Troy Review (Revisited) "Imagine a king who fights his own battles?! Wouldn't that be a sight?!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, its time for another revisitional post and this one is on a historical war film, which I have reviewed before on here about five years ago and the film is Troy, starring Brad Pitt as the legendary warrior, Achilles who fought for the Greeks. 

So, I will do the usual here by expanding on certain parts of the initial review as well as adding headings for the sections, which I didn't do in the original, which will help make it a bit easier to navigate lol!

And with that said, let's take another at this historical epic and see how it fares...

So, the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY (Warning: spoilers are ahead!) 

So the story begins with prince Hector of Troy (Eric Bana) and his younger brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) signing a peace treaty with Menelaus (Brendan Gleason) the king of Sparta and celebrate the end of a long bloody war.  Paris however has been having a secret love affair with Menelaus's young and beautiful wife, Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) and he smuggles her aboard their homebound ship much to the anger of Hector who says this could lead to war between Troy and Greece.  

Menelaus is outraged to find his wife missing and then goes to see his older brother, the ruthless King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) and asks for his help to take Troy over, who agrees as he has been wanting to conquer Troy for a long time so he can take control of the Aegean sea.  One of the Greek kings, Odysseus (Sean Bean) pays a visit to the legendary Greek warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt) asking him to join the fight, however Achilles is initially reluctant as he despises Agamemnon and dislikes his ways.  Achilles however soon changes his mind after he speaks to his mother, Thetis (Julie Christie) who tells him that if he goes to fight his name will be remembered throughout the ages but he will die in the war.

Meanwhile in Troy, King Priam (Peter O'Toole) greets Hector and Paris even though he is initially dismayed at Helen's presence he welcomes her and allows her to stay as he realises if they sent her home then Paris would likely follow her and be killed so instead decides that the Trojans should engage the Greeks in battle.  The Greeks arrive soon after and take the beach, mainly with the help of Achilles and his Myrmidons (warriors who trained and served under Achilles) who also travels along with his cousin Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund).  

Achilles and his men soon sack the temple of Apollo and are then confronted by Hector and his Trojan troops  but Achilles tells Hector to go and return to the city, which he does.  Achilles later claims a Trojan priestess, Briseis (Rose Byrne) but Agamemnon takes her from Achilles out of spite which angers Achilles who then refuses to help Agamemnon continue their fight against Troy.

The next day the Trojans and Greeks meet outside the walls of Troy and Hector and Paris face Agamemnon and Menelaus and Hector remains defiant against Agamemnon's wishes to call on Troy's army whenever he wishes.  Paris however offers to take on Menelaus in combat for the right to take Helen to end the war, which Menelaus appears to agree with but quietly tells Agamemnon to attack after he has killed Paris.  

Paris and Menelaus then engage in combat but Menelaus quickly overpowers him and as he is about to kill Paris, Paris runs back to Hector who kills Menelaus, after this Agamemnon engages his army in battle with the Trojans but they are overwhelmed by the Trojan's defences and are forced to retreat.  Agamemenon later is forced to try and make peace with Achilles at the insistance of two of his fellow Kings, Odysseus and Nestor (John Shrapnel).  Agamemnon however has given Briseis to the men who attempt to rape her but are stopped by Achilles who rescues her and takes her back to his tent where they fall for one another.

The next day Achilles continues to refuse to fight for Agamemnon despite Odysseus's best efforts, but during the following night the Trojans launch an attack on the Greeks using fireballs.  The Trojans however are buoyed by the appearance of Achilles who engages in hand to hand combat with Hector only to have his throat cut.  Hector however on removing his opponent's helmet discovers it is Patroclus and not Achilles and out of mercy kills him to end his suffering.  

As a result of this Achilles is enraged and then goes to face Hector in combat himself, which after an even start soon goes the way of Achilles who wears down Hector and kills him.  King Priam then discreetly visits Achilles at night and asks that he allow him to take Hector's body back and that he give his son the proper burial rites and rituals, which out of respect, Achilles agrees to which means for 12 days no Greek will attack Troy.  However during this time the Greeks use this time to create a large wooden horse, which would soon leads to the film's dramatic climax.....

THOUGHTS 

As a historical epic war film, Troy is very entertaining and it largely succeeds in telling the story of Homer's Illiad, which narrated the story of the 10 year Trojan war.  The film itself is visually stunning and made an impressive scale which is understandable given its 175 million dollar budget.  Troy was however in addition to its original theatrical release also had a director's cut as well which clocked in at 196 minutes, which was 34 minutes longer than the theatrical release which expands on certain scenes particularly the battle scenes and the sacking of Troy, although I would say my preference would be the original cut myself.

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

Performance wise Troy is also largely quite impressive with most of the cast on excellent form.

Starting with Brad Pitt who excels at playing the muscular role of Achilles and he effortlessly handles the film intense action scenes.  And even though Brad's accent seems to go on a bit of a walkabout at times between being English and American he still effectively delivers his dialogue. 

Brad's highlights in the film which include the scene near the start of the film where Achilles is awoken by a young boy messanger (who I could swear was a girl!) who tells him that Agememnon has requested  him to do battle.  And in the scene the young boy says to Achilles "That Thessalian, he's the biggest man I've ever seen!  I wouldn't want to fight him" and Achilles says "And that is why no one will remember your name". 

Then in the next scene, Achilles confronts a giant Thessalian warrior champion, Boagrius (Nathan Jones) and before he fights him, he has a little verbal spat with Agamemnon and says to him "Perhps YOU should fight him!". So, Achille relcutantly decides to go ahead with the fight and says to himself "Imagine a king that fights his own battles! Wouldn't that be a sight!" and he slams his spear into the ground (confident he doesn't need it).  

So as Achilles fights Boagrius, he takes him out with one swing of his sword and he then goes over to the Thessalian army and shouts "IS THERE NO ONE ELSE??!!" and is met with a stoney silence. Boagrius's defeated king, Triopas, stunned asks Achilles "What's your name, solider?" and Achilles says "Achilles, son of Pelius" and Triopas tells him "I will remember the name" and he holds out a sceptre to him and says "Take this to your king" and Achilles defiantly says to him "He's not my king" and walks off. 

Another good scene comes when Achilles meets reluctantly with Agamemnon and as the two begins the scene together, Achilles refers to their successful sacking of the temple "Apparently you won some great victory". Agamemnon arrogantly says to him "Perhaps you didn't notice. The beach belonged Priam in the morning. It belongs to Agamemnon in the afternoon" and Achilles unimpressed tells him "You can have the beach. I didn't come here for sand!". Agamemnon then tells Achilles "No, you wanted to come here because you want your name to last throughout the ages!". 

Agamemnon then goads Achilles by bringing in Briseis, who Achilles had brought to his tent earlier after the sacking of the temple and Achilles warns Aga's men to let her go. So, he warns them "No argument with you, brothers! But if you don't release her, you'll never see home again! Decide!" 

Agamemnon then grabs Briseis and goads Achilles further and says to him "Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl. Tonight I'll have her give me a bath, and then, who knows?!". Achilles by now is furious and he points his sword at Agamemnon and shouts "You sack of wine!  Before my time is done I will look down on your corpse and smile!".  

Then there is the scene where Achilles confronts Hector in battle after he arrives in his chariot he yells out "HECTOR!" repeatedly until Hector comes down to face him.  And in the scene Achilles starts by removing his helmet and says "Now YOU know who you are fighting!" and he continues on by saying "You won't have eyes tonight; you won't have ears or a tongue. You will wander the underworld blind, deaf, and dumb, and all the dead will know: This is Hector. The fool who thought he killed Achilles!". 

Eric Bana is also very good in his role as Hector, the brave and heroic prize warrior of Troy who get's embroiled in war with Greece.  

Bana also has some good moments such as the scene where Paris reveals to him that he smuggled Helen onboard their ship and Hector angrily orders his ship to be turned back for Sparta to return her.

So, as they argue, Paris says "If you want to take Helen back to Sparta, so be it, but I go with her" and Hector says "To Sparta?! They'll kill you!". So, Paris naively says to his brother "Then, I'll die fighting!" and Hector angrily says to him "Oh, and that sounds heroic to you, doesn't it? To die fighting. Little brother, have you ever killed a man?" and Paris says "No" and Hector asks again "Ever seen a man die in combat?" and Paris again says "No" and Hector angrily tells him "Well, I've killed men, and I've heard them dying. And I've watched them dying. And there's nothing glorious about it! Nothing poetic! You say you want to die for love. You know nothing about dying and you know nothing about love!". Paris then says "All the same, I go with her. I won't you ask to fight my war" but Hector bitterly says to him "You already have!" and tells his men to set sail instead for Troy.    

Then there is the scene where Hector faces Agamemnon and tells him "You want me to look upon your army and tremble? Well I see them. I see 50,000 men brought here to fight for one man's greed!".  And as Aga warns him that his mercy has its limits Hector angrily says "And I've seen the limits of your mercy and I tell you now, no son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler!" and Agamenon cruelly says to him "Then ever son of Troy shall die!". Paris however at this point interrupts and makes an offer to fight for Helen against Menelaus, who accepts the offer to fight Paris. Paris then anxiously tells Hector "If I fall tell Helen...tell her..." and Hector grabs him and says to him "You think of his sword and yours and nothing else!". 

Another good scene for Bana is Hector's fight scene with Achilles were Hector starts off by saying to Achilles saying " I've seen this moment in my dreams. I'll make a pact with you. With the gods as our witnesses, let us pledge that the winner will allow the loser all the proper funeral rituals" and Achilles defiantly says "There are no pacts between lions and men!" and he removes his helmet and says "Now you know who you are fighting!". Hector then regretfully says to Achilles "I thought it was you I was fighting yesterday. And I wish it had been, but I gave the dead boy the honor he deserved".  

As for the other cast members, Diane Kruger is excellent in her role as Helen of Troy/Sparta who engages in an extremely costly love affair with Paris.  

Kruger also has some good moments in the film which include the scene where Paris sneaks in and meets with Helen near the start of the film and he tells her not to be afraid of her husband Menelaus and she says "I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of tomorrow. I'm afraid of watching you sail away and knowing you'll never come back".  

And then later there is the scene where Paris tries to offer an alternative to Helen to try and prevent the Greeks going to war with Troy.  And he naively says regarding Menelaus "Then I will walk right up to your husband and tell him that your mine!" and Helen kisses him and says "You are very young my love".  

And later on as Helen desparately tries to leave Troy during the night, Hector stops her before she can and sobs at the hopelessness of her situation. So, Hector spots Helen in the scene wearing a cloak and he runs after her and shouts "Helen! Wait!" and he grabs her and she cries. So, Helen tearfully tells Hector "I saw them burn. I saw them burning on the pyres. That's my fault. It is. You know it is. All those widows. I still hear them screaming. Their husbands died because I'm here. I'm going down to the ships". Helen then says to Hector "I'm giving myself back to Menelaus" but Hector tells her "It's too late for that. Do you think Agamemnon cares about his brother's marriage? This is about power. Not love!". Helen however says to Hector "I can't ask anyone to fight for me" but Hector tries to encourage her by saying "Your princess of Troy now and my brother needs you tonight".

Orlando Bloom however is the weak link in the cast here as Paris and while he is not a terrible actor by any means, he's that great here either, as I usually nickname him Orlando Bland (sorry!). All the same, this is still a fairly decent performance from Bloom all things considered but its no real different than listening to him as the Elf warrior in the Lord of the Rings.

Still, I will mention one of his scenes where Paris decides to try and end the bloody conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks by challenging Menelaus in one on one combat for the right to Helen.

So, in the scene, Paris during a meeting with high ranking officials and Prias and Hector, Paris says to them "There won't be a war. This is not a conflict of nations. It is a dispute between two men. I don't want to see another Trojan die because of me. Tomorrow morning, I will challenge Menelaus for the right to Helen. The winner will take her home. The loser will burn before nightfall!". 

And after the meeting, Paris speaks to his father, Prias "Father…I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you"
and Prias asks him "Do you love her?" and Paris tell him "You are a great king because you love your country so much. Every blade of grass. Every grain of sand. Every rock in the river. You love all of Troy. That is the way I love Helen". 

Brian Cox is also excellent as the ruthless and power hungry king Agamemnon who is determined to conquer Troy.  

Cox also has quite a few highlights in the film which include the scene where Aga (call him that for short!) meets with Achilles and taunts him by bringing Briseis in front of him and saying to Achilles "The spoils of war!" which enrages Achilles who warns the men to let her go or he will kill them and Agamemnon gloats and says "Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl. Tonight I'll have her give me a bath, and then, who knows?!".  

Another good scene is when Aga confronts Hector and Paris outside the city walls of Troy and he says to them ""I see you're not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you. Ill-advised, but valiant. And he then states his demands to Hector "I have two wishes. If you grant them, no more of your people need die. First, you must give Helen back to my brother. Second, Troy must submit to my command, to fight for me whenever I call".  And as Hector defies Aga's wishes, Aga nastily says to him "Then every son of Troy, shall die!".

And lastly there is the scene where after Agamemnon's initial attack on Troy's walls fails, he is back at his tent later on, ranting at his failure and one of the kings, Odysseus (who Achilles trusts) insists he must make peace with Achilles. 

So, he shouts at Odysseus "Achilles is just one man!" and Odysseus shouts "Hector is just one man and look at what he did to us today!" and Agamemnon shouts back ""Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!". Odysseus however angrily shouts at Agamemnon "I don't care about the man's allegiances, I care about his ability to win battles!". Agamemnon then rants ""Even if I could make peace with Achilles, the man won't listen to me! He's as likely to spear me as to speak to me!" but Odysseus tells him "I'll talk to him. He'll want the girl back" meaning Briesis. So, after Odysseus asks where she is, Agamemnon wearily tells him "I gave her to the men. They need some amusement after today!".  

Sean Bean is also very good in his role as the wise King Odysseus, the only man whom Achilles will listen to.  

Bean has some good scenes as well such as the scene where Another good scene comes when Odysseus visits Achilles near the start of the film and Achilles throws his spear into a tree quite near him and Odysseus smiles saying "Your reptuation for hospitality is fast becoming legend!" and tries to persuade Achilles to fight for Greece again in taking Troy he says "This war will never be forgotten, nor will the heroes who fight in it".

Odysseus and Nestor try to persuade Agamemnon to get Achilles back on their side to help them take Troy and as Aga shouts "Achilles is just one man!" and Odysseus shouts "Hector is just one man and look at what he did to us today!" and Agamemnon shouts back ""Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!" Odysseus says " I don't care about the man's alliegence, I care about his ability to win battles!".  

And the last few I will quickly mention Rose Byrne who is good in her role as the priestess, Briseis who becomes romantically attached to Achilles.

So, I will mention just one of her scenes, which is the one where Briseis has been captured and taken to Achilles tent. 

So, in the scene, Briesis remains quiet as Achilles removes his armour and washes himself and he asks her "What's your name?" but she remains silent and Achilles asks "Did you not hear me?" and Briseis angrily tells him "You killed Apollo's priests!" but Achilles says to her "I've killed men in five countries but never a priest!". Briseis then spitefully says to Achilles "Then your men did! The sun god will have his vengeance!" and Achilles warily tells her "What is he waiting for?" and she says to him "The right time to strike!". Briseis then angrily shouts at Achilles "You're nothing but a killer! You know nothing about the Gods!" but Achilles says to her he knows more about them than she does and asks her name again and says to her "You're royalty, aren't you? You spent your life talking down to men!". 

Achilles asks her name again "Even servants of Apollo have names" and she tells him "Briseis" and he asks her "Are you afraid, Briseis?" and she asks him "Should I be?". However, they are briefly interrupted by Eudorous, his second in command and after he leave, Achilles says to her at the end of the scene "You don't need to fear me, girl. You're the only Trojan that can say that".  

Saffron Burrows is also pretty good (and pretty) in the part of Hector's wife, Andromach although she isn't given much of a role in the film, which is a pity. 

However, I will mention one of Saffron's scenes which is the one where Andromache pleads with Hector to not fight against the Greeks.

So, in the scene, Hector recalls his surprise at Achilles skill as a warrior and says "The man who killed Tecton outside Apollo's temple, I've never seen a spear thrown like that". Andromache is more worried about Hector however and pleads with him "Don't go tomorrow. Please don't go" but Hector reassures her "Paris fights tomorrow, not me" however Andromache warns him "Fifty thousand Greeks didn't cross the sea…to watch your brother fight. You know this" and Hector tries to smile and says "You'd make a fine general, my love". Andromache continues to beg him "You've been fighting your whole life. Let other men do battle this time" and Hector tells her "You know I don't want to fight. I want to see my son grow tall.I want to see the girls chasing after him" but Andromache becomes more emotional and says to him "I can't lose you. I won't survive".

Peter O'Toole is also pretty good in the film even if his performance is somewhat hammy as King Priam and there is an amusing scene in the director's cut (or rather unintentionally so!) where Priam faints in shock after witnessing Achilles kill his son Hector.  

O'Toole also has some good lines in the film as well such as in the scene where Paris brings Helen home and Priam greets her. So, in the scene, Paris introduces Helen "Father, this is Helen" and Priam asks in surprise "Helen of Sparta?" and Paris tells him "Helen of Troy" and Priam gracefully says to her "I have heard rumors of your beauty. And for once, the gossip is right!" and he kisses her welcomingly on both cheeks. 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And lastly, I will mention the scene where Priam pays a sneaky visit to Achilles's tent the night after Achilles kills Hector in a one on one fight for revenge over Patroclus's death. 

So, in the scene enters his tent to see Priam and Achilles asks him "Who are you?" and Priam emotionally says "I have endured what no one on earth has endured before. I kissed the hands of the man who killed my son". Achilles then realises who he is and asks "How did you get in here?" and Priam tells him "I think I know my land better than the Greeks do and Achilles says to him "You're a brave man. I could have had your head on a spit in the blink of an eye". Priam however remains somewhat defiant of Achilles warning and says to him "Do you really think death frightens me now? I watched my eldest son die, watched you drag his body behind your chariot. Give him back to me. He deserves a proper burial, you know that. Give him to me". Achilles however is unwilling and tells Priam "He killed my cousin" and Priam says to him "He thought it was you. How many cousins have you killed? How many sons and fathers and brothers and husbands? How many, brave Achilles?".

So, after some time in the scene, Achilles appears to swayed by Priam's words and relents and allows him to take back Hector's body. However, Achilles warns Priam "I admire your courage. But even if I give you him back, you're still my enemy in the morning" and Priam tells Achilles "You're still my enemy tonight but even enemies can show respect".

And last of all is Brendan Gleason who is great in his role as King Menelaus who is out for revenge after his wife, Helen, leaves him for Paris.  

And Gleason also has some good moments especially the scene where Menelaus fights with Paris and in the scene before they fight Menelaus says to Paris "I accept your challenge and tonight I shall drink to your bones!". So, as the two of them begin to fight, its pretty clear that Menelaus has the upper hand is too experienced and strong a warrior for Paris.  

So as Menelaus beats Paris and knocks him to the crowd, having slashed his leg, he moves into kill Paris and teases him by saying "See the crowes, they've never tasted prince before!".  And Paris suddenly get's up and runs away leaving Menelaus disgusted, he shouts up at Helen "IS THIS WHAT YOU LEFT ME FOR???!!!". And as Paris crawls away, Menelaus shouts after him disgusted "FIGHT ME! YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME! WE HAVE A PACT!". 

Paris then crawls over to Hector and desparately holds onto him as Menelaus rants at them both "This is NOT honor! This is not ROYALTY! If he doesn't fight, Troy is doomed!" but Hector firmly tells Menelaus "The fight is over!". Menelaus however remains defiant and shouts "The fight is NOT over! Stand back, Prince Hector! I'll kill him at your feet! I don't care!" but Hector angrily spits back "He's MY brother!". So, as Menelaus makes to kill Paris, Hector quickly takes out his sword and stabs Menelaus right through the chest, who soon collapses and dies leaving his brother, Agamemnon outraged as they launch their attack on Troy (unsuccessfully at this point though!).

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Finally moving onto the director, Wolfgang Petersen who does a fine job in keeping the story moving along despite the film's length it never really lags too much (although the director's cut is just a bit too long at nearly 3 hours and 20 minutes!).  Petersen also confidently handles the film's epic and bloody battle scenes very well as they well staged and Achilles and Hector's fight is also well done, which does last just over 3 minutes but its certainly alot longer than all of Achilles other battles in the film! So overall, Petersen does an excellent job here with the film.  

The film also features a pretty good score by James Horner although it does appear he has nicked the odd moment or two from Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia score here and there! However, the score still has a very impressive grandiose feel to it and it is very suited to the period and tone of the film itself.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

 
As for Troy's flaws.... its not quite a perfect film of course and there are some niggles. For a start the film's dialogue at times is pretty cringeworthy for an epic you do get some almost obligatory cheesy lines for the actors to chew on and here Troy is no exception!  

And there are a few wopppers here and there but the worst one comes from Eric Bana when he tells his wife sadly that he must face Achilles and he says "I want live in peace, grow old and I want to see my boy grow and watch him chase the girls!".  And another cracker comes from Orlando Bloom when Paris says to his father King Priam "You are such a great King because the way you love all your lands.  And that is the way in which I love Helen!". Uggghhhh!!

Another issue I had with the film was more to do with the director's cut which does add some rather unecessary moments here and there I also felt the sacking of Troy was suddenly made far more graphically violent which I found a bit off-putting.  Some of the film's battle scenes in the director's cut were also made a bit more bloody and violent than necessary in certain moments as well.  And yes as I previously mentioned the director's cut in general is just a bit too long!  

I was also a little disppointed in a way by how the fight scene ultimately ended between Achilles and Hector where Achilles doesn't even get as much as a scratch (except on his armour) against Hector and I was hoping he would have sustained some sort of injury to make the battle that bit more even than it was.  However Achilles ultimaltey met his own demise at his heel as we all know!   

And now for the film's biggest flaw, well for me anyway, which comes in the scene when the Trojans launch an attack on the beach by firing large fireballs at the Greeks.  And earlier in the film Achilles had a fallout with Agamemnon and as a result refused to fight for him.  OK.  So that in mind when the big fireballs are rolling down on the beech and all the men are screaming and flailing about and there is lot of noise, Achilles does not ONCE bother to step out of his tent to find out what is going on!!!  And he doesn't step outside until the next morning only by then to find that there are quite a few casualties including his cousin Patroclus! 

Now if I were Achilles, the greatest warrior of all time and there was all that commotion going on I think I would even take a peak outside just to see what the hell was going on! And for me it remains the silliest part of the film which makes little sense especially as many Greek soldiers died as a result as well as Patroclus and if Achilles had bothered to take his selfish ass outside and fight then he might have prevented Patroclus's death and ultimately wouldn't have needed to fought and killed Hector.  But hey that's allegedy how the story went, but personally I think its just a daft scene.  

And that's it for the flaws!

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Troy 16 years on, is still an excellent historical war epic, which is both visually stunning and also very well performed by its starry cast with Brad Pitt, Erica Bana, Brian Cox, Peter O'Toole and Diane Kruger giving the standout performances here. The film's action scenes are also very well staged and have enough blood and grit to give them a real sense of weight and drama (so to speak!). And despite any of the film's minor drawbacks, Troy is still an impressive film worth checking out. 

OK, that's it for now and I will try and get another post in before the month is done (hopefully!).

So, till then its bye for now!

Minority Report "Everybody runs..."

 

 

 

 

Right, time for another movie review and yep this is another revisited post but its quite an old one and the film in question is one I watched quite recently again and it is the sci-fi thriller, Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. 

So, after nearly 20 years, how does Minority Report still stack up? Well, let's delve into it once again and find out...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

OK, so the film is set in the future in the year 2054 in Washington D.C. and its main character John Anderon (Tom Cruise) is the chief of a police force known as Pre-Crime.  Pre-crime is given its name as they use three genetically mutated humans who have precognitive abilities, and with them the force are able to prevent crimes before they happen as the "precogs" can see them before they happen.

Anderton is well respected in his department however unknown to them he is outside his work addicted to a psychoactive drug called clarity, which has been taking since the disappearance of his son six years ago.  With the success of pre-crime in Washington, it is is set to go nationwide, as there hasn't been a recorded murder there for six years.  Before this though the system is audited by a member of the United States Justice Department, Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) who is concerned by flaws in the system, even though Anderton insists it is perfect. 

However after the visit, one of the precogs, Agatha (Samantha Morton) in a state of alarm, grabs Anderton and shows him an image of a drowned woman. Anderton investigates the image and discovers the woman in question was called Ann Lively and he takes the information to director of Pre-Crime, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow).  The next day however, the precogs predict another murder and the victim is a man, Leo Crowe but the murderer is revealed to be Anderton himself, much to his surprise, he decides to flee the building.

After eluding his men and Witwer, Anderton goes to visit Dr Iris Hineman (Lois Smith) the lead researcher for pre-crime technology.  Hineman reveals to Anderton that sometimes the three precogs can actually see different versions of the future, on which two sets of the data are used to reach an agreement, and the other vision is discarded as a "minority" report, which could see the predicted killer actually carry out different actions in the future.  Anderton asks which precog would see this minority report and Hineman says it would be in Agatha (Samantha Morton) the most talented of the three.  

After this Anderton decides to undergo eye replacement surgery so he won't be detected by the city's optical recognition system and then gains entry to the precrime police department where he kidnaps Agatha.  Anderton takes Agatha to a hacker, who wires her up to see if she has a minority report for him, but she doesn't however she suddenly receives an image of Anne Lively, which Agatha previously showed to Anderton the day before he was incriminated.

Anderon heads with Agatha to the apartment where he is supposed to kill Crow, and on entering the room Anderton finds hundreds of pictures of children, one of which is Andeton's son, Sean.  Anderton then soon accepts that he is supposed to murder Crow, who suddenly enters room, and Anderton holds him at gunpoint but decides to let him live.  Crow however then tells Anderton that he is supposed to kill him and if he doesn't his family won't receive a bif payoff.  Anderton refuses to kill Crow, but Crow instead grabs the gun and shoots himself, falling out the window, bringing the vision to light.

Anderton then flees with Agatha and goes to his ex-wife, Lara (Kathryn Morris) where he learns from Agatha that the image of Anne Lively that was actually another murder, and that Lively was Agatha's drug addicted mother.  However at this point the police catch up with Anderton, who arrest him and take Agatha back and place her back into the system.  

Witwer however is not convinced that Anderton could have killed Crow and examines the footage of Anne Lively's murder, realising that the ripples of the water are flowing in the wrong way in the footage (as Anne was drowned) it suggests, the killing took place at a different time, and what appears to have happened is the recording would have been wiped as an "echo" so the system wouldn't have caught it. Witwer tells Lamar of his findings however Lamar then shoots Witwer dead as its clear that he himself was responsible for Anne Lively's murder and he framed Anderton to get him out of the way.

And from here its clear that Lamar must be stopped and a way must be found to clear Anderton's name and expose Lamar for the murder...   

THOUGHTS 

Based on the short novel by science fiction writer, Philip K.Dick, Minority Report is an excellent sci-fi thriller, and it easily stands as one of Steven Spielberg's best films in recent years, after spending some time having made some decidedly average films since making the powerful holocaust drama, Schindler's List.  

The plot itself is pretty convoluted but it does tell an interesting story and the concept of precrime is quite original in itself.  And again the film's theme of alternate existances and choices is what also helps make Minority Report an intruiging film in that there is that slight chance of one person that is arrested and tried might not necessarily be guilty of murder and who's actions might not have gone according to the precog's visions.  

And at one point Anderton recognises this as he says to Dr Hineman that he might have "haloed" (a headset used to incapacitate criminals and later they are sent into a sleep state in a prison encasing) people with an alternate future.  And its to Spielberg's credit that he was able to take Dick's novel and turn it into an effective and suspenseful film.

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!) 

Which brings me onto the film's performances and the cast are all on excellent form here.

Starting with Tom Cruise, who is pretty good in the lead role as John Anderton.  Cruise play's Anderon in a pretty straight laced way and who is mostly a serious character with a sad past, and while he is well respected in his job he mourns for the loss of his son Sean, who disappeared six years previously.  

Tom has his share of good scenes starting with the one where Witwer is visiting Pre-Crime and Anderton drops one of the murder balls, which rolls on a counter and Witwer catches it before it lands on the floor. So, Anderton asks Witwer "Why did you catch that?" and Witwer says "Because it was going to fall" and Anderton asks "You certain" and Witwer says "Yeah" and Anderton says to him "But it didn't fall. You caught it. The fact that you prevented it from happening doesnt change the fact that it was "going" to happen". 

And later in the same scene after Witwer is shown the pre-cogs, Witwe tries to sympathise with Anderton over the news of the disappearance of his son several years ago but also makes reference to the precogs as if they were a religious sect. 

So, Witwer apologises to Anderton and says "Sorry, old habit, I spent three years at Fuller seminary before I became a cop. My father was very proud" and Anderton asks him "What does he think of your chosen line of work?" and Witwer tells him that his father had since been shot and killed in Dublin. So, Witwer continues "I know what it is like to lose someone. Still nothing is like the losing of a child, so I can only imagine what that must feel like. To lose your son in such a public place...". However, Anderton has had enough of Witwer's sympathy act and asks "What don't you cut the cute act, Danny boy and tell me exactly what it is you're looking for?" and Witer tells him "Flaws" and Anderton says "There hasn't been a murder for 6 years. There's nothing wrong with the system, its perfect" but Witwer warns him "I agree. But if there is a flaws, its human. It always is". 

Cruise for the most part does alot of running, and he does actually have one or two entertaining chase scenes, especially where he tries to flee from the precrime police force just after he learns of the precog vision of his murdering Crow.  And when his own police team mates, Fletch corners him, who tells him "Don't do it, don't run" and Anderton smiles and says "You don't have to chase me" and Fletch says "You don't have to run" and Anderston says "Everybody runs, Fletch! Everbody runs..." before Anderton runs off again.

Another good scene is when Anderton pays a visit to Dr Hineman to get her help and she tells him "this is is just not your week is it, chief Anderton?!" and Anderton, who was bitten by one of her plants and is suffering as a result quietly says to her "I'm not a killer". And as the two of the talk, Hineman reveals that the precogs on occassion do disagree with one another, which can result in a "minority report" which is generally erased. So, Anderton somewhat shocked asks Hineman "You mean I've haloed innocent people?!"and she tells him "I mean every so often, those accused of a crime might just have an alternate future". So, Anderton asks her "Does Lamar Burgess know about the minority report?" but she prattles on a bit, which forces Anderton to ask her again "Answer my question, does Lamar know about the minority report?" and she tells him "Yes of course he knew about it".

So, as they carry on, Hineman tells Anderton in order to obtain the minority report all he needs to do is go to pre-crime HQ and download it from the precog, who predicted it (i.e. Agatha). So, Anderton angrily says to Hineman "That's all, huh?  Just walk right into Precrime, go into the Temple, somehow tap into the Precogs, and then download this Minority Report?" and she tells him yes and Anderton angrily says to her "I'll get eye-scanned a DOZEN times before I get within ten miles of Precrime. They'll pick me up!". Anderton then finally asks "How do I even know which one has it?" and Hineman says "Its always within the more gifted of the three" and Anderton asks "Which one is that?" and she tells him "The female".    

Then there is the scene where Anderton goes to an ex-con doctor, Eddie Solomon to get an eye operation to remove his eyes and replace them so he won't be ID'd. 

So, in the scene Eddie tells Anderton "I'm going to remove your eyes and replace them competely" and Anderton says "I know that but I want to keep the old ones" and Eddie asks him "Why?" and Anderton replies "Because my mother gave them to me! What do you care? They're no good to you on the black market anyway". 

Then there is the scene where Anderton along with Agatha, who he captures from Precrime and takes with him arrives at the hotel room where the murder of Leo Crow is to take place and he finds pictures of his son, Sean, spread out all over the bed and he becomes emotional and resigned to his fate as he begins to accept he will murder Crowe.

So, Anderton emotionally says "Every day for the last six years I've thought about only two things.The first was what my son would look like if he were alive today. If I would even recognize him if I saw him on the street. The second was what I would do to the man who took him. You were right. I'm not being set up. I'm gonna kill this man". And as Crowe enters the room, Anderton violently grabs him and throws him onto the bed and demands that he tell him where his son is and Crowe confesses that he grabbed Anderton's son and drowned him in a barrel, which brings Anderton to very nearly kill Crowe but he relents at the last moment.

So, Anderton through his tears, tells Crowe "You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present now and during any future questioning.  If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?". However, Crowe shocked at this reveals that he wants Anderton to kill him as he was told by someone that his family would be taken care of if he said that he killed Anderton's son and that Anderton would kill him. 

So, Crowe stunned by this information, steps toward Crowe and asks him "Who put you up to this? What his name?" and Crowe says "I don't know, I only heard his voice" and Crowe moves toward Crowe and puts his hand on the gun and Anderton calmly tells him "Crowe, let go of the gun, its ok, let go of the gun". And Crowe asks "Wait, so you're not gonna kill me? If you don't kill me, my family get's nothing" and Anderton says to him "Goodbye, Crowe" and Crowe suddenly grabs the gun by the trigger and forces Anderton to shoot him in the chest and Crowe falls out the window as Agatha predicted, who sits in the corner screaming.

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH OR TWO!

Max von Sydow is excellent in his role as the corrupt director of precrime, Lamar Burgess, who on the surface acts as Anderton's benefactor, but he ends up framing him to take the fall for Crow's murder and for the murder of Agatha's mother, Ann Lively.  

Sydow's best scene is where Witwer tells him what he has discovered about the Crow crime scene and Anne Lively's murder, and Lamar says "Do you hear that, Danny? Nothing. No footsteps coming up the stairs.  No hovercraft out the window.  No clickity click of little spyders.  No one crashing through that door.  And do you know why I don't hear any of those things, Danny?  Because right now, the Precogs can't see a thing!" and he suddenly shoots Witwer in the chest, who falls down and Lamar then stands over Witwer and shoots him in the head. 

And lastly there is the scene where Lara speaks to Lamar, the day after Anderton has been arrested and she discreetly probes him about Anne Lively, which causes him to flinch a little.

So, in the scene Lamar says to Lara "Lara, John was the best cop I ever knew, and in some ways, the best man.  But the scars he carried around, well...I know that he'd want us to honor the good things we remember about him. But I also know why he married you: you're as stubborn as he is. All right.  Tell you what I'll do. First thing Monday, I'll look over the Witwer evidence and I'll have Gideon run the Containment files, see if anyone drowned a woman named what did you say her name was?" and Lara says "Anne Lively, but I never said she drowned". And Lamar is then called out by his secretary to attend a conference, so before he goes, he quietly says to Lara "We'll talk about this later. I'll come by the cottage".

Colin Farrell who was just starting to make a name for himself back then is also very good as the ambitious young justice department member Danny Witwer.

Farrell also effects a pretty decent American accent in the film, although he makes a rather strange reference to Witwer's father having being killed on the steps of his home church in Dublin, which suggests Witwer's character is of Irish heritage although perhaps they just added that in for Farrell given that he is Irish!

And Farrell has his share of good scenes but I will only mention a few starting with the one where Witwer pays a visit to the pre-crime and he insists on being shown the precog temple as he has a warrant, so Anderton shows him the temple with the precogs lying in a pool of water.

So, in the scene Witwer refers to what they do as though it was a holy cleansing thing and Anderton's co-workers to his surprise actually agree, so Anderton dismisses them. So, Witwer tells Anderton "Sorry, old habit, I spent three years at Fuller seminary before I became a cop. My father was very proud" and Anderton asks him "What does he think of your chosen line of work?" and Witwer tells him that his father had since been shot and killed in Dublin. So, Witwer continues "I know what it is like to lose someone. Still nothing is like the losing of a child, so I can only imagine what that must feel like. To lose your son in such a public place...". However, Anderton has had enough of Witwer's sympathy act and asks "What don't you cut the cute act, Danny boy and tell me exactly what it is you're looking for?" and Witer tells him "Flaws" and Anderton says "There hasn't been a murder for 6 years. There's nothing wrong with the system, its perfect" but Witwer warns him "I agree. But if there is a flaw, its human. It always is".  

Another good scene from Witwer comes just after Leo Crowe's death comes true but not quite in the fashion as predicted as Crowe forced Anderton to shoot him with his gun and at the crime scene later on, Witwer is convinced something is wrong. 

So, in the scene Witwer says to Fletcher, one of Anderton's men, of the number of photos of Anderton's son and other items lying around the room "If you were a child killer, you took these pictures, would you leave them out on the bed for anyone to find?"and Fletcher suggests "They could have been put away and Anderton could have found them". Witwer then asks Fletcher "What kind of cop were you before this?" and Fletcher says "I was treasury agent for 8 years. Why?" and Witwer says to him "Then this would be your first actual murder scene. I worked homicide before I went federal" and he indicates the room "This is what we would've called an "orgy of evidence" and he asks Fletcher "Do you know how many orgies I had as a homicide cop?" and Fletcher asks "How many?" and Witwer tells him "None. This was all arranged". 

And lastly there is the scene where Witwer having done some investigation into Anne Lively's murder meets with Burgess to present his findings to him that Anderton was framed.

So, Witwer says to Lamar "I'm thinking someone got away with murder" and Burgess asks "How?" and Witwer says to Lamar "By fooling the system.  All someone would have to do is wait for Precrime to stop the murder from taking place, then, a few minutes later, commit the crime in exactly the same way and Lamar says "Yes, its called an echo, we teach the tech's to identify and disregard them". So, Witwer then suggests to Lamar "Of course, it would have to be someone with access to the Prevision in the first place, someone fairly high up..." before Lamar reveals himself.  

As for the other performances, Samantha Morton is very good as the precog Agatha, who spends most of her time in a docile state until she sees the vision of her mother Anne Lively and grabs Anderton to show hiim, after this she is in a state of panic when Anderton kidnaps here.  

Morton's performance is also quite poignant as she reveals in one scene how she is "tired of the future" and she recalls the memories of her mother before she was killed.  Agatha's ability to predict future events also proves to be quite amusing in the mall scene where Anderton and Agatha try to evade the police, and while they walk through the mall she suddenly stops a woman and says "Don't go home, he knows!" and he get's Anderton to drop a tramp some change as the police chase after them, as the tramp leans over to pick it up, he unwittingly trips up one of the cops!  

SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And I will mention quickly Morton's scene where Anderton and Agatha go to his ex-wife's house, Lara (or are they just separated not sure!) and Agatha recalls memories of Sean to Anderton, who breaks down in tears and also memories of her own mother, which is revealed to be Anne Lively. 

So, in the scene, Agatha tells Anderton of an alternate future of his son, Sean, growing up, which reduces him to tears and he says "I miss him so much!" and Agatha all of a sudden says to him "So did she". And Agatha looks at a photo of Anne Lively on the wall and she says to Anderton "She just wanted her little girl back" and Anderton asks "Who wanted her back?" and Agatha tells her "The drowning woman. Anne. But it was too late. Her little girl was already gone" and Anderton asks "She died?" and Agatha says "She grew up" and Anderton asks "Is she alive" and Agatha tells him "She isn't alive but she didn't die". Anderton the finally puts together what Agatha is saying and says "How did I not see this?!" and he then asks Agatha "Agatha, who killed your mother? Who killed Anne Lively?". However Agatha then looks at Anderton and says to him calmly "I'm sorry, John but you're going to have to run again" and Anderton asks "What?" and Agatha suddenly yells "RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as the police arrive for him outside.

Kathryn Morris also does well with her role as Lara, Anderton's ex-wife, and she ends up helping Anderton, and she has a good scene with Colin Farrell when Witwer visits her and asks about the disappearance of their son.

So, in the scene Witwer asks Lara of Anderton and his doping habit "How long has he been doping?" and Lara says "Since right after we lost our son" and Witwer says "You mean after he lost your son?" and Lara sharply tells him "It was nobody's fault". And Witwer asks "You said in the divorce papers that he tried to commit suicide" and Lara says "It was never a suicide attempt. I regret saying that!". Lara explains that Anderton "John was upset, he..." and Witwer continues "He took out his gun and sat down to watch his home movies. That is all in your statement, Lara..." and Lara angrily says to Witwer "He shot a hole in the damn ceiling! You lose your son, let's see how well YOU handle it?!". 

And last of all is the scene where Lara pieces together what happened with Anderton after his imprisonment and she talks with Burgess in his office as she helps do up his tie, he unwittingly reveals knowledge about Anne Lively's death. 

So, in the scene Lara helps Lamar with his tie and he says to her "All right.  Tell you what I'll do. First thing Monday, I'll look over     the Witwer evidence and I'll have Gideon run the Containment files,see if anyone drowned a woman named what did you say her name was?" and Lara then tells him "Anne Lively, but I never said she drowned...". 

And after Lamar tells her they will discuss this later and leaves, Lara takes a gun from Lamar's office desk and heads down to the containment prison where Anderton is being held. So, Lara holds the gun to an employee, Gideon who works there and he tells him "I would like a word with my husband please!".

And last of all, Peter Stormare is excellent in his role as the dodgy doctor, Eddie Solomon who performs Anderton's eye operation. 

And I will mention a couple of his scenes with the first being the one where they meet and Eddie tells Anderton that they have met before and that Anderton put him away for burning victim patients. 

So, in the scene Eddie says to Anderton "Tell you what since we got way back, I'll give you the old pal discount" and Anderton looks puzzled and Eddie asks him "You don't remember me, do you?" and Anderton asks him "We know each other?" and Eddie tells him "Solomon P. Eddie. I was a plastic surgeon. I specialised in burn victims!". Anderton then remember who he is and says "I put you away" and Eddie says "Yes you did" and Anderton says to him "You made those tapes" and Eddie tells him "They were performance pieces!" and Anderton says "You set your patients on fire" and Eddie defensively tells him "And I put them out! Some not as quickly as others but let's change the subject, shall we? The future is much more interesting than the past, don't you think?!".  

And lastly there is the scene where after Eddie has performed Anderton's eye operation, who is wearing bandages over his eyes to prevent him scratching and also to prevent him going blind. So, Eddie in the scene gives Anderton a device to temporarily change his appearance also and says to him "Seeing as we're old pals and all, I'm giving you a bonus, might come in handy.  Feel this. It's a temporary paralytic enzyme. Shoot this baby under your chin. Right here...The enzyme turns your facial muscles to mush.  You won't look like the same man. You tighten up again in about thirty minutes. Hurts like nothing you ever felt. I'll just drop it in your goodie bag along with your..." and he holds a plastic bag with Anderton's original eyes in them and he finishes saying "...leftovers!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Which brings me onto director, which is of course Steven Spielberg who does a great job here as he takes the film's complex storyline and turns it into an engaging and exciting thriller.  Spielberg who has never been a stranger to action, stages the action scenes in the film very well, and he opens up the film nicely with its tense opening sequence where we see Anderton and his team work toward preventing a suburban murder, when a man catches his wife cheating on him.  

Spielberg also throws in some amusing touches in the film as well, which is typical in alot of his films such as the scene where the police set their electronic spyder devices to eye scan everyone in the apartment block where they suspect Anderton might be.  And the spyders move right through the building, IDing a couple who are in the middle of a row, who wait to be checked by the spyders and who simply go back to having their row! So, overall its definitely one of Spielberg's best films in the last 20 years or so.  

Moving onto the film's score, which was composed by John Williams which is really good as you would expect, and Williams provides a great balance of suspense and drama in his music, which sees his partnership with Spielberg continue on as it has before for many years going back to Sugarland Express in 1974. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!) 

So as for Minority Report's flaws, any at all????  Nope its perfect!  Well... actually no not quite, it does have some. 

For starters one thing that springs mind is that the film's ending feels out of tone with the rest of what has went before, as it is almost a "they live happily ever" after moment (or as close as the story will allow).  And Spielberg with the ending is a bit guilty of using sentimentality as he often does in his films at times and it is a jarring contrast to the rest of the film's dark tone. 

Another issue is to do with the idea of how Anderton's ID clearance at Precrime was never revoked after he went on the run for the future murder he is supposed to commit as he later uses one of his surgically removed eyes to get back in there! So, the idea that they wouldn't do this is pretty silly as it is a major security breach committed by Anderton himself that is totally overlooked here. 

Further to the film's ending, Anderton in his narration says that Precrime closes down as a result of its failure and this leads to all of its convicts being released albeit with some kept under surveillance. Now my problem with this is that some of them definitely were going to commit murder, such as the guy at the start of the film (Howard Marks) who was going to kill his wife, yet he gets to go free?! I mean the fact they didn't get to commit the actual crimes doesn't mean it would stop them again in future if they were released. So, its kind of a weird one.

And lastly I also have to say that the film's photography doesn't really lend aesthetically well to the proceedings as it has a rather hideously desaturated look, and the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (who also did Saving Private Ryan which had the same sort of bleak visual look) overdoes the colour grading technique employed here. So, yeah it has to be said palette wise we are left with a pretty ugly looking film here.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Minority Report remains an excellent sci-fi thriller and its certainly got a lot going for it with its intriguing concept taken from the Philip K Dick novel its based on and features solid performances from the cast as well as some impressive visual effects and action scenes. There are some minor plot issues here and there but for the most part, this is a really solid and entertaining sci-fi movie, which is well worth checking out nearly 20 years on. 

Right, that's it for now and I will be back again sometime soon with another post.

So, till the next one, its bye for now! 

Mortal Shell Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well figured it was time for another post and this one will be on a new game I've recently been playing and will be trying to finish it up at the time of writing this and the game in question is Mortal Shell. Mortal Shell itself is a action role play game that is closely based on the Dark Souls video game series and as I'm a big fan of those games I figured I would give this one a look and see how it compares. 

So, Mortal Shell has a lot to live up to and it has to be asked, how does it stack up??? Let's find out!

STORY

As for the story, its all pretty vague to be honest, so for once I won't say too much about it except give a bit about the premise of the game. The game features a pale skinned, skeletal like creature simply called a Foundling, who can inhabit the shells of fallen warriors and through them he can gain special abilities. As for the Foundling starts the game he will head towards Grimfell Tower, where he will meet Sister Genessa, a female being who has the ability to heal and enhance the Foundling's shells. 

The Foundling will also meet a large chained creature called the Old Prisoner, who tells the Foundling to collect special glands and return them to him and this basically becomes the main part of the game as the Foundling must enter three temples to retrieve them. However in order for the Foundling to do so, he must battle against a hoard of tough enemies and bosses that stand in his path...

THOUGHTS

As a Souls-esque game, Mortal Shell does an excellent job in putting a unique spin on the franchise as its a very enjoyable, engrossing and fairly challenging game that will surely appeal to Souls fans. The game itself was also created by a small team of developers and its a very impressive achievement they have pulled off here by creating a unique concept of a character being able to inhabit the shells of dead warriors and use their shells as a shield in combat. The game itself however unlike a lot of other Souls type games has a slower paced combat (akin to Dark Souls 2 except maybe slower!) so that in itself is quite refreshing given the "need for speed" with so many games these days. 

In fact its almost fair to say that this game in a way out does Dark Souls on its dark theme alone as the overall tone of the game is way darker and bleaker than the Souls series, which was filled with colourful environments, varied bosses and at times adventurous and even romantic (??) soundtracks but none of that is present here. Here we get a pretty bleak and dark spin on all that and that in itself is actually what helps make Mortal Shell work so well. 

GAMEPLAY 

As for the gameplay, this is indeed where Mortal Shell does well, which is pretty solid overall and I will break into down into sections below. 

COMBAT & WEAPONS

Starting with combat, Mortal Shell's is fairly similar to the Souls games in that the your playable character, the Foundling can use melee weapons and perform standard and strong attacks as well as parry and ripostes. The parries can be executed by using a device called the Tarnished Seal, which glows when in use and glows red when an enemy will launch an un-parryable attack. 

The Foundling can access four melee weapons in the game that consist of a the Hallowed Sword, which is a standard sized greatsword, the Smouldering Mace, a large mace that deals fire damage, Martyr's Blade, which is a very long sword that can perform freeze attacks and lastly, the Hammer and Chisel that is essentially a fast dexterity type weapon that can perform poison attacks. The Foundling can also use a ranged weapon called a Ballistazooka that uses large crossbow bolts that deal heavy damage and are effective against larger enemies. The weapons can also be upgraded via the use of items called quenching acid aswell as unique pick-ups that can be found throughout the world that add special attacks for further damage.

SHELLS AND HARDENING

As for the shells, this is one of the main aspects of the gameplay as the Foundling can inhabit one of four shells at one time in the game and the shells all have different abilities and levels of health and endurance. 

The four shells are Harros, the Vassal, who is balanced for stamina and endurance and attack, Solomon, the Scholar, who is a heavier shell that has good health and reasonable stamina, Tiel, the Acolyte, who is a lighter shell with high endurance but lower health and lastly Eredrim, the Venerable, who is basically a human tank with the highest health pool but smallest endurance. When enemies attack the shells, if you health bar goes to zero, the Foundling will be thrown out of their shell but if they are quick they can run back into it and regain full health. However, if the Foundling's health goes to zero again then they will die and will need to collect their shell again on respawn.  

Then there is the hardening mechanic, which is basically the main defensive ability the Foundling has in the game as he can harden his shell when attacked but this can only last a short period of time before there is a "cooldown" period before you can harden again (that's what she said! Sorry!). This is perhaps the most fun and unique concept in the game that the Foundling becomes literally a human shield in this instance when attacked and this can also be enhanced via different items and also as their abilities are enhanced.

RESOLVE

Moving onto another key aspect of the game, which is resolve that allows the Foundling to perform special attacks as well as parries and ripostes. The player can collect resolve either via specific items found such as moonshine or by killing enemies and one of the shells, Solomon can later gain resolve by talking to NPCs in the game.

TAR & GLIMPSES

As for the game's main currency, here its tar, which the Foundling will collect automatically from fallen enemies and he can use this purchase items from merchants as well as upgrade his shells via Sister Genessa. Tar can also be collected in deposits found throughout the world from small amounts up to large ones that gain more tar for the Foundling to spend. Glimpses are also items that can be picked up through the game either from fallen enemies or consumable items and are basically the same as Insight in Bloodborne where you can trade them for special items or use them in conjunction with tar for unlocking shell abilities. 

PLAYING THE LUTE 

Another unique aspect of the game is that the Foundling can play a guitar-like instrument called a Lute while resting but he can also play it near enemies to attract their attention and like anything with an instrument, practice makes perfect! Apparently you can also play the Lute for Sister Genessa, who will nod in appreciation after a while once you have become familiar enough with it. You can also see some enemies play the lute in Fallgrim too at camp fires throughout too and hear them play from afar. 

ITEMS AND FAMILIARITY 

There are of course various items to be found in the game that can be obtained via merchants or taken from killed enemies or found as dropped items that all have different effects and offer certain abilities. As an example there are of course items that heal you that include Weltcap mushrooms and roasted rats and later I believe there is also a mango that restores a lot of your health, which can be found on a more tricky location further into the game. There are also other mushrooms called Tarspore that cure poison damage and can be very handy at times in the game. 

Other items include tokens, which have an effect on your shell that allow a one-time boost to either your health or your attack power. Then there are shell effigy items that can allow the Foundling transfer between different shells while he is on the go although he can do this back at base in Fallgrim tower and there are similar items that will allow him to transfer between different weapons. And the last ones I will mention are scriptures that allow the Foundling to carry out different types of parry attacks or will additional effects to the parry themselves. 

As for familiarity, this is a system in the game whereby the Foundling will need to use an item to gain an understanding of what it does as all items on first pick up will reveal no details of their use until the Foundling has done so. And the more the Foundling uses the same item, the more familiar he will become with its use, which will displayed on the game's HUD.  

NPCs

As for the game's NPCs there are a few to be found in the game with the main ones featuring Sister Genessa, who can allow the Foundling to unlock their shells and use their abilities via the use of tar and glimpses. Genessa can be found throughout different areas in the game and serves as a checkpoint save for the player. Later in the game, Genessas will also prove you with merchant abilities and sell you unique items. Its also worth noting that whenever you speak to Genessa and accept her request to "sip tar" that it will reset your health but also the enemies outside in that area. 

Other NPCs include the Old Prisoner, who gives the Foundling the task of finding glands for him that he will trade in return for special abilities for your tarnished seal. The Old Prisoner will also play a very important part in the game later on but I won't say much more than that for now! Vlas, is another NPC who is a merchant in Fallgrim Tower, who will sell certain items such as roasted rats for healing, bolts for the Ballistazooka and inferior moonshine, which will grant resolve as well as quenching acid for upgrading your weapons (albeit only two). Vlas also owns a cat, which he likes you to pet, which in itself gives you an achievement for the game! ;-)

And last of all I will mention another key NPC of sorts, Thestus, who has the ability to summon or cancel the mist that appears in the game once the Foundling obtains a gland. Thestus can summon or dispel the mist by giving him a glimpse each time, which will allow the Foundling to obtain items from unlocked chests but the only downside here is that he will then be subjected to a hoard of ghouls that can poison and bite you! 

ENEMIES & BOSSES

And lastly are the enemies and bosses in the game, so I will mention them one after the other with the enemies first.

Enemies wise there are a decent variety here for your character to fight that start with basic enemies such as brigands with clubs and bows and stronger enemies, Sturdymen (according to Fextralife's wiki that is!) armed with the halberds that can perform jump and thrust attacks. And then there are of course the Nocteserper, who are the ghouls that stalk Fallgrim Tower during the mist and they are easily the most annoying enemies in the game as they have an unavoidable jump attack where they bite your neck and they can poison with their claws! Basically these guys suck! 

There are also stronger enemies that can be found later in the game such as Herald Knights who are armed with swords, shields or spears and other enemies such as Faceless Cleriks, who wield large maces and can clobber you into tomorrow! Other enemies also include the Sester, who are female warriors that use arbalests (i.e. crossbows) and swords. And lastly there are also other enemies that are basically wraiths that can summon different attacks such as fire, frost and stone pillars and they are also a big pain in the ass to deal with lol! 

As for the bosses, there aren't that many in the game although there are a few main bosses and mini bosses too. There are three primary bosses in the game that can be fought in the different temples that are Imrod, the unrepentant, who is a big armored who wields a large firey mace, Tarsus, a fallen knight with a large frozen sword that can skate on ice (literally!) and Crucix, the Twiceborn, who is a man that has a smaller twin attached to his chest! There is also a final boss but I wont mention them here as it is something of a spoiler so nuff said! The bosses overall a bit of a mixed bag in terms of challenge, so don't expect notorious Dark Souls levels of difficulty here but to be fair they aren't all pushovers either. 

GRAPHICS 

As for the graphics, Mortal Shell is a quite an impressive visual experience overall even if the game doesn't have a great variety in terms of its environments as Fallgrim tower is mostly very samey looking with its woodland areas all kind of blending into each other. However the three temples in the game are where the game offers some more impressive visual variety as a temple of fire, the Shrine of Ash, temple of ice, Crypt of Martyrs and lastly, the Seat of Infinity, which is easily the most visually stunning area in the game as well as the biggest with a large array of stone pillars and sun-kissed sky. 

The character models in the game are also pretty good overall even if they aren't too realistic (well it is a fantasy based game at any rate!) and the enemies all look fairly good in their respective designs as do the bosses. 

So, overall Mortal Shell offers a pretty solid graphical experience even if it is a bit lacking in variety in certain areas. 

MUSIC 

As for the music, I couldn't find any info on who wrote it but the score itself is pretty good overall as it is pretty dark and intense sounding with a more minimalist feel to it rather than a more grandiose one which you would associate with Souls games. And that in a way goes more in this game's favour as it does feel more like maybe what a Dark Souls soundtrack should be like from the standpoint of it being a cold dark world rather than a world where we are treated to loud orchestral strings and choirs, we do get a foreboding, minimal score that fits the bill perfectly. For sure though it does lack the memorable themes we have come to enjoy from the Souls franchise but its still one that is well suited to the game.

FLAWS 

As for flaws...Mortal Shell does have some.

For starters I would have to say one thing that bothers me is that as mentioned some of the areas in the game can appear pretty samey and as such makes it a confusing game to work through at times as you will easily get lost. This is especially true of Fallgrim which is a seemingly endless series of woodland areas that all blend together and its easy to get lost or take a wrong turn when you are trying to work your way through it. 

The same can also be said of the game's most impressive visual area, the Seat of Infinity, which when I first went through it, I had no idea how you could progress further and it took watching a Youtube walkthrough video that you use teleport devices to travel between different points! However the game doesn't even make this remotely obvious itself, which did leave me a bit annoyed at the game's vagueness.

I also feel that while the combat of the game is fairly solid that at times you do feel like you are playing the game in slow motion as the enemies can move so slowly toward you and you have plenty of time to attack them before they even make a move on you! So, yeah I can see the sluggish pace in the combat as something that might turn off some gamers and especially ones with a need for speed. 

Another thing that really bugged me was to do with the whole mist state sequences when the Foundling retrieves a gland to return to the old prisoner, it turns that area you got it from dark and also proved to be a pain in the ass for me to get through the levels without dying over and over! This was especially true of the ice temple as the enemies there are really infuriating to deal with and not only that once you get out back into Fallgrim you have to contend with hoards of those bloody annoying ghouls! So, yeah the mist sequences in the game and the dark areas after obtaining the glands were easily my least favorite moments of the game.

Then there is the issue of the healing items in the game as they are pretty sparse at times to collect and you are most of the time really dependent on either waiting to grab the weltcap mushrooms that grow wild in certain areas as they regenerate, either that or purchase roasted rats from Vlas or pull off effective parries to restore health. So, yeah I actually spent alot more time going between different areas to obtain the Weltcap mushrooms more than anything else, especially as I suck at parrying in this game lol!

And this brings me onto my final issue with the game, which IS the parrying system which can be pretty tricky to pull off correctly and the main reason for this comes down to the varied and unpredictable pacing of enemies attacks. There are plenty of different enemies in the game and they all have their own pace and styles of attack which can be tricky to deal with and more times than not its easy to mess up the parries. I also had to remember that I needed to have resolve to perform a parry successively and to be fair half of the time I was able to get the parry to work. However, I still think its a very tricky mechanic in the game that can be difficult to get to grips with far more so than any of the Souls games. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Mortal Shell is an excellent RPG that brings some really good ideas and a unique spin on the Souls franchise with its use of the shell hardening mechanic and resolve, it really does bring something different to the table. The game also has some fairly solid combat and some pretty impressive visuals and a pretty low-key intense soundtrack. 

And yes there are some issues with the game pertaining to its slower paced combat, lack of graphical variety (at times!) and tricky parrying mechanics as well as some annoying enemies and areas. However if you can forgive all that then there is still a lot to enjoy here and I definitely recommend trying the game out, especially if you are a Souls fan.

Right, that's it for now and I will be back with another post quite soon.

Till then its ciao for now!