The Witcher Season 4 Review - Is it really THAT BAD???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well guys, this might be a slightly contentious post regarding the subject, which is of much outrage online right now as the Netflix series, The Witcher has just aired its 4th season, which has seen the change of its lead actor from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth. 

So, as a result of this change, there has been a huge backlash from fans online but there were already plenty of fans that disliked the show's direction and storylines even when Cavill was still in the series and Cavill himself was believed to have left due to creative differences with the producers. However, despite that, the series has gone on into its fourth season and the change of lead actor has indeed been the subject of much outrage as well as the increasing lack of faithfulness to the original material. 

But having watched the whole 4th season, is it really as bad as they say it is??? Well, let's take a look.

Oh and I will give the warning below...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the fourth season begins with Witcher, Geralt of Rivia (now Liam Hemsworth) along with the travelling bard, Jaskier (Joey Batey) and skilled archer, Milva (Meng'er Zhang) making their way toward Nilfgaard with the intention of rescuing Ciri (Freya Allan). On their way, they discover that former Nilfgaardian officer, Cahir is being held captive by a band of Nilfgaadrian soldiers, Geralt threatens to kill him but then leaves a knife for Cahir to cut himself free with. Geralt on his travels soon also meets Regis (Laurence Fishburne) a barber surgeon, who helps on their travels as well but its also apparent, Geralt is still hurting from his wounds at the hand of the powerful and evil mage, Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). So, throughout the season, Geralt deals with his own doubts and fears in trying to protect Ciri. 

Meanwhile, Yennefer (Anya Charlota) the powerful mage (and lover of Geralt) and part of a former coven of witches at Aretuza, gathers together the remaining members of her coven, which was decimated by the villainous Vilgefortz. So, Yennefer intends to destroy Vilgefortz and his army of corrupted witches in order to eventually rebuild Aretuza. 

And lasty, we have Ciri, who in this season has joined up with a criminal gang known as the Rats, who is lead by Mistle (Juliette Alexandra) and Ciri goes on to have a romantic relationship with. However, Ciri has her struggles within the group and later on we discover that her father, King Emhyr (Bart Edwards) has one of his close confidants, Skellen (James Purefoy) try and track her down for his own ends. However, Skellen himself has his own agenda and uses Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley) a brutal and ruthless bounty hunter to hunt her down.

THOUGHTS

So, this series really did get a real grilling from the fans on its release last week as it was crucified for what is percieved as rushed storylines, poor storytelling, deviating majorly from the source material and the absence of Henry Cavill greatly impacted the show itself. So, no matter what the show creators could have done here with the absence of their original leading man, nothing could have satisifed the fans and no replacement for Cavill would have been good enough for them. As for Liam Hemsworth's performance, it has already been heavily criticised for a lack of charisma and humour as Hemworth by far and large plays it very straight, which to an extent I can't disagree with but I have to also admit, I didn't think he was that bad either. 

So, for me personally, I think the Witcher Season 4 is actually not a bad season at all and is even a pretty decent one overall, despite some issues and misgivings with the show, I really don't think it is that bad and it doesn't deserve all the hate that it gets. 

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section might contain the odd spoiler!) 

As for the performances in season 4, I will say a bit about the cast here but won't really quote any scenes of dialogue as such as I usually do since there is more to cover in a series. 

So, for starters, let's begin with Liam Hemsworth himself as Geralt and I have to say, I think he does a fairly good job here and even succeeds in showing a more serious side to Geralt given his grave injuries at the hands of Vilgefortz at the end of Season 3 have left him more vulnerable than before. It is undeniable however that Hemsworth had a tough job in following Cavill in the role, given that Cavill was so good as Geralt and was bsaically tailored made for the role and here he doesn't quite reach the level in the role that Cavill did. 

However, despite that, Hemsworth still does the best with the material he is given here, even if he plays the role way more seriously with the very little in the way of any lines of humour (well for the most part anyway despite the odd line here or there). In fact you could say that is the worst thing about the series, is how they really deviated away from Geralt's character as we saw it in the video games and in the books and they've taken even further here in this season. Regardless, I still think Hemsworth's take on Geralt, did kind of grow on me a bit more as the season progressed.

Next Anya Charlota is excellent once again in here role as Yennefer, the powerful mage, who is Geralt's romantic interest and also step mother to Ciri and here tries to reform the witches coven to destroy the villainous mage, Vilgefortz. Anya's performance is pretty consistent with how it was in the previous series, mostly serious but with a few flashes of humour here and there. Yennefer's storyline for the most part is also pretty compelling and her battle against Vilgefortz for the most part is pretty good and well staged. 

Freya Allan is also excellent once again in her role as Ciri, who in this season joins a criminal gang, the Rats and becomes romantically invovled with one of their group as well but the gang themselves soon or later are the subject of a ruthless bounty hunter. In fact for me, Ciri's storyline was probably the strongest of the three and Ciri's character starts to shine more as we see more of her feistiness and her sense or humour emerge here. There are also even moments in the season where Freya even resembles how Ciri looked in the Witcher 3 video game, which is cool in itself. So, for me, this was easily one of the best aspects of the season and Freya's best performance in the show so far. 

Joey Batey also makes his return as Jaskier, the travelling bard, who sticks with Geralt although his character is somewhat less humorous this time around and is sidelined quite a bit more. However, to be fair, Joey does get his amusing albeit cringing musical sequence, which in a way is fun and does help break up the more serious moments of the season themselves. Although, his longer hairdo in this season, has also been the subject of some criticism but for me I didn't mind it too much. 

As for new cast members, Laurence Fishburne is excellent in his role as Regis, a surgeon of sorts, who has a rather dark past but ends up helping Geralt on his travels. Fishburne also provides a colourful performance here and is one of the stronger things about this season overall. He also provides some moments of humour during the show, which work well.

Sharlto Copley is also excellent as a new character, Leo Benhart, a brutal bounty hunter, who is ruthless in his methods of hunting down his targets. Copley plays the role with a humorous side but he is also quite chilling given Benhart's brutal nature in how he takes down his targets, which culminates in a bloody showdown near the end of the season. 

Juliette Alexandra is very good in her role as Mistle, one of the rats gang, who Ciri joins and she becomes romantically involved with. Alexandra does a good job at showing Mistle's playful and dangerous nature but also balancing all that with her relationship with Ciri, as she also sees how Ciri changes as the season progresses.   

Next is Meng'er Zhang, who does a fine job as Milva, the archer, who helps Geralt and Jaskier on their travels, who they befriended at the end of Season 3. Zhang also does a good job at showing Milva's feisty character, who can often insult those around her but she also shows she is willing to fight for them and we find out as the show goes on she has a secret of her own. 

Bart Edwards also makes his return as Emperor Emhyr, the ruthless leader of the Nilfgaardian empire and in this season searches for his daughter, Ciri, who he wants for his own ends (won't say why!). Edwards is pretty good once again in his role as well as the creepy and slimy emperor, who really ramps up his creepiness in this season for sure.

Mahesh Jadu again returns as the villainous mage, Vilgefortz, who is intent on wiping out the remaining witch coven members and he does a pretty good job once at showing how twisted Vilgefortz can be. In fact there is a scene later on where (SPOILER!) Vilgefortz kills three of his remaining coven and takes a part of their bodies for himself as a memento (yep pretty f'd up!!).   

Anna Shaffer is also pretty good in her role as Triss Merigold, who is one of the witches, who helps out Yennefer in her quest to take down Vilgefortz. However, Shaffer's character is somewhat sidelined here in this season but she does when she can also with the limited material she has. 

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS 

Mimi M Kayisha is also very good in her returning role as Frangilla, a witch who was once in the service of the Nilfgaadrian empire but now switches her allegiance to help Yennefer fight against Vilgefortz. Mimi also does a good job at showing the possibility that Frangilla could still flip sides as she has a rather morally ambivalent past.   

And last of all, Eamon Farren does well in his role as Cahir, the now former Nilfgaardian commander, who in this season switches his allegiance and helps out Geralt and the others in their quest to find Ciri. The only real problem I have with Farren however is his character of Cahir is pretty one dimensional and not very interestintg but Farren does what he can with the limited development of his role and it is good to see him join the good side.

MUSIC AND SPECIAL EFFECTS

As for the music, the show's composers once again do a pretty good job with here and keep the theme of the show's Polish roots in check. The score doesn't really hit the heights of the music you find in the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game, which is pretty phenomenal but overall its still a good solid score and fits the tone of the show well. 

Special effects wise, the show makes fairly good use of its CGI although some monsters fair better than others during the season as the CGI for some of them looks pretty obviously fake. In fact you could argue in general, CGI has gotten worse in recent years rather than better! Regardless the effects are not too bad and serve the show well enough.

FLAWS

As for flaws...is Season 4 perfect? Hell no! ;-) Yes there are some issues with the season itself.

For starters, I think to start with the elephant in the room and that is Liam Hemsworth himself, who had a mighty tough task in replacing Henry Cavill in the show and to be fair he does a fairly good job at it for the most part. However, it has to be said there are times where his performance really does feel lacklustre and his hushed and serious delivery of Geralt's lines at nearly all times does kind of make the character's depiction feel now all the more drab and uninteresting, which Geralt never should be. I also feel like this is also to do with of course the writers and the path they chose to taken with Geralt to make him more sullen and serious here as he faces questions about his own mortality and his own ability after being gravely injured at the end of Season 3. So, for the most part, Hemsworth's Geralt feels like a stripped down version of the character almost to the point, it feels like he's not EVEN there and the show just happens around him! 

However, despite this there are still some nice moments from Hemsworth himself throughout the series, particularly the scene where we have a flashback to where Geralt fixes Ciri's hair for her and she makes a joke and he says "Ah, humour! I remember that!". Then of course there is that moment, which everyone hated in the trailer where he shouts "Let's fu***** MOVE!!!" but when you take in the context of the actual scene, its actually a pretty funny line. The context of the scene is in fact where Geralt helps out Queen Meve's soldiers and Jaskier gives a pep talk to the soldiers and he asks "Do you have anything to add to that, Geralt?" and Geralt takes out his sword and delivers the infamous line. Despite these though, there are however still times where you feel the show is definitely that bit hollower without Cavill but to be fair, Hemsworth's Geralt did grow on me a bit more as he went on and hopefully he will finish stronger in Season 5. 

Another issue I had was to do with some choices of how characters were suddenly written out such as Djikstra, the ruthless advisor to the fomer King, who now advises the weak King Radvoid, as he appears for a couple of episodes and he is quickly taken out of things. The same even also goes for Radovid himself, who makes a rather bizarre transition from a weasily King to a more decisive one after meeting with Jaskier briefly in one scene (after their romantic tryst in season 3). However, in the next episode, Radovid again vanishes! So, yeah, I feel like they rushed the storylines here quite a bit here myself and the disappearance of certain characters feel a bit jarring. 

WARNING: TWO BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!!! 

I also felt that the season's conclusion was also a bit unsatisfactory and left things hanging the final season but it would have been good if we had some closure on certain things. For example, Ciri's fight with Leo Benhart is cut short and at the end she is captured by him whilst she witnesses her former rat members being gruesomely beheaded by Benhart himself. I was just hoping that Ciri would have brutally finished this guy off instead but sadly they decided not to go with that and save it for the final season. I guess I just hated this guy enough, I wanted to see Ciri use her skills or magic to blast his head off instead (bloodlust got me there! Sorry!").

Also further to this, we have Yennefer's story arc conclude with her going after Vilgefortz but again its left hanging as to how she will reach him as she just teleports into the ocean and swims towards some sort of whirpool. Its just a bit of a daft way to end her story in the show at this point rather than have her, you know land on actual land!

And last of all, I thought that Geralt's 180 on his opinion of Cahir was handled a bit stupidly as he eventually accepts, he is there to help him despite Geralt's repeated attempts at killing him. However, in the end, Geralt thanks his party for helping save him and that included Cahir but Cahir didn't really do anything for him in the season up to this point to really help him! Its more a case of Cahir saying "I'm not your enemy!" over and over until it eventually sinks in but I still don't recall Cahir helping him properly until the final episode itself. 

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, is The Witcher Season 4 really that bad and as big a disaster as the online community make it out to be?? Well, in my opinion, absolutely not. Its actually a very entertaining season for the most part with some good action, good story arcs (more for Ciri and Yennefer than Geralt) and it hangs together better than Season 3 did, which fell apart towards the end. However, the change of casting from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth is definitely felt here but to be fair Hemsworth does what he can with the role and he did grow on me a bit more as the season progressed. 

However, I think it also has to be said (and this bit might get me into trouble if Witcher fans read it!) that this season really has become the victim of the hate bandwagon, which so many fans of pop culture these days are too keen to get on. So, I really think that this season is getting way too much hate and really doesn't deserve it as its deemed as being objectively awful by legions of fans and if you go on Youtube you see nothing but "WITCHER SEASON 4 AWFUL" and "WITCHER SEASON 4 SUCKS" etc etc. But I think this is definitely systemic of a problem with fan culture in general these days where its too easy to hate on something and find reasons to hate something rather than to like it or give it a chance.

So, for me, Witcher Season 4 is not objectively awful, not badly acted, not poorly paced (for the most part anyway!) and not un-entertaining. It can be enjoyed and I think if you just want to watch something for a bit of escapism, you could certainly do worse than this. So, I really do think in the end, you need to take all this hate directed at the series with a pinch of salt and decide for yourself what you think of it. Is it perfect? Nope, the season has its problems but I still think people should give it a try and try not to buy into the overwhelming negativity and online toxicity that has been attached to it.

So, I will rate The Witcher Season 4

7 out of 10

So, that's it for this one guys and I will see you soon for another post.

Until then, bye for now!     

Whiplash Review (revisited) "Not my fu***** TEMPO!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I thought would try and get a quick post in just before the end of the month on this blog, so this will be a revisit of a previous post on the psychological drama film, Whiplash. So, I will add a bit more to the original review in a few sections to expand on it.

So, with that said, let's take another look at Whiplash six years on from my initial review and 11 on from its release.

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!  

STORY

So, the story follows a young ambitious jazz drum student, Andrew Nieman (Miles Teller) who is studying at the prestigious (and fictional) Shaffer Conservatory in New York City. One night at the school while Andrew rehearses, he catches the attention of Terence Fletcher (J.K Simmons) who is a renowned instructor at the conservatory and he asks Andrew if he will play as an alternate drummer in his studio band.

Andrew however soon finds out that Fletcher's methods of teaching are pretty ruthless as he brutally berates his students frequently by throwing insults at them whenever they make a mistake and he even dismisses one of them for allegedly being out of tune. Andrew soon also comes under fire from Fletcher as he begins to play as an alternate for the track "Whiplash" by Hank Levy and Fletcher continually pulls him up for poor timing on the track, which boils up to the point of Fletcher throwing a chair at Andrew, yelling at him and even slapping him for not keeping up the tempo.

Andrew meanwhile also begins dating a girl, Nicole (Melissa Benoist) who works as a movie theatre concessionaire. However, its not long before Andrew's obsession with his drumming takes over and decides to make a pre-emptive strike to end their relationship as he tells Nicole that she would be ultimately hold him back from progressing with his career as a drummer.

Sometime later, Fletcher's class attend a jazz competition, where Andrew is still an alternate for the core drummer of the band, Carl (Nate Lang). During a break, Andrew loses Carl's music sheets, which he cannot play without, so Andrew volunteers to play instead as he tells Fletcher he has studied the notes of "Whiplash" thoroughly and can play the track to which Fletcher agrees to. Andrew then goes on to successfully play the track for the band and he is soon promoted to core drummer.

However its not all plain sailing for Andrew as Fletcher recruits another drummer into the band, Connolly (Austin Towell) who is the core drummer in Andrew's former band group, which angers Andrew as he believes Connolly is not as good a drummer as he is. This soon leads to an intense night session where Andrew, Connolly and Carl all audition for the core drummer part with Andrew finally earning the part as his hands literally bleed from playing.

Enroute to another jazz competition, Andrew is forced to get a rental car to get there after the bus he was riding had broken down but he forgets to lift his drumsticks from the rental place. Andrew then shows up at the competition and argues with Fletcher about having no sticks and that he could give up the part he earned at a moment's notice. Andrew then races back to get his sticks from the rental office but he ends up his crashing his rental car in an accident. However, sustaining a head injury, Andrew determinedly heads back to the competition much to everyone's shock, he starts to play the track "Caravan" but its soon clear he cannot continue due to his injury. Fletcher then tells Andrew he is finished with the band, which enrages Andrew and he attacks Fletcher and is dragged off him by the other band members. Soon after, Andrew is sent a formal letter confirming his dismissal from the conservatory.

Not long after, Andrew's father, Jim Neiman (Paul Reiser) asks Andrew to meet with a lawyer, who is representing the parents of a former conservatory student named Sean Casey, whom Fletcher had tutored. Fletcher previously had told the class about Casey and that he died in a car accident but the lawyer tells Andrew that Casey, who had been struggling with depression, committed suicide, which was most likely as a result of Fletcher's abusive teaching methods. The lawyer requests that Andrew testify against Fletcher to prevent him from carrying on but assures Andrew that he will be kept anonymous to which Andrew agrees to testify and as a result, Fletcher is fired from the conservatory. 

Months later, Andrew has given up on drumming and works at a restaurant but one night walking by a bar he notices a billboard with Fletcher's name on it and on entering the bar, Andrew finds Fletcher performing piano. After the show, Fletcher inivites Andrew to have a drink and afterward, Fletcher tells Andrew that he has a band playing an upcoming show at the JVC jazz festival and asks is Andrew would be interested in playing but tells him to think it over.

So, its from here that Andrew must decide if he will make his return as a drummer and take up Fletcher on his offer...

THOUGHTS

As a film, Whiplash is a highly entertaining and gripping experience, which is pretty intense right from the get go and its highlights are undoubtedly between the two leads of the film where we see J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller go at it and lock heads in an intense battle of the minds. The film however has of course been criticised by professional musicians, who have called it out as being totally unrealistic in its depiction of tuition towards students. And it would be fair to say that this indeed feels more like Full Metal Jacket goes to jazz school with the character of Fletcher being a ruthless, foul mouthed tyrant who berates his students at any given moment just like Lee Ermy did as Sgt Hartman did in FMJ.

Nonetheless I still think the film has to take certain license with the realities of music tuition in order for it to become an engrossing drama and on that scale it certainly succeeds as it would make for a rather dull experience if it didn't. And in that way this certainly has the feel more of an endurance film more than anything else where its about the survival of the fittest rather than the joy of creating music.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances, this is where Whiplash certainly works as the cast are all excellent in their respective roles and particularly the two leads.

Starting with Miles Teller who is great in his role as Andrew Neiman, the ambitious young jazz drum student who undergoes the cruel tutelage of Fletcher but in spite of it, he remains resolute in his ambition to make it as a professional drummer.

And Teller has his share of good scenes such as the one where Andrew decides to break up with his girlfriend, Nicole in a preemptive strike to better his chances of pursuing his career.

So, Andrew tells her "I'm just gonna lay it out there. This is why I don't think we should be together. And I've thought about it a lot and this is what's gonna happen. I'm gonna keep pursuing what I'm pursuing. And because I'm doing that, it's gonna take up more and more of my time. And I'm not gonna be able to spend as much time with you. And when I do spend time with you, I'm gonna be thinking about drumming. And I'm gonna be thinking about jazz music, my charts, all that. And because of that, you're gonna start to resent me. And you're gonna tell me to ease up on the drumming, spend more time with you because you're not feeling important. And I'm not gonna be able to do that. And really, I'm gonna start to resent you for even asking me to stop drumming. And we're just gonna start to hate each other. And it's gonna get very... It's gonna be ugly. And so for those reasons, I'd rather just, you know, break it off clean... because I wanna be great". And Nicole just sits there stunned and asks Andrew "And you're not?" and Andrew tells her "I want to be one of the greats" and Nicole asks "And I would stop you from doing that?" and Andrew bluntly tells her "Yes".   

Then there is the scene where Andrew confronts Fletcher when he threatens to replace him as the core drummer in a jazz competition and Andrew has forgotten to lift his sticks after renting a car to get to the competition.

So, in the scene, Andrew turns up a bit late and Fletcher teases him for it and says "Well, glad you could fit us into your busy schedule, darling" and Andrew says "I know. Look, I'm sorry but I'm here and I'm ready to go". However Fletcher tells Andrew "Connelly's playing the part" and Andrew insolently says "Like fuckin hell he's gonna play my part!" which leaves Fletcher taken aback and he angrily asks him "What the fuck did you just say to me?" and Andrew says "Its my part". Fletcher then fires back at Andrew "Its MY part and I decide who to lend it to. Usually its someone with fucking sticks!".  Fletcher however refuses to relent and tells Andrew "Neiman, you lost the part" but Andrew shouts at him "No, I didn't! You can't fucking do this to me!" which prompts further rage from Fletcher who yells back "CAN'T??!! When did you become an expert on what I can or can't do, you fucking weepy willow shit sack?!".

Andrew then angrily says to Fletcher "I earned that part" but Fletcher goes on to berate him more and Andrew spits back "I'm the best player in this studio band!" which annoys Connelly who says "Hey, bro, why don't just back off?" which prompts Andrew to yell "FUCK OFF, JOHNNY UTAH! TURN MY PAGES, BITCH!". Fletcher then glares at Andrew and says to him "I can cut you anytime I want" but Andrew remains defiant and says "You would have cut me already!" which angers Fletcher more who shouts "TRY ME, YOU FUCKING WEASEL!". Fletcher then warns Andrew that he has one chance to get back in 10 minutes with his sticks of Connelly will take over his part, so Andrew firmly tells Fletcher "Its MY part, I'll be on YOUR stage!" and he rushes off.

Then there is the following scene where Andrew get's into a car crash as he rushes to get back to the competition in his rental car but collides with another vehicle and he races back on foot and turns up with his head bleeding. So, Andrew starts to play the track "Caravan" but its clear he cannot continue and he is stopped by Fletcher, who coldly tells him "Neiman...you're done". So, this prompts Andrew jump off the kit and attack Fletcher and throw him to the ground as he yells at him "Piece of shit! I'll fucking kill you!!!". The other band members then rush in and restrain Andrew and pull him off Fletcher and drag him off as Andrew furiously shouts "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, FLETCHER! FUCK YOU!!".

And then we have J.K. Simmons who provides what is unquestionably his best performance as the ruthless band instructor, Terence Fletcher, who's brutal teaching methods push his students and particularly, Andrew to the very limit.

And Simmons has too many scenes to quote from here as he gets all the film's best dialogue and moments, so I will try and narrow it down to just a few scenes.

So, to kick off there is the scene near the start where Fletcher chastises one of the unfortunate band members for apparently being out of tune. So, he singles out one of the players, Metz and he says to him calmly "Do you thin you're out of tune?". However, Metz is so scared he can't look up at Fletcher, who looks at him and says "What are you... there's no fucking Mars Bar down there, what are you looking at? Look up here, look at me. Do you think you were out of tune?". Metz finally summons the courage to respond with a frightened "Yes" and a nod, which causes Fletcher to unexpectedly explode at Metz "THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU SAY SO???!!!" which causes Metz to break down in tears.

Fletcher then tells Metz "Carried your fat ass for too long, Metz. I'm not gonna have you cost us a competition because your mind's on a fucking happy meal instead of on pitch! What are you still doing sitting there?! Get the fuck out!". So, Metz while sobbing gets up and leaves and Fletcher tells the other band members "For the record, Metz wasn't out of tune" and he looks to one of the other members "You were, Erickson, but he didn't know and that's bad enough".

Then there is the famous "rushing or dragging" scene (well if you are familiar with the film that is) where Fletcher begins to tear into Andrew for not being on time during a rehearsal of Whiplash.

So, after Andrew plays the start of "Whiplash" and has to constantly stop and start at Fletcher's say so, Fletcher finally snaps and throws a chair at Andrew's head, which narrowly misses him. So, Fletcher trying to restrain himself asks Andrew "Why do you think I just threw a chair at your head?" and Andrew nervously says "I don't know" and Fletcher tells him "Sure you do!" and Andrew asks "The tempo?" and Fletcher asks him "Where you rushing or were you dragging?" and Andrew nervously replies "I don't know". So, Fletcher then storms up to Andrew and tells him to start counting music time for him and he slaps him on the face as he does it and he grows more angry as they continue.

So, it gets to the point where Andrew begins to cry from Fletcher's abusive comments and Fletcher says quietly "Oh, dear God!You're upset, aren't you?" and Andrew nods and Fletcher says "Say it, so the whole band can hear you?". So, Andrew tearfully says "I'm upset" and Fletcher shouts at him "Louder!!" and Fletcher shouts even louder "LOUDER!!" and Andrew says it louder "I'm upset!!" and Fletcher yells even more "LOUDER!!!!" and Andrew finally yells "I'M UPSET!!". So, Fletcher then cruelly berates Andrew again and shouts "You are a worthless, friendless, faggot-lipped little piece of shit whose mommy left daddy when she figured out he wasn't Eugene O'Neill, and who is now weeping and slobbering all over my drum set like a fucking nine-year old girl! So for the final, FATHER-FUCKING time, SAY IT LOUDER!" and Andrew shouts "I'M UPSET!!!!". So, Fletcher finally relents and walks back to compose the band and tells Andrew "Start practicing harder, Neiman!".

Then there is the great scene where Fletcher pushes the band's three drummers to the absolute limit as he auditions them in turn to play a part and none of them can play it up to scratch, so he keeps berating them until one of them does.

So, in the scene Fletcher has a go at each drummer, Andrew, Connelly and Tanner and as Andrew tries to play the part, Fletcher yells at him "NOT MY FUCKING TEMPO!!". Fletcher then turns to the other band members and says to them "Sorry, guys. Hate to put you through this. If you need to fucking take a dump or get a coffee,whatever, now might be a good time. We're gonna stay until I find a drummer who can fucking play in time I apologize to the musicians. Seriously, take 10, 20, a fucking hour" and he says to the drummers "You hear me, cocksuckers?! You better start shitting me perfect 400s!".

And so the drummers continue to get grilled by Fletcher while the other musicians take a break, Andrew continues to try and nail the part but can't play fast enough. So, Fletcher holds up his hand and looks disgusted with him and asks Andrew "Is that really the fastest you can play, you worthless Hymie fuck?! No one wondered mommy ran out on you! Get off the fucking kit!". So, Andrew gets off and Tanner takes his turn to get verbally bashed as Fletcher shouts at him "And here comes mister gay pride of the Upper West Side himself. Unfortunately, this is not a Bette Midler concert, we will not be serving Cosmopolitans and Baked Alaska, so just play faster than you give fucking hand jobs, will you please?!". So, Tanner starts playing but can't play the tempo fast enough, so Fletcher stops him and says "Not even fucking close!". So, Connelly takes his turn and Fletcher mocks his Irish heritage and for adjusting the seat height only for Connelly once again failing to keep the tempo that Fletcher wants, so Fletcher yells at him "BULLSHIT!! FUCK YOU!! Get off!!".

So, Andrew sits at the kit once again and Fletcher wearily says to him "Neiman! Maybe its time to finally bring this home, what do you say? Show me!". So, Andrew starts playing a faster pace than the others that finally holds Fletcher's approval and he intensely looks at Andrew and tells him "Don't slow down! Pick it up!" and Andrew keeps on playing and Fletcher yells at him "FASTER!! FASTER!!". Fletcher then grabs a cowbell and a drumstick and strikes it close to Andrew's head to motivate him and he then throws the cowbell away and grabs the floor tom of the kit and throws it across the room as Andrew furiously tries to keep the pace going. So, Fletcher keeps yelling at Andrew "FASTER!!! KEEP PLAYING!!! KEEP PLAYING!! DON'T STOP!" and Andrew frantically keeps the fast pace going with all he has left in him and at that point Fletcher signals for Andrew to stop playing, who stops and gasps with relief as we see his hands are bleeding from playing so hard. Fletcher then finally calms down and looks at Andrew and tells him "Neiman, you earned the part" and he looks to Connelly and Tanner and says to them "Alternates, do you want to clean the blood off my drum set?" as Andrew sinks over the kit in sheer exhaustion.

Then there is the scene where Fletcher confronts Andrew over his turning up late at a jazz competition without his sticks and threatens to have Connelly play his drum part instead. So, as the two of them argue, Fletcher warns Andrew "At 5:30, that's in exactly 11 minutes, my band is on stage. If your ass is not on that stool with your own fucking sticks in hand or you make ONE FUCKING MISTAKE, ONE! I will drum your ass back to Nassau where you can turn pages until you graduate or fucking drop out! By the time you're done at Shaffer, you're gonna make Daddy look like a fucking success story. Got it? Or, we can let Johnny Utah play the part. You choose!".

And last of all is the scene where Fletcher meets with Andrew after Andrew attends a gig that Fletcher played in a bar in New York, months after both of them left the conservatory. So, as the two of them share a drink, Fletcher tells Andrew his philosophy on teaching his former students as well as the story of how the legendary jazz drummer, Charlie Parker, made a name for himself.

So, Fletcher tells Andrew "And a year later he (Charlie Parker) goes back to the Reno and he steps up on that stage and he plays the best motherfucking solo the world has ever heard. So imagine if Jones just said "Well, that's okay Charlie. That was alright. Good job." Then Charlie thinks to himself "Well, shit. I did do a pretty good job." End of story. No Bird. That, to me, is an absolute tragedy. But that's just what the world wants now. People wonder why jazz is dying. I'll tell you, man - and every Starbucks "jazz" album just proves my point, really - there are no two words in the English language more harmful than "good job"".  And Fletcher then admits to Andrew "The truth is, Andrew, I never really had a Charlie Parker. But I tried. I actually fucking tried, and that's more than most people ever do. And I will never apologize for how I tried".

As for the supporting cast, I won't bother quoting any dialogue as the other parts aren't quite so prominent in comparison to the two main leads but I will give them a mention of course as they are also excellent here.

For starters, Paul Reiser does a fine job here as Andrew's father, Jim Neiman, who is a school teacher, who is also an aspiring writer and he looks out for his son as well as keeps going to the movies with him as a tradition. Later on, Jim also persuades Andrew to testify against Fletcher after the news of a former student of his had taken his own life most likely as a result of Fletcher's abusive methods.

I will mention just one of Reiser's scenes, which is the one where Andrew and Jim meet with a lawyer, Rachael Bornholdt (April Grace) who tells them about Fletcher's former student who killed himself most likely as a result of Fletcher's cruel abuse. So, in the scene as the lawyer lays it all out for Andrew and asks that he testify, Andrew looks torn and asks Jim "Why are you doing this?" and Jim says "You think I was going to let him put my son through hell and walk off scot-free? Don’t you know I would never let that happen, Andrew? That there’s nothing in the world more important to me than you? Don’t you know that?". 

Melissa Benoist is also pretty good in her role as Nicole, Andrew's brief love interest in the film as the two of them start dating but it very quickly doesn't go anywhere as a result of Andrew's obsession with his career to become one of the great jazz drummers. And Melissa delivers a nicely understated performance here and its just a pity that her role is underwritten here. 

So, I will mention one of her breakup scene with Andrew, where Andrew bluntly lays it down that she is holding him back from his dream to become a great jazz drummer. So, in the scene after Andrew tells her "I wanna be one of the greats" Nicole asks him "And I would stop you from doing that?" and Andrew says "Yeah" and Nicole asks "You know I would stop you from doing that. You know for a fact?" and Andrew firmly says "Yes". So, Nicole naturally hurt and offended by this asks "And when I do see you, you'd treat me like shit because I'm just some girl who doesn't know what she wants. And you have a path, and you're gonna be great, and I'm going to be forgotten, and therefore you won't be able to give me the time of day because you have bigger things to pursue?!". So, Andrew again bluntly tells her "That's exactly my point" and after a moment, Nicole finally manages to ask "What the fuck is wrong with you??! You're right, we shouldn't be dating" and she gets up and leaves. 

Austin Stowell also does well in his role as Ryan Connolly, a fellow drum student of Andrew's who ends up playing for Fletcher as well and as a result it develops a bitter rivalry between the two as Andrew resents Fletcher for bringing him into the band. Stowell however given his physique here actually looks more like a high school jock here than an actual drum student it has to be said!

So, again I will mention one scene of his, which is the one where Connolly plays for Fletcher and Fletcher is seemingly impressed but Andrew is far from it. So, in the scene Connolly plays a part for Fletcher, who stops and says "That was excellent, Connolly. You see, that's the beauty of a studio band, you come in as an alternate, later on you can become a core" much to Andrew's disbelief "You serious??". So, Fletcher goes off to his office to take a call and Connolly tries to reassure Andrew "Don't worry about Fletcher, he's more bark than bite". 

And last of all is Nate Lang who also is pretty good in his role as Carl Tanner, one of Andrew's rival drummers in the studio band and a growing resentment forms in Tanner as he sees Andrew become better than him and he eventually takes over as the core drummer for the band. 

So, I will mention one of Nate's scenes, which is his main one essentially where Tanner trusts Andrew with his sheet music but it soon goes missing after Andrew leaves it on a bench to get a Pepsi can. So, in the scene Tanner to his horror sees that the folder is missing and shouts at Andrew "You dumb fuck! You dumb fuck!! FIND THE FOLDER!! FIND THE FOLDER!!". Fletcher then appears and tells Tanner to get on stage but Tanner says that Andrew lost his folder only for Fletcher to blame him instead "Its your folder, Tanner, your responsibility! Why would you give it to Neiman?? If you give a retard a calculator, he'll try and turn a TV on with it! Get your ass on stage!". However, Tanner confesses "I can't, I haven't memorised the sheets. I have a problem with my memory, I need visual aids. We've been over this!" so as a result, Andrew steps up and offers to play the part, which he does perfectly later.  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, Damien Chazelle does a fine job here and he was also the writer for the screenplay, so he earns double the credit as his script is filled with some great dialogue and he also paces out the film very well as its pretty tight run time wise at just over 1 hour and 45 minutes. Chazelle also expertly builds up the tension between Fletcher and Andrew as the two of them lock heads throughout. Chazelle himself actually based the film on his experiences playing drums in his high school band where he also had to deal with an abusive band leader.  So, of course even though Chazelle must have endured a lot of crap at the hands of his instructor, its certainly paid off well for him since then.

As for the music score it was composed by Justin Hurwitz which is very good although the score itself is split up between the original compositions for the film and the classical jazz tracks that the studio band play in the film. The jazz tracks featured are of course "Whiplash" by Eugene Levy, "Caravan" by Duke Ellington and "Intoit" by Stan Getz.

FLAWS (Warning: this section contain spoilers!)

So, flaws...does Whiplash have any??? Well, despite my enjoyment of it, I still have to say it does have some worth a mention. 

For starters what I would say about the film that didn't work quite so well is that it really forgets to deal with any sense of joy involved in musical creativity as you never once see anyone smiling while they rehearse or plays songs, its just played out more like an intense sports movie where everyone is trying outdo each other! So, in this respect the film really doesn't carry over any passion from the characters and what they get out of the music, its more they are just driven to succeed rather than enjoy what they are doing. This was well pointed out by Youtuber and jazz bassist, Adam Neely. 

Another issue I had was simply to do with the whole idea of someone like Fletcher being able to even teach in a music school in the first place! I mean the guy is not only yelling at students but slapping them and throwing chairs at them (in the case of Andrew) and anyone who did in that in reality would have been fired on the spot surely for gross misconduct! Not only that but surely there would have been other tutors nearby hearing Fletcher yelling and hurling insults at his students yet NOTHING is done about him from the stand point of the tutors that are there, which suggests to me that Fletcher is very high up in the school or they are all terrified of him!

I also found the scenes where we see Andrew practice until his hands literally bleed also pretty silly and far fetched as having watched a few Youtube videos after by professional drummers and musicians, none of them have EVER said they encountered a drummer that played the drums so hard they bled! So, for the film to include these over the top moments where Andrew is bleeding over Fletcher's drum kit and indeed his own are just ridiculous! I also found it a bit incredible to think that Andrew could somehow even punch a big hole through his snare drum head! I mean the skin of snare drums are pretty thick, so the notion that a guy like Andrew could punch through it is pretty stupid quite frankly!

Update: however to be fair, another jazz drummer on Youtube, Greyson Nekrutman, did confirm on watching the film, he could relate to Andrew's fingers bleeding, as he himself picked up a few torn and cut fingers from intensive playing over the years. Greyson however did admit that Andrew's intense fast playing in the film was quite ridiculous and ultimately didn't quite know why he felt the need to go for it that much.   

I also felt that the film pretty much marginalizes the  other characters in it as it really is also all about Andrew and Fletcher, so everyone else pretty much takes a back seat here. It also further emphasizes that this film could have played out almost better as a two-hander with very few other cast members involved with the exception of the band members of course as so much attention put on these two and not much on everyone else. So, the other characters such as Andrew's dad and girlfriend are just merely bystanders here and it has to be said Andrew's family life and dating scenes do slow down the pace a bit in between the intense jazz band drama. 

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS A SPOILER!

And last of all, there is that frankly ridiculous scene where Andrew is involved in a car accident and despite sustaining injuries to his head and hands, he decides to make his way back to play in a jazz competition! Now to me this is just plain stupid! I mean this guy has just been in a bad car accident, yet despite a bleeding head and maybe also a concussion, he decides "Yep! I can still play!" and heads back to play only to mess it up due to his injuries. Its just yet another moment of Hollywood making us suspend disbelief but even for me this really was a real moment of unbelievable BS which could not have been harder to believe! 

Further to this, I also found it ridiculous that Fletcher actually LET Andrew play the event despite his obvious physical condition after the car crash. There is no way that Fletcher should have let Andrew play the part in the first place when he saw how injured he was but instead he let's him play anyway and makes the band and himself look bad! However, at the same time, Fletcher is a pretty sadistic guy, so maybe he wanted Andrew to play, so he could fall on his own sword and that would ultimately get him kicked out of the band.  

And just one additional last thing is to do with the ending of the film where Fletcher humiliates Andrew on stage by the band playing a tune, he hasn't the music for or knows, forcing him to walk off stage but later stepping back on and behind the kit to show Fletcher what he can truly do. Now, my problem here is that Fletcher simply does NOT have a back up drummer, so if Andrew never came back, how the hell can the band proceed if they have NO BACK UP DRUMMER?!!! So, yeah this was totally ridiculous to me that Fletcher did this as it still makes him and the band look bad, if they played on without a drummer, unless he planned for the band to play the following tracks without a drummer. However regardless, this still stands out as a problem with the ending for me and a big oversight on the director's behalf.   

Oh and just one more thing (sorry to do a Columbo!) the ending of the film is also very troubling one reading the end of it, as we see Andrew's father look on in shock at his incredible drum solo. However, the real shock from what I've read online is that Andrew has lost his son to Fletcher at this point, as its like his approval is far more important to him than his father's. So, yeah if you look at the ending that way, its highly misleading and an incredibly bittersweet ending, even if Andrew achieves his original goal, it remains to be seen how it will impact his family.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up on repeated viewing, Whiplash is still a very entertaining, engrossing and intense film that basically resembles the idea of Full Metal Jacket in a jazz school! The performances from the cast are all excellent and in particular J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller are both great in their respective roles and Simmons himself certainly deserved to take home the Academy Award he won for this film for his role of the ruthless, foul mouthed band instructor, Terence Fletcher.  And yeah the film is a bit far fetched at times and forgets to show the idea of musicians actually enjoying the music they play and instead uses the idea of turning the whole tuition process into the survival of the fittest, which actually makes it more like a sports film than a musical one.

However that all aside, this really is a great film despite these shortcomings and well worth checking out if you haven't seen it already.

So, I will rate Whiplash

9.5 out of 10 

So, that's all for now and I will be back soon with another post next month.

Until then bye for now! 

 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Review "Fortune and glory, kid! Fortune and glory!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I've been neglecting this blog this month unfortunately as I've been caught up with other stuff but I thought I would get at least one post done before the month is out. So, I figured I would do a review based on an old blog post on this channel on the sequel (or prequel) to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

So, this film tends to be considered the weakest of the original trilogy (I think anyway!) but let's see how it fairs 41 years on...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the story begins in 1935 in Shanghai (set a year before Raiders) where Indy (Harrison Ford) encounters Chinese crime boss, Lao Che (Roy Chiao) in a nightclub, where he does a deal for a diamond and to give Lae the ashes of a former Chinese emperor.  However Lao poisons Indy's drink and taunts him with the antidode, and forces him into giving back his diamond, Indy then kills one Lao's sons, and a big fight ensues, where Indy ends up fleeing with an American nightclub singer, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) by diving out a window, and they both crash into a car driven by Indy's 11 year old sidekick, Short Round (Johnathan Ke Quan) who is outside waiting for them.  

After escaping Lao's men, Indy, Willie and Short Round make it onto a plane and escape as Lao arrives on the scene, but unknown to Indy, the plane is owned by Lao's airline.  Once in the air, the pilots (who work for Lao) quietly jump out the plane using parachutes to leave the plane to crash into the Himalayas.  Indy, Willie and Short Round barely escape death by using a lifeboat they dive out of the plane, and land in the rough waters, but they eventually come to rest in the river of a poor desolate village in India, where they are met by an old Indian man, Shaman (Don Ruter Nanayakkara).

Shaman takes them into his village, which is run down and the villagers are starving as their crops have dried out, and they are missing a sacred stone, which would bring vitality to their village again, and also their children have been taken away for slave labour to a place called Pankot palace.  The Shaman asks Indy for his help in finding the sacred stone and freeing the children, to which Indy soon agrees to and takes a reluctant Willie, and Short Round with him.

On arriving at Pankot, Indy, Willie and Shorty (to abbreviate!) are given a warm welcome by the Prime Minister of the Maharaja of Pankot, Chattar Lal (Roshan Seth) who invites to a palace banquet.  At the banquet, Indy meets the Maharaja (Raj Singh) who is just a 13 year old boy, and the food at the banquet is a rather gross mix of animal feasts such as baby snakes, monkey brains, large beetles and eyeball soup.  

After the banquet is over, Indy and Willie start to show a bit of a spark as they share a kiss and look set to spend the night together but Willie is annoyed by Indy's arrogance and tells him to get out.  Back in his room Indy is nearly killed by a palace guard who tries to garotte him, by Indy manages to kill him with his whip and hang him from a ceiling fan.  Indy races back into Willie's room and checks around it and soon finds a secret passage way that leads into a series of tunnels.  Indy and Shorty check out the passage and find it is covered in bugs, and they end up unwittingly in a trap room, with some spikes coming out ceiling and the roof slowly coming down on them.  Willie reluctantly braving the bug infested passageway, goes in and saves Indy and Short from being squished by releasing a trap door lever the raises the ceiling again, and let's them out.

Indy, Willie and Shorty then progress through underground tunnels and soon come to a temple, where they see a Thuggee cult ceremony take place, lead by the high priest Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) who performs a human sacrifice to the Hindu goddess, Kali, by ripping out the heart of a sacrificia victim, who they cast into a lava pit.  After the sacrifice we see that the cult have three of the five Sankara stones, and once the ceremony is finished, Indy makes his way down and takes the stones, but he and the others are soon captured.  

Mola Ram forces Indy to see his view point, which is that he wants to recover all five Sankara stones, so the Thugee cult can rule the world, with the children taken from the village, being used as slave labour to mine for the missing two stones.  As for Willie, she is set to be sacrificed, and Shorty is put down in the mines to work, and Indy is forced to drink the blood of Kali, which puts him in a trance state, where he obeys Mola Ram and follows Kali without question.  

Indy still in the trance, seals Willie in the cage to be lowered into the lava pit, and Shorty, who manages to escape the mines, eventually saves Indy, by purging his trance like state, with fire.  After this Indy's conscious is restored and he rescues Willie and fights off the guards, and then sets about freeing the children from the mines, by knocking out the guards, but he ends up in a big fight with one of the head guards (played by Pat Roach).  To make matters worse, the Maharaja, who is also under the influence of Kali, uses a voodoo doll of Indy and a knife to twist in, to wrack Indy in pain.  But Shorty saves the day by fighting off the Maharaja, and restoring him to normal by using fire as well.   

Afterward, Indy, Willie and Shorty escape into the mines on a mine cart, only to be given chase by Mola Ram's guards, who they manage to evade.  However Mola Ram has his guards break down the dam in the temple, which floods the tunnels with water, and pretty soon it catches up with Indy and his pals, but they manage to escape outside and climb up to the mountain top, and cross an old ropey bridge, where they encounter Mola Ram for the last time...

THOUGHTS 

The Temple of Doom is undoubtedly a very entertaining ride, and Steven Spielberg manages to keep the action thick and fast, even more so here than in Raiders.  Although it does have to be said the violence in the film is pretty strong and there were several scenes that were also censored in the UK cinema release and even on DVD, most notably the scene where Mola Ram rips the heart out of the sacrificial victim and we see him being cast into the pit catching fire, as well as Indy being viciously whipped and beaten up by Mola Ram's main guard.  It is pretty strong stuff for a PG rated film at the time, and it acutally preempted the creation of the American censor board's PG-13 certificate (as well as Gremlins did at that time also), the film also since has been released on Blu-ray in the UK and now has a 12 certificate. But none of this takes away from the sheer fun and entertainment than Temple of Doom offers, and there is plenty of that on display.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers!) 

As for the cast, they are all on good form here. 

Starting with Harrison Ford, who is great once again as Indiana Jones, the adventurous archaeologist who ends up fighting against the evil cult in order to save a local Indian village.

Ford himself of course has plenty of good scenes such as the one where after having escaped Lao's men and is on a plane (piloted unbeknownst to Indy by Lao's pilots) he changes from his suave tuxedo into his usual outfit. So, as he walks in on Willie, she asks "What are you supposed to be some sort of lion tamer??" and Indy tells her "I let you tag along, so why don't you give your mouth a rest, OK, doll?". Willie then spits back "What do you mean tag along?! Ever since you entered my club you weren't able to take your eyes off me!". So, Indy then looks at her and says "Oh yeah??" and he puts his hat over his face and lies back to go to sleep.  

Then there is the scene where Indy looks at the cloth that the starving slave child gives Indy, detailing the Sankara stones. So, at night Indy looks at it and Shorty asks him "Little boy escaped from the evil palace, many other children there, what do we do, Doctor Jones?". Indy thinks for a moment and does the "something on your shirt" joke with Shorty and he says "I think that someone believes the good luck rock from this village is one of the Sankara stones". Short then asks "What is Sankara?" and Indy says with a smiles on his face "Fortune and glory, kid! Fortune and glory".  

However then there is the contrary scene where Indy and Willie do begin to show their feelings for one another at Pankot palace. So, in the scene after they kiss, Willie says to Indy "You'll never have better" and and Indy says "I don't know, as a scientist I don't want to prejudice my experiment, I'll tell you in the morning". So, as Indy goes over to close the door, Willie annoyed says "Why, you conceited ape! I'm not that easy!" and Indy says to her "Well, I'm not that easy either. The trouble with you Willie is your too used to getting your own way" and Indy walks out. So, as Indy crosses to his room, Willie shouts after him "And you're just too proud to admit your crazy about me Dr Jones!" and Indy turns and says "If you want me, Willie, you know where you can find me". Willie then says "Five minutes! You'll be back here in five minutes!" and Indy says "I'll be asleep in five minutes" and Willie says "Five, you know and I know it!" and Indy heads into his room.

And then we have the funny scene where Indy and Shorty trapped in a room where the ceiling beings to collapse on them with spikes appearing on the roof. So, Indy shouts to Willie for help and tells her to find a lever to release the door but as the spikes start to appear Indy shouts "This is serious!!". So, as Willie arrives, Indy tells her "There must be a release lever somewhere" and Willie looks and sees the release lever but it is filled with bugs. So, as Indy says to her "Feel inside!" Willie says "YOU feel inside!" and Indy firmly says "Do it now!" and Willie says "OK!!". So, as the trap literally closes in on Indy and Short Round, Indy pleads with her "Willie...we are going to DIE!!".  

Then there is the scene where Indy under the influence of the blood of Kali, Short Round turns up only for Indy to hit him and Short Round picks up a torch and says "Indy, I love you! Wake up, Indy!" and he burns Indy's chest with the flame, who cries out in pain but we soon see him come to his senses. So, as Mola Ram's men are about to kill Shorty, Indy says "Wait! He's mine!" and he grabs Shorty aside and says quietly "I'm alright, kid" and he winks and the two of them defeat the guards. So, afterward, Indy gives Shorty a hug and says "I'm sorry, kid" and Willie having been rescued from the firey pit says "Let's get out of here" and Indy turns her and says "Right...all of us!". 

Then there is the scene near the end where Indy who is surrounded by Mola Ram's men on the old wooden bridge suspended over a mountain warns them off as he holds a sabre aloft and threatens to use it as he holds the Shankara stones. So, in the scene Indy says to Mola Ram "You want the stones let them go! Let em' go!" but Mola Ram laughs and says "Drop them, Dr Jones! They will be found! YOU won't!". So, as Mola Ram's men advance on Indy, he calls out to Shorty and speaks to him in Mandarin, as Indy wraps he leg around one of the old ropes of the bridge. So, Shorty and Willie wraps their wrists around the rope of the bridge, as Indy raises his sabre above his head and says "Mola Ram, prepare to meet Khali in hell!" and he cuts the rope on the bridge, severing the bridge in half.

And last of all is the scene where Indy, Willie and Shorty make it back to the village safely with all the enslaved children. So, as Indy gives the stone to the Shaman, he walks off with Willie, who says "You could have taken it" and Indy says "Achh, it would have just ended up in some old museum" and Willie says "Still, it could have gotten your fortune and glory". Indy then says "Anything can happen its a long way to Delhi" but Willie says "No, thanks, Dr Jones, no more adventures with you" and Indy touches her face and says "Oh, sweetheart! After all the fun we've had together?". Willie however then rants at Indy and says "THIS is not my idea of a swell time!" and she goes off to ask someone the way to Delhi and Indy wraps his whip around her waist and pulls her back to him and they kiss, just as an elephant spits water on them!

Kate Capshaw next is really good in her role as the highly strung nightclub singer, Willie Scott, who is forced to tag along with Indy and Shorty after escaping Lao's club. And even though Willie's character is pretty annoying, Kate actually manages to make the most of it and is pretty funny in the role and even at times shows moments of bravery. Kate interestingly enough herself later married Steven Spielberg in 1991 and have been together ever since meeting on this film.   

Kate herself has some good moments and fun dialogue that include her first scene (well after the opening titles) where on meeting Indy says to him "I always thought archaeologists were funny little men searching their mommies" and Indy corrects her "Mummies". So, as Indy and Lao tensely do business, Indy grabs Willie and threatens her with a knife and says "I suggest you give me the diamond or anything goes!". So, Lao eventually agrees to trade the ashes of a Chinese emperor, Nurhaci to him in exchange for a diamond. So, as they trade, Indy brings out Nurhaci's remains in an urn and Willie looks at it and says "This Nurhaci is a real small guy!".

Another scene is of course the famous one where Willie rides an elephant to Pankot palace only to be knocked off it into the water. So, Willie cries out of self pity as she says "I was happy in Shanghai! I had a little house, and a garden! My friends were rich, we went to parties all the time in limousines! I HATE being outside!". So, she barely manages to speak and says "I'm a singer! I could lose my voice!" and she coughs pathetically. 

Then there is the scene where Indy, Willie and Shorty set camp at night while on their trip to Pankot palace and Willie is terrified by all the animals she encounters in the jungle. However, Willie eventually calms down and joins Indy and Indy asks her "Willie, Willie, Willie. Is that short for something?" and Willie says "Its my professional name, Indiana" and Shorty testily says "You call him, Dr Jones!" and Indy throws him a coin "Hey! My professional name!". So, as they talk, Indy shows her the old pieces of cloth that tell a story of the Shankara stones. Willie then tells Indy "My father was magician and he did the same magic tricks for years and he died a poor man, fortune and glory. Sweet dreams, Dr Jones". So, Willie gets up and Indy warns her "I would sleep close if I were you" and unknown to Willie, a snake starts to slither onto her back and she says "Dr Jones, I'd be safer sleeping with a snake" and Willie believing the snake to being the elephant that pestered her earlier, says "I said CUT IT OUT!" and she yanks the snake and throws it away, oblivious, leaving Indy terrified (as he has a fear of snakes) and Willie, still oblivious says "I hate that elephant".     

Another good scene is where at the banquet at Pankot palace, all manner of gross courses are displayed at the table from bugs to monkey brains. So, during the scene as one of the obese diners eats a plate of bugs, he asks her "Are you not eating?" and she replies "I had bugs for lunch" and Willie then says to Shorty "Give me your hat" and Shorty asks "Why?" and Willie says "Because I'm gonna puke in it!". So, after this Willie asks "Excuse but do you have anything like soup?" and they bring out a large bowl of soup that looks enticing until we see eyeballs in it and Willie let's out a pained scream. 

Then there is the scene where after Indy and Willie row over their possible romance being sullied by Indy's arrogance (or both their arrogance really!) Willie rants at Indy from outside her room, while Indy is nearly strangled to death by a henchman. So, Willie shouts to Indy "Indiana Jones! This is one night you will never forget! This is the night I slipped RIGHT THROUGH YOUR FINGERS!!" and we cut to seeing Indy desperately struggle against the henchman. So, Willie then shouts "Sleep tight! Pleasant dreams! I could have been your greatest adventure!". 

And last of all is the final scene where after Indy, Willie and Shorty make it back to the village with the stone and he enslaved children, Willie shows her frustrations at the notion of sticking with Indy. So, Willie says to Indy "If you think I am going to Delhi or anywhere with you after what I've been through THINK AGAIN BUSTER! I'm going off to Missouri where they don't put you in cages, send you into firey pits before ripping you heart out, or been eaten alive by alligators! THIS is NOT my idea of a swell time!". So, she then asks a villager "Excuse me, sir, I'm trying to find my way to Delhi could you..." and Indy whips her back to him and you know the rest. 

Ke Huy Quan is also pretty good in his role as Short Round (or Shorty), Indy's cocky and plucky sidekick, who plays his part in rescuing the Indian village from the clutches of the evil Thuggee cult.  

Ke himself has some good scene such as the one as his first where Indy and Willie escape Lao's club by jumping out the window and landing conveniently in Shorty's car. So, Shorty looks surprised and says to Indy "Holy smokes, Dr Jones! Crash landing!" and Indy says "Short Round, step on it!" and Short says "Okay dokey, Dr Jones, hold onto your potatoes!". So, as they try and escape Lao's men who are in pursuit, Indy searches Willie for the antidote to poison he drank at Lao's club and Willie says "I'm not that kind of girl!" and Shorty says his classic line "Hey, Dr Jones, no time for love, we got company!". 

Another fun scene from Ke is when after the banquet scene, Indy walks with Shorty in the halls toward their quarters. So, Indy says to Shorty "I'm just gonna go and check up on, Willie" and Shorty says to him "Tell me how it went later!" and Indy a little annoyed says to him "Amscray!"  

Then there is the scene where Indy and Shorty enter a trap door room where Indy looks around and warns Shorty "Hey, just step back and stand against the wall, will you?". So, Shorty does so only to push a button behind that activates the trap door that locks them in and the ceiling starts to collapse. So, Shorty shouts to Indy "You said to stand against wall! I only did what you said!" and Indy shouts out for Willie "Willie, get down here!!". 

And then there is the scene where Shorty rescues Indy from the influence of Kali by burning his side with a torch. So, Shorty says to Indy "Indy, I love you! Wake up, Indy!" and he burns him and Indy screams in pain and falls down but soon comes to his senses. Indy then grabs Shorty and says quietly "I'm alright, kid!" and the two of them start to fight Mola Ram's men. So, after they rescue Willie, Indy hands Short his cap and kneels down and hugs him warmly and says "I'm sorry, kid" and Shorty says "Indy, my dear friend". 

Then there is the funny moment where Shorty tries to rescue Indy from the big guard and one of Mola Ram's main henchmen, who Indy struggles against. So, Shorty is held back by Willie and he insists "I gotta save him!" and Willie eventually let's him and go and says "OK save him!". So, Shorty runs up with a stick and feebly hits the big guard on the back who hoists Indy above his head and drops him into a mine cart, so Short shouts "Drop him down! I kill you!! Drop him down!" and the guard simply turns round and grabs Shorty and tosses him aside. 

Another fun moment is where Shorty goes on the old rope bridge and bounces on it and says to Willie "Come on, strong bridge! Strong bridge! Come on, it safe!" only for the plank he stands on to give way and he nearly falls through but Willie pulls him up to safety. So, after, Shorty says to himself  fearfully "Not very funny!".

Roy Chiao is also very good as Lao Che, the Chinese crime lord, who Indy deals with at the beginning of the film in the nightclub scene. 

Chiao only has a couple of scenes but his first is his main one as Indy confronts Lao Che at the club. So, at the start of their meeting, Indy says "One of your boys tried to get Nurhaci without paying for him" and Lao says "You insulted my son" and Indy says "No, he insulted me, I spared his life". 

So, as the two men make their deal for the Chinese emperor ashes and a diamond, Lao has Indy's drink spiked with poison. So, as Indy drinks his glass, Lao says "And now you give me the diamond" and Indy laughs and says "Are yout trying to develop a sense of humour or are you going deaf?". Lao then holds up a vial of liquid and Indy asks "What is that?" and Lao says "Antidote" and Indy asks "To what?" and Lao says "The poison you just drink, Doctor Jones" and he laughs as do his sons and Lao warns "The poison works fast, Doctor Jones". So, Indy gives back the diamond and grabs Willie and holds her with a knife and shouts "LAO!" but Lao is not interested and says "You keep the girl, I find another!" and he laughs loudly. However, Indy's friend Wu Han, appears with a gun and Indy says "Good service here!" only for some corks of champagne to fire off, which distracts Wu Han, who is fatally shot by Lao's son. So, a Wu Han dies in Indy's arms, Lao says "Don't be sad, Doctor Jones, you will soon be joining him!". 

Last of all is Amrish Puri, who is pretty good in his role as the main villain, Mola Ram, who is the leader of the evil Thuggee cult and also uses sacrifical victims for his cause.

So, I will mention just a couple of his scenes such as the one where Mola Ram having captured Indy and Shorty together tells Indy of his plan, So, Indy mockingly says to Mola Ram "What a vivid imagination!" and Mola says to him "You don't believe me, Doctor Jones? You will. You will become a true believer!". So, Mola Ram has Indy brutally whipped to force to drink the blood of Kali and Mola Ram says to him "The British in India will be slaughtered. Then we will overrun the Muslims. Then the Hebrew god will fall. And then the Christian god will be cast down and forgotten. Soon, kali ma will rule the world!".

And last of all is the scene where Mola Ram has Indy trapped on the bridge and surrounded by his men and Indy warns him to let Willie and Shorty go. So, Indy shouts "You want the stones let em go! Let em go!!" and Mola Ram says "Drop them, Doctor Jones! They will be found, YOU WON'T!!" and he orders his men to advance on Indy. Indy then raises his sword above his head and says "Mola Ram, prepare to meet Kali in hell!" and he cuts the bridge and Mola Ram shouts in horror "What are you DOING???!! What are you DOING?!!".  So, in their final moment on the broken bridge, Mola Ram and Indy struggle together and Mola Ram shouts "The stones are MINE!" only for Indy to say angrily "You betrayed Shiva!" and he starts to chanting in foreign tongue as the stones burn through his satchel and one burns Mola Ram's hands, who falls to his death below. 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director, Steven Spielberg returns again to the helm here and does a great job as the pacing of the film is pretty relentless and at breakneck speed for the most part. However, this time round, Spielberg does go pretty hard on the violence and gore for effect here, which as mentioned eventually lead to the creation of the PG-13 certificate in America. However, despite the darker tone of the film, there are still a lot of fun set pieces here particularly the opening fight scene in the club to the fight in the mines, to the final confrontation on the old suspension bridge. There is also a nice dynamic between the three leads as well and Spielberg does a great job at envincing from the cast not to mention, Spielberg also as he himself later bragged, ended up getting the girl at the end of the film for real as he later married Kate Capshaw in real life.  

As for the music, the score is once again by regular Spielberg composer, John Williams and he provides another fine one here, which is filled with some great tracks. The standout tracks include the Pankot palace ride, the mines fight sequence and finally the confrontation on the rope bridge. Williams's score once again was nominated for an Academy award but lost out to Maurice Jarre's score for A Passage to India (kind of ironic since this film was set in India also!). Regardless this is still a fun Williams score, which might not be his very best overall, its still a very good one.

FLAWS

As for flaws, yes the Temple of Doom isn't quite perfect.

For starters, it has to be said that the darker tone of the film does make it a bit less appealing compared to the other films of the original trilogy (not counting the inferior 21st century films here!) as increased violence and gore over Raiders feels a bit too much here. And here we are treated (or maybe subjected) to some brutal whippings of children and Indy, as well as sacrificial victims having their heart ripped out and burned alive in a firey pit. Its pretty strong stuff for its time and as mentioned, the film would later be re-certified with a higher classification of the PG-13 and 12 certificate ratings. So, the overall intense nature of the film's violence and even indeed the reliance on shock gags such as the bugs and monkey brains for dinner are all bit overkill here and thankfully were scaled back in the sequel.

Another issue is to do with how Indiana Jones is a reknown achaeologist who appears to be world famous as his reputation is well known to even the likes of the Indian PM, Chatter Lal, which sets him up to be a bit like James Bond. So, I find this a bit ridiculous to belive Indy would be so well known, as you see him in Raiders as just a kind of lowly scholarly archaeologist at his university and a more low key adventurer than we see him here. So, the idea of him being world famous is just silly here.

Then there is of course Indy, Willie and Shorty's ridiculous escape from the plane before crashes by using a lifeboat, which they miraculously manage to stay in without fallling out to their deaths as it drops from the sky and eventually into a deadly waterfall. So, yeah this whole sequence is just nonsense and their real chances of survival would of course be non existant here but hey, it is just a Hollywood film!  

I also found the idea of the timing of Shorty's escape to reach Indy in time just before Willie is lowered into the lava pit, to be just a bit too convenient, yet of course he somehow manages it. However to his credit, Shorty in a way is the real hero of the film as he rescues Indy from his possession of the blood of Kali and without, they'd never have escaped and Willie would be burned to a crisp (well on second thoughts maybe that's not too bad lol!). 

This is then followed by the ridiculous moment where Indy, Willie and Shorty somehow manage to outrun the water flooding at them from the broken water dam in the mines. So, somehow in this sequencce, the outrun the water make it outside to the cliff edge and also avoid being blasted off the edge by the sheer force of the water itself! So, yeah this again is a pretty silly moment, which is barely believable.  

And last of all is the fact that Indy only manages to save one of the Shankara stones, which in itself is pretty lucky, as the village apparenty only need just the one to salvage the village's fortunes and for the crops to grow again. However unless, the British troops were willing to scower the alligator ridden waters for the remaining stones, they are bound only ever to have the one stone available.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, the Temple of Doom is a fun entry in the franchise, which has plenty of fast paced action and some fun moments as well as engaging performances from the three leads of Ford, Capshaw and Ke. The film also has a fine soundtrack by John Williams and solid direction by Spielberg, who cranks up the energy and pacing to 11 throughout. However, its not quite perfect as its darker tone and increased use of violence and gore is a bit off-putting at times and a clear indication that Spielberg went a bit too far in the wrong direction with this one. However, that all aside, this is still a fun film and worth a look and still head and shoulders over the 21st century Indy films although its still the weakest link of the original trilogy.

So, with that I will rate it:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post next month, until then its bye for now! 

 

Metroid Dread Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey guys, so figured I would get another review out before the month ends and this one will be on another video game, which will be on the 2D action game, Metroid Dread. So, this game is much acclaimed by critics and fans alike but what do I think? Well, let's find out.

So, I will say a bit about the plot below but not too much but the warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD (BUT NOT MUCH!)

So, I will quote a bitesize bit of the plot below, which is quoted from Wikipedia

"The Galactic Federation receives evidence that the X, a dangerous species of parasite that can mimic any creature it infects, survives on the remote planet ZDR. They dispatch seven E.M.M.I.s (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers) robots to ZDR to investigate, but lose contact. The Federation sends Samus Aran to ZDR to investigate. Underground, Samus encounters a Chozo warrior who destroys the exit, defeats her in combat and strips her suit of most of its abilities. Her ship's computer, Adam, instructs her to find another path to the surface and return to her ship".

THOUGHTS

So, Metroid Dread sees a return to the 2D action style that the series was well known for in the past after the Metroid Prime series 3D based games and the game itself is a pretty intense fast paced shooter in which the action comes thick and fast. The game itself is also very challenging and features some chaotic boss fights as well as fast paced platforming as Samus powers her way through different areas and challenges. In fact, the game for me echoed the difficulty of the Souls games given how difficult it could be, I also found it to be very frustrating at times but I will get into that later. That aside, this is still a very enjoyable game with plenty of exploration and features that are well known in the Metroid series. 

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, I will do the usual sections for the gameplay below.

MOVEMENT 

Starting with movement, Samus is shown in the classic 2D side scrolling manner and she can run pretty fast by default but she can also jump, crouch, roll and slide through environments. Samus can also cling onto ledges and other platforms and hang by the side to allow her to even use her weapon without climbing up. Samus can also with the aid of her abilities transform into a literal ball (morph ball) allowing her to roll through tight spaces as well as jump higher up with further abilities she get's later on.

WEAPONS

As for weapons, Samus's primary weapon is her canon, which by default uses a ray beam to attack but as she progresses she will be able to upgrade her weapon abilities. These different weapon abilities include the wide beam, where Samus can fire out three beams at once, the diffusion beam, which allows her to fire a beam through walls. The grapple beam allows Samus to cling onto walls and reach high up places she normally can't jump up to. 

Other weapons Samus can use are missiles and there are again different types of missile such as the super missile, which increases the damage of normal missiles. Then there are the storm missiles, which allow Samus to focus 5 targets at once, which can be used on individual enemies as well as barriers that block Samus's path. Then there are the ice missiles, which can be used to freeze enemies in place and with further shots can then destroy enemies, they can also be used to destroy unique plant enemies (the Enky) that block Samus's progress in certain areas. 

ENEMIES & BOSSES

As for the enemies, Samus will encounter a large number of enemies that range from small and not so bad up to very large and challenging ones. There are also a mix of enemies such as insectoids, bird like ones, underwater fish like enemies as well as robotic enemies that fire out explosives and ray beams, which can alot of damage. 

Moving onto the bosses, there are quite a few to be found in the game although some of them are repeatable such as the Chozo warriors, which are powerful armoured robot-esque creatures that deal alot of damage. Then there are more unique bosses such as monsters as Corpius, a large cloaked monster with a large tail. Kraid is another boss, which is another large monster that can fire projectiles from its mouth and body and is chained for most of the fight and last of all is Droygya, who is a large mollusk creature with plenty of tentacles. So, most of these fights can be quite challenging and take time to learn their movesets but again like all bosses its about pattern recognition. 

EMMIS 

And then we get to the EMMIS...oh dear! Yeah, the EMMI's can be a real pain to deal with in this game, as they are robotic enemies that chase Samus around certain parts of the game. The EMMI themselves are robotic creatures that act like security guards and move like spiders, as they crawl around but they also have sensors that can detect movement and if they do, they will hunt Samus down and if captured, will insta-kill her. There are several EMMIs in the game and they are definitely very frustrating to deal with and to try and evade being captured by. You do however have a small window to parry the EMMI, to stun them to allow you to escape but the window is pretty tight for it to be effective and difficult to pull off consistently.

STEALTH AND CLOAKING

Another feauture of the game, which is connected to the EMMI is stealth and Samus can do this by using a cloaking device she picks up to conceal herself from enemies. This however isn't always foolproof particularly with EMMI's as they can still capture her if they bump into her! The cloaking device also has an energy bar, which once is depleted will then drain Samus of her energy quite rapidly, so at this point its best to deactivate it before Samus burns out her energy entirely. The cloak is also useful for walking through security doors that can shut down on Samus if she is seen. 

MORPH BALL FEATURES

Another key aspect of the game is the morph ball, which allows Samus to curl up into an actual ball, so she can pass through tight confined spaces. However, the morph ball also has additional features such as morph ball bombs that Samus can use to destroy breakable blocks that obstruct her path. Then there is a more powerful version of the morph ball bombs that can destroy several blocks at once and there is an even more potent version, which can destroy all the blocks in sight. The morph ball also has features that enable Samus to jump higher, such as the spin boost, which enables Samus to perform a double jump to get higher up. And then there is my favourite, which is the screw attack where Samus turns into a sort of corkscrew, which can deal damage to enemies as well as propel her as high up as she can go and really opens up areas in the game you can reach.

SPEED BOOST & SHINESPARK

Then we have another ability that can be very useful in certain areas, which is the speed boost that allows Samus to run at super fast speeds and blast past enemies and break through destructable boxes to reach other areas. Also attached to this move is the shinespark, which can allow Samus to hold a charge of the boost and use it to redirect her in any direction, which can be very useful to destroy blocks to access items.  

SUIT FEATURES

Another aspect of the game is Samus's suit, which by default cannot allow her to travel everywhere in the game, so you need to upgrade it to do so. So there are several suit upgrades such as the Varia suit, which allows Samus to enter areas of extreme heat but will not protect her against lava damage. Then there is the Gravity suit, which will allow Samus to run through areas of extreme cold as well as run through lava. There is also a final suit upgrade but this pertains to the ending of the game, so I won't really mention it here. 

GRAPHICS

Moving onto the graphics, the game was originally released for the Nintendo Switch, so by modern standards, its not an amazing looking game but its visuals are still pretty good overall and 2D visual style works well here. So, the environments actually look quite solid and there are some nice background details as well as plenty of variety in the visuals for the different environments ranging the cool interiors of areas like Antaria to the outside jungle like areas of Ghavoran. The enemy design also looks pretty good mostly with the enemies given a somewhat cartoonish look (like alot of Nintendo exclusive games!). Character model wise, Samus is well presented in her suit and you can only really see her face through the suit during cutscenes. So, overall given the game's modest pixel count of 900p, its still a good looking game for the Switch.

SOUND DESIGN AND MUSIC

As for the sound design, the game's sounds are pretty good with plenty of atmospheric effects from the background, enemies, explosions, sliding doors and of course Samus's laser and missiles. Then there is of course the score by Kenji Yamamoto, which is quite suspenseful and atmospheric and has plenty of intense and chaotic moments as well some more mellow ones in addition to the classic tracks where Samus finds her new abilities. So, its a pretty good score overall with plenty of intensity and indeed a fair amount of dread thrown in! 

FLAWS

As for flaws...yes, Metroid Dread has some worth a mention.

For staters, the biggest complaint I have with the game are of course the EMMI's, as these guys are the most infuriating enemy I have ever seen a video game, PERIOD!! In fact I think I died more to the EMMI throughout this entire game than I have to any Dark Souls boss and that is saying something! And its hugely frustrating to try and evade capture from these guys, as they can continously capture and you always get the same cutscene where they pierce Samus in the neck with their spike. Also to make matters worse, the later EMMI can also fire a paralysis attack to hold you in place, so they can capture Samus more easily, which is even more infuriating! So, yeah I totally tore my hair out trying to evade this enemy (or EM-E-N-E-MI!) throughout the game and the deaths I had were easily into several hundred by the time I had finished the game! So, in short f*** these guys!

Another issue I had was to do with the complexity of the shinespark move, which is activated by pressing down the left stick and then after the boost is started, holding down the left stick again and pressing B and then direct which way you want to go. However this move can be ridiculously complicated to pull off if you want to reach certain items as its too easy to cancel it out by hitting a wall or some other object. So, if you want to say get every energy tank in the game, you need this move, which makes life very difficult if you want obtain all items.

I also found some of the bosses to be quite frustrating at times as well and especially the repeated inclusion of the Chozo soldiers as bosses, as to fight these guys over and over, get's pretty tedious after a while. I also found the finale boss to be quite difficult (won't say who!) as there were some cues for counters that weren't so clear to look out for, making the fight to be very frustrating at times and this in itself prolonged the fight rather than shortened it. 

Last of all, I had an issue with the save game system, which is admittedly an improvement over the saves of Metroid Prime as there are more save stations and they work pretty quickly. However, there are certain sections of the game where you need to repeat sections or a boss, which requires backtracking to get to them at times and it would be much easier if the game checkpointed the saves for you on loading the game again if you left it. However, in this case, the game doesn't do this and reverts you back to the previous station, which could be MILES away from where you last progressed to. 

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Metroid Dread is for the most part an enjoyable albeit at times very frustrating Metroidvania game, which can be very difficult but also in its own quite rewarding. The game also has some neat features and abilities, which are often repeated throughout the Metroid series but they work well all the same. The game's exploration can also be fun when you reach a new area and there are many areas and room to check out. 

There are of course issues with the game, such as the save system, frustrating boss fights, some of which are repetitive and feature the same enemies. Not to mention of course, the EMMI, who are by far, the MOST frustrating enemy I have EVER encountered in a video game thanks to their insta-kill BS. However despite this, Metroid Dread is still well worth checking out, especially if you have played the other Metroid games and don't mind a challenge.

So, I will rate Metroid Dread...

8 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back next month with another post.

Until then bye for now!  

 

Star Wars Outlaws Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, for this post, I thought I would do another video game review, which will be on a game I have just finished on the Switch 2, which is Star Wars Outlaws. So, this game was well received on its release by critics but also panned by some gamers for its bugs and repetitive missions. 

So, where do I think this game fits on the spectrum? Well, let's find out! 

The usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story focuses around a young outlaw named Kay Vess (voiced by Humberley Gonzalez) who is looking to make a name for herself among the crime syndicates as she looks for any jobs to build her reputation. Kay in a desperate to escape her home planet along with her little sidekick pet Nix, joins up with a crew to rob the mansion of a wealthy crime lord named Sliro (voiced by Caolon Byrne). However, the job itself goes not to plan as Kay thought, as it turns out it was to rescue an rebel alliance member and not a robbery and as Kay demands payment, she is stunned and knocked out and left for Sliro. Sliro then blames Kay for the job but she manages to escape in a ship called the Trailblazer, which leds to Sliro placing a death mark on her.

Kay soon however is forced to make a landing on the planet Toshara and while there she meets a mechanic, Waka, who says he will help her to repair her ship but tells her to get local work with the crime syndicates to pay for the parts. So, from here, Kay begins her connections with the criminal underworld in order to establish her reputation. 

THOUGHTS

As far as Star Wars games go, Outlaws is definitely very enjoyable and has much going for it as it has an engaging story and good characters as the plot features plenty of twists and turns along the way. Kay herself is also a likeable, albeit feisty protagonist, who while a scoundrel, isn't all that bad either and does exhibit much loyalty to the people she works with. Kay also has a nice little relationship with Nix, her cute little alien pet, who is also quite resourceful. The game also features plenty of action, most of which is stealth based, so if you are not keen on stealth then this might not be for you but I personally found it to be enjoyable for the most part.   

GAMEPLAY 

Moving onto the gameplay, I will as usual split it into sub-sections to cover different aspects.

MOVEMENT AND TRAVERSAL

Starting with movement and traversel, Outlaws is in the third person perspective, so we get to see Kay as she works through her adventures. Movement wise, Kay has a fairly diverse moveset as she walk, run, crouch, jump as well as climb. Kay can also traverse many parts of the game via the use of climbing walls and structures to reach her objectives and these can occassionally be met by obstacles along the way such as large cooling fans that can blow Kay off a ledge as she navigates tunnels. Kay can make use of a grapple to to climb up or down areas that have a grapple point to attach to. Kay can also travel by speeder out in the open world, which allows her to cover more ground quickly and she can also upgrade her speeder to adapt it towards different terrain.

STEALTH AND COMBAT

As for the stealth, this is a key part of the game, as Kay will often have to sneak into places in order to complete her missions and gain access to information or other items. Kay can also sneak up behind enemies and knock them out as she moves through areas but can also use Nix to distract as well. Kay however does need to watch out for motion cameras that can track her movements during stealth missions. 

As for the combat, Kay can use hand to hand combat one enemies up close but she also has access to certain weapons in the game, such as imperial blasters, rifles, or even grenade launchers. Kay's main weapon however is her blaster, which can be modified and upgraded by finding materials throughout the game. So, Kay can use her blaster for regular fire on enemies, ion setting for destroying shields and robots as well as an explosive setting to do extra damage, so her blaster is actually a pretty good and diverse weapon.

ENEMIES AND CAPTURE

Outlaws also has its share of enemies and quite a few you will have seen already from the films such as the imperial stormtroopers, Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt and even the Rancor (from Return of the Jedi). Kay however will also face plenty of other enemies of other kinds we meet have seen in the Star Wars films series such as Jabba's palace guards, the pig-faced Gamorrean, who are quite brutal here and hit really hard(!) as well as the Rodians, who are the race Greedo belongs in Episode IV and Waka and Gedeek, who also help Kay. Kay can also be captured by enemies such as stormtroopers if she is wanted for trespassing or other crimes, which will result in the loss of credits.

CRIME SYNDICATES AND REPUTATION

Another feature of the game are the crime syndicates that Kay will work for and she has opportunities to build up her reputation with them with the main ones being Pyke Syndicate, Crimson Dawn, the Hutt cartel and the Ashiga clan. However, Kay will also on certain missions be forced to work for one and betray the other, which will results in her reputation changing for the worse or better, which can range from terrible to excellent. However, Kay's reputation can if knocked down, be rebuilt by doing other jobs for that syndicate to get back in their favour but this can also affect the others. 

SPACE TRAVEL AND AERIAL DOGFIGHTS

Then we have the space travel aspect of the game, as Kay can also travel to other parts of the galaxy using her stolen Trailblazer ship (after its been repaired that is!). So, the Trailblazer can actually doing a light speed jump to other planets but it needs a clear path to do so and certain areas in space will have alot of debris or even pockets of dense fog and cloud (or more likely, nebulous gases). Kay will often also get drawn into space dogfights with hostile fighters that could be imperial tie fighters or even crime syndicate rivals who are after her and she can shoot them down with the ship's canon and missiles. 

NIX 

And then we have Nix, Kay's cute little alien pet and companion, who is also very useful as Kay can use him to open doors to get inside areas she can't, or pull down shutters to access power cores to turn off energy shield barriers. Nix can also be useful for distracting enemies, so Kay can take them down from behind and he can even attack them as well an additionally, Nix can also distract security cameras by lying down infront of them, so Kay can sneak past them undetected. 

BETTING

Kay during the game can also engaging in some betting activities such as a card game known as Sabacc, which is similar to Poker where she has to sit down and win a hand against rival players. Kay can also place bets on Fathier races, which involve large aliens racing against each other. Some missions also require playing Sabaac but these are optional. 

OUTFITS

As the game progresses, Kay will also get awarded with new outfits, some of which she can also buy from merchants found duirng the game and these can provide different levels of defense and in some cases, boost her stealth abilities. Kay can also purchase other items that can be used to craft new clothing items but this is found after a specific mission.  

WEAPON UPGRADES

As for weapon upgrades, Kay can upgrade her blaster at the workbench on the Trailblazer but this will involve specific materials that she will find throughout the game. The blaster has three main settings for Plasma, Ion and Power all of which you can unlock as you do the missions. Kay can also customise her blaster's appearance as well as boost its efficiency for reducing cooldown time being firing and recoil resistance.

VOICE ACTING (WARNING: SOME SPOILERS MIGHT BE MENTIONED HERE!)

Moving finally onto the voice acting, the cast all do an excellent job here.

Starting with Humberly Gonzalez, who is excellent in her role as Kay Vess, the young scoundrel, who wishes make a name for herself in the underworld. Gonzalez does a great job here at showing Kay's sassy and feisty qualities but also her loyalty towards the crew she works with and also the bond she develops with her robotic counterpart ND-5, who she does a big heist job with.

Eric Johnson also does very well as Jaylen Vrax, the suave leader of the crew, who recruits Kay into his plan to do a heist on the powerful crimelord, Sliro. Johnson does a fine job also at conveying that Jaylen might not be all what he appears to be at first as he appears somewhat idealistic in his notions to steal from the wealthy and corrupt (even though he is himself!). 

Jay Rincon is also excellent as ND-5, a former commando droid, who has been reprogrammed and is now self aware but also remains under Jaylen's control. Rincon excels here at playing ND-5 as a robot but also essentially a sentient being, who can make his own choices and develops a bond with Kay over time as they do missions together. 

As for the other roles Shadi Janho does a good job in his role as well as Gedeek, a Ridonian who worked for the Empire but is soon recruited by Kay for the heist and he appears to regret his past and make some amends for the rebels. Caolon Byrne is very good also in his role as Sliro, the arrogant crimelord, who Kay is looking to steal from and Byrne exhibits Sliro's arrogant nature very well. And lastly, Nicole Correia-Damude is very good also in her role as Riko, Kay's mum, who leaves her in the lurch as a child but later on appears in the game and she is somewhat sassy and feisty herself, as well as a bit on the cocky side!

GRAPHICS

As for the graphics, Outlaws is a very handsome looking game with its stunning open world design, this game is not short on pleasing visuals. As for its environments, they are varied and have plenty of rich detail from open desert terrain of Tattooine to the frozen lands of Kijimi and Toshara for its open landscapes and home to various syndicates. Then there are the outer space sequences where Kay travels in the Trailblazer and engages in dogfights sometimes, which looks impressive. The character models are also quite good albeit they do look a little bit unsophisticated compared to other modern games but overall they are good enough. 

So, overall, the game is a visual treat for the most part and the Switch 2 version is surprisingly excellent and runs very well even with ray tracing capabilities built-in, which can be demanding, this is quite a feat on such a small handheld console. 

MUSIC

Moving onto the music, the score is very good and is composed by Wilbert Roget II and it has an appropriate Star Wars-y feel to it and its main theme is also quite catchy and sticks with you every time the game loads up. It also has some other good themes throughout and one that springs to mind is theme where Kay comes into land on a planet. So, overall, a very good score here. 

FLAWS

As for flaws, yes OK Outlaws isn't quite perfect.

For starters, I think the game suffers at times from an excessive use of stealth during missions, which can make a lot of missions feels very repetitive and samey. While the stealth didn't bother that much as whole and thought it was well done for the most part, it does have to be said that on alot of missions, Kay has to sneak around e.g. an imperial base or vessel only to finish her objectives and THEN the alarm goes off and she has to fight her way out! So, for me this kind of really negated the whole stealth nature of the game in these moments and makes you think what the hell was the point of it all in the first place! 

Another issue to do with again what is commonly an issue in open world games, is the map system can send you on a bit of a wild goose chase at times. To give an example there is a mission where Kay needs to meet a potential crew member out in a canyon on Tatooine but reaching them is a pain as its that obvious whether its higher up or lower down according to the map indicator, reading the map and following the trail bit by bit, does help more in these cases but its annoying all the same.

Then there are the space dogfights, which frankly for me were really boring and the weakest part of the game overall, as they were simply uninteresting as you fly around in space, zapping away until you hit your target from a great distance. So, there is no immediacy to the space combat, it just feels like it was pretty half-baked in its design and easily one of the weak areas of the game.

Another issue is to do with the limited amount of weapons in the game as there isn't too much variety to be found and the weapons you do find, often have limited ammo, which can't be refilled and you are forced to drop it for another weapon, which is pretty crappy imho. So, the weapons really should have been improved. 

The mission choices in the game where Kay has to make a choice to back one syndicate or betray the other also kind of lacks a dramatic impact, especially given you can make up your reputation with the other syndicate as you progress. This also brings me onto another annoying issue where Kay often will get chased by pirates, who are out to hunt her for the death mark Sliro has placed on her and they can be pretty annoying to fend off as you travel in your speeder.

Lastly another issue I had was to do with the leave quest option in the game, which is a bit misleading as you cannot quit a mission if you want to WITHOUT actually deleting your entire progress of the game! So, if you want to avoid doing a mission you don't want, which you may have already started, you need to revert back to an earlier save, which is quite annoying and time consuming.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Star Wars Outlaws can be a lot of fun and as an open world SW game, it works pretty well with plenty of missions and other side content to check out. It also has some fun, engaging characters and a good story that has plenty of twists and turns in it and the visuals of the game are also impressive and the music score is also pretty good and worth of the Star Wars name. 

There are some issues of course with its gameplay, as the stealth missions can get quite repetitive and as such the game does feel a bit too long in its run time as you get nearer the end and there are some other quirks and issues. However, all that aside, this is still a very enjoyable game and well worth a look if you are a fan of the Star Wars game universe, this could be for you.

So, I will rate Outlaws:

8 out of 10

Right, that's all for now and I will try and get another post done before the month is out.

Until then, its bye for now!