Atari Nostalgia Part 1: Frostbite

OK so this is the first of a few posts on some of the old Atari 2600 games as I have recently been able to download an Atari emulator program for my PC, Stella Atari and use it to play some of the old classic Atari games.  I won't necessarily do these posts in succession so I might come back to do another one later at some point and then maybe another sometime after that.

Anyway the game I have chosen to look at first is one of my favourite classic games for the Atari 2600 console, which came out back in 1983: Frostbite (by Activision) an action platform game.  I played this game at the time of its release so I must have been around 8 years old at that point (yes I am old!) so after 33 years how does hold up???  Well let's take a look.....

GAMEPLAY

Well for once no real story is involved so there aren't any spoilers to worry about (which makes a welcome change!) but instead I'll say a bit about the premise of the game, which simply involves the playable character, Frostbite Bailey building igloos by jumping on floating blocks of ice.  However it isn't so simple as it sounds as Bailey has to avoid a number of dangers that include flocks of geese, clams, crabs and of course a big Polar bear!  Bailey also has to watch the temperature which drops rapidly in the game as it starts from 45 degrees (pretty warm for the Antarctic!) and drops to 0 and if it does Bailey will freeze to death.

The gameplay is fairly simplistic but it does involve alot of quick timing and fast reactions as you progress through the levels, the blocks of ice move faster and faster as do your native hazards as the geese, crabs and clams can push Bailey into the water, which instantly kills him and the polar bear chases him off the screen.

There are four separate rows of ice blocks for Bailey to jump on from top to bottom but you can also at times control the flow of the ice block you are on by clicking the fire button on your controller (or rather the Space button even on your keyboard) which can change the direction of the ice.  The downside to doing this however is that any ice you have collected to create your igloo will disappear block by block every time you change the direction of the ice itself.

And once Bailey has all the blocks of ice he needs to create his igloo he must then go inside the igloo itself to complete the level where the player will be awarded so many points based on what the remaining temperature guage is.  Bailey also can get additional lives every 5000 points and he can gain extra points by eating fish that swim in the sea while Bailey goes between blocks.   

GRAPHICS AND CONTROLS

The graphics for their time are actually pretty good and the animations even though they are mighty primitive by today's standards they are not at all bad.  The game also has a nice use of colour and the fact that levels alternate between day and night is also a nice touch as the background graphics go from blue for daytime to a dark grey for night.

The control system is also another big bonus of the game as the controls are very fluid and it is very easy to control Bailey and he actually has the surprising ability to jump quite far between blocks at times.  However you need to be careful when controlling Bailey more often than not it is easy to be careless and accidentally send him jumping into the water to drown or just miss the edge of a floating ice block or worse yet jump into the path of the angry polar bear!  But the controls are great for the game and the fast reaction timing required is part of the fun.

SOUNDS

The games sounds are pretty typical of most Atari games in that they are pretty simple sounding electronic bleeps but they are very much also part of the Atari charm.  There are simple bleep sounds for Bailey bouncing between blocks, or when he eats fish, or when he drowns its "going down the drain" type noise and for when Bailey jumps into his igloo we get a counter "ding ding ding!" noise (I'm amazed that I'm even describing this!) or there is a sharp bitey sound for when the polar bear chases Bailey off the screen.  So all in all the sounds for the game are simple but great fun to listen to.

FLAWS

As for Frostbite's flaws....yeah OK the game has one or two small issues for starters I think one of the problems is that the game itself has no end, it just keeps going and going as the game's levels move faster and faster so ultimately if you could survive the mega fast speed of the levels as they progress you could just play forever!  So in that respect there doesn't seem to be much of an end goal to the game itself given that it has real story at all.  However I think this was typical of alot fo Atari games of the time that they had no real end to them it was just a case of keep playing till you lose.

I also felt there were times were Bailey's moves were so fast and fluid at times it was too easy to make him fall into the water and drown.  Not only that the movement of the geese, crabs and clams also make Bailey moving around a bit of a pain in the arse, as he can easily land on the edge of a floating ice block only to have a flock of geese on the same block who then push you off!  This of course will get more frustrating as the ice blocks move faster and faster as do your enemies.

The start of the game can also be a bit slow as the ice blocks start off moving at such as a slow pace that it takes a few levels before things start to speed up.  And because of this the game is a bit of a slow burner as it needs to pick up the pace before it really starts being fun but it certainly is fun once the ice blocks and the hazards starts moving faster as you really have to watch your timing when jumping between blocks and it becomes more challenging.  

And lastly aother issue I found is when you change the direction of the ice blocks it doesn't change them in a logical sequence, it changes them out of sequence and it ends up making the sequence of the blocks a bit wonky.  This can also make things a bit difficult for if Bailey needs to try and make his way from the bottom row of blocks to the top as he most likely could drown before he get's there.

Anyway that's just about it flaws wise.

SUM UP       
  
So to sum up even after 33 years, Frostbite is still a hugely enjoyable game, its very addictive, alot of fun and its fast paced platform action makes it blast to play.  The concept of the game in itself is also pretty original as you can't really imagine too many other games like it of its time, sure there were plenty of platform games but none where an Eskimo is looking to build an igloo and having to dodge some hazards at the same time!

So even after all this time its a game I still highly recommend if you are able to get the Stella Atari emulator (well getting it is easy but configuring it to work with your keyboard isn't!) or even if you have an old Atari 2600, I'd also recommend you get hold of an old copy of it (but the emulator is of course cheaper as its free).

Anyway so that's it for now and I will continue the Atari reviews another time soon but I may do a review of something else other than an Atari game next.

So until the next un, its bye for now!

Batman Returns "Meow!"

Right, so another post and this again is a new un and it will be on one of the Batman films, and the film in question is Tim Burton's second feature, Batman Returns.  It received mixed reviews on its release and it isn't often considered one of the better Batman films, but after nearly 25 years just how well does Batman Returns stack up????  We'll let's batsuit it up and give this one a look.....

And yes the usual applies:

SPOILERS COMING UP!!!

STORY 

So the films begins with the birth of Tucker and Esther Cobblepot's child, who turns out to be hideously deformed.  The Cobblepot's soon decide that after the child attacks their pet cat that it may become a menace to society so they dump the child in its crib into the Gotham river where it soon floats into an abandoned zoo and is found by a flock of penguins who raise the child as one of their own.

The film then cuts to 33 years later, during the lighting of Gotham's Christmas tree, a gangs of circus thugs launch a staged attack but Batman (Michael Keaton) soon arrives at the scene and subdues the criminals.  Present at the lighting ceremony is corrupt businessman, Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) who is soon abducted and taken to the underground lair of the Penguin (Danny DeVito) a grotesque crime boss.  The Penguin explains to Shreck that he wants to live again on the surface of Gotham and become a respected citizen and he blackmails Shreck into helping him.

In the meantime, Shreck's meek secretary, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) stumbles upon Shreck's plans to illegally monopolise Gotham's electricity supply.  Shreck on finding her and in order to protect his secrets, pushes Selina out of a high story window and she falls through several canopies on the window before landing on the ground, seemingly dead.  At this point a group of cats swarm around her, licking her and bring her back to life.  Selina the goes back to her apartment, traumatised she then trashes it and fashions herself a black vinyl suit and why, transforming herself into Catwoman.

The Penguin then with Shreck's help, stages the kidnapping of the son of Gotham's mayor (Michael Murphy) allowing the Penguin to save him and bring himself to the surface where now on TV reveals he wants to find out who he is.  The Penguin is then given access to Gotham city's archives where he learns his real name, Oswald Cobblepot but then is seen also making a large list of names from the archives.  This now leaves Bruce suspicious of the Penguin's motives as dressed as Batman, he drives by the archive building and sees Oswald inside.  Bruce also learns that Oswald was previously a member of a circus freak show years ago.

Meanwhile Bruce persuades the mayor to not provide a permit for Shreck's power plant, which soons leads to Shreck hatching a plan to replace the current mayor with the Penguin instead.  The Penguin that stages an attack downtown which ruins the mayor's reputation but while this happens, Catwoman makes her appearance at Shreck's department store, which she blows up.  Batman at the same time confronts the Penguin who flees using a propelled umbrella and Batman then persues Catwoman, who fights him, which ends with Batman punching her off the roof after she stabs him in his side with one of her claws and Catwoman survives by landing in a sand truck.

Catwoman not long after then visits the Penguin where she says she wants to play a part in a plan to discredit Batman to which the Penguin agrees as they devise the abduction of Gotham's beauty queen, the Ice Princess (Cristi Conaway) and plan to frame Batman for it.  As the abduction takes place, Batman soon turns up but he is unable to save the Ice Princess as the Penguin murders her by using a swarm of captive bats placed in one of his umbrellas, which causes the Ice Princess to fall to her death off a rooftop.  After this the Penguin tries to make an amorous advance of Catwoman but she rejects them, which angers the Penguin who attemps to kill her by using one of his motorised helicopter umbrellas, which takes her into the sky and she soon falls crashing into a greenhouse, where she cheats death again.

In the meantime as Batman leaves the scene in his batmobile he discovers that it has been sabotaged by the Penguin, who takes remote control of it and drives the vehicle wildly on the streets in a rampage.  Batman then records the Penguin's threats and mocking remarks onto a CD and soon detects the location of the control device and removes it, taking control of the batmobile again he escapes.  Not long after this, Bruce using the recording of the Penguin's words, hacks into the PA system during the Penguin's public speech and plays them over the speaker system, which ruins the Penguin's public reputation, which angers him and he flees to the sewers.  The Penguin then devises a sinister plan to snatch the first born sons of Gotham's citizens where he then intends to drown them.

Bruce not longer after attends a masquerade ball where he meets Selina again and by accident they discover each other's secret identities but at this points the Penguin gatecrashes the ball and abducts Shreck (at Shreck's own pleas in place of his first born son, Chip).  However Batman soon thwarts the Penguin's nefarious plan so the webbed foot madman goes for plan B, which is to use his penguins wired up with rockets to launch an assault on Gotham.  And its from here Batman must find a way to stop the Penguin from carrying out his wicked plan and save Gotham....

THOUGHTS

It has to be said that after the huge success of Batman, Batman Returns is a bit of a dissapointment and Burton himself, who initially had no plans to come back to do a sequel, was given full creative reign to do what he liked in the sequel but I think this was to the film's detriment.  The film also has a much darker tone than the first one and it sees Burton give his own take on the Penguin, rather than leaving him as the portly squat figure that we usually are used to seeing, he decides to turn him into a grotesque circus freak.

And Batman here as a character actually feels a bit more sidelined than we would like as he appears to play a supporting character to film itself and at times you feel the film just happens around him rather have him be the main focus.  So for me the film remains an inconsistent hotchpotch of ideas and themes that don't quite gel well together.  But despite this, the film still has some good moments here and there even if it isn't an altogether satisfactory one.  

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

As for the performances well they are mostly good but they are still a bit of a mixed bag overall.

Starting with Michael Keaton who does a pretty good job as Batman but his Bruce Wayne has always been a bit underwhelming and I think his performance lacks the charisma needed to play the part of Wayne.  Keaton's Batman however is certainly way better and there even moments where you feel that he is perfect in the role.

And Keaton still has some good moments in the film that include Batman's first scene where he subdues the Penguin's gang.  And in the scene there is a moment where one of the gang, grabs Selina and holds a taser to her neck and he threatens Batman not to come any closer.  So Batman then fires his grapple gun into the wall behind the thug who looks back and grins saying "You missed!" but then Batman yanks the grapple line which pulls out a chunk of the wall and hits the thug in the back of the head, knocking him out.

Then there is the scene where Bruce in the Batcave reads up articles from his computer on a circus gang that the Penguin may have been connected to.  And Bruce reads form the article "Featuring a poodle lady, the world's fattest man... and an aquatic bird boy.".  And this prompts Alfred why is Bruce so interested in proving the Penguin isn't what he seems and Bruce continues to read ""... circus folded its tents yesterday, perhaps forever after numerous reports of missing children. In several towns, police have closed down the Red Triangle's fairgrounds, however at least one freak show performer vanished before he could be questioned".  And Alfred then says "I suppose you feel better now, sir" but Bruce then says "No, actually I feel worse".

Another good scene from Keaton is when Batman confronts the Penguin during a staged attack and he says to the Penguin "Admiring your handywork?" and the Penguin says that he is gravely assessing the devastation and "upstanding mayor stuff!" prompting Batman to say "You're not the mayor" and Penguin replies "Things change!".  And Batman asks "What do you want?" and the Penguin says "Ah the direct approach!  I admire that from a man who wears a mask?  You don't really think you'll win, do you?" and Batman smiles slightly and says "Things change".

Then there is the scene when Bruce and Selina meet up at his place and the start to kiss and touch each other although they start to unwittingly reach and touch the wounds they sustained during their fight as Batman and Catwoman and they suddenly jump apart.  And at this moment Selina says "I can't do that!" and Bruce akwardly says "Me neither!".

After this Bruce sees the news of the Ice Princess's kidnapping and he runs off to Alfred and tries to give him an excuse for his departure "Here's what I want you to do... tell Selina - tell Miss Kyle in there - tell her, uh, tell her I had to go out of town, a big business deal came up or some... no, you know what? Tell her, you know, not in some dumb, "be my girlfriend" kind of way...".  And Alfred simply says "I will relay the message" and Bruce says "Great" and then runs off to the Batcave.

And lastly there is the scene when Batman confronts Selina over her actions as she attempts to Shreck near the end of the film.  And Batman, talking to her as Bruce says "Why don't we just take Shreck to the police and go home?  Selina, please don't you see?  We're both the same....split right down the centre" and he rips off his mask, revealing himself to her.  And Selina says "Bruce... I would - I would love to live with you in your castle... forever, just like in a fairy tale.... " and as Bruce reaches out to her she suddenly lashes out and slashes his face with her cat claws and she yells "I just couldn't live with myself, so don't pretend this is a happy ending!".  

Michelle Pfeiffer is really good in her dual role as Selina Kyle and Catwoman and even though its pretty superficial at times she occassionally manages to show Selina's struggle with her own personality after she becomes Catwoman and she becomes intent on getting revenge over Shreck.  And Michelle also manages to play Catwoman's anti-heroic qualities perfectly well aswell as imbue the character's sexiness and there's simply no getting round the fact that Michelle looks mighty foxy in that vinyl suit! ;-)   

Michelle also has some good moments in the film and some of the film's best (or better) lines and her good scenes include the one where she first appears at Catwoman on the streets as she stops a mugger from assaulting a woman.  And in the scene Catwoman says to the mugger "Be gentle, its my first time!" and she efficiently manages to kick the mugger's ass and slashes at his face with her claws.  And as the woman is about to thank Catwoman, Catwoman grabs her by the throat and says "You woman are so easy, aren't you?   I am Catwoman. Hear me roar!" and the somersaults away (although since when did a cat ever roar?!).  

Another good scene is when Catwoman fights with Batman up ontop of the rooftops but before that she announces herself to Batman and the Penguin just after she rigged Shreck's store to blow and she says to them "Meow!" just before the store explodes.  And in the next moment, Catwoman and Batman fight and in self defence Batman punches and she falls down, hurt she says "How could you?!  I'm a woman!" and Batman apologies but she fights him again.

And then she dangles Batman from a rooftop using her whip she says to him "As I was saying, I'm a woman and can't be taken for granted. Life's a bitch, now so am I!" and Batman uses a napalm device to disable her.  And after they fight Batman lifts her back up on the roof and she asks "Who are you?  Who is the man behind the bat?" and she then stabs him in his side with her claw, which prompts Batman to punch her off the roof and she lands below in a sand truck and she says to herself "Saved by kitty litter!" and laugh saying "Bastard!".

Then there is the scene where Catwoman invites herself into the Penguin's lair and she lies sexily on his bed and says "Its chilly in here!".  And as the two of them toy with each other, Catwoman says to the Penguin "Batman napalmed my arm, he knocked me off a building just when I was starting to feel good about myself. I wanna play an integral part in his degradation.  I want in. The thought of busting Batman makes me feel all... dirty. Maybe I'll just give myself a bath right here!" and she proceeds to lick her hand with her tongue and rub it around the top of her masked head (weird!).

Another good moment is when Selina meets up with Bruce for a date at his place and he awkwardly tells her that if he reveals the truth about himself that "You might think I'm some sort of Norman Bates, Ted Bundy type and....you won't let me kiss you".  And Selina looks indefferently at him and says "It's the so-called "normal" guys who always let you down. Sickos never scare me. Least they're committed" and Selina suddenly leans in and kisses Bruce.

And lastly there is the scene where Selina and Bruce meet up again at the masquerade ball and they dance slowly with each other as Selina reveals she has a gun and plans to kill Shreck.  And as they dance, Selina looks up at the ceiling and sees mistletoe and she says to Bruce "A kiss under the mistletoe. You know, mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it" and Bruce says "But a kiss can be even deadlier.....if you mean it" and they both look each other realising their secret identities.  And Selina says in surprise "Oh, my God. Does this mean we have to start fighting?!".

Danny DeVito also does well enough as the Penguin even if he plays the part a bit of character for the actual role of the Penguin as he plays him morely as a psychotic leering pervert, which makes it much harder to actually bother to sympathise with him.

Regardless of that DeVito does have some good scenes that include his first main one where the Penguin has Shreck brought to his undergound lair.  And as Shreck sees Penguin for the first time he says to Shreck "I believe the word you're looking for is......AGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!".  And in the scene Penguin blackmails Shreck into helping with his plan to ascend above and become a citizen of Gotham.  And the Penguin says to Shreck of his late business partner, Fred Atkins, as he produces his dead partner's severed hand "Hi, Max! Remember me? I'm Fred's hand! You wanna greet any other body parts? Remember, Max. You flush it. I flaunt it!".

Then there is the scene where Catwoman meets with the Penguin to hatch a plan to discredit Batman and he leering walks into the room and says to her "Just the pussy I've been looking for!".  And in the scene Catwoman says to the Penguin that they have something in common and the Penguin asks "Sounds familiar. Appetite for destruction? Contempt for the czars of fashion? Wait, don't tell me... naked sexual charisma!" and Catwoman says to him "Batman!".  And as Catwoman says she wants to play the part in Batman's downfall, the Penguin lies on his bed and says "A plan is forming!" and he puts his webbed hands together and creates the shadow of a bat against the ceiling.

Another scene worth mentioning is when Batman confronts the Penguin and Batman says to him "admiring your handwork?" and the Penguin says "Touring the riot scene. Gravely assessing the devastation. Upstanding mayor stuff!".  And Batman says to him "You're not the mayor" and the Penguin menacingly says to him "Things change!".  And as Batman asks what does he want, the Penguin says "Ah, the direct approach. I admire that in a man with a mask!" and he says seriously "You don't really think you'll win, do you?!" and Batman says "Things change".  And as Catwoman appears and says "Meow" and Shreck's department store blows up, the Penguin says to Bats "I saw her first.  Gotta fly!" and he uses his motorised helicopter umbrella to fly away.

Then there is the scene where the Penguin makes leering advances on Catwoman but she rejects saying "Oh, please I wouldn't touch you to scratch you!".  And this angers the Penguin who shouts "Ya lousy minx!  I oughta have you spayed!  You sent out all the signals and I don't think I like you anymore!" and he hooks his helicopter umbrella around her neck and opens it sending Catwoman flying up in the air and he looks at her saying "Goodbye, my unintended, to go Heaven!".

And lastly there is the scene where the Penguin addresses the crowd during his speech which is sabotaged by Bruce who hacks into the PA and plays the recording of Penguin saying "You gotta admit I played this stinkin' city like a harp from hell!" and he repeats it over and over and this prompts the crowd to boo at him.  And then the crowd start to throw tomatoes, eggs and peeled cabbage at him and he puts up his umbrella to defend himself saying "Why is there always someone who brings eggs and tomatoes to a speech?!!".

Christopher Walken next does not too bad in his role as the corrupt businessman, Max Shreck but he doesn't seem quite right for the part somehow although his sinister gravelling voice does help to make him a bit more threatening in certain moments.

Walken also has some good moments that include the scene where Shreck addresses the crowd near the start of the film but he hasn't his speech as Selina forgot to give it to him and he mutters to his son, Chip (Andrew Bryniarski) "Forgotten my speech, remind me to take it out on what's her name...".  And Shreck says to the crowd "I'm just some poor schmoe that got lucky and sue me if I wan't to given some more back!" and he receives much applause and he continues "I wish I could hand more than just expensive bobbles.  I wish I could hand out World Peace and Unconditional Love, wrapped in a big bow!".

Then there is the scene where Shreck catches Selina spying into his private files and he says to her menacingly "What did curiosity do to the cat???".  And Shreck warns her "This power plant is my legacy, what I leave behind for Chip.  NOTHING must prevent that!" and Selina says he can bully and intimidate her if he likes and "Its not like you can just kill me!" and Shreck says to her "Actually, its ALOT like that!".  And he leans towards her menacingly but then pulls back smiling and Selina laughs with relief saying "You had me for a second there..." and then Shreck without warning pushes her out the window.

Another good scene comes when Shreck meets with Bruce who opposes his power plant plan and all of a sudden Selina reappears as Shreck is about to see Bruce out and he looks stunned at her appearance.  And Shreck feebly tries to make an excuse for the cut on her head after her fall when Bruce asks about it " Did you injure yourself on that ski slope? Is that why you cut short your vacation and came back?".  And after Selina sees Bruce out, Chip asks Shreck if she buys Selina's excuse of a "blur or amnesia" and Shreck says "Women. Nothing surprises me, Chip, except your late mother. Who'd have thought Selina had a brain to damage. Bottom line, she tries to blackmail me, I'll drop her out a higher window. Meantime, I got better fish to fry!".

And lastly there is the moment where Selina reveals herself to Shreck as Catwoman, she takes off her mask and Shreck says to her "Selina?  Selina Kyle!  You're fired!".  And Shreck looks to Bruce, who has ripped off his Batman mask at this point and he says to him "And Bruce Wayne?  What are you doing dressed up as Batman????!" and Selina says "Cos he IS Batman, you moron!" and Shreck aims his gun at Bruce and says "Was!" and shoots him.

And lastly Michael Gough reprises his role nicely as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's trusted butler and coinfidant who helps him.

And Gough has some good moments too that include his first scene where Alfred, carrying bags is stopped by a paperboy and he says to the boy "My dear boy.  Sometimes it is a diversion to read such rubbish, but most of the time its a waste of time!" and he walks off leaving the paperboy indifferently saying "Whatever!".

And lastly (to keep this brief!) there is the scene when Bruce and Selina both separately speak to Alfred, both looking for excuses to give each other for why they have to suddenly leave.  And to Bruce, Alfred says to him as Bruce fumbles for an excuse "I will relay the message!".  And then Alfred goes to Selina and says "Miss Kyle, Mr Wayne told me to tell you....." and as Selina fumbles to make an excuse she asks "Could you just make up a sonnet or something? A dirty limerick?" and Alfred says to her "One has just sprung to mind!" and Selina says "Thanks" and runs out.

DIRECTION

As for the film's director, Tim Burton, well he does an OK job here but the problem is that he has been given a bit too much licence to do what he wants with the film so it is filled with all sorts of weird and whacky ideas and sequences that we all too readily associate with Burton, which don't quite fit the Batman universe.

Regardless of that though there is no denying that Burton's visual style is incredible and he knows how to make a film look lavish and stunning as for the most part Batman Returns looks just that with large sets and unique visual style and its 80 million dollar budget is evident for all to see.  Burton also does a reasonable job with the action in the film too but for me there isn't quite enough of it here but of what there is its ok and Batman's fight scenes with Catwoman are highlights as are their little moments of biplay. 

MUSIC 
 
As for the music the score was again done by Danny Elfman, who provides a pretty decent score for the film but it isn't in the same class as his first one, which for me personally is one of my favourite film scores.  However the score still has some nice moments in it such as the opening scene where the Cobblepots decide to get rid of their son and the playful theme for Catwoman as she breaks into Shreck's department store.  So while overall its not one of Elfman's best scores its still not a bad one.

The soundtrack also includes a track "Face to Face" by Siousxie and the Banshees, which is partly used in the scene where Bruce and Selina dance at the Masquerade ball and its actually not a bad track and way better than some of the stuff that Prince featured in the first film.  And one of the film's best points is the fact that it doesn't overly rely on using extra artists music to fill up the soundtrack, which is kept minimal here so well done to Burton there. 

Its also worth mentioning that this was the first film to use the surround sound format, Dolby Digital, which introduced the use of five separate channels of sound and an additional subwoofer for bass frequencies (i.e. the subwoofer gives more oomph to explosions and rumbling noises in films).  So from a technical point of view, Batman Returns is something of an innovation and set the blueprint for future surround sound films. 

FLAWS (Warning this section may also contain one or two spoilers!)

As for Batman Returns flaws.... yeah it does have some worth mentioning and for starters it has to be said that the film's much darker tone from the first one is one of the aspects I didn't like about it.  And as I previously said it felt like Tim Burton was given too much freedom to do what he wanted in the film and make it as weird and whacky as he wanted.

It also introduced some pretty disturbing ideas into the story, particularly the subplot where the Penguin plans to kidnap all the first born sons of Gotham and drown them in chemical sludge in his underground lair.  I mean that is pretty strong stuff for a Batman film that is allegedly and supposedly targeted at family audiences.  And in the scene where the children are seen snatched almost resembles something out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where the main villain, the Child Catcher snatches children off the streets.  Thankfully Batman quickly manages to put the Penguin's horrendous plan out of action as he rescues the children.

I also felt the film blurred the lines a bit between when Catwoman lost one of her 9 lives as there are certainly some instances when she wouldn't necessarily have died.  And one such instance is the one where Batman punches Catwoman off the roof after she stabs him and she lands safely (and rather conveniently at that!) into a sand truck and she later claims that Batman had killed her as a result, losing one of her 9 lives, however she wouldn't necessarily have been killed by this although just maybe she might have done, who knows???

And further to this point when Shreck shoots Selina later on in the Penguin's undergound lair, he shoots her in non vital organs but she claims each bullet as a lost life but again these are not necessarily fatal wounds and would count as one of her lives lost.  So there is a pretty daft logic involved here (or a lack of) where Selina could have lost one of her lives and when she really didn't but yeah she sure somehow (SPOILER!!!) manages to survive frying Shreck using the taser to kiss him while holding onto a power cable attached to a electrical generator.  Yep you can survive that for sure! 

Another problem with the film that I had was to do with the idea of Batman killing people as here onscreen you clearly see him kill two bad guys.  And the two in question are a fire breather, which he sets on fire with the exhaust from his Batmobile and the other a big burly circus man who Batman attaches dynamite to and he punches him into a manhole and as Batman walks on, we see the explosion come up from below.  I mean this really violates the whole moral code of Batman's character as in the comic books he never killed anyone (nor does he in the video games) and Nolan later got Batman's morality right but here Burton is just happy for the dark knight to get blood on his hands.  So this again never really sat right for me although Zack Snyder has followed suit with his version of the dark knight in Batman vs Superman, but for me it never sat well that Batman should be a killer. 

I also felt that while the film's sets and its overall design is very impressive at the same time it really scales down Gotham to being more like a big village than an actual city and when you look at the small amount extras in the film it doesn't seem that populated for a big city either!  And the scenes that we do see people on the streets of Gotham in it feels like they are just walking around a town square and not a city.  So for me I think Burton should have represented Gotham better as an acutal city as opposed to just using big expansive sets.

Then there is the whole idea of how Selina sees herself as unlucky in love and basically almost undateable when she is well...Michelle Pfeiffer!  And this brings in the cheesy line of Selina coming home from her work and announcing to no-one "Hi, honey, I'm home!  Oh, that's right I forgot I'm not married!" which let's face it isn't that funny anyway.

And further to the whole Selina/Catwoman thing I also thought it was a pretty stupid idea how Selina would somehow be revived by cats after being pushed out of a high story window when she most definitely would be dead from the impact of the fall anyway.  In that instance I'm pretty sure cats licking her hands and face isn't going to revive her from that one!  Not only that after Selina becomes Catwoman she all of a sudden has developed some kung-fu moves and has become a world class acrobat who can climb, jump and somersault all over the place!  I mean that cat saliva must have some serious regenerative powers that can bring anyone back from the dead, not to mention turn them into world class athletes with martial arts skills!!  

I also felt the film's climax (SPOILER!!) was a bit of a letdown with the Penguin's ridiculous back-up plan of using his penguins to launch a rocket assault on Gotham, it just seemed a really stupid and whacky idea that ultimately, thanks to Batman, falls flat on its face (rather like a penguin!).  And that also brings up the point as to how did the Penguin suddenly get swarmed by a bunch of bats just before he died????  I mean they seem to appear out of nowhere from behind the Batmobile, not unless Batman summoned them somehow, but it just seems a bit convenient that the bats come out of nowhere right at the moment to kill off the main villain!

And last of all the film is also known for that one scene which has a big continuity error where Bruce tears off his Batman mask to reveal himself to Selina.  However when Bruce does it in the moment before we see that he is wearing eyeliner under his Batman mask but when he rips off the mask the eyeliner has been removed.  And it kind of begs the question: why did they not redesign the mask so they didn't need to use eyeliner in the first place???  Perhaps it might be because they didn't want to make the eye slits for the mask too narrow or that would be uncomfortable for Michael Keaton, but if it wouldn't be then there is no real reason for Batman to wear eyeliner in the first place!  

Anyway that is for the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up, Batman Returns as a film is a letdown and a disappointing follow up to Burton's acclaimed first film.  Overall I think Burton had too much creative control given to him and it showed in the film with its overly dark tones, weird characters and twisted subplots that as a whole just don't really up to a good Batman film.

It does have some good moments however here and there and Michelle Pfeiffer is very good as Catwoman/Selina Kyle and her scenes with Batman work well and there are also some nice touches elsewhere and the film's set design and visuals are very impressive and Elfman's score is a pretty decent one.

But in the end I think there are far better Batman films than Batman Returns, which while its not the worst Batman film of all it sure isn't the best one either and for that reason while it remains relatively entertaining in places, its not one I'd personally recommend.

Right well that's it for now and I will back on here soon with another post.

Till the next one its bye for now!

Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior "You wanna get out of here? You talk to me!"

Alrighty!  So its time for yet another review and this is a new one (no revisitations this time) although it will be on an older film, 35 years old to be precise and that film is Mad Max 2 aka The Road Warrior (well in the US mainly).

And with the release of Fury Road last year, which was acclaimed as one of the best action films in recent years (although I personally didn't think so!) how does The Road Warrior stack up in comparison???  Well let's find out.....

Oh and the usual warning will be ahead:

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

Right so the story begins set quite some time after the events of the first film in a dystopian future with "Mad" Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) who is now a scavenger who roams the desolate desert in search of fuel, food and water in his old battered supercharged V-8 pursuit special.  Max at the start of the film is being chased by a group of gang members who lead by the psychotic motorcycle rider named, Wez (Vernon Wells) who Max injures and Wez flees.  Afterward Max checks out a crashed semi, he comes across a gryocopter out in the desert but as he goes near it, he is ambushed by its pilot, the Gyro captain (Bruce Spence).  Max with the help of his dog, manages to subdue the Gyro captain who pleads with him for his life, telling him the location of an oil refinery where Max can stock up on fuel.

Max then goes with the Gyro captain to the site of the oil refinery and view it from afar to see a large collection of nomad gangs riding motorcycles and cars outside the refinery all lead by their musclebound, masked leader "Lord Humungus" (Kjell Nilsson).  Humungus offers the defenders of the refinery safe passage out of the refinery if they surrender it to him and his men, however some of the defenders break out and are killed by Humungus's men.  Max then waits for the gangs to leave before he manages to rescue the one sole surviving defender, whom he makes a deal with to bring him safely back to the compound in exchange for a tank of fuel.  However on taking the injured man into the compounded he soon dies and the leader of the facility, Pappagallo (Michael Preston) reneges on Max's deal he made with the man and prepare to expel him from the compound.

At this point however, Humungus and his men return again as he makes another offer for the refinery defenders to leave the refinery peacefully if they let them in.  During this however one of the occupants of the compound, a young boy with long hair simply known as the Feril kid (Emil Minty) defiantly kills Wez's male companion with a boomerang, enraging Wez who is subdued by Humungus who tells Wez that he has no intention of letting the settlers leave and they soon depart again.  Afterward, Max offers Pappagallo a deal to locate the semi-truck his discovered earlier and used that to haul the tanker trailer they use to refine and store the oil they have.  Max also asks in exchange for this that he can take as much fuel for his V-8 as he can possibly hold to which Pappagallo agrees to but they keep his car to ensure he co-orporates.

Max soon on his way back to semi-truck finds the Gyro captain again who has been walking around with his leg chained to a tree log and he uses him to locate the truck with the help of his gyrocopter.  Max soon locates the truck and he let's the Gryo captain go free as he drives the semi back to the compound but he is ambushed by Humungus's men enroute but he manages to make it back in along with help from the Gyro captain.  After this Pappagallo, to show his gratitude, offers Max a chance to join them in their journey and to drive the truck but Max refuses as he wants to just to get his petrol and leave.

However as Max leaves the compound he is soon spotted by Wez who rams Max's vehicle, forcing it to crash off the road, leaving Max badly injured but before Max is killed by Wez's men, as they approach his crashed V-8 it engages a booby trap which destroys the car and kills Wez's men who flees.  Max is soon rescued by the Gyro captain and taken back to the compound where after Max recovers offers to drive the tanker, which Pappagallo accepts.  And its from here the film goes into a big long epic chase finale where Max tries to lead Pappagallo's people to safety as Humungus's men go after him one last time.....

THOUGHTS

There is not much doubt that Mad Mad 2 - The Road Warrior is the best of the films in the Mad Max series and its dystopian setting works really well throughout not to mention Max's scarred character is memorable one (as his wife and child were killed in the first film) where he is now scavenger purely looking out for himself and his own survival in a harsh land.  But even though Max does appear to be largely self serving in the film he ultimately does help out the settlers as he probably realises despite his own burnt out existance that he too once had a family and roots of his own.       

The film's production in comparison to the first film certainly looks that bit more lavish and impressive and this is also thanks in part to its larger budget as the film was made for approximately 4 million Australian dollars (approx 2 million US dollars).  And the film also features some incredible chase scenes and visual setpieces, particularly the lengthy, epic chase scene at the end where Max is pursued by Humungus and his gang of bikers and nomads in armoured cars.  The setting of the film in the Australian outback also makes the film looking quite stunning visually as it was filmed out near a small mining city called Broken hill and it provides the movie with the perfect backdrop for its visuals and its tone.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTEWORTHY SCENES (Warning spoilers in this section might be ahead!)

I will try and keep this section a bit smaller than usual given that there isn't a massive amount of dialogue in the film itself but the performances generally speaking are pretty good.

And to kick off we have the film's star, Mel Gibson who is excellent here as Max and even though he doesn't get much dialogue, Gibson's presence and onscreen charisma definitely shine through here.  Its also helped by the fact that in Mad Max 2 that Gibson looks that bit more mature than he did in the original film as he no longer appears to be as boyish pretty boy but now a hardened survivor.

Gibson naturally has some good scenes in the film that include the one where Max addresses the settlers and offers them a deal to help them out.  And in the scene, Max whistles for their attention and tells them regarding the semi-truck he spotted earlier on "Two days ago, I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You want to get out of here?!  You talk to me!".

Then there is the scene where Max has the Gyro captain chained as he spies out the oil refinery from afar on a hilltop.  And the Gyro captain complains to Max about being chained up " Look, we had a deal. I show you the gas, and you let me go, right?" and Max says to him "The arrangement was I wouldn't kill you".  And the Gyro captain says to him "After all I've done for you...." and Max grabs the Gryo captain's chain and brings the cap's head next to his and says "reckon you got a bargain, didn't you?!".

And lastly there is the scene where Max, after he is rescued by the Gyro captain and taken back to the compound he offers to drive the truck for the settlers.  And in the scene, badly wounded hobbles up to Pappagallo and says "If it's all the same to you... I'll drive that tanker".  But Pappagallo says to him "The offer is closed.  Too late for deals" but Max insists "No deals. I want to drive that truck" and Pappagallo asks him why and Max says "I haven't got a choice.  Come on, cut the crap!  I'm the best chance you've got!".

Bruce Spence is also really good as the gawky (not to mention very skinny!) Gryo Captain who helps out Max and the settlers.

Spence too has some good moments that include the scene when the Gyro Captain first ambushes Max in the first scene together.  And as the GC points his crossbow at Max, Max kneeling down next to the back of his car tries to grab hold of a concealed knife underside the back wheel.  However the Gyro captain suspects Max of trying something and says to him "A fellah, a QUICK fellah, might have a weapon under there. I'd have to pin his head to the panel...!".

Then there is the scene where Max drives towards the oil refinery with the Gyro Captain chained up next to him and Max has his sawn-off shotgun wired and pointing at the GC with the other end of the wire in his dog's mouth who has a bone in its mouth.  And the Gyro Captain nervously smiles at the dog saying "Nice doggy, nice dog!" as the dog simply stares at him and Max smiles.

And later on there is the scene where the Gyro Captain who plays his part in helping out the settlers and he lands his gryocopter in the compound and the Feril kid looks curiously at the gyro's blades and touches one on them.  And the Gyro Captain annoyed says to him "Don't touch please, that's a precision instrument!" and as the Feril kid continues to, the GC says "Don't touch!  Go on, scat!" which prompts the kid to angrily growl at him.  And in the next moment one of the older settlers asks the Gyro captain "Tell me, son, this thing of yours, can it take two?" and the GC looks on and notices one of the settlers, a young attractive blonde woman (Arkie Whiteley) and he looks at her and smiles saying "Possibly".

Vernon Wells is also pretty good as the secondary antagonist of the movie, Wez, the crazed rider who is one of Humungus's men.

Wells plays the part with as much relish as he can possibly muster and almost similar to his role in Commando (well actually far more so here!) his character his clearly a homoerotic one given that his male companion is killed during the film by the Feril kid.  Wells doesn't have much dialogue but his most memorable line comes when Wez manages to infiltrate the compound but he is warded off by Max.  And in the scene just before Wez leaves he shouts at Max "YOU!  You can RUN but you can't HIDE!!" and then jumps off and flees from the compound.

Michael Preston also does very well in his part as the leader of the settlers, Pappagallo who Max aids in their attempts to leave the compound and fight off Humungus and his gangs.

Preston's best scene comes when Pappagallo tries to persuade Max to stay with the settlers and drive the semi-truck against the gangs but Max refuses to go with them.  And in the scene Pappagallo pushes Max on why he won't stay " What is it with you, huh? What are you looking for? C'mon, Max, everybody's looking for something. You're happy out there, are you? Eh? Wandering? One day blurring into another? You're a scavenger, Max. You're a maggot. Did you know that? You're living off the corpse of the old world. Tell me your story, Max. C'mon. Tell me your story. What burned you out, huh? Kill one man too many? See too many people die? Lose some family?!".  And Max gives Pappagallo an angry glare who says "Oh, so that's it, you lost your family? That makes you something special, does it?!" and this prompts Max to punch Pappagallo in the face who falls down.

And as Pappagallo get's back up he says to Max "Do you think you're the only one that's suffered? We've all been through it in here. But we haven't given up. We're still human beings, with dignity. But you? You're out there with the garbage. You're NOTHING!".

Kjell Nilsson also does very well in his role as the musclebound, masked, charismastic and violent Lord Humungus who leads the marauding gang of bikers and nomads.

Nilsson's has some good scenes too that include the one where just after Wez's male partner is killed by the Feral kid, Wez goes apeshit and demands they kill the settlers now but Humungus restrains him.  And Humungus shouts "Be still my dog of war. I understand your pain. We've all lost someone we love. But we do it my way!   We do it my way. Fear is our ally. The gasoline will be ours. Then you shall have your revenge!".

And Humungus addresses the settlers over his intercom again saying "There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives. Just walk away and we'll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.  You have one full day to decide!".

And lastly there is Nilsson's best line in the scene where Wez spots Max's car from a distance and he goes off after him.  And this leads to Humungus looking at Wez leaving and he says of Wez "You disobey me!  You puppy!".

And lastly there is Emil Minty as the Feril kid who as his character is completely mute has no lines of dialogue and instead Minty just resorts to using a series of grunts for his character to communicate and he does a good job at it.  Minty's character however is the narrator of the film, who narrates as a grown man (voiced by Harold Baigent) who reminisces over his memories of Max.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, George Miller, he does a terrific job here with the film and after the original, Miller was given various offers to direct different films such as First Blood (i.e. the first Rambo film) but he decided to go back to the world of Mad Max and try and make a sequel that improved on the first film.  Miller also more than confidently handles the film's action and chase scenes which are very well staged especially the film's climactic chase between Max and Humungus and his gang and he expertly cranks up the tension throughout these scenes.  So overall this is easily one of Miller's best directorial efforts.

As for the film's music, the score was composed by Brian May who is not to be confused with the Brian May of the rock band, Queen, but May was actually an Australian composer who also scored the first film.  The score sounds quite lush and orchestral and overall its very good although it does get a bit repetitive in its themes and it tends to overuse the same sections of music at times but despite that its a fine one that does its job of capturing the atmosphere and tone of the movie.

FLAWS (Warning: this may contain the odd spoiler!)

As for flaws....yes Mad Max 2 does have some and for starters I felt the one thing that does drag the pace of the film a little bit is actually at the start with the intro of the Feril kid (as an adult) narrating about the background of the story and his memories of Max.  It just feels a bit longwinded and while it has its purpose it kind of isn't consistent with most of the pacing of the rest of the film.

And I felt the same could be said for the scene where Max is camped out up on a hill above the oil refinery as he literally spends night and day watching Humungus's activities and this sequence also feels a bit drawn out and affects the film's pacing.  So I think a little bit of trimming here and there wouldn't have hurt to keep things that little bit tighter even though the film itself is only 96 minutes long anyway.

Another issue with the film is that it is somewhat devoid of strong female characters and the main characters are all men and any of the women in the film are largely sidelined.  And the one strong female character in the film, the warrior woman (played by Virginia Hey) is very much underused and she only has a handful of scenes and she is quickly killed off during the film's final chase scene.  The film also even hints that the warrior woman might have had an attraction to Max but if anything this is very underplayed as she says to Max after he comes back with the semi-truck that she was wrong about him.  Miller however did make up for this lacking in Mad Max 3 with the main female villain, Aunt Entity (played by Tina Turner) and also the protagonist, Furiosa in Fury Road (played by Charlize Theron).

The plot itself is also pretty flimsy and there isn't really a great deal to it and its nothing more than just a western in the outback in Australia where the Max and the settlers are the good cowboys and the Humungus and his men are the baddies.  Its a pretty simple tale in the end but despite I guess it still works well enough even if there is nothing overly special about it plot wise although the final reveal of the tanker (SPOILER!!!!) that Max was driving was nothing but a decoy (as it was filled with sand and not petrol) was a nice touch.

And lastly one of the plot points I felt was pretty stupid was Max's decision to leave the compound after he has his V-8 fully refuelled and he heads straight into the path of Wez and his men.  I mean surely the guy could have taken a different route so that way he wouldn't end up bumping into Wez in the first place!  But instead they use Max's hasty decision as another plot ex-machina for him to eventually go back to the settlers and decide to help them out in their dangerous journey.  Although it does seem a bit daft that they would let Max drive the truck given that he is in such a banged up state!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is easily the best film of the series and its packed with exciting action set pieces, impressive visuals despite its pretty modest budget and an excellent central performance by Mel Gibson.  And even after 35 years the film has dated pretty well thanks in part to futuristic setting of the movie itself and overall I still think its a far superior film to the frankly overrated Fury Road that came out last year.  And if you have seen Fury Road and think its the better film than I'd urge people to check out this film again as it is certainly worth it and one of the best action films of its time.

Right!  So that's it for now and I will be back on here sometime soon with another review.

Till the next one its bye for now!