TL;DR – A game of two halves whose disconnect should not work, but I keep coming back.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Review – As part of the consequences of 2020 (and one of the few that are not bad) is that I have been playing a lot more multiplayer games with my group of friends. While the go-to games of Civilization and Divinity are there, we have also been branching out into new games, one of which is today’s review, 7 Days to Die. Now, I should preface this review with the fact that this game is still in alpha, which means that it is not feature complete. However, given the first release was in 2013, I think there has been enough time to get a good sense of the game.
So to set the scene, 7 Days to Die is a survival horror game set in a post-World War 3 Arizona where the dead now outnumber the living. The survival part of the genre means that you have to build bases, craft new items, upgrade your stuff so you can access new areas, and then rinse and repeat. The horror part of the title comes from the fact that your central adversary in this game is the walking dead, old bitey, or as you may know them by zombies.
TL;DR – A film that unfortunately cannot reach the heights of its past.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
A few years ago, I stumbled across this fascinating Korean film called The Train to Busan. It was a zombie film where every character acted consistently and understandably throughout its run time. In a sea of mediocre zombie flicks, it instantly rose to the top, and since then maybe only Cargo has come close to meeting it. Thus, I was excited when I heard there was going to be a sequel to that great film. However, now I have seen it. I realise I should have modulated my expectations before going in.
So to set the scene, we open in on the day that South Korea fell. With Seoul burning in the background, Captain Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) is racing through mountainous back roads to get his family out on the last refugee boat. While driving, they came across a stranded family with a baby and just kept on driving. They make it to the boat in time, however, as it is leaving one of the passengers turns and before they can stop it all of Jung-seok’s family is dead bar his brother-in-law Chul-min (Kim Do-yoon). Four years later, in Hong Kong living in squalor waiting for refugee status, Chul-min and Jung-seok are offered an opportunity by a local gangster to make some real money. All they have to do is go back to Inchon, in what is now just known as The Peninsular, under cover of darkness and recover a food truck with 20 Million Dollars in the back. What could go wrong?
TL;DR – All tease when it probably should be starting to deliver.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review – Well, Snowpiercer the show started in an odd place, with a murder-mystery at the core of the narrative. I was not sure how it could all jell together, but as it has continued, those lines in the sand have become more evident as power shifts have come into the light. This brewing tension has led to an interesting premise, though it is still not clear if they can pull it off.
So to set the scene, the Snowpiercer has continued on its journey in the frozen appocalype of Earth, now steaming through the former Amazon. However, for Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) the discovery that Lilah Jr (Annalise Basso) was the real murderer was not the end of his mission because he stumbled onto something else. For he found out the real power behind Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) and ended up in the draws for his trouble. However, everything marches on, and there needs to be a trial because there have been murders, and people want justice. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This an okay start, but nothing really captured me with the opening episodes.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
A couple of years ago, there was this truly fascinating film from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho who would go on write/direct last year’s Oscar winner Parasite. I found the film to be fascinating right up until that ending which I am still going back and forth on. So when I heard they were going make a TV show out of it I was intrigued how they would pull it off, the setting is there, but is the story?
So to set the scene, as the world started to crash as global warming and sea levels swamped the coasts. To fix this the world’s scientist had a plan to cool the world down … and they went too far. The world was freezing over and one man had a solution, Mr Wilford who built a 1001 car train for the world’s rich. However, as it was about to take off on its never-ending journey across the world those who could not afford it boarded the train in the last-ditch effort to save themselves from the coming death. Six years later, those who made it on still live in the tail, living off meagre food bars, trying to find the right time to rebel. They are ready to make their move when their leader Layton (Daveed Diggs), is taken by the hospitality team led by Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) because he is the only homicide detective left on the train and someone just got murdered. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – A fascinating combination of animation and music, all this a real purpose and theme that made it a intriguing work of art.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene
Review –
Earlier this year I mentioned that back in the day Daft Punk created this animated accompaniment to one of their
albums and that it was surprising that no one else had really explored this as
well. That was at the start of the year since then we have had multiple artists
combine an album release with a short film accompaniment. We have had the highs
of Anima,The
Bash Brothers Experience, and Guava
Island. Well, today we get add another to that list with the truly fascinating
Sound & Fury.
While there is a story referenced though some recurring moments, it is more a work
that focuses on mood and theme. If I was to label it I would say it is a
meditation on a post-apocalyptic world by way of Japanese animation and heaping
of Mad Max car action and sheer
absurdity all put to a rock anthem. This, I hope, will give you some idea as to
just how weird this music video/experience is, but also how fascinatingly interesting
it is.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting take on the End-Of-The-World genre
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I say to you Zombie Apocalypse, I think for many people the first thing
you would do is suppress a sigh. As a genre, it has been used multiple times
and these days one could say that it has been done to death as long as they immediately
followed it up immediately with ‘pun not attended’. However, every now and again,
a new show will use the setting to explore something new and today we get to
look at just such a show.
So to set the scene, we open in on Day 42 with Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard)
the only known survivor in his town. 42 Days ago portals opened up over his
town and monsters and zombies came flooding out attacking the town. Some escaped,
some were rescued, but more still were turned into zombies to roam the streets.
Abandoned by his foster family, Jack survives by hiding in his foster brother’s
treehouse and using that as a base of operation. He is trying to find his best
buddy Quint (Garland Whitt) and rescue his flame June (Montse Hernandez), but
first he needs to survive being hunted by a monster angry because Jack poked
its eye out.
TL;DR – An ambitious series
drawing inspiration from multiple religious and mystical frameworks that while
pioneering in many respects, completely fails to stick the landing
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today I get to finally explore the third pillar of 1990s sci-fi anime with the
massively influential Neon Genesis
Evangelion. For me, this was almost a form of closure given how much I have
watched the other two pillars Cowboy
Bebop and Ghost in the Shell but
I never got to see Evangelion. It was
also interesting to see a show that has been massively influential to the genre
but watching it with 20 years of extra context on top of it. Well if nothing
else, the ending stinger to last year’s Desert Bus now makes sense. With
that in mind, let’s dive in and explore Hideaki Anno’s work of gods, and
angels, and science, and man.
So to set the scene, in the year 2000 a great calamity arouse across the world
when the second impact occurred in Antarctica blasting the icy continent to
ruin and melting all its ice causing extensive flooding across the world. The
UN authority declared that the cause was a giant meteorite impact, hence common
term of it being ‘the second impact’ (okay sort of, but also sort of not, it
gets complicated). However, this is all a cover, because what really happened
is that a creature of great power was discovered under the ice, this Angel was
called Adam and something the researchers did trigger him destroying
everything. 15 years later, Shinji Ikari (Megumi Ogata/ Spike Spencer/ Casey
Mongillo) is running through deserted streets to a pick-up location. The whole
area has gone into emergency lockdown for some unknown reason, and that reason
turns out to be a second angel that everyone kind of expected was coming. Just
before he is crushed, Shinji is rescued by Captain Misato Katsuragi (Kotono
Mitsuishi/ Allison Keith/ Carrie Keranen) and taken to Tokyo-3 where a
secretive organisation Nerv has their headquarters. The leader of Nerv is
Shinji’s father Gendo Ikari (Fumihiko Tachiki/ Tristan MacAvery/ Ray Chase) who
is at best distant, but a more fair description would be icy or even abusive.
However, Shinji does not have time to process that because he is announced to
be the Third Child, and one of only a few people that can pilot an Evangelion
which he has to do like now.
TL;DR – Adding aBattle Royale to a Civilization game
seems really counterintuitive, that is until you play it.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
In 2019 if there was
ever a trend that could be considered the new hotness that every video game
company wants a chunk of, well that has to be the Battle Royale mode. For those
who may not know, a Battle Royale mode/game is where you have an ever-shrinking
map so you need to gear up, get to the safe zone, defeating any enemies you
come across, and be the last one standing. This is where you get your chicken
dinner, or in this case your escape from a dying planet. But most Battle Royale
games like PUBG, Fortnite, and Call of Duty:
Black Ops 4: Blackout are first/third-person shooters, surely it can’t work
in a strategy game, well I’ve been able to play a couple of rounds so far so
let’s see.
My experience with Battle Royale games is not as extensive as some people, however
I have played/watched enough of the genre to get a good sense of the common
aspects of the game. You have the same phases in a match, when you land you
have to roam around quickly to try and get resources, troops from ruined
cities, helicopters from raider camps, or even a coveted nuclear weapon. You
need to move quickly because everyone else is out there doing the same, so you
have to stretch your resources, but not so much that you overburden yourself.
Then you might pick off one of the players that were not quick enough while
keeping to the ever-shrinking safe zone until there are only one or more
players left and you battle it out head-to-head.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting premise and it is playing with some interesting themes, even if it
doesn’t quite always come together.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
In recent years Netflix has been starting to make a big push into the anime arena
possible as a way of holding off some of its competitors. Well in the same week
that Neon Genesis Evangelion finally
made its way on to the streaming service we get an adaptation of one of the
most famous manga series 7Seeds.
Well, you have animation, set in a post-apocalyptic world, and add a growing
mystery, well count me in.
So to set the scene, one day Natsu Iwashimizu (Nao Tōyama) wakes up in the
middle of the ocean on a sinking ship. The last thing she remembers is having a
big dinner of all her favourite things and then she wakes up all alone. But
before she has a chance to process what is going on Mozu (Kazuhiko Inoue) is
screaming for her to get into a life raft. The two of them, along with Arashi (Jun
Fukuyama) and Semimaru (Katsuyuki Konishi) find themselves on an abandoned
island filled with odd creatures and plants. Is there anyone coming to help
them? Where are they? Is there anyone left? Well, the answer to that is a large
no because a cataclysm has happened. Now from here, we will be looking at the season
as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – It builds on
the season before and becomes a much more intense show that maybe holds its
cards bit too close to its chest.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Early last year I got a chance to watch the first Netflix show to come out of
Scandinavia. The Rain had a fantastic
premise with strong characters, overarching story, and design work. Though it
was a show where it would have been great to see it take some more risks and
chart a more independent course. Flash forward to a week ago and the second
season dropped onto the service and at once it captivated me back into this
world of post-apocalyptic Denmark.
So to set the scene, one day everyone’s lives in Denmark and at least Southern
Sweden changed for the worse. For that day it started to rain, nothing new in
Scandinavia, but this time the rains did not bring life, but death. Something
we are reminded about in the opening moments of Season Two when we see the carnage
once more to give us perspective moving forward. We jump back into the story
just when Season
One ended with Simone (Alba August), Rasmus (Lucas Lynggaard
Tønnesen), Martin (Mikkel Følsgaard), Jean (Sonny Lindberg), Lea (Jessica
Dinnage), and Patrick (Lukas Løkken) escaping from the Apollon headquarters
along the barrier wall in Sweden. Just when all hope is lost, Simone and
Rasmus’ father Frederick (Lars Simonsen) gives them a location where they might
get some help, moments before he himself is killed. So with a plan, they set
off for this hidden base, but there could be an even worse danger within
because the virus in Rasmus is adapting and changing and it is destroying
everything in its path. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a
whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 