her side for a bit right?

For the most part I would say that Peyton’s not even that subtle about all of this. Wearing her necklace as if to boast about how she’s the mother now, her seduction attempt on the husband, etc. At least to the guy’s credit he never cracks or comes close to cracking on that front but these are all massive red flags. Peyton’s initial appearance was a huge red flag since she wasn’t from any agency and happened to be in the neighborhood? Cmon now it may be a beautiful day in the neighborhood but you don’t just happen to be wandering around one.

Then even once they find out Peyton is the villain and have to take her down they handle is horribly. The husband lets himself get thrown down a flight of stairs and the main heroine’s stab attempt didn’t go very well. This is why you need to at least know some basic self defense. Or if you’re going to run, then run right away. Waiting at the house to pack everything up is always going to take way too long when you have a villain on the loose. You feel bad for Claire’s best friend quite a lot since she was at least making some headway but got way too sloppy towards the end. The classic reverse psychology trick worked on her.

The whole deception to make Claire jealous by revealing that her husband was hanging out with the friend was also really contrived. Look, surprise parties can be fun but never if it means lying to your wife about it. What matters more, keeping the secret or keeping her trust? It should be a really obvious decision or at least I would hope that it is. That’s where you just tell her that there is a surprise party coming up and to keep it on the downlow or something like that.

He has to know how it would look since the friend was an old ex of his. In general you don’t want your husband or wife to hang out with an ex in general, let alone in secret. Now it all comes down to trust so if you’re comfortable with your partner still seeing an ex then hey, power to you. Me personally? Nahhhhhhh, the ex needs to leave the picture completely. It’s way too dangerous to keep an ex around so there’s no hanging out as friends after that. It’s tough terms but that’s just how it has to be in order to keep the relationship strong.

Then you have Solomon who has a rather tragic role for most of this. He’s disabled so he already has a tough time explaining himself or talking so when he’s framed there isn’t a whole lot that he can do about it. He’s just trying to help but he’s in a really tough position the whole time. Especially since you see this coming right from the start of the movie, you can only watch and wait for the inevitable.

Aside from the story being rather weak and forced, the movie just isn’t generally high quality. Using the doctor for shock value at the start of the move is a whole scene that could have been completely skipped. Make up some other reason for revenge, but starting off the movie with Claire being attacked like that was pretty bad. The film also had some obvious fanservice in feeding the baby and while that shows how insane Peyton is in her role, you definitely don’t need to linger on those moments. Mix in the sub par writing and you don’t have a winning movie here.

Overall, This is a movie that only works when all of the characters make the worst decisions as if this was a horror movie. The story only starts at all because they happened to pick Peyton out of all the available candidates without bothering to look into her records at all. Who wouldn’t do their due diligence when you have a baby and a kid in the house right? Then you have the husband randomly keeping a secret when he shouldn’t have, a “accident” murdering the friend and not immediately grabbing a shotgun, the important report completely vanishing, etc. At least Claire picks up on the list of odd coincidences later on but sure took her time in doing so. Yeah this is one you should definitely skip.

Overall 2/10

Going in Style Review

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I definitely like the title since it works well out of context and even better in context. This film on the whole is a pretty fun one. Some moments can drag a bit which does keep it from reaching the next level but all in all you should have a good time. It’s a fairly unique film since you don’t see too many about old people just hanging out.

The movie starts with Joe, Al, and Willie just hanging out on the bench as they always do. Joe has had enough of this though and tells the others about his brilliant plan to make their lives more exciting. They need to rob a bank and get rich so they can do all kinds of fun things. All their lives they have made ends meet and have had a good time but that’s about it. At this point if they are caught they will go to jail and live a comfortable life there or if they succeed then they can do whatever they want. His two friends are very skeptical but Joe gets them on board. In a way the real trick will not be in escaping from the bank with the money, but in keeping their freedom after that!

I would say the main positive in the film is the humor. The characters have a lot of fun banter and the humor is kept rather subtle and not super in your face but it works out well. The main characters have a good attitude about them and it’s easy to root for the group. The film has a pretty positive vibe overall there and so even when there isn’t a whole lot happening, you’re still having a good time here. Now the film does get more and more serious as it goes on so depending how you take the scenes it can throw a really somber tone onto the whole thing.

At the end of the day though, the characters got to have their big adventures and spice up the life a bit so I’d say it was really a win/win in the end. None of their lives ultimately got worse for it and so it was good. For that reason though I would have shortened some of the emotional scenes a bit and had the film keep up its quick pace. Those are the only scenes that could drag on a bit and of course that’s because it is the emotional center of the whole thing but even so I think you could have side stepped that a little bit.

The heist is pretty quick but made for a fun scene. You can definitely see how any heist can quickly turn violent as all it takes is one guy to try playing the hero and then the main characters would have to choose whether they shoot or get taken in. There’s no easy scenarios there which is why in the end it’s never good to steal. Of course in the film this is played off more as a fun thing but ultimately it doesn’t take away from the characters basically becoming criminals here. It may have spiced up their lives but it wasn’t the right thing to do.

As the brains of the operation Joe is definitely the best character here. He’s always coming up with the plans and is a very determined character. I feel as though the other two would have cracked if put into the same situations that he was in. Joe always stayed strong though and did his best to help everyone out. He wasn’t selfish about any of this and always put on a brave face even if he wasn’t doing well. He had all the makings of a true hero.

Al and Willie were really followers compared to Joe. They went along with this plan but if he didn’t say anything then they would have been content on the bench. In a lo of ways they are more laidback as a result. They don’t have grand ambitions and they don’t miss the things that they never got to try. Still, they’re good sports about the whole thing and the plan is absolutely more fun when it’s all 3 of them. I don’t think you could do as much with just one persona nd of course there would be a lot less banter that way.

We do get a rather long side tangent into the casino which doesn’t really affect the plot much. It was a good way to see them having some more fun but that one you probably could have added a little more variety too. It did subvert my expectations the whole time though since I was expecting things to go very badly for them. So in that way the film did use the tension very well.

Writing is key for a film like this because on its face the plot won’t sound all that exciting. This film is about day to day life and not end of the world type events. So if the writing wasn’t all that good then this film would be boring in the best case or awful in the worst case. That’s not a problem here which works out but I wonder if the new version would really be all that good. I’ll definitely be curious to see someday but yeah they did a good job with this one.

Overall, Going in Style could have been reworded to Going Out in Style but the former is a little more subtle while getting the same effect so it makes sense. To enjoy this film I think you really just have to have fun watching the characters just hang out and do things they’ve always wanted to do. It makes for a fun viewing even if my bucket list items would have been way different. Forget the casino, that’s never been all that tempting to me. I’d have gone to different food places around the world or something like that. Now that would have been exciting!

Overall 6/10

Mission Impossible: Operation Surma Review

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It’s time for a quick look at a Mission Impossible game. You may be wondering why you’ve never heard of this one before right? I guess it sort of just got swept under the rug. It’s actually a decent game but to be honest I wouldn’t call it much more than that. The game is fairly short and some of the mechanics aren’t explained very well so you will have to take a while to get used to them. Throw in more of a story and this could have turned the corner a little better. Still, for a few bucks you could do worse and it’s fun while you’re playing through it.

The game starts off with an evil group causing mayhem and you have to stop them! Ethan will be relying on his support staff to get him through but can they really save the world? Honestly the story’s super forgettable. The main villain here is your average suit and can’t really fight. With only 5 levels it’s not like there’s a lot of time for a big story anyway right? It’s for the GBA so I have to give the game some leeway on the lack of cutscenes but I do think they could have been more imaginative with the character portraits and such.

As for the gameplay, this is mainly an overhead shooter. You run through the levels and blast anyone who gets in your way. Each stage has several objectives for you to complete like hacking a computer or protecting someone. So you have to shoot your way through the levels but also while keeping in mind that sometimes you need stealth. If you hide in the shadows then the guards will often forget about you. They have no peripheral vision either so you can run at them from just out of eyesight and karate chop them into the ground. All stealth moves are 1 hit KO techniques after all.

Then you have gadgets which is where the game gets a bit rough. You can deactivate cameras and mines but I never figured out how to even detect the mines. Felt a bit random the whole time. For the cameras, you had to turn the scanner off and on while running around a lot to get it to work. I suspect this is not the intended method but I couldn’t figure out how to make this work so eh….that’ll do. I got the cameras off which is the important thing. If you don’t do that then you end up being attacked by a whole squad of elite soldiers who are incredibly hard to fight off. Trust me it’s not a situation you want to find yourself in.

With enough experimentation and dying you will eventually get the hang of the game. Because of no tutorials and how the mechanics don’t make sense, the first level will by far be the toughest one you encounter. It also feels like the longest by far. The game is only a few hours long and I want to say level 1 out of 5 probably took about half of the runtime. Yes, level 1 was that serious! One pro tip that the game won’t tell you is that to use the grenades, sniper, and other ranged abilities like the tracker you have to hold R and then aim them out. I died quite a few times while trying to figure that out.

If the game had more polish then I think this really would have gone a long way. Trust me a little dab of polish really does help in every area from graphics to gameplay. This game felt like it was thrown together rather quickly. It doesn’t take away from the fact that the actual shooting part of the gameplay is fun and there are a lot of other positives but you know there are much better games in the same genre. This game just didn’t try to surpass its limits and was content just being good.

There isn’t really any replay value so what you see is what you get. I am glad that the levels had save points so you didn’t have to start from scratch though. That would have been absolutely brutal. Although as a lack of quality of life there is no save point when starting a level so you have to go through level select instead of clicking load game which is a little rough. It doesn’t really make sense but hey it’s not a big deal.

Overall, Mission Impossible definitely deserves better as far as video games go. I think you could really make some incredible titles based on the franchise with the right studio. A mix of action, stealth, and adventure? Yes this would really be a hit. In the meantime if you really want to see how the games go then it’s not a bad idea to jump in and check this one out. The low price helps a lot and I do think you will have some fun here. It just won’t last long and you will be ready for the next adventure in a flash.

Overall 6/10

Lilies of the Field Review

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It’s time for a very wholesome film. This one is basically what I’d call a slice of life because action/adventure doesn’t really apply and at the same time I wouldn’t really call it a romance or a comedy. Slice of Life just seems to feel like the best fit because basically the main character gets to help some people out and that’s really about the extent of the story. Lets dive into the plot in more detail than that though.

The movie starts with Homer driving down the road when his car starts to heat up. He stops by a house for some water and it turns out that it is being run by Mother Maria and her colleagues. They are on a mission to build a chapel in the area but it’s been tough since they don’t really have any money so nobody will help them build it. They desperately need someone to step up and perhaps Homer can be that guy. Thing is, he needs some money of his own and the ladies don’t speak English very well and he doesn’t speak their language so it can be difficult to communicate. What can he do?

The cast here is really small so most of the movie is really about the dynamic between Homer and Maria. Both of them are confident that they will come out on top and neither will back down. Homer is absolutely happy to build the chapel but he wants to get paid for his work which is a bit tricky here. Ultimately he gets talked into helping and tries to keep up his good cheer about the whole thing but it really is tough to work without money.

Fortunately he finds a good job in the area which helps pay the bills. For the most part Maria and Homer may be on different sides but I would say they were both reasonable. This is the only time I thought Maria wasn’t being very fair at all. Homer worked hard to get money to buy them all a bunch of food and help out yet she never really thanks him for it and finds something else to complain about. It felt a bit much in the second half where you sort of see that she’s trying to make a point but it was really misguided. She got lost in the sauce you could say when she should have really been trying to have his back. Homer did a lot to help her so he should get more credit for that.

As for Homer, the main mistake I’d say he made was getting too invested in building the chapel. You know it’s too far when you start refusing help from people out of a sense of pride. If he was close to completing the project then I’d get it but it’s clear he wasn’t anywhere close to being done so at that point turning away help just wasn’t smart. Ultimately the townsfolk take this in stride and help him out which was good but he shouldn’t have made it so hard for them.

The disagreements and troubles that come up during the film are basically on this level. It never goes too far and there isn’t a true sense of danger which is why slice of life works. At the end of the day it’s about overcoming your differences and doing the right thing in a pinch. It took a while for the characters to all get on the same page but it happens eventually. So how much you like this film will all come down to how much you like the characters. They are definitely both solid and hold the film up reasonably well.

I’d say the only thing keeping it from a higher score is that it’s not the most interesting. The language barrier definitely helps to keep things from being too easy but at the same time it also reduces the amount of possible banter that you can have. That’s the real problem in all of this. Homer gets a lot of funny lines but the other characters often can’t appreciate them because they don’t fully understand so then of course they cannot reply to the lines either.

I also wouldn’t say that the film would have a lot of replay value by the same token. It can be a bit of a slow burn and when you know everything that’s going to happen, it’ll be tougher to sit through it all a second time. This movie succeeds more by not making any mistakes than by having any big wins. It’s a safe strategy and so this is a film that I could easily recommend to anyone. That said, I wouldn’t have minded some kind of extra draw to make it even more fun.

Maybe have some kind of rival show up to force Homer to really think about whether he wans to help or not. Maybe more scenes at his workplace as he drives the tractor. I’m not saying you need full on danger or a villain but something to keep the movie exciting would be nice. Banter usually accomplishes this goal very smoothly so if you use that as a template then you should be all set. Maybe Homer could have been on the phone with someone from back home or at his ultimate destination to talk with. That said, the film is probably much too early in time for that. There certainly weren’t cell phones around and I don’t believe I saw any landlines in the house.

Overall, Lilies of the Field is a good film to watch when you want to take a step back and enjoy a calm movie. Something where you won’t be worried for the characters or anything like that. You can just lie back during this film and see how it all turns out. I don’t think you could do this for many films before it were to get old but this film is rather retro so it gets dibs there. One day perhaps I’ll check out the follow-up to see how it stacks against this one.

Overall 6/10

Ghoulies II Review

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Ghoulies may have been a dreadfully awful film but would the sequel be able to save the franchise? Unfortunately I can confirm that it did not. It does defeat the first film but it’s a marginal victory at best because these two are still on the same level. It may be taking on a different approach than the first Ghoulies but I wouldn’t really say that it learned any lessons. The only impressive part about this movie is how it’s not rated R since it felt extremely violent but I suppose it’s because most of the more painful deaths are heard/implied but not really seen. It’s clever directing but not going to save this one.

The movie focuses around an attraction at a local circus about scaring people. I forget the term for the scarehouse but basically you go in to get spooked by people in costumes and scary images. Unfortunately it’s not doing so well and corporate has decided to shut the place down. They have one last weekend to get their sales up but the main characters aren’t so confident. The only 3 employees is a teen who’s in over his head, a short guy who has trouble being convincingly scary, and an old man who is constantly drunk. Yeah this may be the end of the line but at least they can escape with their lives right?

So where do the Ghoulies come in? Well they get summoned by the old man because that’s how this works now and they decide to start bumping people off left and right. Now again you have to consider that this is part comedy to explain why the film goes the way that it does. It’s heavily being inspired by the Gremlins so the characters are being a little extra quirky and manic the whole time. They have a lot more personality than last time at least but I still couldn’t say that they ever got all that interesting either way. At the end of the day they’re still just sinister monsters without much reason and purpose.

It can be rather frustrating when you see them murdering everyone and the audience is just cheering as they watch what they think is a show. Of course it should be obvious but hey these are not the brightest bulbs in the bunch. Not by a longshot unfortunately. The Ghoulies also don’t seem all that powerful so you constantly wonder how they are doing so well. This movie does establish that they are super durable. Acid, stabbings, and bullets are not enough to put them down. They seem functionally immortal as every injury promptly heals itself. So that definitely puts the characters in a bit of a bind. If they would use basic teamwork or stop taking their eyes off of the creatures this would be easy but unfortunately that never happens.

I’ve always said that small creatures are more terrifying than huge ones and I think this movie supports the point well. Put it this way, if you’re faced off with a massive monster then you’re probably dying instantly when it steps on you or fires off a massive energy blast. With a small creature it’s death by a million cuts, bites, etc. It’s the worst way to go. They chose the most disturbing death in the film for the corporate guy and you can’t help but feel bad for him. He certainly wasn’t a nice guy by any means but you hate to see anyone go out like that.

Many characters are destroyed in this one as the Ghoulies really take names and add onto their body count. It’s impressive on one hand but the film quickly loses focus of anything else. It’s not devoid of plot like the first film though. At least we do have the drama with the circus and a number f real characters. There is some drama with the main heroine getting ready to leave the circus and so you actually remember things about this movie aside from the ghoulies. Ultimately it just isn’t enough to save the film.

Even if you put aside all of the excessive violence here, there aren’t any real strengths that would make you watch the film. The old man getting massively drunk on the day when he knew his friends were counting on him was awful. Seriously you can’t let people down like that and it put him in a very poor position to fight back. Then the film can feel a bit mean spirited with a lot of random teenagers getting murdered who didn’t do anything to deserve it. At least let them go out quickly as opposed to all the creative way the Ghoulies get them. An instant death would definitely have been way preferable.

There is a bit of a romance plot here but it doesn’t really serve any point in the film. The film really should have spent more time giving the characters development so you can root for them to fight the Ghoulies. For example one scene that was actually decent was when the main guy calls all of his friends from the circus over to help and they actually do. They all drop everything to help out and it was nice to see that they all had each other’s back. That’s what you would like to see in this kind of situation and it’s annoying that the fight was still really close.

Again, the Ghoulies are super durable and can keep on regenerating but in terms of strength they shouldn’t be that bad. Just keep your eye on the monsters and you should be fine. We do briefly get an even bigger Ghoulie later on which was interesting but you don’t want to leave your hopes in the hands of a monster like that. When you have guns and the numbers advantage this shouldn’t be so crazy. If the Ghoulies could talk then at least it would be interesting to hear what their plan for the world is beyond total chaos.

Overall, Ghoulies II is really more of the same as the first one. This one is definitely better to be sure but not enough so to earn it any extra stars. I wouldn’t say there is any true reason to check this one out. You’re just watching the Ghoulies murder everyone in gruesome ways and that is absolutely not enough to constitute a real plot. Throw in some better characters as well as some restraint and then we can talk. In the meantime I don’t have much hopes for the next two Ghoulies films to be honest. Maybe they can be decent but I definitely have massive doubts.

Overall 1/10

Police Story 2 Review

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It’s time to return to the world of Police Story. The first one definitely surpassed all of my expectations. Not to say that I ever thought it would be bad but it was just so excellent that I couldn’t have guessed it would be this good. It was definitely really impressive and the sequel while still great isn’t quite able to match how brilliant the first one was. From the fighting to the comedy, it just isn’t ready to match that.

The movie starts off right away with Ka-Kui being demoted since while he may have saved the country, there was a lot of destruction and the villain has powerful friends. So he’s out of jail already and intends to ruin Ka-Kui’s life. He does this by harassing the guy and threatening his girlfriend. He’s trying to goad Ka-Kui into attacking him and if successful then that will really put him in a jam. Can he really resist these attacks for long though?

The best scene in the movie happens fairly early which is always a risk. Do you have the peak right away to get the audience invested or leave it til the end to make a lasting impression? I doubt it’s something a film maker would think about for too long because in theory every scene is made to be great but for me the restaurant fight was definitely the best part. John Ko and friends finally push him too far so he just beats them all up and it’s super satisfying. You do not mess with this guy.

You’d think that the villains would have learned their lesson after the first film but they are just really confident that no matter what he won’t end their lives. In a way I suppose they are right since Ka-Kui is a hero but that doesn’t mean he has no boiling point. If they took things just a little bit farther I wouldn’t have been surprised if he took John down for the count. Either way it’s great because sometimes you do need to just beat up the villains.

Surprisingly John Ko and his boss basically get written out of the film after this. New villains show up to give Ka-Kui a run for his money while these guys vanish. There is a plot reason for this and it also works as a twist of sorts because the first time you learn this knowledge you just assume the villains were faking so when the twist actually happens it’s a bit surprising. It’s a solid subversion so I enjoyed it well enough. The main problem is that the other villains don’t feel like they are as much of a threat.

The climax still has Ka-Kui go into a very difficult fight to be sure but it never feels insurmountable. I guess the guy’s catchphrase of saying general nonsense while tossing the fire pepper onion wrappers is very memorable though. When Ka-Kui finally turns the tables on that guy it’s definitely satisfying. There are also a lot of explosives so the climax is definitely intense visually. You can’t beat the mall fight from the first film but it’s still a lot of fun.

In general the film has a lot of action, there are several other scenes with a lot of battles as well. The film also keeps the general happy tone that it has from the first with a lot of comedic moments. Ka-Kui still has a lot of trouble with his girlfriend May due to a lot of misunderstandings. While in the first film I felt like 90% of those were directly his fault, at least in this one it can be more 50/50 like when the cops pulled him off the plane. That was one example where there wasn’t really anything he could do. It’s probably not much of a consolation to May who still has to deal with the fallout but hey, it could certainly have been worse is all.

May also ends up going through a lot here as she is captured and actually injured quite a bit. The sequel does have a few moments that are actually rather dark like when May and Ka-Kui get tortured by the villains. So you also empathize with her even more for being upset with Ka-Kui since now she’s in constant danger. She always bounces back really quickly and tries to be cheerful but you wonder how long it can last.

Ka-Kui is taking steps to try and make the relationship be a bit smoother like going on vacation with her but it’s just never as easy as all that. I’ll give him credit for making the attempt though and in general I would say he looks pretty good in the movie. For the most part he takes the right steps and again I give him a lot of credit during the restaurant moment. He wasn’t going to let the villains get away with anything and just charged in there!

While John Ko doesn’t stick around for the whole film, I will give him credit as a persistent villain. The guy can’t even fight super well but he’s always around to make life hard for Ka-Kui and is really resourceful. He appears everywhere and takes his job as the boss’ right hand man very seriously. He’s the biggest thorn in Ka-Kui’s side despite not being a fighter which is impressive in itself. He’s certainly crazy but works well within the role.

In general the supporting cast are solid too. I liked both Ka-Kui’s direct boss and his boss’ supervisor. They’re both always playing an intricate game of appearances where they keep trying to pass the buck off. This can make for a lot of fun comedic moments all throughout. The film wouldn’t be the same if either half of the genre was missing. This is a great comedic action film. You need the high level martial arts but you also need the fun humor. Mi the two together and I don’t see how this series can lose. It’s of course easier said than done to make a film funny and action packed but this team clearly has the right formula.

Overall, Police Story 2 takes just about all of the strengths from the first film and keeps the series moving at a high level. It doesn’t really make any mistakes but it simply can’t keep up with the first movie. It’s close though and that’s the important thing though. You could watch both films back to back and it works really seamlessly. I’m interested in seeing how it goes from here. Can it go 3 for 3 or is this the last hurrah? Only time will tell but the track record is in this one’s favor.

Overall 8/10

Star Ocean The Last Hope International Review

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Star Ocean’s a pretty fun franchise so far. I’ve only played a handful of games in the series but each one has been high quality. This one in particular does take a little while for the story to really get going but by the end it is delivering with the high end/explosive climax that you would expect from the series. The Last Hope is a fairly long game too so that’s enough time to really get used to the characters. Ultimately you’re going to want to pick this one up for sure.

The game starts by introducing us to the state of the world. Earth has developed enough to send ships into space in order to explore the universe. Sort of like Star Trek you are not allowed to have excessive contact which can change the course of a planet’s history. The main character here is Edge who finally gets to be the captain for this mission. He may not have a ton of experience but he is ready to do good. Unfortunately he’s in for an adventure with a lot of hurdles that threaten to shatter his confidence entirely. Will he be able to salvage the operation?

This story definitely gets very dramatic. Get ready for a lot of self doubt here as the characters all wrestle with their dilemmas. There are also a ton of cinematics in this game, more than I have seen for most other titles which is pretty impressive. The game is already super long as it is, throw in all of these cinematics and now the game is that much longer. It’s always good to see of course since cutscenes make a game more immersive but as mentioned earlier, the pacing can be a little slow at first.

I would say there isn’t even really a main villain until you’re fairly deep into the game. Once the villain appears more that makes things a bit more interesting. The character cast will also grow on you as you go through the game. Edge makes for a good main character and his comrades are all fairly solid as well. It’s just a shame his rival/friend couldn’t appear more as that guy was a lot of fun. He felt like he would be the hero in most other adventures. The guy always made the right calls and fought hard. Ultimately I would say that Edge has not caught up to him just yet.

The graphics here are definitely sharp. I wouldn’t call it one of the most high end PS3 games but the levels and character designs are always clear. The space backdrops always look good and the attacks have good animations. I definitely had no issues there. The soundtrack can be a little more bland but there are still good tracks to be had here. I may have gotten a bit too used to the hype rock soundtrack from the PS4 title. Regardless there is enough variety here where you will almost certainly like some of the tracks.

The gameplay here is effectively real time action. You have different attacks and supers that you use as you run across the map. Enemies will try to attack you as well and you want to time your attacks just right. Once you start a combo you have to let it play out so make sure that you actually have an opening because if your opponent blocks then you will be wide open. A lot of the enemies are immune to being stunned as well so they will just launch an attack while you are attacking and then you’ll go down.

Part of the learning curve here is knowing when to attack and when to run. The game can actually be rather difficult as a result and I can safely say that I did lose quite a few times. There were many moments where I had to take a step back and start training/prepping to get stronger before replaying the level. There is a full level up system at least so you can always get stronger if you are stuck. That said, one tip I would give is to make sure to check the shop while you can.

For most of the game there are no shops accessible which can be rough if you need better equipment. It’s the first time that resource has felt so scarce in an RPG before. Because of that I was over leveled but underpowered for a while because I still had the basic equipment. Trust me, you absolutely do not want the basic equipment. Ultimately it evens out by the end since more shops will appear but the middle act will go a lot smoother if you are properly prepared before heading out.

As mentioned the game is long so I would expect you will be here for a minimum of 30 hours and likely more. You can’t ask for much more out of an RPG than this. I always like to say that a game over 10 hours is reasonably long so it goes without saying that 30 is most excellent. It’s one of the biggest benefits of RPGs since you always know that you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Overall, Star Ocean brings another fun installment to the franchise. It may not be the best title in the franchise but not everything needs to be the best. The main important thing here is that its fun so I would say to pick it up while you can. The final boss rush is definitely not for the faint of heart so definitely get some good training in beforehand. Nothing worse than losing in the middle of a rush and then having to start again from scratch. It just reminds you that you weren’t ready for this yet.

Overall 7/10

Super Bomberman R Review

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I remember when this game came out many years ago for the Switch. I always thought it looked fun but I suppose it just wasn’t fun enough to go all the way and buy. Well that all changed now because I finally got to check it out for the PS4. It’s a pretty fun game but also certainly a very short one. You’ll have it conquered within a few hours no sweat. After that there is replay value but I would have liked it if the game could have been a bit longer. There’s a whole lot you can do with the bomb gameplay.

The story starts off with a guy who looks a lot like Dr. Wily deciding that he is going to take over the world. He isn’t going to do it slowly or subtly. No, this guy has hired the Dastardly Bombers to do his bidding. The Bombermen have to rise up to take them down but unfortunately only the main one is ready for action. The others keep slacking off and holding him back. Is there any way for them to come out on top or is this the end of the road?

The story is definitely on the weak side. I appreciate the fact that there are full illustrations and voice acting here but at the same time you can’t help but feel that it could be better. There’s a lot of fun you can have with a plot about the Bombermen but it’s definitely played more for laughs. The character designs are all good though. It may not be the story I had been waiting for but at least it did have a full story and you don’t want to take that for granted.

As for the gameplay, well Bomberman is all about dropping bombs along the map and making sure you don’t step in them. You have to maneuver carefully as you destroy debris and enemies without getting hit in the crossfire. It’s a pretty unique gameplay style that is also a good bit of fun. You have to go through 8 levels in each world before fighting a boss. There are 5 full worlds and then one bonus level. Each world will take you under an hour, maybe half an hour or so. This is a pretty short game as a result so personally I would have doubled the worlds. Alternately split up the levels so each one is a separate level and then do about 100 of those instead of the current number. I thin you could do it since in theory changing the layouts of the level for each mission shouldn’t be too difficult. At least it’s all using the same assets and character models so I feel like it should be really easy. You don’t want to extend the game for no reason but a few more hours helps it to really feel like a full bargain.

Although as mentioned there is replay value here in the form of bonus levels. You also have multiplayer mode and of course you can play as a bunch of different characters as well. All of that helps to really make Bomberman stand out a little more than it would otherwise. The production values all feel really high too. The character models look really sharp and everything is in very high resolution. The soundtrack is mostly forgettable with the exception of the end credits song.

That one definitely does stand out so big props to the game there. the lyrics are also really emotional, that’s the kind of heart you expect for this game. I think a sequel should really try to have the characters take everything at least a little more seriously. Do that and the whole game will absolutely benefit as a result. You already have cool visuals for the villains and a large cast so this is really the next big step. I’d definitely be encouraged to buy the game a lot sooner if that was the case. Seriously count me in there, it would be the right play.

The game can also be rather difficult with the boss battles in particular. You have to figure out how to hurt them while in battle and their attack range is really good. When you die you can revive as long as you have 300 coins left. I always had enough coins so I was good but it’s something to keep an eye out for. Otherwise you may find yourself at the dreaded game over screen and that would definitely be rough.

I recommend taking advantage of the few seconds of invincibility that you get when you first respawn. Trust me this is absolutely massive and helped me a lot with some of the bosses. Otherwise I’d almost say to button mash because it’s hard to really plan things out when you’re going super fast like this. Just throw a lot of bombs around and you should be fine. During the levels you can get upgrades to range and number of bombs as long as your speed. Go for all of them and blow up the negative power ups.

This can mean taking a little longer to complete a level as you blow everything up looking for power ups but it is really worth it for those boss battles. I was quite impressed with how tough those could be. I died several times but fortunately you get 8 lives for each chapter and of course with the continues you’ll usually have enough coins for 4-5. I only needed 1 continue for each chapter except the last one which helped for saving coins. I’m not totally sure how you earn coins. You get them for beating chapters but try not to put yourself in a position where you’re totally out of them or that could be risky.

Overall, Super Bomberman R is definitely a pretty fun game. It may be on the short side and the story wasn’t particularly impressive but at the end of the day I still had a good time. It’s a title that you can get for really cheap nowadays so there’s no reason not to get it. Hopefully Bomberman makes a return to the AAA home console games one of these days. There is a lot more you can do with the premise after all but until then we’ll have this game at the ready.

Overall 7/10

Fifa 19 Review

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Fifa is hardly my favorite sports game by EA but it is impressive how long this one has gone for. At this point it’s definitely here to stay and I’ll continue to pick up the games. I just wish it would go for more of an arcade feel over simulation since scoring is a lot of fun. More high scoring games would equal more excitement all around right? A end score of 2-1 may be fairly realistic to the real game but it’s just not explosive enough. Of course the bigger a fan you are of real soccer, the more you will appreciate this game.

The graphics are on point as always. The game looks really nice and there are a lot of tunes but none that really stand out. You’re here more for the gameplay anyway so that’s fine. As for the gameplay, well it’s very smooth which is good. The controls and rules all mirror the real game and the goalie doesn’t play around. You absolutely cannot just run up to the goal and score, even on easy mode. So I appreciate that as it forces you to use your teammates but I dare say the field doesn’t feel wide enough. Whenever you approach the goal is feels like you are completely stuck and either have to pass back or wait and buy some time until the goal is open.

This is where the game’s pacing ends up dying out because nothing’s really going on. The games would feel rather long as a result and while I wouldn’t want them to add super powers or items to the game, I think it couldn’t hurt to either expand the field or make less players be on the field at once. I want to be able to really test my skills of manipulating the ball in the open field and see what kind of shot I can make.

Part of this is a simple skill issue of course but I’ve seen soccer done masterfully like in Mario Strikers. Now there was a top tier soccer game that really got me pumped about the sport. I could play that game all day and it was always super satisfying. On the bright side you can get this game for cheap and it basically has unlimited replay value. You can keep on playing this game over and over and over again without any issues.

There are online modes, practice, exhibition, franchise, etc. There are quite a lot of modes here so I have to give the game kudos there. Sport games are also built for replay value with how you can challenge someone locally or online and have a lot of fun. It’s one of the great strengths of the genre. While I have my issues with the scoring, I can still see how you would sink in hundreds of hours with this as you learn through the game.

By the same token there isn’t a whole lot to say about this one so my review’s going to be a bit shorter than usual. There are only so many ways you can describe the game of soccer so feel free to check out my reviews of the previous years for a more detailed summary. I’ll just begin to wrap this up by saying that passing is something you should be doing a whole lot of. Trust me, it opens up the goal and generally makes things much easier. If you try scoring on your own…well I doubt you’ll be doing any scoring. The goalie is much too tricky for that and you’ll have the ball stolen real quick if you just try to run for a while.

Overall, Fifa 19 is more of the same just like how each NBA and Madden title are basically the same game over and over. You either like the game by now or you don’t but it’s not introducing any crazy mechanics or anything like that. This is a very straight forward game that knows exactly what it is. It’s not trying to pull the wool over your eyes or be too tricky for its own good. I’d like a fun cinematic story mode about saving the world in one of these titles but I’m not exactly the target audience here. If you want to play some good soccer there aren’t many alternatives right now so I’d say you should pick up this Fifa title.

Overall 6/10

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Review

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Shazam returns for another big adventure in this one. At this point he’s really been overshadowed by Black Adam but in theory Shazam should be able to reach similar levels of power so it would be interesting to see how he fares here. Ultimately I would say he’s still not on the same level but he doesn’t look bad here. Mainly he just needs to get way better at fighting and his durability could use a lot of work too. Once he masters those things then he should be set. This film’s pretty good overall, I’d probably give it the slight edge over the first one. It’s a good blend of humor and action.

The film starts off with Shazam feeling bad because he doesn’t think that he’s been doing a great job of leading the team. It’s like a junior version of the Ruby character arc from RWBY. The rest of the fighters keep ditching him too and they seem to think he’s trying to restrict them too much. They want to come into their own as solo fighters and he thinks it’s too dangerous. Well now there are a trio of gods coming after him. Can Shazam keep his family safe while taking all of these guys down or will it be too much for him?

What the film does right here is the humor. I still find Shazam and his antics to be funny along with the rest of the crew. While some Shazam fans probably still won’t like how he’s basically a joke compared to the rest of the league, he balances the humor well. If he was serious then you’d have to really amp up the villains to Superman level but this way you can put some average fighters in front and have Shazam just mess up every time they attack. Perhaps not the most satisfying resolution for Shazam fans but it’s a way to get him.

I also think the movie had more clever dialogue than the first one. Freddie actually gets a number of funny scenes here as well. Then the fights are also good as we actually get some more super speed usage here. The comedic moments do tend to take away from the fights a bit so you’ll usually get a cool moment, then a comedic break, then a cool moment, etc. I think if the film wanted to pull off a really good fight scene that it probably could but that wasn’t the main goal here.

For example, one of the goddesses can manipulate the environment, moving buildings and such. This made for some really cool visuals and is a form of reality warping that I can actually find appealing. If you did that for a longer period of time then that would have been great but it’s only for quick bursts so that it’s over just as it has begun. It was also done in a way where you can see how even someone with Shazam’s speed could have a hard time dodging it. I’m not saying the fights we got were bad but they could have been a lot better. The best battle here was definitely Shazam against the leader of the trio. The battle with the large dragon isn’t as impressive since it feels more one sided even when the dragon is landing hits.

The special effects all look cool here. I feel like Shazam’s costume getting singed and turning black was possibly a nod to Black Adam. The energy effects are cool and the movie didn’t hold back with the visuals. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but I enjoyed seeing the hero song play. Now that was a good bit of fun especially with how often the song has been appearing lately. It’s a really good song so why not have it just keep on appearing right?

The film has a pair of after credit scenes here and I can safely say that both of them are pretty good. The first one could have maybe been a little more hype but I like the setup. I’m doubtful on if it’ll go anywhere with the DC direction often changing but if it does it would be fun to put Shazam in a new environment. Most likely he couldn’t bring his friends along so they’d have to lose out but from a power levels standpoint that makes sense. Without shenanigans or depowering rays how can you stop a whole group of Shazams right?

The second scene is also a lot of fun. In a way it really works because the humor is breaking the fourth wall to an extent. For fans who have been waiting for something in particular this tease is basically saying that it’s not happening anytime soon if ever. I feel like that was the film’s way of slamming the door on it but it also could still mean something for a Shazam 3 if it ever came out. Jury’s out on that but regardless the scene itself was executed well.

So a lot of good positives here but now onto the negatives. The first one is I think Billy can still be a little too obsessive about Wonder Woman. That seems to be a core part of his character in different continuities at this point but cmon now. He’s a superhero, you need him to have some more dignity here. Also while he is slowly getting more used to his powers, I feel like he’s been a hero for years now so I’d expect him to do better here. Did he really think that he beat a goddess by slamming her to the ground?

I think writers often underestimate how strong the heroes are. For example the goddess throws a box at Shazam at one point which knocks him over. A normal box…. Here’s the thing, the writer probably figured that the box was thrown at super speed so it would work. The reason why it wouldn’t is that the box would just shatter on impact at any speed where it would be enough to come close to hitting Shazam. There is no scenario where the box itself pushes him, likewise the ground isn’t knocking someone out who is at his strength level.

So some of the power levels can be a little interesting but that’s how it goes I suppose. Shazam’s foster parents don’t get as much of a role in this one but they’re still nice enough. Most of the siblings don’t have a lot to do either. I would say the main one with a big role is Freddy since he gets a romance subplot with a new girl in school named Anne. They hit it off right away and so he now has extra incentive to be a big hero all on his own without waiting for Billy. The romance may be a little heavy handed with Freddy not handling things so well but it could be worse. By the end I just don’t think this should really work out long term.

Now there is one part of the film where I definitely disagree with Billy. So the other kids, mainly Freddy want to go out and do hero things but Billy says they either all have to go or none of them do. Here’s the problem with that, they have super powers and can realistically save a ton of lives. Functionally it’s like having half a dozen Supermen at the ready. They should be going around making the world a better place, not waiting until everyone is together. I know it’s safer when you’re in a group but realistically they can solo over 90% of the threats on the planet. If Freddy wants to go stop some thieves or escaped convicts then he should be able to. So the characters were right about Billy holding them back a bit.

That said, I still found the Wizard annoying because he spends a large chunk of the film bashing Billy and it doesn’t feel deserved. Like when he tells Billy that he regrets giving him the powers. Kind of a nasty thing to say to a kid just trying to do his best. By the end of the film they try to make the Wizard more likable but those opening scenes for him were really rough. It’s definitely hard to come back from that.

As for the goddesses, they were okay but could have used more scenes. For example the oldest one is all about getting revenge and seems like a decent villain but gets a little wishy washy by the end. She starts getting sloppy and dropping her guard which is never a good idea. The middle one is the most intense and ready to do anything for the mission. You can definitely respect that but at the same time I wanted to see her fight more. Physically she doesn’t do much here and she’s actually lucky the heroes didn’t try to take her down during the cheesesteak lunch because she would have had no way to defend herself. It was a tactical blunder.

Finally you have the youngest one who seems nice enough but can also be a bit wishy washy about the whole thing. Ultimately you need to pick a side and while she has more compassion than the others, it doesn’t mean as much if she won’t actually step in there to stop things right? I wanted to see her get more of a real fight too. There’s a cool scene of her dodging an energy blast but of course she ends up letting her guard down anyway. Not her best moment.

Overall, Shazam! delivers another pretty good film here. The skittles scene definitely feels like ultimate product placement but the fact that the film is so shameless about it does make it more impressive to an extent. Reminds me of an infamous Transformers scene involving beer. Ultimately the movie has got a solid amount of replay value and was a cheerful film so you could really watch it at any point. I’d like to see more of a prolonged fight in the third film but in the end this is still one that you could pop in and watch any day because it is easy to watch again. It definitely feels a lot shorter than 2 hours which is a good credit to the writing/pacing here.

Overall 7/10