Review A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

 Review A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
 genre:action

"Odd duck in the franchise but still fun"

Die Hard and later sequels were examples of the more smarter action movies. Most of the action was enjoyable because of the likeability of the main character John McClane and thrilling plot lines full of little twists and turns. A Good Day to Die Hard is an example where those elements are almost completely removed. Bruce Willis tries his hardest (or simply not giving a damn and refuses to take it seriously) to compensate this by treating this latest part as a parody. He is making fun of his own character and what he is about. Once you get that you can't but help laugh with him and enjoy all the silliness that you will come across. I mean from all the previous movies in this franchise this has got to be the most illogical,nonsensical and stupid plot there is. Bruce Willis realizes this and treats this like an unofficial sequel. With this in mindset this latest part becomes a blast. The action is hard hitting and over the top but nicely done. It's an improvement for Director John Moore. But honestly he is not suited to make action films like these. He does not seem to grasp what makes the action intense and exciting. Even Michael Bay understands that....(having a Transformers Dark Side of the moon flashback)......scrap that understood that with Bad Boys and The Rock. You should put the characters in impossible and difficult situations where it is very unlikely for them to get out alive and on top. And then have those characters do get out of those situations in the most noble and heroic ways ever. It does not work if the main characters themselves go looking for trouble or acting as idiots. My advice is treat this as a parody and you will have a lot of fun watching.    

Review The Last Stand (2013)

Review The Last Stand (2013)

genre:action,modern day western

He said he will be back in many of his movies but after his adventure as the Governator it seemed he would not meet that promise. But apparently politic life wasn't exactly what he had hoped for. Begs the question IS HE BACK? As much I would like to say yes it's not easy to say it. Problem is that if the goal was to impress the world that Schwarzenegger has still got that magic that made him so enjoyable to watch him then I am not entirely convinced. Sure there were enough scenes with those typical Schwarzenegger one liners and humour but there were barely action scenes of him kicking ass which is something that made him so memorable in the first place.Now I do know that Schwarzenegger has become to old for these kinds of role and you can't expect that much from him. But the first trailer I saw hinted at an "I am too old for this shit" take on what we are used from him and that would have been awesome. A parody like that could have elevated the The Last Stand into more than it is. Except from a few comedic moments mainly provided by the supporting cast the movie takes it self too seriously. And that is never good when the story is simple and predictable and the acting by main star barely tolerable.There were moments where it looked like Schwarzenegger had forgotten how to act. (Yes,I am one of the few who does think that he could do so before in the genre that made him big). It looked like Arnold was a little lost. I hear you thinking. Who does this guy think he is talking about acting in an action movie, what about the action? The action that is present is solid and enjoyable but pretty tame and mediocre especially compared to Schwarzenegger's older stuff. But most of  the hard hitting kind is more or less there in the terrific finale. While this was enough for me to enjoy the The Last Stand I can't hide my disappointment and saying that this has to be one of the worst movies Schwarzenegger has starred in. And not because it was that bad. More because it pales in comparison to what he is known for. Which is something you can't brush off like that. Overall it is all about lowering expectations and not too get hung about what once was. 

Free Gift!

Some moral value has prevented me from using puppies at the moment but if I find the response unsatisfactory I will not hesitate to use them to make you take the free gift. Don't let it come to that.

I have been bestowed the honour to give away ten licenses for a software called Pinnacle Game Profiler, which is basically a computer program that allows gamers to remap the buttons on their gamepad/joystick in various ways. For more info on this program check out their site:

http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/

The first 10 readers of Chrichton's World to claim the prize will win the licence to this awesome software. So what do you have to do? 

In order to issue the key full name and and email address is required. Note: You will not be added to any mailing list. Fill these out in the Contact me form and make sure you mention in your email that it is concerning the giveaway contest. The winners will be notified as soon as possible. That is all. 

Having the option to map out a controller the way you sounds like a sweet deal to me. What is stopping you,contact me already!!!

 

Review Mama (2013)

Review Mama (2013)

genre:supernatural horror

Mama is one of those flawed horror titles that does a lot of things right and is quite entertaining. Except for one big flaw. It is a very predictable affair. Don't worry, there are plenty of effective scares and thrills to get your blood pumping. But maybe a bit too effective. The scares come a little too early and are quite intense. A lot of the creepiness is very similar to the ones in Japanese horror films like The Grudge and The Ring.Which is great at first.Especially with the promise of two great background stories that can be explored But soon it becomes apparent that the scares are all there is. There is barely an explanation for why things are happening.The fact that the ghost is evil might have been sufficient way back when we weren't craving for a little depth but now that is unacceptable. I can't but help to think that this is a huge missed opportunity. In ghost stories it usually is the story with or without twists that provides the real impact. And so much could have been done with the mama character. That is why I was a little disappointed how Mama ended. To be fair though the more than competent acting by the child actors and Jessica Chastain make up for that so the experience overall is still satisfying.

Review 100 Feet (2008)

Review 100 Feet (2008)

genre:horror

This movie has more than enough scares and surprises to please the average viewer. Only it could have been so much more. The whole house arrest premise in combination with the (minimal) background story showed promise for a chilling setup. And the movie starts out good in building up suspense. But out of the blue the movie went from subtle to outright ridiculous where it almost changed this serious movie into a slapstick comedy. And then it switched back to subtle again. There are only a few moments where the electronic ankle bracelet is truly a handicap.(Personally I think it was an advantage because she could alert the police much more faster than normally possible.) "Disturbia" did a much better job in demonstrating how annoying it was to have such a bracelet. The second thing that I missed in this movie was a decent back story on Famke's character. Almost everybody thought that she was a bad person even when it comes to light that she was being abused by her husband. It would have made more sense to show some flashbacks on his behaviour in order to make her more likeable. But this credit has to go to Famke Janssen only because she manages to invoke sympathy even when she is supposed to portray this stone cold tough chick. To me the climax was very disappointing. Since I was hoping for some wonderful twist that could have explained the subtle build up of tension and suspense that was buried in the usual over the top special effects extravaganza used in American horror movies nowadays. This twist never comes. Overall this movie is quite enjoyable,only don't expect to be really surprised in the end.

Review Zwart Water a.k.a. Two Eyes Staring (2010)

Review Zwart Water 
a.k.a. Two Eyes Staring (2010)

genre:horror

For a country that hasn't made a lot of horror movies this movie sure is a huge improvement. But it still needs a lot of work. The slow build up was pretty good and provided just enough tension to make it interesting. However there were not enough scary moments to qualify as a real horror. As a drama this also fails since most of the characters don't act as they would in real life. It was very hard for me to have sympathy for the mother. Since it was obvious she wasn't exactly right in the head from the start. If this fact wasn't entirely clear than some events would have worked better. A lot of events in the film also relied too much on coincidence and convenience. The cousin is pretty vague throughout until the end. Christine and her odd behaviour towards her husband and her daughter should have at least made the husband curious to find out what is going on. But he makes no attempt whatsoever. Another example is the fact that both parents suddenly have to work when previously only one did. Logically it doesn't even make sense since they didn't have to pay rent and had more to spare. Plot wise it is understandable since they had to create the opportunity for the daughter Lisa to experience the things she does. Of course these are all tactics to build up the tension even more but to me it had quite the opposite effect. These superficial tactics would have worked better if the movie had other things to offer. Like really scary scenes or imagery that would suggest or give another perspective on the events. The lack of actual plot or character development made it a predictable affair to the experienced horror fan. And that really is a bloody shame since this movie had the potential to become a classic.

I loved the ending of Mass Effect 3

I LOVED the ending of Mass Effect 3

genre:action/rpg

Maybe loved is an exaggeration on my part.But bare with me I will explain.

 

Honestly after having heard so much about Mass Effect 3 and the way it ended it put me off playing it until I actually played it.And I have to say there were more than enough annoyances and flaws in design like lack of inventory and keeping track of  what you had accomplished in the side quests.Also triggering these side quests required you to explore every inch of all the sections in the Citadel even when there was no logical reason to do so.Which is a very old school RPG mechanic and not a problem if it weren't for the numerous loading times.It really tested your patience at times.Other RPG Elements were stripped down to the bare minimum and in light of the scale and grandness of the story I fully understand that.But none of them could sway me from one important fact.From start till ending Mass Effect is epic! You will laugh,cry,get angry and every emotion you can think of that make every minute of this game an unforgettable experience.Which is something most players will agree on. How can you not be! In the whole franchise of Mass Effect the lives you touch upon have impact on your adventure.

Except maybe for the final ending. I guess some people might have hoped to see more of the influence of their interaction with other characters. But as it was for me, it was a good ending.Of course it was a little too minimalistic and perhaps a little too easy.It sure would have been nice to see the aftermath and how the other characters were doing.But if you tried to get most out of the game and partook in every mission,quest or dialogue that was available to you it will get clear of where the characters are in their life and what still was left to do for them.Most of the dialogue options also hinted how it would end for Shepard.Contrary to belief it does pay off to be immersed in the Mass Effect Universe through completing all of the available dialogue, missions and interactions with every console or device that is available.Unlike in previous Mass Effect games even the littlest fetch quests in this last part mattered in the grand scheme of things or were tied to how Shepard was looked at. (In my humble opinion in RPG oriented games it always is worth to do side quests even when it only serves as background of the universe you live in .) So right before the last mission a lot would have had to happen to negate the already full experience I gotten from the game.It did help that I was expecting the worst.Although I have to say that even if I was not prepared for it I would have like the ending since I realized there were only a few ways the story could end.While the story was rich with a most interesting and complex universe filled with even more interesting and beings living within it the story was never far from a predictable affair. Of course I can understand that many things like indoctrination and synthesis won't make sense (unless like I said took the time to interact with everything that is possible because those topics are talked about) and feel like some rushed and thrown in ideas to give you this outcome.Only to me those never felt as insulting as the conclusions to Battlestar Galactica (reboot) and Lost.Big difference was that the whole emphasis of those tv shows was based on the promise to deliver answers to mysteries presented throughout where as in Mass Effect there was no real mystery other than why the Reapers were attacking.And that question sort of became obsolete the moment all creatures (organics and synthetics) were being destroyed.So the question then shifts to how and when will it end.Normally I would agree with endings where too many things are left abstract or too open.In this case however I feel more than enough is explained or hinted which makes it  nice to be able to fill in the blanks yourself should you want to.Isn't that what makes Science Fiction so darn interesting?