Mississippi Burning Review (Revisited)

Right, time for a bit of post revisitation as I will be having another look at one of my older posts from this blog and the one I have chosen to redo is of the critically acclaimed drama film, Mississippi Burning.

So, after 30 years (yep its been that long!) how does Mississippi Burning still hold up? Well, let's find out....

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the film begins with the murder of three civil rights activists in Jessup county in Mississipi who were sent to set up voting registries for the minority groups.  As a result the FBI send two agents, Rupert Anderson (Hackman) and Alan Ward (Defoe) to investigate, however they have a difficult time trying to talk to the local townsfolk as the town is under the control Sherrif Stuckey (Gailard Sartain) and his deputies exert their influence who are also connected to the Ku Klux Klan.  During their investigations, the Klan members begin to make things worse for the black townsfolk as they terrorise them in an effort to force the agents to leave, however the two men continue with their investigations.

Anderson in the meantime befriends the wife of Sherrif Stuckey's deputy, Clinton Pell (Brad Douriff and the Mrs Pell is played by Frances McDormand) in an effort to get information from her.  And Mrs Pell later reveals to Anderson that the three civil rights workers were indeed murdered and buried in an earthen dam and as a result their bodies are exhumed and Stuckey soon confronts Pell to go and deal with his wife for telling the FBI, which leads to Pell going back home and beating his wife, who is hospitalised as a result.

Anderson arrives at the hospital with Ward already present the two of them argue but Ward says to Anderson he wants to go after Stuckey and the others and prosecute by any means necessary, which Anderson agrees to.  And from here the two agents work together to try and bring down Stuckey, Pell and the others...

THOUGHTS 

There is no question that Mississippi Burning is a powerful film and tells an important story of great historical relevance of the troubled times during the 1960s in the deep south in America.  The film itself is also based on true events that surrounded the disappearance of three civil rights workers, who were murdered in Neshoba county in Mississippi in June 1964 although certain liberties had to be taken with the facts of the events due to legal reasons (as is often the case with these films).

And the film paints a pretty unflinching picture of the attitudes of the time of the locals who treated the African Americans with contempt as well as the terrorising created by the Ku Klux Klan.  The film also naturally has some powerful and disturbing scenes which really strike a chord in the viewer and its something in which it really succeeds in doing and making you realise just how ugly the attitudes of the Klan were.

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

Performance wise things are excellent all round as a great cast deliver top notch acting.

Starting with Gene Hackman who is superb as Anderson, the wisened, genial but veteran FBI agent who was formerly from Jessup county himself.

Hackman has many great moments in the film of which I will name a few such as his first scene where Anderson sings the Ku Klux Klan's anthem song from a sheet and he sings "Never, never, never I say! The Ku Klux Klan are here to stay!" amd he laughs and says to Ward "These Ku Klux's are better with their lynchins than their lyrics!". And after they chat for a little bit, to break the tension, Anderson tells Ward a joke "What's got four eyes and can't see?" and Ward says "I don't know" and Anderson laughs and says "Mississipi!".   

Then there is the scene where Anderson tells Ward a story about his dad who years ago who poisoned a mule belonging to a black farmer out of jealousy.  And Anderson says to Ward "And I looked at my daddy and I knew he'd done it and he was ashamed. And he said "if you ain't better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?".  And Ward asks Anderson "And where did that leave you?" and Anderson says "With an old man that was so full of hate he didn't know that being poor was what was killing him". However at this point a gunshot sounds and shatters their motel bedroom window and Anderson yells to Ward "GET THE LIGHT! GET THE LIGHT!" and Ward knocks it over and then runs out into the street to find a burning cross and Anderson joins him and Ward says "I guess they know we're here!". 

And then there is the scene where Anderson pays a visit to Pell's social club where one of Pell's men, the thuggish Klan member, Frank Bailey (played chillingly by Michael Rooker) threatens him to leave town.  And Anderson responds by grabbing Frank's balls and saying "You get this straight, shit-kicker!  Don't you go mistaking me for some whole other body!  You must have your brains in your dick if you think we are just gonna fade away.  We're gonna stay until this thing is finished!". Anderson then looks to Pell and angrily asks "What about you deputy? Is that gun just for show, or do you get to shoot people once in a while?!" and Pell angrily warns him "Just keep pushing me, Hoover boy!". Anderson then let's Frank go, who falls over in agony and Anderson drinks up and says to Pell "Thanks for the beer!".  

And last of all is the great scene where Anderson confronts Pell at the barber shop, as he takes over from the barber to shave Pell and ends up cutting his face with the straight razor and beating him.
So, in the scene Anderson takes over from the barber and starts to shave Pell and nicks his skin a little and Anderson and grins and says "This is tricky! They make it look so easy, don't they?".  So, Anderson tells him what he knows of the night of the murders of the civil rights workers and that he gave a speech saying that they "struck a blow for the white man" that night.

So, Anderson tries to contain his anger as he asks Pell " Did you make a speech the night that you beat up your wife, Clinton? Huh? Did ya? Did you strike a blow for the white man that night? Huh?!". Anderson then angrily grabs Pell and shouts at him "You got a stupid smile, Pell!" and he thrusts Pell's face into a mirror and he shouts "CAN YOU SEE IT?!".  Anderson then throws Pell up against a wall and shouts a him "Did you smile when the bulldozer ran over the black kid's body???! DID YA?!" and he thrusts Pell's face into a sink filled with water and pulls him back out. Anderson continues furiously "Did ya smile when the bodies were covered over?!" and he throws Pell toward a wall and Pell falls over. Anderson then grabs Pell and picks him up and shouts "Did you smile that same stupid smile?! DID YA?!" and he slaps him in the face and throws him toward a line of chairs, which Pell crahses into. And outside we see Ward look exasperated by Anderson's tactics and tries to go in but Ward's fellow agents warn him off and Ward gives in and leaves.

So, after Anderson ass-whips Pell, he throws him back into the barber's chair and he holds the razor close to Pell's throat and he says menacingly to Pell "Make no mistake about it deputy, I'll cut your fuckin head clear off and not give a shit how it reads on the report sheet!!!". Anderson then pushes the barber's chair just before he walks out, which causes it to spin around with Pell's limp form still in it.

Willem Defoe is also excellent in his part as the serious and assertive Ward, who at times is at odds with Anderson's methods but they pull together in their attempts to bring down the perpetrators behind the killings.

Defoe also has some good moments in the film such as his first scene with Hackman where Ward and Anderson drive to Jessup county and Anderson looks at a song sheet for a KKK song. So, as Anderson sings it and finishes with the chorus "The Ku Klux Klan are here to stay!" Ward says to him "Just read the file, Mr Anderson. I can do without the cabaret".  Anderson smiles and says "You don't like me much, do you boss?" and Ward says "Sure I like you. I just don't share your sense of humour!". So, after Anderson teases Ward a bit more, Anderson asserts himself and says "Let's get this straight.  I haven't had a pimple in years, I shave every morning and I go to the bathroom myself so you can cut out this boss stuff".

Then there is the scene where Ward arrives during a meeting held by the local Klan, headed by Clayton Townley (played by Stephen Tobolowsky) and Pell tells Ward to leave saying "Its a damn political meeting, Hoover boy!".  And Ward says "Oh it looks like a political meeting but it smells more like clan to me...with or without the Halloween costumes!".

Another scene is when Ward and Anderson witness from afar some black people rioting and Anderson says to Ward "You know if I was a negro, I'd probably think the same way they do" and Ward replies "If you were a negro no one would give a damn what you thought!".

Then there is the great scene between Anderson and Ward when they fight outside the hospital just after Ward has been brought over and sees that Mrs Pell has been hospitalised after her beating at the hands of her husband. So, in the scene Anderson arrives at the hospital and sees Mrs Pell and then he walks out in disgust and Ward goes after him.

So, Ward shouts after Anderson "Mr Anderson! STOP! Mr Anderson! I'm telling you to stop and I mean!" and Anderson in disgust says "Go to hell!". Ward then follows him and says "We're not killers. That's the difference between them and us!" but Anderson insists "No, that's the difference between them and YOU!". Ward then follows Anderson outside and tells him "Don't go messing this up just because you're partial to foolin around with witnesses!". This then sets off Anderson who shouts "Why you...!" and he slaps Ward and the two of them struggle and Ward manages to pull out his gun and holds it to Anderson's head.

So, Anderson angrily tells him "It don't mean shit to have gun unless you mean to use it!" and Ward warns him "I'll you right now unless you listen to what I have to tell you!" and Anderson defiantly says "Fuck you!". Then after Anderson let's go of Ward, Ward tells him "We'll go after them, all of them, together!" and Anderson says "You wouldn't know how!" and Ward says "You'll teach me how!". Anderson however disbelieving says "You don't have the guts!" and Ward tells him "Not only do I have the guts, I have the authority!" and Anderson asks "What is that supposed to mean?" and Ward says "New rules. We nail them, anyway we can. Even your way!". Anderson, puzzled by Ward's sudden change of heart, asks him "Is this you talkin or some guy pullin your strings?!" and Ward tells him "Both!".  

And lastly there is the scene toward the end of the film after the indictments are handed down for those involved in the killings, Ward finds the local town mayor, Mayor Tilman (Lee Ermey) has hung himself and Ward's fellow agent, Mr Bird asks why he did it as he wasn't in on it and Ward says "No he was guilty alright.  Just as guilty as the fanatics who pull the trigger.  Maybe we all are".

The supporting cast are also excellent such as Frances McDormand who plays Mrs Pell married to the deputy, who is a decent woman caught up in the lies and deceit and eventually confides in Anderson over where the civil rights workers were buried.

Frances also has a really good scene where Mrs Pell confides to Anderson one night at the hairdressers where she works and filled with shame and remorse, tells him how she feels about all the racial hatred. So, Mrs Pell emotionally tells Anderson "It's ugly. This whole thing is so ugly. Have you any idea what it's like to live with all this? People look at us and only see bigots and racists. Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught. At school, they said segregation what's said in the Bible... Genesis 9, Verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it... you breathe it. You marry it".

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

And lastly there is the scene near the end where after Mrs Pell get's out of hospital, having recovered from her beating at the hands of her husband, Anderson visits her at her home, which has been trashed (presumably by Pell himself before his imprisonment).

So, in the scene Anderson asks Mrs Pell "Where are you gonna go?" and she tells him "I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm stayin'. This is my home. Born here. Probably die here. If I wanted to leave, I would've done it a long time ago. Things'll work out. There's enough good people around here know what I did was right. And enough ladies like the way I fix their hair". Anderson then smiles and makes to leave and she says to him "Hey. If you're ever in Des Moines...don't send me a postcard".

Brad Douriff is also excellent in his role as the soften spoken and creepy deputy Sherrif Pell, who is one of the KKK leaders.

Douriff also has some excellent moments in the film such as the scene where Anderson pays an uninvited visit to the social club where Pell and his buddies are drinking. So, as Anderson walks in, they stop chatting and Anderson asks "You got anything to drink here?" and Pell tells him "You have to be a member to drink here" and Anderson scornfully laughs and asks "A member?! A member of what?" and Pell says "A member of the social club".

So, as Pell allows Anderson to have a beer, Anderson tries to humour them with his stories as a sherrif back when he lived in Jessep county himself, however Pell and the others aren't interested. So, Pell tells Anderson "We ain't too interested in your good ol stories, Mr Anderson. You ain't from around here no more".  

Then there is the scene where Douriff as Pell delivers the film's most singularly disturbing line when Pell sees Mrs Pell hold a black baby belonging to black mother. So after the mother leaves, Pell looks on and says to his wife "Funny, they're kids are so cute" and he walks back into the house leaving Mrs Pell looking unsettled.

As for other cast members Stephen Tobolowsky is also very good in his role as the loathsome town spokesman, Clayton Townley.

And I will mention one of Stephen's scenes and its the one where Townley is interviewed on television and asked if he is a spokesman for the Ku Klux Klan. So, Townley firmly tells the press "I told you, I'm a businessman. I'm also a Mississippian, and an American! And I'm getting SICK and TIRED of the way us Mississippians are getting our views distorted by you newsmen and on the TV. So let's get this straight. We do NOT accept Jews, because they REJECT Christ! And their control over the International Banking Cartels are at the root of what we call Communism today. We do not accept Papists, because they bow to a Roman dictator! We do not accept Turks, Mongrels, Tartars, Orientals nor Negroes because we are here to protect Anglo-Saxon Democracy, and the American way!".

Michael Rooker proves to be quite chilling in his part as the Klan member, Frank Bailey, who's most disturbing scene comes when masked along with a group of other Klan members, all wearing sheets terrorise and attack a group of black parishoners leaving church.

And there are two scenes worth a mention for Rooker, such as the one where Frank leads an attack on a black parish and afterward, Frank brutally kicks a young black boy, Aaron in the face and grabs him saying "You already been told once, nigger! If you go making any more trouble by sqwaking those boot-lips off to any of those Federal men, then we sure as hell gonna have to put you in the ground, boy!  And that's without a pine box!".

And lastly there is the scene where Anderson turns up unexpectedly at the Klan's social club where Pell, Frank and the others are. So, as Anderson fails to humour them, Frank tries to intimate him into leaving and he warns Anderson "Why don't you get the hell on out of here and back to your nigger lovin Commie bosses up North?!". Anderson then smiles and says "You obviously don't know my boss, Mr Hoover. He's not too fond of commies! He'd be on your side there!". Frank however is not interested and with menace tells him "I don't give two shits which side your Mr Hoover's on boy! As far as I'm concerned we've got 5000 niggers in this county without a single registered vote and as far as I'm concerned they never will! Unless its over my dead body, or over alot of dead niggers!".

So, Anderson now a little riled asks Frank "You'd kill Frank? Is that what your saying?" and Frank coldly says "I wouldn't give it any more thought than wrining a cat's neck! And there wouldn't be a court in Mississipi that would convict me for it!". Frank then grabs Anderson and angrily says "Get this straight, you corn-holin' fucker. You tell your queer-ass nigger bosses that they ain't never gonna find those civil rightsers down here! So you might as well pack up and go back up North where you came from and..." and then Anderson suddenly grabs Frank by the balls and warns him not to underestimate him before letting him go.

Gailard Sartain is also very good in his role as the bigoted Sheriff Stuckey, who sneakily stays in the background while playing a big part in orchestrating the KKK attacks on the African Americans in town.

I will mention just one of Sartain's scenes, which is the one where Stuckey is harrassed by TV reporters after the FBI make the hunt for the missing civil rights workers public. So, Stuckey tells the reporters "Tell you what I think they oughta be doin'.Lookin' up in Canada for them boys,.....instead of our swamps around here. I'll tell you somethin' else. I think it's a stunt dreamed up by NAAC people. NAACP. Know what it stands for? Niggers, Alligators, Apes, Coons and Possums. Tell you what you got. You got your NAACP. You got your SNCC. You got your COFO. You know what all that mess is? B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T!".

Lee Ermey also provides a good performance as Mayor Tilman, who plays up his part in publicly denying any of the locals provoking and terrorising the blacks.

So, two of his senes I will mention are firstly the one where Tilman addresses some TV reporters "If the entire Secret Service couldn't protect the President of the United States, how the HELL are WE supposed to protect a few negroes! It is nothing more than some poor white trash drinking too much cheap alcohol. More likely paint thinner and snake juice because this state's as dry as a martini, and we've got the alcoholics to prove it!". 

And the second is when Tilman confronts Anderson and Ward angrily over their continual presence in the town and he tells them "Any jackass can point a finger, but that ain't evidence. Us old cotton-choppers are still stupid enough to believe in democracy!". So, Anderson teases him and says "You know something alright, I'd bet a cotton-choppin dollar on that!" which angers Tilman and he says "You know something, Anderson, you're beginning to get so far up my nose, I'm starting to feel your boots on my chin!". So Tilman angrily tells Ward "And I'm tellin' you one more time, Mr Apple Red. A couple of crazies in bedsheets dancin' round the countryside scarin' Negroes...is not the fault of the entire state of Mississippi!".

Darius McCrary is also very good in his role as Aaron Williams, a brave young African American boy, who stands up to all the racial prejudice in town and later pays for.

And I will mention one of his scenes where Anderson and Ward turn up at a meeting held by African Americans and Aaron tells the others at the meeting "One day we won't have to say "Good morning, sir, Mr Sheriff." Maybe there'll come a time when we won't have to say "Mr Stuckey". One day there'll come a time when we'll just say "Stuckey" or "Sheriff". And one day there'll come a time when the sheriff won't even be a white man".

Then afterward, Anderson and Ward approach Aaron and his father, and Anderson tries to get them to talk about what happened. So, Anderson says "Sorry about interruptin' your meeting but we can't get anybody to talk to us. They zip up, like my momma used to say!". So, Arron tells Anderson "People don't wanna talk to you because they're afraid it'll get back to the law and Ward says "We are the law" but Aaron's father tells him "Not round here you ain't". Aaron then suggests to Ward "It ain't coloured folks you should talk to" and Ward asks "Who should we talk to?" and Aaron says "You should start at the sherrif's office". Ward impressed by Aaron's bravery asks him "How come you aren't afraid?" and Aaron asks him "How come you ain't?" and he walks off, leaving Ward with a smile on his face.

Pruitt Taylor Vince is also suitably creepy and effective in his role as Lester, one of the KKK group, who is not too bright and is ultimately intimidated by the FBI into testifying against his fellow cohorts.

And Taylor-Vince delivers one of the most memorable and shocking lines in the film, which happens at the start of the film where we hear the gunshots fired that kill the civil rights workers. So, Lester is heard saying the line "You only left me a nigger, but at least I shot me a nigger!".

And last of all is Badja Djola who is excellent in his brief role as FBI Agent Monk, an African American agent, who abducts and intimidates Mayor Tilman.

So, in his main scene, Monk takes Tilman to a shack and wearing a KKK-esque hood, he removes it to reveal that he is a black man and he looks at Tilman in disgust and says "You...!" and he then goes on to tell Tilman a story.

So, Monk says "I'm gonna tell you a story. A kid named Homer Wilkes lives 30 miles north of here. He'd just taken his girlfriend home and was walking along the road. A truck pulls up beside him. Four white boys took him for a ride. Now Homer, he headn't done anything, except be a Negro. They took him to a shack, a regular old shack like this one. Then they took out a razor blade" and he produces a razor blade. So, Monks continues "Ragged old razor blade, like this one. They pulled down his pants, they spread his legs, and they sliced off his scrotum!". Monk the angrily asks Tilman "Then they put it in a coffee cup, like this one. Mayor, do you know how much you bleed when someone cuts off your balls?! HUH?!!" and he throws the cup at him. Monk finishes and says "When they found Homer, he looked like he head been dipped in blood up to his waist. He was barely alive when they got him to the hospital, and he can barely walk now!".


DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Moving onto the film's director, Alan Parker does an excellent job here and keeps the film's pace tight and builds up the suspense and film's disturbing and uncomfortable atmosphere but he also leads the film towards its somewhat righteous climax.  The film also was notable for being nominated for several oscars including best picture, best director, best actor and supporting actress but it lost out on all except the oscar for best photography by Peter Biziou, who's photography for the film is terrific and it is visually stylish and quite striking. 

Parker himself received a great deal of criticism from various African American activist groups, who criticised the film for depicting black people as passive onlookers without a voice. However, Parker himself defended the film saying while it was to an extent fictitious, it was also in the spirit of showing what those times were like. 

The film also features a good score by South-African composer, Trevor Jones which is both powerful and dramatic and well suited to the film's tone and setting and it features a mix of orchestrations and electronic synthesizer aswell as the use of some guitar work.

FLAWS 

Getting on to Mississippi's flaws, yeah there are a few.

And to start one of the main ones was in fact raised by many critics at the time as they said the film failed to tell the story from the point of view of the black local townsfolk and instead morely from the point of view of the two FBI agents and also Stuckey, Pell and the other Klan members.  And this to an extent is a fair criticism as it does reduce the African Americans in the film to merely just spectators or victims all with the exception of the brave young boy, Aaron (played by Darius McCrary) who speaks up about the racial attacks by the Klan and encourages others to speak up as well. 

Another point could also be to do with again in the depiction of Anderson and Ward appear to single handedly take down the Klan members involved in the murder by using any means necessary and it kind of reminded me of The Untouchables were just four guys with guns finally brought down Al Capone as it smacks of the Hollywood machine making it up as they go along again and again these two guys are above the law (or rather Anderson is). 

The reality of the investigation was quite different and naturally the names of those involved in the murders were not disclosed for the purpose of the film due to legal reasons, the informant who gave the information regarding the location of the civil rights workers bodies was also never given, but it was depicted as being Pell's wife in the film.  But again the film is only loosely based on the events surrounding the investigation so you can expect the film makers to take certain liberties with the truth.    
And this brings me onto another flaw in the film involving Mrs Pell telling Anderson the whereabouts of the bodies and that her husband was involved. Now, she ultimately does the right thing here but the real question is just how stupid is her husband for confiding in her this information in the first place?! In reality there surely would be no way that Pell would have told his wife anything as sensitive as this and trust her with it but in the end it is what incriminates him. However, the film essentially uses Mrs Pell as a key plot device to move the story forward to help Ward and Anderson nail Pell and the others involved.

And last of all is the scene where Ward goes into a diner filled with a mix of white and black people all eating separately. So, Ward decides to go right up to one of the young black men sitting eating his lunch and he proceeds to ask him some questions but the young man refuses to talk and as a result, he is later abducted and beaten up and Anderson rightly after berates Ward for it. Now, my point is, why would Ward even do this in the first place?! Especially as he has been put in charge of the investigation and been through a similar case before, surely he would know this would be the last thing he should do! However, this instead seems to highlight Ward's inexperience and youthfulness next to Anderson's more experienced approach and perhaps this was deliberate on the film maker's behalf. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP
 
So to sum up, Mississippi Burning is still a very impressive and powerful drama that features some great performances from its cast, particularly Hackman, Defoe and McDormand, who are all on top form here and the film's taut direction, great cinemaphotography and powerful music score all compliment the film. 

It is of course not without its problems and flaws and it was heavily criticised by several African American civil rights groups and even the families of the three murdered civil rights workers. However if you can overlook these issues, then Mississippi Burning is still an excellent film that is worth looking at 30 years on.

OK, so that's it for now and I will return hopefully with a couple more reviews before the end of the month and apologies for not getting more out these past fews months but I will try and rectify that as the year goes on.

So, till the next one its bye fer now!

Dark Souls II Review

OK, this review will be something of a pretty BIG undertaking as its based on a game I still haven't finished yet and it may take me some time to actually do so! However, I have decided to do a review of the game anyway and that game is of course the sequel to one of the greatest action role games of all time: Dark Souls.

However given how good that the original game was, how does Dark Souls II stack up??? Well, let's find out! Oh, and by the way just to say the version I am playing is of course the Scholar of the First Sin release that is available on the PS4 and was released in 2015.

And I will quickly mention a little about the story but not too much, so I won't bother with a spoilers warning as such.

So, here we go...

STORY 

So, the story is fairly similar to the original Dark Souls, where the playable character is a human who is undead and cursed to never die and eventually become hollow, a zombie like being with no memories or purpose. So, in order to break the curse, the undead travels to the kingdom of Drangleic and is tasked by the Emerald Herald to obtain four Great Souls from powerful Old Ones whose names are forgotten and forbidden. And its from here that the undead starts their long and incredibly dangerous journey in their battle to claim the four Great Souls to end the undead curse.

THOUGHTS

As a sequel to the original, Dark Souls II had alot to live up to but thankfully the game makers, Namco Bandai were more than up to the task this time round as DSII while it doesn't quite scale the heights of the original, its still an excellent, entertaining and gripping sequel with plenty of new features and enemies to deal with.  The game itself also sees many different changes over the original but it does still follow pretty much the same forumla but it definitely has its own look and unique feel all the same. The game also appears to rack up the difficulty level from the original as it is filled with more bosses and even more enemies!  

GAMEPLAY BASICS
 
As for the gameplay it follows pretty much the same patterns of the original Dark Souls with the third person perspective approach and similar move set such as running, jumping, walking the usual stuff (no shimmying though!) however there are one or two changes still in terms of the controls than before. However one addition to the game is that there are certain areas where the character can use rope zip lines to traverse between different high up areas. 

The player's HUD is similar also with their health bar and endurance bar on the top left although the inventory has been given a bit of an overhaul with items positioned in a more boxed grid, which makes selecting items a bit easier. Then there is the stats screen that shows attributes such as your strength, endurance, vigour (which has replaced vitality to upgrade your health points, or HP) and what level your character is at. This is also where you can level up these stats, which now has to be done through one of non-playable characters (NPC) in the game, Emerald Herald, who is based in an area known as Majula.

Majula is in fact the central hub of the game itself where the character can come back to rest and upgrade their stats, equipment via the local blacksmiths and deal with other merchants. It also leads off to other nearby areas, which again shows how the game is quite well connected similarly to the original Dark Souls.   

The player can also make the choice of character like before and select the character's gender, build and class of character e.g. warrior, knight, sorcerer, cleric or pyromancer and similar to the first game each character has their own different characteristics but more on that soon.

HEALTH AND WEAPONS RISKS

Dark Souls II also sees it set the difficulty level a bit higher when it comes to your player's weapons and health this time round because weapons can break much easier than in the previous game where most weapons didn't break at all! Your weapons however can be repaired by one of the blacksmiths in the game or if your weapon is almost broken you can return to the bonfire and it will automatically restore your weapon for you. Also if the player dies then their health bar will reduce a little each time they do, which can be reverse but only if the player uses certain items in the game. The player again though can replenish their health by drinking Estus flasks (which featured in the original DS also) and additionally they can use a new item called life gems to do the same, which they can do when you are on the move.

HOLLOW VS HUMAN 
 
In terms of the hollowing and humanity process, things are also a little different this time because when you go hollow, as I said above you will lose a little of your health every time you die, however the game uses a new item called a human effigy to restore your player's humanity. The advantage here is that when your player's humanity is restored you can completely restore their health bar but you need to be wary that the process will repeat of them losing their health bar fractionally when they die and become hollow.  However there are also other items in the game that can reduce the amount of health you lose.

RINGS

This brings me onto the rings in the game, which feature a large variety that are spread throughout the game that can be bought via merchants or discovered in wooden boxes or treasure chests during their travels. The rings will have various abilities such as increasing your stamina, your life bar, defenses and resistances to certain things and later on enhanced versions of these rings can be found also that are +1, +2 and +3 in strength. Another improvement in the game sees the player now being able to use four rings at once rather than just the two in the original game, which is a big bonus in itself and a welcome upgrade.

TORCHES

A new addition to the game this time is the use of torches, which come in hand frequently as there are a number of dark or dimly lit areas to be found here. The player can either light their torch at a bonfire or light it from one another flamed source and it can also act as a key gameplay mechanic when fighting bosses. The torches can generally last a good length of time in the game and can be relit at any time time. However the main downside to using a torch in the game means that you are sacrificing your shield when moving through certain areas, leaving more at risk to enemy attacks.

WEAPONS

Not surprisingly in the game there is a huge selection of weapons to choose from which can be picked up either from the fallen dead or enemies or can be purchased from merchants and blacksmiths.

So, the game features all sorts of melee weapons such as swords, knives, maces, axes, spears, bows and crossbows that can be upgraded throughout the game by blacksmiths who enhance them with the use of different materials such as titanite shards, chunks, slabs and specific types of stone and embers that create various effects such as magic, fire or lightning or just increase the overall power of the weapons attacks. There is also a big selection of shields that the player can access that range in all different sizes and materials.

There are also other weapons in the game such as firebombs, which you can toss at enemies from a short distance that will explode on impact, throwing knives, which can be well...thrown at enemies! One thing about the throwing knives is that you can purchase ones that are covered with poision that can kill enemies quicker. In fact this reminds me that poison has a more potent effect this time round in the game as you die quicker if you are poisoned but it can be cured through poison moss. 

As for sorcerers they will have access to their own abilities that involve using a staff (or catalyst) to unleash their magic attacks and pyromancers can use a flame glove to launch their fire attacks and all of these attacks have various effects. I think however the miracle spells performed by clerics require no staff or other device, so they are performed purely by the character themselves. 

GAME STATS, MELEE, MAGIC, PYROMANCY & FAITH 

Moving onto the game stats, this is where the game's depth really come into play as this is where it really depends on your choice of character and what characteristics they have and again things are very similar here in Dark Souls II. And as an example a melee character, who wields powerful swords and shields will upgrade their strength, endurance and their vigour (which is a new stat, which essentially increases your health bar) and adaptability (helps to maintain their poise in combat situations) to improve their performance throughout the game.

However when it comes to other characters such as a sorcerer, you may depend less on strength and endurance and more on intelligence and attunement where intelligence is used to cast spells and attunement to gain more slots to use different spells at once. As for pyromancy, intelligence wouldn't be a factor to use this but they can use another stat called dexterity that will improve their ability to cast faster although I'm not too sure how fast they cast in DSII as I haven't play as a pyromancer yet!
Clerics can probably have similar stats to melee characters with the exception of their key stat which is Faith that is used to cast their spells, which are known in the game as "miracles".

So basically in the game the stats remain much the same with the exception of two new stats of vigour (raises your health bar) and adaptability (increases your poise ability in combat i.e. so you won't stagger when attacked aswell as your agility in combat). Vitality however undergoes the main change here in the game, which no longer governs the player's health but more their equipment load and defense.    

COMBAT

The combat system again is pretty similar to the original game where the player takes on enemies either in free flow or they can lock on to a single enemy.  The combat mechanics feature similar attacks such as the typical forward combo attacks but you can also parry your enemies (involves shield bashing them as they are about to strike and counter-attacking them). The backstab however that featured in the original game is now replaced with a critical combo chain attack but you can still backstab with certain weapons such as spears. You also have the option to perform a strong attack that inflicts more damage on enemies and there is options for a running attack, which has a similar potent effect.  

As for sorcery and pyromancy the attacks are very similar to the first Dark Souls only the casting speed for sorcerers is much faster than before although pyromancy appears to have only moderately been improved (I think!). You can also upgrade your casting speed via your stats as you progress with your intelligence and attunement but there are also rings that you can acquire than shorten the casting time. The same should go for pyromancers here I think but having not played as a pyro character yet I'm not sure of this myself nor of the clerics abilities in this regard as I haven't played as those characters myself.  

ENEMIES, BOSSES AND NPCs

This time round the game features alot more enemies per area, which can range from the weaker enemies up to stronger ones. Of course alot of the enemies that featured in the original reappear here such as hollows in various forms, skeletons, rats, mimics (the creatures that disguise themselves as a treasure chest) basilisks (the big frog-like creatures that can "curse" you with their gas). However there are of course plenty of new enemies that range from the weakest type such as infantry hollow soldiers to armoured knights (with katanas no less!) but there are a vast array of enemies here for sure that will not leave stuck for a challenge as they can become very challenging as the game progresses! 

The game also features a much larger selection of bosses than in the previous game where this time round there are 41 bosses in total (which includes the bosses from the DLC content for the game). This is way more than any other Souls game and the bosses are in different forms such as giants, knights, sentinels, dragons, hyrbid creatures and of course demons!  Again the bosses vary in difficulty with some of them being quite easy whereas others are infruiatingly difficult but hey it is of course Dark Souls, so you have to expect that.  There are very few bosses however that can regenerate their health in the game but I believe there is one in the DLC, the Fume Knight (often reputed as the toughest boss in the whole game!) who can do so unless you kill off certain enemies before you enter this fight.

Then we have the NPCs the in the game (non-playable characters) who you can either interact with for trading and selling items or in the case of Emerald Herald, upgrade your stats with. There are other NPCs that you can also summon to help you fight in most boss fights (but not always!) who often prove very useful in battle and at times you can summon two of them for one fight but you need to be in human form before you can do this. However there also other NPCs that are enemies and invade you throughout the game, who are after your souls or humanity. In the first Souls game you were only invaded when you were in human form but here they can invade you in either a hollow or human state.

GRAPHICS AND MUSIC

As for the graphics, well the original version of Dark Souls II was released in 2014 but it was given a remastered update in 2015 when they released Scholar of the First Sin, which featured revamped graphics, some additional enemies and also all the DLC content. As for the graphics, going by the Scholar version, they look terrific and the game's environments look stunning and rich with detail. The character models also look pretty good albeit there are more sophisticated looking ones by today's standards and the character's mouths don't appear to move when they talk! But overall the graphics for the game are very impressive and Scholar of the First Sin saw a big upgrade in DSII's visuals.


As for the music, well its another fine score, which is again composed by Motoi Sakuraba with contributions by Yuka Kitmura and its filled with some great passages of music, which can be dramatic, suspenseful and even at times with poignant, such as the "Majula" theme which is the main hub of the game where the character rests.

In fact I think Dark Souls II's score while it might not hit the epic emotional heights of Dark Souls III, it is a more diverse sounding one and there plenty of highlights in there. And such examples include Fume Knight, Skeleton Lords, Vendrick, Old Dragonslayer, Ancient Dragon and the best of all is Sir Alonne's theme, which is easily one of the best tracks in the entire Souls series.  

FLAWS

As for flaws...yeah Dark Souls II does have some.


For starters the game insists on continuing its increase in difficulty over its predecessor, which can make things quite frustrating at times. Now, this isn't necessarily a big problem in itself but there are times in the game where you are swarmed by standard enemies some of whom are actually way tougher than the actual boss they are protecting that you go on to fight! So, there is a quite a bit of inconsistency in the difficulty level here as you get really tough standard enemies and at times dead easy bosses! However sometimes you do get both but the difficulty of the game certainly isn't always that balanced.

Another issue is to do with the NPC invaders, who to put it bluntly are a major pain in the ass! Now there are some invaders in the game that are tougher than others but when you are trying to simply work your way through an area and you get invaded AND get killed in the process, it becomes VERY annoying pretty quickly! And there is no doubt that the game makers stepped up the number of invasions (which are completely random of course!) that occur in the game, making things that bit more infuriating.

Then there is the issue to do with certain items and their limited availability such as the titanite shards, which are very useful for upgrading your weapons and armour. Now in the original Dark Souls, you can simply buy these in unlimited supply from certain blacksmiths but in DSII they only have a limited supply! And in order to get an unlimited supply you need to kill off certain bosses, which can be very time consuming not to mention very difficult! So, the whole process of acquiring things such as titante shards is also a pain although certain enemies do drop them in the game and you can find them in certain areas and chests but their limited availability is still an issue.

Another problem is to do with how your weapons, shields and weapons can break much easier than in the original Dark Souls after so much fighting. Now the bonfire does reset your weapon's damage but if it breaks you then have to pay a blacksmith to fix them. Now, this does make things a little more realistic I guess but it can also be a pest when you are trying to fight your way past a big number enemies but to be fair you do have a large amount of weapons at your disposal, so you can always select another one but if its your most trusted weapon then its still a nuisance.

And I cannot forget to mention the problem that existed in the original Dark Souls with the action of drinking from your Estus flask to recover your health being too slow is STILL a problem here in the sequel! Yep, when you are in mid combat fighting a big boss that is killing you when you want to recover your health, the action of drinking from your Estus flask is still TOO SLOW! So, this means you end up getting murdered more times than not in a fight as a result! In fact for this I have coined my own phrase (which I should try and patent!) which is "Estus Murder" where drinking from your flask too slowly gets you killed!  However, perhaps they kind of addressed this issue by introducing life gems into the game, which the player can also use to restore their health and can do it on the move, which is an improvement over your pathetically slow Estus flask drinking.

And this brings me onto another issue in the game to do with the Estus flask upgrades as here you need to try and locate what is called Estus shards in order to increase the number of Estus flasks you have at your disposal. So, this means you need to locate these shards throughout the game as they are hidden in different areas, which can also be a pain and early on if you only have a couple of Estus flasks its a pain in the ass but to be fair the life gems also help with your health are more accessible.

Last of all is an issue to do with how enemies progressively stop re-spawning unlike in the original Dark Souls where all enemies respawned in all areas when you rest at your bonfire. Now, this is something of a blessing but also a problem as it makes life easier when you want to get through certain areas and the enemies stop respawning so much but it can also limit the amount of souls you can "farm" in order to upgrade or purchase items. So, its kind of double-edged sword that the game has handed you, its good you have to deal with lesser enemies the more times you redo an area but its also annoying you cannot farm for souls as much when they stop respawning.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Dark Souls II is an excellent sequel to the original and it offers plenty of new features, weapons and upgrades that are all welcome additions aswell as challenging enemies that can provide for a satisfying experience when you have finally defeated them. However it has to be said that it doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of its predecessor due to some frustrating issues with gameplay and the game makers blatant attempts to make things more difficult at times is also an issue not to mention the level of difficulty can be a bit inconsistent.

However despite any of its issues, Dark Souls II is still a very worthy sequel to one of the greatest games of all time and one that will keep you entertained (and frustrated!) for hours on end.

Right, so that its for my exhaustive review of Dark Souls II and I will be back again sometime with another post.

So, till then its bye for now! 

Tomb Raider Film Review "I'll take two!"

OK, sorry its been such a long while since I last posted on here but I'm finally getting round to doing a new post now and it IS a new one!

So, in this post I will be reviewing the latest reboot movie of the Tomb Raider franchise, which surprisingly enough is called Tomb Raider, starring Alicia Vikander in the role as Lara Croft. So, how does Alicia and the film fair in comparison to the poor Angelina Jolie flicks almost 20 years ago?? Well, let's take a look!

And yep as usual there will be the usual warning...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story begins with Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) who makes her living as a bike courier and is one day arrested during an illegal bike race on the streets of London. Lara is bailed out by Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) who is the business partner of her father, Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) who has been missing for seven years and presumed dead.  Ana tells Lara that she must sign papers to claim her father's vastly wealthy inheritence or else it will be sold off to which Lara reluctantly agrees. However during the meeting, Lara is given a box with a puzzle in it, which contains a key and a picture of her as a child with Richard.

Lara then goes off to follow the puzzle and to her father's coffin and finds a secret entrance to a tomb that contains all of her father's work and research. Lara also finds a pre-recorded video message from Richard, warning her that she must destroy all his research as he was working on locating Himiko, the mythical queen of Yamatai, who was said to command power over life and death and if his research fell into the wrong hands this could lead to disaster. Lara however decides instead to follow her father's trail and investigate further.

Lara then travels to Hong Kong where she hires Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) the captain of the ship, Endurance, to travel into the Devil's sea and the island of Yamatai, which Ren reluctantly accepts but warns Lara that journey is extremely dangerous and they could die even attempting to reach the island. During the trip, the ship is caught in a violent storm, which wrecks the boat and Lara and Ren flung into sea and Lara manages ashore but is then knocked unconscious.

On coming around, Lara finds her in a large tent and face to face with Mathias Vogel (Walter Goggins) who is the leader of an expedition to try and find the tomb of Himiko. Vogel also reveals that he was responsible for killing her father and he intends to use his research to continue his expedition. As Vogel has many people held as slaves to excavate the site they are on, he tells them to move camp (as Lara now has the map revealing the location of the tomb from Richard's research). However, Ren, who was also taken captive, creates a diversion to allow Lara to escape from Vogel and she barely survives a series of perils in the process.

And its from here that Lara must try and find a way to defeat Vogel and stop him from finding and opening the tomb of Himiko, which would unleash death and disaster upon the world.

THOUGHTS

As a reboot movie, Tomb Raider actually works quite well and its good to see them take on the gritty route that the newer Tomb Raider games have done so far. However, in a way the film here does a better job at balancing the tone, as the new Tomb Raider games for me have always been way too serious and grim but here in the film, you do have some humour aswell as the drama.  The film also makes a nice departure from the idea of Lara being utterly obssessed in following her father's footsteps like she did in the games and instead being more reluctant to do so here as she refuses to live off his wealth and struggle in making her own way.


PERFORMANCES (Warning: I may mention a few scenes here but will keep spoilers to a real minimum)

As for the performances, they are pretty good overall with the cast all pretty solid.

Starting with the film's star, Alicia Vikander, who is does a fine job in taking on the mantle of playing Lara Croft, which is no easy task in itself but here she manages to show Lara's resolve, combat and athletic abilities when it comes to navigating the many dangers infront of her. More importantly Alicia manages to add some humour into the part aswell, which was virtually missing from the new Tomb Raider games but here we get a more playful Lara to start with before things turn a bit more serious during her perilous adventure. Alicia herself also put on 12 pounds of muscle for the role and it sure does show as her physique is pretty solid (and still rather nice!).

I will only mention a few of her scenes such as the one where Lara goes to the meeting where she has to sign the papers to claim her father's inhertience and she has to sign in at the desk. So, the receptionist mistakes her for a courier and says "Courier's round the back" and Lara tells him "But I'm not a courier..." but she realises that is what she does and says "Well, I am!" and the receptionist says "Right, so round the back". Lara then says "I'm here to see Ana Miller" and the receptionist tells her "Well, you've have to sign in like everybody else. What's your name?" and Lara says "Lara" and he asks "Surname?" and Lara says "Croft" and the receptionist looks up in surprise.

Another scene is where Lara and Ren travel on the sea towards Yamatai and at night during a calm night, Ren tells Lara "Enjoy it while you can. We're headed into the most dangerous stretch of water...
between Hong Kong and California. Your dad sure knew how to pick a holiday!". Lara smiles and says "He had a knack for the unexpected, apparently! I wondered if he had gone mad though. He didn't seem to know what was real and wasn't. Obssessing over some ancient Japanese death queen". Ru then says "Hey, some men like dangerous women!" and Lara says "Some men are foolish!" and he asks "What?!" and she walks off "Good night, Lu Ren. Sweet dreams!".

And last of all is that scene, which I won't reveal too much about but you've all most likely seen it in the trailer where Lara goes to buy some guns from a pawn shop owner, Alan (Nick Frost) who just happens to own a pretty impressive stash of weapons!  So, Lara holds one of the guns and Alan tells her "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but you can't be too careful these days, because the world has gone bloody mad!". And Alan's partner, Pamela asks Lara re: the gun "You like that?" and Lara says "I do. I'll take two!".

Next up is Dominic West as Richard Croft, Lara's father, who is presumed dead and he does quite well in his role even though he does get to deliver some pretty hackneyed dialogue throughout and rather annoyingly keeps having to say "sprout" as a term of affection for Lara! So, I will refrain from mentioning too much of his dialogue but I will mention one of his scenes where Lara plays back a video tape that Richard made for her.

So, in the video footage, Richard tells Lara "I need you to do me a favor. I need you to burn all my research on the Himiko project. Just burn all of it,the notebooks, the tapes, everything. It's very important. If it falls into the wrong hands, then...it could be catastrophic. So please, do it straight away. I know you hate being told what to do, but, please promise me that. I hope you never have
to see this tape, but if you do...You found my secret calling. I hope you find yours".

Walter Goggins next up is also pretty good as Mathias Vogel, the main villain of the film, who is out to try and locate the tomb of Himiko but doesn't believe any of the superstitions that surround the legends.

And I will mention just one of Walter's scenes here such as the one where Vogel first meets with Lara after she is found washed up on the island, however we all to quickly find out he's not what he appears to be at first.

So, in the scene Vogel refers to Lara bringing her father's research with her to the island (in her backpack) and he says "You have brought me the thing that I most wanted in this world. Thank you!". Lara however looks defiantly and asks "What do you know about my father?" and Vogel smiles and says "Now I see the likeness. The intelligence, the face. The recklessness. All he had to was cooperate, Of course, being Richard he refuse Thought he was saving the world". Lara grows tired and angrily asks "Where is he???!!" and Vogel tells her "He's with God now. I killed him" and Lara reacts with shock and Vogel says "I'm sorry if I was too blunt. I'm a bit out of practice. Its been seven years!".

Daniel Wu is excellent in his role as Lu Ren, the grumpy captain, who reluctantly takes Lara into the hostile island and he provides a fair bit of humour in the film.

And I will mention a couple of his scenes starting with the one where Lara tries to persuade Ren to follow her father's trail. So, in the scene Lara checks her father's maps and locates the island "Its this one!" she says pointing to the island on the map and Ren says to her "That's right in the middle of the Devil's sea! You might aswell tie a stone to yourself and jump off the boat right now!". Lara however, more optimistic, cheerfully says "It will be adventure!" but Ren tells her "Death is NOT an adventure!".

Then there is the scene where Lara and Ren are out at sea enroute to Yamatai and its a calm night and Lara is appreciating the calmness. However Ren tells Lara "Enjoy it while you can. We're headed into the most dangerous stretch of water...between Hong Kong and California. Your dad sure knew how to pick a holiday!". Lara smiles and says "He had a knack for the unexpected, apparently! I wondered if he had gone mad though. He didn't seem to know what was real and wasn't. Obssessing over some ancient Japanese death queen". Ru then says "Hey, some men like dangerous women!" and Lara says "Some men are foolish!" and she walks off.

Kristin Scott Thomas also does well in her rather brief role as Ana Miller, Richard's business associate at Croft Holdings, who isn't all she appears to be in the film at times but she does encourage Lara to take up where her father left off.

And I will mention one of Kristin's scene where Ana bails Lara out of jail and tries to convince her to sign the papers to inherit her father's wealth or else his estate will be sold off and all his money.

So, Ana tells Lara "Just think what you can do for the world...with your potential, with your wealth. Listen, it's very simple. If you don't sign the papers, then everything...your father worked for will be sold off. Not just the company. The Croft manor, also. Can you imagine how he would feel if you lost the house. Lara, your father's gone. But, you can pick up where he left off. It's in your blood". Lara however is reluctant to take her up on the offer and says "I'm just not that kind of Croft".

And last of all is Nick Frost, who is great here as the pawn shop owner, Alan, whom Lara sells her precious amulet that her dad gave her years ago, in order to get money to travel to Hong Kong.

And I will mention one of Nick's scenes where Lara first goes to Alan's shop and tries to barter for the amulet but Alan holds out on her. So, Alan says "I'm pleased to say... we are in a position to make you an offer. Ten!" and Lara pleads "Please. Just a tad bit more? That's all I have to remember my Dad by" and Alan feigns sympathy and says "Oh, your dad died. It's a shame, it's a terrible thing for a young woman to lose her father. Really. Alright fair enough, 9,000!". Lara then, taken aback says "You just said ten!" and Alan says "Well, people come in here, trying that dead dad shit all the time!". Lara tries to plead with him again and Alan says "Right, the price is now 8!" and she sighs and says "OK, you win!". So, Lara frustrated with Alan, hits his glass window and he looks at her and says "For such occassions!" and Lara looks at Alan's coffee cup, which is by the open part of the counter, so she flicks it and lands on his crotch and she says "For such occassions!" and takes her money and leaves.

Well, people come in here, trying
that dead dad shit all the time.

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=tomb-ra

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, Roar Uthag does a pretty good job here when it comes to directing the action in the film and he paces the film well as it very rarely lags at all and manages to get solid performances from the cast. Uthag is a Norgwegian director so this was his first main English speaking feature (at least I think so!) so its a good effort for a major feature film.

Music wise, Tom Holkenborg provides a decent, if not entirely memorable score for the film, which is still quite suitable in its tone but its not really one I'd take time to sit and listen to on my own with the film on.  Holkenborg is better kwown as Junkie XL and he did provide some score work for the DC Extended Universe films aswell. So there you go.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws...yep Tomb Raider has some for sure.

For starters it really has to be said that the plot is pretty bland and generic with Lara being put in a position by her father to try and "save the world" from the potential disaster of unleashing Himiko's power on everyone. And while I applaud the idea of Lara being the reluctant hero and being thrown into the situation, its still a rather bland hackneyed plot that she is part of that rather let's the side down.

Another issue is to do with how so many events in the film are coincidence driven, such as when Lara is looking for Lu Ren's boat and asks a few people, she then goes on to have her bag stolen by some local thieves, who she chases and manages to get the bag back from. However, as the thieves corner her on a boat, a gunshot rings out scaring them off and we see that it is infact Ren's boat that Lara has stumbled onto! What a coincidence!

Then there is the scene where Lara attends the meeting to sign the papers that would see her father's inheritence pass over to her, however when she finds the puzzle box presented by an associate at Croft Holdings (Derek Jacobi) its stops her from signing the papers. Then we cut to the next scene where she heads to Richard's estate and to his supposed coffin. Now are we to assume at this point that Lara DIDN'T sign the papers?! Because they totally left that bit out or unexplained, so we just have to guess that she left and wasn't ready to do so yet.

Then of course there are the issues with Lara and the various injuries she sustains in the film and how she actually even manages to survive any of them, especially the one where (SPOILER!) she manages to survive falling out of a derelict plane that was balanced over a ravine and later she finds a shard of metal in her side. Now, you would imagine that its amazing that she somehow didn't bleed out to death before she was able to get any help!

And then we get to Lara's physics defying jumps and somersaults and uncanny knack to avoid traps of all kinds and towards the end of the film she makes a real death defying jump using an ice axe to leap over a crumbling chasm!  And of course being Lara she manages to make it just barely but hey of course it is just a film and we have to remember that!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up Tomb Raider is a fairly worthy reboot of the franchise that is way better than the mediocre films that Angelina Jolie did over 15 years ago and Alicia Vikander puts in a very solid performance as Lara Croft here and she also looks pretty buff in the role too it has to be said! Alicia also does a good job at showing Lara's emotional vulnerability while also balancing it out with her tough side that would see her go on to become the Tomb Raider.

And yes OK there are some issues with the film here and there and the plot is pretty banal and unoriginal with yet another doom and disaster story and the heroine must save the world etc etc. However if you can look past that then there is still enough here to enjoy in Tomb Raider, even if it isn't perfect, its still worth a look.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post, which might possibly be a review of Dark Souls II, which I have been playing lately, either that or something else.

Anyway till then, its bye fer now!