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Bonus Points - An Essay That Questions The Favoritism Towards Certain Developers In The Gaming Industry, Even When They Don’t Deliver - By Daniel Boyd

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild came out last month and it has taken the gaming world by storm. As a non Zelda fan, I am left wondering why this is the case. Why is this Zelda game so revolutionary? I don’t own the game, but I have played the first few hours of it and I have read a good number of reviews on the game. There are a few critics claiming that this game, ‘writes a new chapter in the videogames industry,’ and that it is an, ‘evolution of everything that has come before.’

While I appreciate that this is a well made game and it is doing new things within the Zelda franchise, these statements stick in my throat a little. This isn’t because I don’t agree that this is an impressive game, because it is. Other than the odd frame rate drop, there aren’t many flaws with this game and I did enjoy the few hours that I spent with it, (I had a lend of a friends Switch for the night so I could try the game for myself.)

My problem comes from the fact that this is a well made game that isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done before a million times and frankly been done better. Full disclosure, I have never been a Zelda fan, but I wanted this game to convert me and I’m sorry to say that it didn’t. The purpose of this piece isn’t to attack the Zelda franchise, so you fanboys can put your pitchforks down. What I want to discuss is how when Nintendo do anything that is slightly better than a disaster, it is heralded as the brave new step in video games by a large number of the video game press.

I get it, nostalgia is a powerful lens and most writers in their 30’s grew up playing on Nintendo systems and franchises like Mario and Zelda, but as someone who is around ten years younger and grew up with Playstation, I don’t feel that Nintendo has advanced a great deal since the turn of the millennium and frankly, I don’t see Nintendo as having broken any new ground in the last twenty years.

If games like Breath of the Wild came out on another console, they wouldn’t be lauded as the best thing since sliced bread. In fact they have, it’s called Horizon: Zero Dawn! When Horizon came out it received a positive critical reception and high sales, but no one was writing articles claiming it was the next step in the evolution of video games. Splatoon has been put on a pedestal and has been described as ‘fresh,’ and, ‘unique,’ even though it is nothing more than a dumbed down version of Team Fortress 2 for a younger audience. Super Mario Maker was released in 2015 and it was essentially a $60 level editor. Level editors have been included in other games since forever and no fuss has been made, but when Nintendo sell an entire game based on the concept, it’s hailed as another, ‘triumph by Nintendo.’

When you compare Breath of The Wild to other recent open world games like The Witcher or Skyrim, there is nothing that makes unique from a design and functionality standpoint. If Breath of The Wild came out in 2008, then sure you could get away with labeling it revolutionary, but in this day and age it isn’t any more special than Horizon or Skyrim.

Let’s look at some of the features that have been called unique in the game. The tower climbing to uncover zones of the map mechanic has been done in the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series’. Using plants for crafting and cooking has been done in Far Cry and Skyrim. Far Cry 2 and Dead Island had degradable weapons. The inventory system is very reminiscent of multiple Ubisoft titles; essentially Breath of The Wild has taken some elements from other games and made something from that within the Zelda universe.

This may sound patronizing, but it honestly isn’t intended that way. I get it, Nintendo fans have had it hard over these last five years, they have had nothing to be proud of since the launch of the Wii and they have had to stand by their console of choice and defend themselves with very little ammo to defend themselves with, but as a result nowadays when anything better than a car crash is released by them it is inflated by a large number of critics in the industry and so Nintendo fans are given a justification for putting their mediocre games on a pedestal. This is why to the rest of the industry it appears that Nintendo fans can’t accept things for the way that they really are and everything is blown so far out of proportion.

Some examples of Nintendo games being blown out of proportion and reviewers being clouded by nostalgia are available to go and check out right now on Metacritic. Zelda: Skyward Sword is currently sitting at a 93, Zelda: Twilight Princess is sitting at a 95 and Metroid: Other M has a 79. All three of these games are recognized as subpar and once the novelty wore off, even the most hardcore of Nintendo fans would agree that these are forgettable, black marks on the respective franchises track records. Not that Zelda isn’t a game for Zelda fans to be proud of, because it is. I can see why this would be people’s game of the year so far and I can see why it could be considered as the best Zelda game, but to someone that isn’t a Zelda fan that praise is meaningless.

In summary, the inflation of mediocrity in the industry has to stop, if we want gaming to improve. If we want to break new ground across the gaming media, these sycophants and apologists living in a false perception of reality have to go. These novelty games that are applauded for simply carrying the title of a beloved franchise, have to stop being praised so highly and given a free pass of any sort of criticism just because of a nostalgic lens.

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You Tell Me Your Story - An Essay On Why Dialogue Options In Video Games Are More Trouble Than They Are Worth - By Daniel Boyd

The first Mass Effect game was released 10 years ago this year and it pioneered many RPG mechanics that are still being used in RPG’s today. Like any pioneer, it spawned many clones that tried to emulate the cover based shooting mechanics that the game used, the romance situations that took place between the characters and the infamous dialogue options that the player could choose from during conversation cutscenes.

 Mass Effect wasn’t the first game to do it, there are plenty of earlier examples of the mechanic being used before in games, such as the Fallout series. Bioware actually included the mechanic themselves in their earlier game in Knights Of The Old Republic, but its inclusion Mass Effect is what brought it to the mainstream and soon every developer was wanting a piece of the dialogue tree pie.

 I never owned the original Mass Effect, the most exposure I got of it was through a few mates that owned the game at the time, but eventually the mechanic did end up creeping into games that I did own including; Alpha Protocall, Deus Ex, any Telltale game, The Amazing Spiderman 2, (for some reason,) and even in Uncharted 4.

 As much as I enjoy a good ‘choose your own adventure,’ story and as much as I appreciate the trust that developers put in gamers to be able to tell their own story; whether that be through dialogue options, moral choices or customization options, I want you to tell me your story. I didn’t pay 50 quid to get given a setting and a bunch of characters to tell my own story. You guys get paid to craft amazingly immersive works of fiction, so do your job and suck me in. Whenever I’m playing a game with dialogue options and I am starting to get invested in the story and the characters, the inevitable dialogue tree pops up and takes me right out of the experience.

 Sure, there are some movies that I watch and wonder why a writer or a director made a certain creative choice, but even if I don’t agree with the decision, it is the creator’s job to make those tough choices and that is what makes great art. One of my favorite movies of the last decade is Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ and that is purely because of the creative choices that the cast and crew made on that movie. I know people that hate Drive and I’m sure if given the option they would change it to be a less daring, more cookie cutter action thriller, but that wouldn’t have earned my respect like it has. Sometimes creators need to stop handholding the audience and make a tough call, even if it could potentially be a polarizing one.

 In fact, when I think about it, all of my favorite stories are adored so much because of the definitive, drastic calls that they dare to make. I already spoke about Drive, Fight Club’s twist took some balls to pull off, the ambitious non linear storytelling of Pulp Fiction makes it iconic, Breaking Bad was consistently shocking and yet brilliant, MGS is insanely unconventional and I love it for it and The Last Of Us delivers a divisive finishing blow that we have no choice but to partake in.

 That is how you tell a great story and that is how you stand out as a creator, by doing something that no one else could do, especially not your audience. When I come home after a long day at work, I don’t want to do much thinking. I want to relax and be told a story by the folks that are best at doing so. Personally, I think that you should believe in the story you are telling enough to make a definitive decision and if you don’t, is it really a story that’s worth telling?

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The Sad State Of Mass Effect Andromeda - An Essay On Why There Is No Longer A Place For Mediocrity In The Video Game Industry - By Daniel Boyd

For those of you that are Mass Effect fans and are worried after reading the title of the essay that I am going to spend the rest of the essay bashing the game, you can rest easy put your pitchfork down. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve not actually played the new game myself, I’ve only seen gameplay videos highlighting various glitches and the overall under par state of the game. The only reason that Mass Effect is on the receiving end of my criticism today, is because it is simply the most recent example of a major game being released that doesn’t meet the high standard that we have come to expect from videogames in 2017. Don’t get me wrong though, I think that we should expect a high level of production standard in our games and frankly I think the fact that Bioware have released this game in this abysmal state is nothing less than unacceptable.

 If you have been generous enough to read any of my other stuff, you may have seen a piece I wrote around a year ago, where I loosely reviewed the Amazing Spiderman 2 on PS4, but really I just used the review as an excuse to talk about the place for mediocrity in the modern gaming landscape. This essay will essentially be an updated version of that piece, because every now and again something comes along and reminds me that mediocrity is still a present factor in modern gaming. I am aware that not every game released can be a 10/10 masterpiece at the level of The Last Of Us, but gaming has came such a long way in the last few decades that in my eyes there is a standard that must be met at this point and there is no room for mediocrity anymore.

 As a quick disclaimer, let me say that I love and miss the mid tier section of the video game market. I love so many Codemasters, Midway and THQ games and the mid tier is the main reason that the PS2 is my favourite console. With that out of the way; in theory, mediocrity in gaming should have went away altogether when the mid tier crumbled in the dying days of the PS2. What we should have been left with is incredible AAA experiences and smaller, innovative indie experiences.

 Excuses can be made for some examples of recent mediocre games. Liquid Entertainment and Beenox games are mostly movie tie ins, developed quickly and released to make a fast buck off of the back of another property. Hello Games were a small studio that bit off more than they could chew. Sega is a big studio, but they have been slowly going downhill and losing respect at a steady rate for a while now. Bioware aren’t a mid tier developer, they are one of the biggest game developers on the planet. Mass Effect Andromeda had a budget of 40 million dollars and a five year development cycle, that is where most of the shock regarding the state of this game comes from.

 Nonetheless, Andromeda will still go on to sell millions of copies, EA will make their money back and more games will be developed in the series. This is because the majority of fans of the previous Mass Effect games will have already pre ordered the newest entry and hype alone with carry this game through any turmoil it faces. Frankly I don’t specifically care about the future of Mass Effect as I have never really been a fan of that series, but if you are a Mass Effect fan this should concern you greatly. If you are unhappy with the state that this game has been released in, don’t buy it and if you really can’t resist playing it at some point, wait a while and buy it used from a Mom and Grop Shop. That way you aren’t giving EA your money and you aren’t allowing them to continue to rely on reaching their profit goals via a lackluster game. That is how you change the future of your favourite franchise; never underestimate the power that you possess as a consumer.

 Like I said though, Mass Effect has never been my thing, my concern lies more on the overall gaming market and the worry that this will bleed out and affect the mindset of other developers. Using a big franchise name alone to sell your game and forfeiting any attempt at creating a well made experience for your audience.

 This is an issue that we have to stamp out now, it may sound petty or harsh, but this is how we make gaming better for all of us. There is no longer a place in the industry for mediocrity and it is up to us, the consumers to prove that to developers.

 The message that I keep reiterating is backed up again by this topic, stop being an apologist, stop settling for less, don’t be afraid to demand a higher standard. Spreading negativity isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it has a legitimate basis. This is how we push mediocrity out of gaming. Playstation’s best slogan is still, ‘Expect Greatness,’ because we should expect greatness from developers; don’t be afraid to call a spade a spade. The most powerful voice of all lives in your back pocket; your hard earned cash and that is what gives you the right to call for better experiences.

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How Video Game Quality Is A Thing Of The Past - An Essay On The Oversaturation Of The Modern Video Game Market And The Race To The Bottom - By Daniel Boyd

‘There are too many games.’ That is a statement that we hear thrown about often, but what does it actually mean? Surely gamers having a vast amount of choice of what to play is a good thing? Well in theory you are right, but the reality of the situation is that the majority of games that come out are amateur level garbage that isn’t worth your time or money.

 Indie games have been great for the market overall. Some of the best selling games of all time are indie games, such as Minecraft or Rocket League. However when the indie game boom happened, it brought about this idea that anyone in their basement with a high level PC can make a game and become the next Notch. The result is of course, more games being put on the market and more people of varying degrees of technical and design skill making games, which in turns means indie games that actually have some value get buried under the ever growing pile of trash that occupies the largest amount of space on digital stores.

 I should mention that I am an aspiring 3D animator, just about to finish my honours degree in 3D animation at university, so in a few weeks time I will be a qualified professional 3D animator. So from my point of view professionally there are two sides to this coin; I could get on my high horse and start bashing those that don’t have any sort of formal qualification but are attempting to make games, but fortunately I’m not that kind of arrogant arsehole. I am sure that there are folks out there that may have more experience with 3D than me and be more technically proficient without having studied at a level of higher education or gaining any sort of formal qualification, but that doesn’t mean that I believe that anyone and their granny should be able to make a game. There has to be some kind of quality control otherwise we are letting a few amateurs drag down the entire market. On the other hand, I know that I won’t be able to walk out of university and straight into a job because full time animation posts are very few and far between, so making an indie game is a very appealing notion to someone like me, trying to make a name for themselves in the industry as a creator. Although if I ever do get round to completing my own indie game, I know I will have to break through this wall of waste to make my game relevant, therefore the problem of too many games being on the market affects me not only as a consumer, but also as a professional trying to start a career.

 I live and breathe video games from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep at night. When I wake up I immediately put on a gaming podcast while I get ready, whether it be the latest episode of Gamescoop or the Kinda Funny Gamescast. I continue listening to it as I commute to university where I work on a virtual asset, something that could be implemented into a video game. When I get home I’ll watch gaming videos on Youtube or play a game for the rest of the night. I truly love this medium and although I discussed how the oversaturation of the market affects me as a professional, it’s as a consumer that it affects me the most.

 Before I start throwing blame at publishers and online stores, let me give you some statistics, so you have some context for why I feel the way I do. According to statista.com, as of last year, (2016,) there are 7,400 games on Steam. According to an article on GamesIndustry.biz, ‘The average game on Steam sells only 32,000 copies.’ That’s the average, so many, many games sell way below that number. After doing a bit of research, I managed to gain an estimated total number of games for each of the major digital distributors:

 PSN = 1,000+

XBLA = 1,000+

Steam = 7,400

iTunes = 758,000

Google Play = 3.5mil - 2.6mil = 900,000

 I understand that Sony and Microsoft don’t have unlimited financial resources, but they have more than enough dough to justify having some sort of quality control team assigned to their respective E-stores. Steam have recently taken a step in the right direction by axing the Steam Greenlight initiative, which is bittersweet. On one hand, thank God they are doing something about the vast amount of garbage that is available to buy from their store, On the other hand there has been the odd Steam Greenlight game that has been worthwhile and probably would never have been made available to the public without Greenlight, so it sucks for those guys. However overall, I definitely see this as a positive move from a consumer perspective. For those developers that could have potential, Steam are introducing a new scheme called Steam Direct. The way that this will work is, Steam will approve the developer instead of the game and from that point on. developers will be able to publish all of their future games to Steam. As long as Steam are strict with the quality level that developers have to meet before the distribution giant will sell their game, then this should weed out the trash that is currently finding its way onto the store.

 If Sony and Microsoft were to follow suit and start policing the developers that are permitted to sell games on the platform, then it would prevent sub par games from being available for purchase alongside triple A titles like Uncharted and Horizon. I’m not saying every game has to be a multimillion dollar blockbuster to be able to get onto digital store shelves, but at least there would be a set standard that all developers would have to meet before they can sell their game, whether it is a massive company or a small indie development team.

 A lot of people may think I am being too harsh with what I have said, but frankly we need to be harsher if we want better games. That is the only reason that I am being so critical, because I am passionate about getting better games for the consumer. I know that comparing mobile gaming to console and PC gaming isn’t really fair, but the idea of that kind of mobile ‘more is better,’ mentality is what worries me and I really don’t want it to affect my favourite pastime.

 Here is my closing advice to you as a gamer. If you want to protect your games and maintain a decent level of quality across the medium; vote with your wallet and never settle for less. We should always be expecting more from our games and that is how we push the envelope in gaming, that is how we make progress happen.

[thewalkhome-blog]

Quick Reviews

Split Review

This movie is a lot better than the trailers show it to be, MacAvoy’s performance is gripping, electric and believably diverse. This is Shamylan’s return to form and is up there in terms of quality with Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense. The script isn’t amazing, but the actors do well with the material that they have and the production is on point. Good sound mixing, cinematography and direction. Gets a bit silly in places but is justified by the film’s end. 7.8/10

 Trainspotting 2 Review

Choose nostalgia, choose sequels, choose another dose of high energy antics and following four reprobates as they show that although time rolls by and people don’t change. Choose betraying your mates and abandoning them for two decades until you are forced to return home and face your demons. Choose to buy the fact that Renton returns to Edinburgh the same week that Begbie decides to break out of prison after a twenty year stretch and try not to think too much about it. Choose facing the fact that we aren’t getting any younger and not everything works out the way we hope it will. Choose a killer soundtrack, a lighter tone, a witty script and phenomenal direction. Danny Boyle and the cast in this movie have came a long way in the last twenty years and this movie exhibits that awesomely, but doesn’t forget where they came from. This movie was never going to exceed the first movie but it instead functions as a companion piece to the original and actually makes the events of the first movie more meaningful. The film isn’t afraid to play on its legacy and the fact that a good amount of time has passed since the last time we saw these characters, it in fact relies on the time that has past since the original movie. This is one of the best Scottish films ever made and is right up there alongside the original and the two movies together tell a fantastic, gripping and engaging story over a significant period of time. 9/10

 The Accountant Review

I saw the account last weekend and it was pretty good. The film stars Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, JK Simmons and Jon Lithgow. Affleck shines here, portraying an autistic badass respectfully and there definitely is an appropriate sense of dread present throughout the runtime of the movie. The supporting cast is also fantastic, Jon Lithgow and JK Simmons are as brilliant as you have come to expect them to be, but it is actually Jon Bernthal that steals every scene he is in. As expected Anna Kendrick adds a level of comic relief to the movie and she works well in contrast to Affleck’s more serious role. The writing and direction are solid and the score adds a lot to the film too. 7/10

 Arrival Review

Arrival is the most recent movie from one of my favourite directors working today, Denis Villeneuve. This guy’s track record has been incredible so far, with my personal favourite of his being 2013’s Prisoners. Since then I have been following this guy’s career and although in my opinion he hasn’t since replicated the masterpiece that was Prisoners, he has came very close several times with Enemy, with Sicario and now with Arrival as well. The cast are also solid here; Jeremy Renner does what he does best, plays a supporting role and shines in a backseat position. Whittaker is, as always great in the film and is engaging throughout the runtime. This is also probably Amy Adams best role, I don’t hate Adams as an actress, but I do feel that she is extremely overrated and is never anything more than functional in a role. Here though, she actually has a character arc and gives a decent performance. Rodger Deakins’ cinematography is missed though, Bradford Young does sell the tone of the movie consistently through his shots, but for me no one comes close to Deakins behing the camera. Overall my hype for this movie was met and it is a solid addition to Villeneuve’s filmography and doesn’t let down his consistently great track record. 8.5/10.

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How We Drove Away One Of The Greatest Minds In The Video Game Industry - An Essay On The Resignation Of Colin Moriarty From Kinda Funny - By Daniel Boyd

Wednesday the 8th of March was International Women’s Day 2017. Marches were held around the world for women’s rights and equality. That day Colin Moriarty, one of the most prominent voices in the modern video game industry, tweeted out a sarcastic, silly tweet that read;

‘Ah. Peace and quiet.#ADayWithoutAWoman.’

After getting ridiculed on Twitter by his former colleagues from IGN, Brian Altano and Justin Davis and from his peers such as Blaine Gibson from Rooster Teeth, Greg Miller, (Colin’s roommate, best friend and co founder of Kinda Funny along with Colin,) released a statement regarding the incident via Twitter;          

‘Was Colin's tweet a joke? Sure, but that doesn't make it OK. Context is important on Twitter (as I've learned so many times), there's no tone or contextual clues. The number of times I've said something only to see it interpreted a different way is enumerable. That happened here. I wish it hadn't. We're talking about this as a group.’

You can read the Tweet in full here.

Following this massive backlash, on Monday the 13th of March 2017, Colin announced his resignation from Kinda Funny effective immediately via a Facebook post;

‘It’s with a heavy heart and great sadness that I announce my resignation from Kinda Funny, effective immediately.

This morning, the guys and I had a constructive conversation, and feel that, with our separate visions for the future and for the direction of the company, it’s time to go our separate ways. I want to be clear that this was my decision. Just as we collaborated as friends, so too do we part. I hope you continue to support them. I simply want to reconnect with what’s most important to me. Politics, history, philosophy. Reading books. Talking about things I feel are most impactful and essential for a person like me.

I want to thank everyone for their support of me -- and us -- over these years. When I started writing about games professionally in 2002 as a freshman in college, never, ever, did I think I’d reach the heights I did. I owe a great deal to an audience that generously sustained me, supported me, and followed me, and I also owe a lot to those who gave me opportunities to begin with. I will always remember and be grateful for this entire experience.

Opportunities are already popping up for me, bringing me in a new, different, and exciting direction, a direction that I feel makes perfect sense for me. Obviously, you haven’t seen or heard the last of me. Far from it. I hope that when I return with what’s next, you will support me there, just as you’ve supported me over these many years.

Your Friend, -Colin’

Now that everyone is caught up with the situation, I want to discuss how massively devastating this loss is to the industry as a whole. As an avid Kinda Funny fan I am obviously affected on a more personal level, but the loss of Colin from the industry is bigger than that. Colin is one of the smartest people in video game journalism and possibly in journalism in general. Colin is a scholar and in all honesty he probably should have ended up working in politics or science, but it was us gamers that had him writing and talking about the passion that we all share for games. Now all of that is lost, because of a throwaway comment on social media. I am not going to go into the ethics and morals of the Tweet, because there are hundreds of articles being written that will discuss that side of things. Personally, I thought the tweet was harmless and did have a chuckle when I read it, but that was all I thought of it at the time, it was just a silly, dated, throwaway, mildly amusing comment. Now that social media has erupted over the matter I can see why some people would be offended by the joke and maybe it shouldn’t have been said on Twitter where it can very easily be taken out of context, but there is no world in which Colin received the condemnation and verbal crucifixion that followed, especially with some of it coming from former professional colleagues. However, honestly I don’t think any of that matters, I think the larger issue here is the fact that video game journalism has lost one of its most honest and intelligent minds and it is a significant loss that will be felt across the industry.

The other members of Kinda Funny; Greg, Nick and Tim, all possess a great deal of knowledge for very niche parts of the industry. Greg knows almost everything there is to know about Playstation, Tim has a vast wealth of Nintendo knowledge and Nick knows more than most about video production and filmmaking. I would also never try and undermine their journalistic integrity or skills as they are all at the top of their game as prominent voices in the video game industry and they have all been doing it for a fairly long time. However, Colin brought a sense of gravitas to the group that worked in balance to the more goofy and off the cuff comments and it helped to justify Kinda Funny’s position as a major serious video game discussion outlet. I don’t think that Kinda Funny will crumble without Colin, but there is no doubt his presence will be missed on all of the podcasts fans are used to hearing him on.

There is also the issue of whether or not the controversial tweet was the catalyst for Colin’s resignation from the company. Greg and the other guys from Kinda Funny are adamant that the tweet was nothing more than a public signifier that they were drifting apart, but there are folk in forums calling them out as liars with some going as far as to claim that he was fired over the tweet and call them a backstabbing group of friends. On the Kinda Funny morning show, Greg actually condemned Polygon for writing and posting an article that said the tweet was directly to blame for his departure in their headline. While I feel that the Kinda Funny guys are playing down the significance of the volatile tweet in the explanation for Colin’s departure, I don’t believe for a second that the tweet was the only thing to blame. Although, you can read Greg’s statement regarding it below and make up your own mind;

“We’re super sad, we had a long conversation today. The long and short of it is, we’ve been moving in two directions for a long time. There’s no hurt feelings; we’re not mad at him, he’s not mad at us. We’re just going in two completely opposite directions in terms of what we want to do and that’s OK. The tweet and the whole exchange last week, while upsetting, obviously, it is not because of that. That is a symptom, if not the most public expression, that there was something happening in terms of us growing apart."

This whole situation is relatively similar to what happened to Pewdiepie back in February. Felix put up a satirical video that was taken way out of context to portray him as anti-Semitic and as a Nazi sympathizer. If that sounds ridiculous and like a situation that was blown way out of proportion, that’s because it is. What happened with Pewdiepie though was more old media, (the Wall Street Journal,) targeting new media, (Felix,) because they are threatened and are losing internet clicks and revenue. However, both situations involve a very mildly offensive joke being taken far too seriously and handled poorly.

In summary I am just left saddened by this. Not because I am disappointed in Colin, not because I am disappointed in Greg and the other guys and not even because I am a Kinda Funny fan. I am saddened because we had a truly great mind that was focused on giving his opinion on gaming, something that I truly love. Colin was a great writer and I know that he will be hugely successful with whatever he decides to spend his future doing, but I really do hope that he comes back to the video game industry at some point and one shape or form.

Good Luck Colin,

Beyond!

[thewalkhome-blog]

The Night Of - The Morning After The Night Before… - Review Written By Daniel Boyd on 09/1/17

The Night Of stars Riz Ahmed as Naz, a young guy from Manhattan from an Asian family, who makes a series of bad decisions on what was supposed to be a simple night out; leading to his subsequent arrest and trial for the murder of a young girl. While there is no denying that Naz made some bad decisions and it is hard to deny he looks guilty, we are on this guy’s side at the start of the series. Then Jon Turturro comes into the show as Naz’s lawer John Stone. This is Turturro’s best role in years, possibly in his entire career and it serves as a stark reminder how wasted this guy is in the Transformers series and Adam Sandler Movies. Both leads give convincing performances as their respective characters, thrust into a situation that ends up being way out of their depth, they are both fish out of water, on either side of the justice system and we see the adapt or die method used by each of them.

Preacher, Westworld and Stranger Things are widely considered to be the best new TV shows of 2016, but I reckon that The Night Of is probably the most important new show broadcast this year. In the wake of a plethora of horrific, recent terror attacks across the world and following the vote to elect Donald Trump as the president of the most powerful country in the world, (a man who once expressed the desire to ban all Muslims from entering the USA,) this show seems unfortunately more relevant than ever. The show doesn’t shove any explicit propaganda down your throat, but there is no denying the racist undertones present and the social issues that the show presents to us. The writing is also fantastic throughout and this is by far the most painfully realistic show I have seen in the last few years. The show isn’t without its quirks though, but the consistently realistic nature of the writing and the performances are what make this show so immersive. The series also takes the viewer on a journey of discovery, constantly dropping unexpected character twists and new hints towards what really happened on the night referred to in the show’s title. This show throws so many interesting conversation starters into the viewership’s collective mind and constantly keeps you guessing as a spectator to these gruesome events.

This is a show that everyone should try, in a post brexit world where racial tensions are at an extreme high, this show is painfully relevant to people on either side of the argument. The crime itself becomes a background element as we see the biased treatment of a young Muslim man by the system and the assumptions made for and against him. There are so many backdoor deals being made between lawyers and other law officials and really the worst light is thrown on the criminal justice system itself and how broken the whole thing is. By halfway through the series’ 8 episodes, the issue of whether or not Naz actually committed the crime is irrelevant, the most important thing at this point being trying to keep everybody involved with this high profile case happy.

 Although the moral points that this show chooses to pursue are unflinching and extremely well handled, the more technical aspects of the show are also expertly executed. I have already spoke about Riz Ahmed and John Turturro’s stand out performances, but the show’s supporting cast doesn’t contain any weak spots either and features a well rounded variety of races, ages and social classes. Naz’s family are all brilliant as are the other lawyers that make up the case. I have also already spoke about the high quality script present in the show, but I feel that the show’s writing team can’t be praised enough for the consistently high quality script they have produced. The cinematography of the show is also impressive throughout, with each shot perfectly complimenting the tone that the show sets and framing the actor’s performances masterfully. The use of light is also well implemented and adds to each shot composition and the overall aesthetic of the show. As highlighted above the actor’s performances are fantastic, but they are guided very well by the show’s directors. The score is also a nice addition to the tone of the show, as are all of the sound effects and audio used throughout.

Overall, this is the definition of great television and is the example that all other TV shows should aim for. Even if you don’t agree with the moral compasses of the show’s characters, it is objectively impossible to deny the show’s high caliber of technical filmaking. This is without a doubt one of the best shows aired in 2016 and could even be considered as one of the best seasons of a TV show of the last decade. 10/10.

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - What’s Old Is New - Review written by Daniel Boyd on 19/12/16

So our yearly Star Wars movie has arrived and after a complicated production it has released to rave reviews, with some outlets going as far as to compare it in quality to Empire Strikes Back, (which is widely considered to be the superior Star Wars film,) and it has even garnered a fair amount of Oscar buzz. This, along with the fact it’s a Star Wars movie meant that my expectations for this were pretty high going in and after seeing the movie there are parts of the flick that I loved and parts that I didn’t. When I wrote my Force Awakens review last year, I wrote both a spoiler free and a spoiler filled version of the review, but this year I have less time on my hands, so from this point on this will be a spoiler filled review, but the movie has been out for almost a week at the time of writing this, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and are reading my review, well that is your own fault.

           This movie for the most part impressed me. I loved how well it tied into A New Hope and how it actually fixed that movie’s biggest plothole by explaining that the weak point in the Death Star was installed on purpose by Galen Erso while designing the battle station under the Empire’s thumb, so that the Rebels would have a chance to destroy it. I loved how the movie had the balls to kills off the entire crew of the Rogue One team at the end of the movie and that corridor scene at the end with Vader was possibly the best scene I’ve seen in the cinema this year, it’s definitely up there with the airport scene in Civil War. Those are the stand out positives of the movie for me, however there were also a few flaws throughout the film.

           First of all, that Grand Mof Tarkin CGI recreation of Peter Cushing was awful, the whole thing looked like a character from the Star Wars animated series. When he is first introduced it is through a glass reflection on a window he is looking out of and in that part of the scene it was fairly convincing, however he then turns around and the camera moves to a medium close up shot and all of a sudden it feels like watching a video game cutscene. Guy Henry was the actor who did the motion capture for Tarkin and that actor actually looks relatively similar to Peter Cushing, so why they didn’t just apply some makeup to Guy Henry and dye his hair gray to resemble Cushing more and recast the Tarkin role is a mystery to me, it would have also been a lot cheaper than the method that they went with. Either that or he should have only been seen in the reflection of the glass, since that was the only time that the CGI effect actually looked convincing. However, I did think that the CGI recreation of 1970’s Carrie Fischer at the end of the movie was very convincing and if it wasn’t for the movement in her mouth, I wouldn’t have known that was a CGI character. Another flaw I had with the movie was the how rushed and choppy the first act was, the characters were all introduced quickly and vaguely, then it took them ages to actually form up as a team. I get that introducing a whole cast of brand new characters in a short space of time isn’t easy, but Tarantino pulls it off in Hateful 8 and Inglorious Bastards and it works a lot better than it works here.

 In a lot of ways Rogue One is a contrast to Force Awakens. In Force Awakens, the plot was essentially the same as A New Hope and was a fairly by the book, traditional Star Wars story, but the characters were what made that movie, if Poe Dameron, Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Han and Chewie weren’t as well written, that movie would have been mediocre at best. In Rogue One, the characters are pretty shallow and underdeveloped and they are introduced quickly and by the end of the movie none of them have really had a proper character arc. However that is not what this movie is about, this film is about a team of people coming together in order to complete a task to set up the events of the original trilogy and in that sense this movie does what it sets out to do. An example of this is the robot character K2SO, who I thought was going to start off with no humanity, then over the course of the movie realize the value of human life and then sacrifice himself for the greater good at the movie’s climax, but it turns out that the only real reason that he is helping the Rebels, is because he has been programmed to do so. This I feel sums up the level of character development present in the movie and demonstrates that it is not necessary in the film as that isn’t the movie’s purpose. What Force Awakens lacked in an original plot, it made up for in character development and what Rogue One lacks in character development, it makes up for in plot and setup, so both movies have their strengths and their flaws. Bearing in mind that I have only seen Rogue One once so far, I currently prefer Force Awakens to Rogue One, but then I prefer Return of the Jedi to Empire, so maybe that’s just me.

The writing moves the story along at a brisk pace, but it is effective in that you are constantly kept aware of where we are and what is happening at least from the end of the first act onwards. The performances are also suitable to the characters in each role, but I wouldn’t say anyone was incredible, my personal favourite was Cassian, the Alliance’s trigger finger who had shades of Han Solo thrown in as well. While watching Diego Luna’s performance, I actually thought he would be a good pick to play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted movie. The lighting in the film is well used and the CGI is spectacular for the most part other than weird waxwork Peter Cushing. The space battles are breathtaking and the action on the ground is also exciting.

Now, let’s talk about the characters that weren’t part of the Rogue One team. Forest Whittaker and Mads Mikkelson are two of my favourite actors working in Hollywood today and they are both in this movie, but I feel that both could have been used more. When they are onscreen, they are brilliant, it’s just a pity they make up such a small part of the movie. Whittaker appears only to be killed off minutes later and Mikkelson is only in two major scenes outside of a brief hologram appearance and then also gets killed off unceremoniously. The reason that a lot of people will go and see this movie however, will be to see Darth Vader. He isn’t in the movie much, but when he is it is fantastic. All of this reminds me a lot of Edwards’ last movie Godzilla, where Bryan Cranston and the monster were clearly the best parts of that movie, but for some reason were hardly in the thing. It’s as if Edwards has this idea in his head that less is always more and if he doesn’t show what people want to see in the movie for more than a few minutes at a time, then he is being original and artistic. While I understand this way of thinking from an auteur perspective, it’s fucking Star Wars and Godzilla mate, just give the people what they want. It is far less of an issue here however, since the rest of the cast in Rogue One are far more compelling than the rest of the cast in Godzilla.

 Anyway, back to Vader. We first see Vader when Krennic goes to see him in his Imperial Castle in Mustafar, the same location that he was relieved of his limbs and burnt alive in a pool of lava. The way he is introduced is awesome, when Krennic arrives one of Vader’s cloaked minions enters a large room containing an ominous bacta tank, which we see Vader floating in without his suit on. This is the most vulnerable we have ever seen Vader since we saw him getting his suit fitted for the first time in Revenge Of The Sith. The tank empties and we see Vader’s stumps where his arms and legs once were and we see the burnt skin that covers his torso. Then we cut to him in full costume, complete with the classic James Earl Jones voice and force choking Krennic. He then disappears again for most of the movie, until the second to last scene where he is at his most powerful and this could genuinely be my favourite Vader scene of all time, perhaps even beating the infamous, ‘I am your father,’ scene from Empire. Vader in this scene is pure raw anger and power and the way the scene is shot and lit is fucking perfect, the audio and the editing fantastic also. The scene opens with a dark corridor with Rebels scrambling to get the hard drive containing the Death Star plans to the other end of the corridor and onto the ship that Leia is on, so that she can go on to get the plans into R2 in order to kick off A New Hope’s events. At first you wonder why the Rebels are in such a panic then you hear the terrifying breathing from Vader’s suit, but he still isn’t shown. Then the first and only lightsaber in the movie is sparked and it illuminates Vader in all of his terrifying glory before he starts tearing through the Rebels like a monster in a horror movie. This minute long scene is one of the best I’ve seen this year and it alone made the ticket price worth it for me.

Overall, Rogue One was essentially what I thought it would be based on the trailers. I don’t personally understand the overblown critical fanfare that the movie is receiving, but I’m glad that Star Wars fans like it. There are many parts of the movie that could be considered polarizing, such as the lack of Vader scenes, the dodgy Tarkin CGI, the fact that the entire Rogue One squad is killed off at the end of the movie, the absence of an opening crawl and Forest Whittaker’s raspy voice, which admittedly takes a bit of getting used to. Some of these elements I loved and some I hated, but for the most part this is an enjoyable addition to the Star Wars saga, I love how well it ties into and sets up the events of the films following this one and it was an added bonus that they actually resolved some of the original trilogy’s flaws. As I said earlier, I still prefer The Force Awakens to this, but I can see how an argument could be made for this one being a better movie. 8.2/10.

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Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - Or JK Rowling and the Never Ending Quest for More Money - Review written by Daniel Boyd on 21/12/16

           First off, full disclosure, I have never been a fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I’ve read a few of the books and seen a few of the movies and it just isn’t my thing. Honestly, I’m not even a fan of fantasy in general, I think Lord Of The Rings is nonsense and Game Of Thrones is vastly overrated and the last Harry Potter movie I saw was the fourth one. However, I was willing to go into this movie with a clean slate and hopefully have it win me over and unfortunately it didn’t. Also this review will contain spoilers if you care about that sort of thing.

           This film is a prequel to the other Harry Potter movies, this time set in America rather than Britain and telling the story of the events that led to the great wizarding war between Dumbledore and Grindlewald. The film did have potential, to see what would have essentially been WWII fought with magic could be really cool but unfortunately all we get here is setup and that actual event we want to see will probably take place 4 or 5 movies down the line. The film opens with Eddie Redmayne’s character, Newt Scamander going to New York from London to set free one of the beasts that he keeps inside his Tardis-like brief case. Then he ends up in a bank and meets a ‘Nomaj,’ which is this film’s lazy version of a ‘muggle,’ who we learn is a simple lonely guy that just wants to open his own bakery and that’s another character cliché ticked off the list. We now have the double act of the nerdy, sniveling protagonist and the overweight sympathetic sidekick. Also, for the rest of this review I will be referring to the baker character as fat bloke and this isn’t to be derogatory, but is purely because the script relies on the, ‘fat, jolly, sympathetic, pathetic loner’ stereotype and passes it off as a character arc. If the script isn’t treating the character with any respect, then why should I? So fat bloke it is then.

So the two of them of course have the exact same briefcase and after some cartoony looking CGI animals escape from Redmayne’s case in the bank the suitcases predictably get mixed up and then the fat bloke gets his bakery loan declined and returns home with Redmayne’s suitcase, then more bad CGI animals open the case and attack the fat bloke. Redmayne’s character then gets arrested by some wizarding inspector for letting the, ‘Nomaj,’ (urgh) get away after seeing the animals in the case and is taken to the New York Wizards base, I guess? Then it’s revealed that the wizarding inspector that arrested Redmayne is a bit of a shit inspector and she is trying to redeem herself in the eyes of her superiors, so in front of this high wizard council, she confiscates the case from Redmayne and opens it only to reveal a bunch of cakes inside. Yes, really… Who writes this shit? Rowling is doing to Harry Potter what Lucas did to Star Wars during the prequels at this point.

So Redmayne gets set free and he goes to fat bloke’s house to find him lying on the floor, then some more bad CGI later the inspector turns up and they take him back to her house to meet her sister? Friend? Does it matter? She ends up becoming the love interest for fat bloke. Then for no apparent reason Redmayne and fat bloke enter the case and he shows fat bloke all this crazy shit that apparently humans aren’t supposed to see and then Redmayne does some more sniveling and decides they have to sneak out of the girls’ apartment and recapture the animals that escaped in the bank and from fat bloke’s apartment. They get a couple of the beasts back then they go to central park to find Redmayne’s horny rhino and they dress fat bloke up in a leather rhino costume and use him as rape bait then they ice skate for a bit and capture the rhino. Again, really… I am not making this shit up for satirical reasons.

Then we see a real life prick Ezra Miller playing some sort of weird emo child who is beat by his mother and we see he is working with Colin Farrell to find a big bad dark spirit that is killing people around New York. Colin Farrell is definitely the best thing about the film at this point. After this a bunch of other stupid shit happens, like Ron Perlman and John Voight coming into the movie, showing a ray of potential then being totally wasted. The movie drags in the middle, but eventually after some more fat jokes, bad CGI and sniveling, all of the creatures are captured and Ezra Miller turns into a black death cloud or some such nonsense. Then he is boosting around New York, fucking up shit as he goes and so Redmayne and Farrell follow him down to the subway to stop him. Redmayne seems to be talking him down and then Farrell shows up and essentially tells him to join the dark side. Then there is a CGI wand battle and the council from earlier show up out of nowhere and kill the black cloud of death. Then Colin Farrell gets pissed off and in the best scene in the movie murders half of the council members before he gets arrested by Eddie Redmayne with some magic handcuffs.

Then the worst part in the movie takes place. It is revealed that Colin Farrell is actually Johnny Depp in disguise. I mean he is Grindlewald in disguise but the important part for me is the replacement of Colin Farrell with Johnny Depp. Now I’m not the world’s biggest Colin Farrell fan, he is great in, ‘In Bruges,’ but other than that he is pretty meh, but he was definitely the best thing that this movie had going for it and they fucking swapped him out! With fucking Johnny-‘ooh’-Depp. As if this movie wasn’t shit enough they swapped out the best thing about it for Johnny Depp, the biggest joke in Hollywood. I’m done, fuck this movie, fuck Johnny Depp, fuck JK Rowling, fuck Harry Potter, I’m out.

Okay, let’s briefly talk about the technical side of the film before I score this thing. The whole cast of this movie is phoning it in, so the acting is fine but nothing to write home about, Farrell is the best thing in this movie, but I feel that in the sequels it will just be an ‘ooh,’ off between Depp and Redmayne. The direction is okay as the movie plods along sufficiently, but the writing is wildly inconsistent and the plot as stated above is all over the place. The lighting and cinematography in one scene are fantastic, when Farrell and Miller are conversing in a dark alleyway but other than that they are pretty mundane too. The score is suitably Harry Potter like and the CGI is also to a similar standard of the Harry Potter films. The problem with that is that the CGI was ropey and of a fairly poor standard in the Harry Potter movies 10 years ago and it doesn’t seem like it has improved much since then. This movie isn’t for me, but even from an objective standpoint, based solely from a moviemaking perspective this movie is poor. 2/10 and I’m being generous because it’s Christmastime.

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Fallout 4 Spoiler Review - Is That It? - Daniel Boyd

So, when I wrote my non-spoiler review of Fallout 4, I had completed the main quest up to the point where you essentially choose your ending. You have the choice of 4 endings, one with the Brotherhood, one with the Railroad, one with the Institute and one with the Minutemen. Spoilers, they all suck. Every ending besides the Institute ending end with you dropping a bunch of nukes on the wasteland and wiping out the Institute. And then you get a generic cut scene and your companion says something to you, usually praising you if you destroy the institute and condemning you if you choose to side with them. And that’s it, so there really isn’t that much to talk about in terms of the actual of the narrative in the game, so let’s talk about the 4 factions instead. Personally, the only faction that I could even consider sympathising with were the Minutemen. The Brotherhood are okay, but I hate the whole manly bro thing that they have going on and their leader, Elder Maxon is a total douche. I hate the Railroad, Desmonda is a stubborn old bat, and Tinker Tom is on the same level of annoyance as Jar Jar Binks and shooting them up when you side with one of the other factions, was one of my favourite parts of the game. Lastly, the Institute are another bunch of freaks, the first time that ‘Father,’ the leader of the Institute told me that he was actually my grown up son Shaun, I quicksaved and murdered everybody in the glorified vault. They are basically post apocalyptic snobby conservatives, that seem to think that they are above everybody else and that just adds to the amount of hate that I have for them. So given all of that, I chose to go with the Minutemen ending as my canon ending, only playing the other ones in order to get that sweet platinum trophy. Great game, rubbish climax.

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The Amazing Spiderman 2 Review - By Daniel Boyd - Can He Swing From A Web? Yeah, But That’s About All He Can Do…

You may be thinking Dan, why the hell are you reviewing a low rated movie tie in game that came out two years ago? Well, I would say, that is a very valid question. I am reviewing this game because I actually believe it is one of the most relevant games I’ve played so far this year in terms of the wider gaming landscape, so yeah you have me rumbled, this won’t be so much a review of The Amazing Spiderman 2 for PS4 as it will be a commentary on bad games in general and their place in the modern gaming landscape.

I had just come off of finally getting around to playing Until Dawn at the start of January. A well made, well written, well acted, well executed teen horror story that had atmosphere and intrigue in spades. I then went on to play a game that I thought was mediocre by comparison, DMC Definitive Edition. When playing through the story I was so underwhelmed and disappointed in what they had turned this once great franchise into, an angsty, melodramatic, arcade slash ‘em up with as much depth as the shallow end of the kiddies swimming pool. I thought what a waste of cash and time. What a piece of garbage. Oh how naive I was, I had no idea how much worse it could get. After beating DMC and the attached story DLC that came with the Definitive Edition, I popped out the game and slid in The Amazing Spiderman 2. The first thing that I noticed was that the game graphically is at the same level if not worse than the first Amazing Spiderman game on PS3, but I thought hey, games with under par graphics can still be fun, UI’s and poly counts aren’t everything so I began working my way through the main story. Let’s start with the only positive that this game has going for it, the web slinging. Traversal feels and looks great in the game, zipping around NYC is a treat and when everything works correctly, you can pull off some truly spectacular acrobatics while shooting around in mid air. The shoulder buttons on the controller are matched to Spidey’s arms, left trigger for left swing, right trigger for right swing, and unlike the last game, in this one the web shooters have to be aimed at a building in order to perform a successful swing. The important phrase here, is ‘when it works.' There were several times when I would be right next to a building and press the trigger to swing, only to hear Spidey say, ‘Hey, this just in, web slingers need something to stick to.’ No shit Spidey, that’s why I’m pressing the trigger on the side where the huge fucking skyscraper is. Also, there would be times when I had a decent amount of momentum going, swing left, right, left, right consecutively and as I pressed the left trigger again to attach to the building on my left, for some odd reason, Spidey would fire his right hand web shooter, attaching to a distant building on the right, turning me away from the direction I was swinging and totally ruining my momentum, this was particularly frustrating during boss fights and chase sequences or when swinging against the clock. Overall though traversal is fun, okay now that the positive is out of the way, let’s rip this thing apart. Animations are stiff, glitches are common and every cutscene in the game ends abruptly with an awkward animation that resembles the look of a news anchor when they run out of words to read off the teleprompter, but the camera is still rolling. Why they decided to add a dialogue system, I have no idea, it is so unnecessary and out of place and has absolutely no effect on the outcome of the game’s narrative, it’s simply there for the sake of having a dialogue option. The plot is fairly standard, but is bearable for the first two thirds of the game, however the point that the publishers told the development team to get a move on and meet the deadline to coincide with the release of the movie becomes instantly clear. The last 5 or so chapters in the game are so rushed it’s like going through a checklist. The first bossfight in the last third of the game is pretty mundane, but at least there is an attempt at a build up to it. However after that fight you are teleported to the top of a skyscraper to battle Electro in a boss fight with the least build up ever. So you do that and then you are corrected, this next boss fight with the Green Goblin is the least build up to a boss fight ever. You don’t see the transformation of either Electro or the Goblin and honestly, if I hadn’t seen the movie that goes with this game, I would not have had a clue about what was going on. Then it’s as if the game remembers that they made a half arsed attempt at introducing Carnage away back at the beginning of the story and so they throw in another out of the blue boss fight to end the game. Wow, this lack of story build up and context wouldn’t have been acceptable in a PS1 game, it certainly isn’t acceptable here. Also the game again (just like the first one,) tries to copy the Arkham games in terms of the stealth and combat systems and miserably fails.

In my opinion, games like this; lazy, half arsed cash grabs, just aren’t acceptable in today’s modern landscape of video games. I though DMC was a slog, but after playing this piece of dogshit, DMC is game of the year material. So please, please stop. Until you have a dedicated team who genuinely want to make a good game for fans of a franchise, don’t bother. Signed by everyone.

2/10

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Wolfenstein: The Old Blood -  An Oldie but a Goodie - By Daniel Boyd

This game is the story DLC to the fantastic Wolfenstein: The New Order and it too is developed by Machine Games. It runs on the same engine as the New Order and carries over most of the same gameplay mechanics and like the New Order it too is a lot of fun. The graphics aren’t great here, some close up textures look more like they belong in the PS3 generation to be honest, but fun gameplay is what matters in the Wolfenstein games and this one has it in spades. The characters are interesting and well acted, the iconic Castle Wolfenstein environment is awesome to see fully realised in HD and the loot and weapons systems are well implemented throughout the game’s short runtime. Although you can play through this experience in a short time I do feel that you get your money’s worth here. Due to the impressive presentation and detail of major set pieces etc I feel that if the game was a little longer it could have been sold as a fully fledged new entry to the series. There were several times where the game slowed to a crawl though and took me hours to get through the one stage. Obviously this game has been designed as a homage to older games and is styled in that way and for the most part it is an awesome blast from the past, however it also carries across some of the negative traits for older games like monster closets and placing the player into a confined area with no obvious way forward, causing a frustrating amount of time to be spent backtracking and desperately trying to find progress and the way forward to the next stage of the game. This was also the worst part of The New Order and it really is detrimental to the flow of the game. The writing is quite good for what it is and the ‘nightmare’ sections of the game that allow you to explore the original castle of Wolfenstein 3D are awesome. Overall this is a really fun romp, if you like The New Order and want more then this is for you the weapons are awesome and blowing away Nazis never gets old, whether they are zombies or not. 7/10

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Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years Review - Four Lads Who Shook The World - By Daniel Boyd

Last night the Ron Howard directed Beatles documentary, Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years, premiered in London. As much as I would have loved to attend the premier, I have just started a new year at university and couldn’t afford to go both financially and educationally. Therefore I had to settle for going to see it in my local cinema, but it was still an awesome experience. From six o’clock, the cinema streamed the premier in London, hosted by John Bishop and Edith Bowman and featuring interviews from Ron Howard, Paul and Ringo. Then the cinema auctioned off a poster for the film for charity, (which went for £100 if you are curious,) then finally the film started. It is a fantastic insight into what went on during the years of Beatlemania while the Beatles were on tour and what they were like as people in those more innocent days. The music is of course fantastic, but even for someone who isn’t a massive Beatles fan I think that this documentary is still relevant and tells of an important piece of recent history in an exciting, stylish way. There are some gripes I have with the movie though, the first one being a case of some revisionist history. The only talk about the group taking any form of drugs was a blink and you’ll miss it mention of them smoking dope on the set of Help, there was no mention of them smoking a joint in the toilets in Buckingham Palace while waiting to receive their MBE’s, there was also no mention of the fact that John returned his MBE and they didn’t even mention the amount of acid they took whilst in India and in the later days. Also, all of John’s more offensive behaviour has been vastly censored and toned down. There is footage of the Beatles first American concert at the Coliseum in Washington D.C, where Paul introduces the band and asks the audience to ‘clap their hands and stomp their feet,’ as Paul is saying this John appears to be impersonating a handicapped person doing exaggerated clapping and stomping movements, which is something he did repeatedly during their first American tour, but in the film they cut away to the audience during this to avoid showing John being offensive. We also never see the footage from their Royal Variety performance, when John told the people in the poor seats to clap their hands and the rich people, including the Royal family, to just rattle their jewellery. I don’t know why they are trying to make John look like an innocent saint when he was never like that, he was always rebellious and cheeky and was never afraid to say what was on his mind. The second gripe I have is more of a personal one in that us hardcore Beatles fans were promised a story that had never been told and while there was some footage that I hadn’t seen before, I wasn’t exactly mind blown by the story that the footage told as there was very little in the film that I didn’t already know about. However despite these minor gripes the movie is fantastic, an immense story told by a master filmmaker about the greatest band in history, what’s not to love? 9/10

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Sausage Party Review - Comfort Food - By Daniel Boyd

Sausage Party is released in the UK tonight, but I saw it last Monday on a preview screening. Based on the trailer I had high expectations going in, but really this movie is exactly what you expect it to be. The humour ticks all of the boxes that you would expect it to, casual racism, crass sex jokes, low brow sexism and drug induced illusions, the only difference that these feature in this movie to all of Seth Rogen’s other movies is that they are animated in this instance. If you switch off your brain and all you are looking for is a silly comedy then there is a good time to be had here and I did enjoy my time with this movie, but I can’t help but feel that there was also a lot of wasted potential here. I expected to have sore sides from laughing during this film and I only laughed out loud twice in the cinema and to be honest any less than three belly laughs during a Seth Rogen movie is underwhelming for me. Maybe I am being harsh, plus I was quite ill when I saw the movie so maybe if I went back and watched it again while feeling better I would have a better time. Like I said up top, if all you need is a quick fix of immature, shameless humour then you will enjoy this movie for what it is, but there could have been more done with this project and I’m a little bit let down that it couldn’t live up to its full potential. 7/10

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War Dogs Review - Fresher Than A Hangover - By Daniel Boyd

I saw War Dogs a week ago today and it really impressed me. The film is directed by Todd Phillips and stars Jonah Hill and Miles Teller as two young friends that end up selling arms to the military and making millions from it. The craziest thing about this story is that it is based on two real life young men that made a fortune online becoming international arms dealers. Going in I expected a film similar to The Hangover, since it too was directed by Todd Phillips and both movies feature Bradley Cooper, however what I got was more of a Scorsese homage and in the best possible way. The story is narrated by Miles Teller’s character David Packouz, who acts as the audience surrogate, (the Henry Hill of this movie,) we are taken on this ride from his perspective and he narrates the whole thing. This alone is a trait borrowed from the great Martin Scorsese, but when the film also features freeze framing and quotes being used to begin chapters it is clear what this film is trying to be, but I admire its blatancy and if there is someone that you should take from when crafting a film, it is Martin Scorsese. Efraim Diveroli is played by Jonah Hill and he is the character that takes us on this rollercoaster journey. His performance here is fantastically intolerable, he is harsh, rude and borderline insane, but much like Joe Pesci’s performance as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas, he is endearing and impossible to take your eyes off of whenever he is onscreen. Bradley Cooper also steals the few scenes that he appears in and overall this movie is proof that Phillips can handle telling a more serious, realistic story and doesn’t have to rely on Zach Galifinakis pretending to have learning difficulties to gain a few laughs. 7.8/10

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Quickie Reviews

So I saw a bunch of movies over the summer that, at the time I couldn’t be bothered writing individual reviews for, so instead of trying to recall the events of each film and force my way through an unenthusiastic review, I thought it would be better to do a series of quickie reviews and just write a paragraph on each movie with a score at the end.

 The Legend Of Tarzan Review

 What an exciting movie to start on. That was total sarcasm by the way, I fell asleep watching this, in the cinema, which is something that I never do. Don’t bother with this one, the performances are lazy, Margot Robbie is a rubbish Jane, Alexander Skarrsgard looks great as Tarzan until he opens his mouth and Sam Jackson and Cristoph Waltz just play the parts that you would expect them to play. The movie hits all the beats you would expect it to and although I only saw the beginning and end of the movie, that was plenty. Totally unremarkable and forgettable, 2/10.

 The Secret Life Of Pets Review

 The only other kind of movie that I have ever fell asleep watching in the cinema, is a kid’s movie, but there is no chance of you falling asleep during this one. Funny, witty and a lot of fun. The animation is fantastic, the voice acting is on point and if you are a pet owner the whole thing becomes more relatable and even funnier. This is how to make a great kids film, it doesn’t just totally appeal to the kids and ignore the adults watching, but it is also totally family friendly and the characters are all well written, well voiced and they all bounce off of each other very well to make probably the best kids movie I’ve seen this year. 8/10.

 Now You See Me 2 Review

 There are some questionable creative decisions in this movie and it is extremely cheesy at times, but if you liked the first one then this is more of the same. It isn’t a bad movie and all of the cast do a fine job, Lizzie Caplan is probably the stand out performance here, every time she is on screen she is full of energy and highly entertaining. The special effects are good and although it is a fairly silly plot, it works for what it is. The same goes for the movie, if you take it for what it is, (a corny, fun, popcorn flick,) then you will have a good time with this one, just don’t go in expecting Oscar material. 6/10

 The Nice Guys Review

 The Nice Guys is directed by Shane Black and stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as two very different kinds of private investigators. The movie is great and has Shane Black’s fingerprints all over it. It is especially reminiscent of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the Lethal Weapon movies. Typical flawless hero Ryan Gosling is cast here perfectly as a burnt out alcoholic wimp of a man, his comedic timing is perfect and seeing that in tandem with Russell Crowe’s no nonsense hard man act makes for fantastic chemistry and comedy gold. The plot is kind of all over the place, but a tight, cleverly written script holds the whole thing together. 8/10

Money Monster Review

 This one was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I think that it is a very impressive directorial debut from Jodie Foster. The movie stars two of the best actors in the industry, Julia Roberts and George Clooney. The two of them have a believable and amusing chemistry and the other players in the story also work together to achieve what is a thrilling if somewhat predictable time. The movie is well directed, but the script could definitely be a bit tighter and could also perhaps hide the twists in a more subtle way, but there is a sense of tension throughout the movie and there is definitely some fun to be had, just don’t expect anything more than a fairly shallow but still exciting film. 6.8/10

 Star Trek: Beyond Review

I have no idea why this movie opened to mixed reviews, as it is actually my favourite of the three reboot Star Trek Movies. All of the characters are great, the chemistry that is seen between the cast members due to the circumstances of the plot is fun and well written, the movie is exciting and very well directed by Justin Lin. The stakes are high and the villain is complex and a truly frightening threat. The special effects are beautiful, the tone and the soundtrack are refreshing and the script is well written. I came out of this one having enjoyed it way more than I thought I would going in. Also, it is full of Easter eggs and call backs for long time Trekkies, while also being easily accessible to anyone that isn’t familiar with the franchise. 9/10

  Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates Review

 Much like another Zac Effron movie from this year, (Bad Neighbours 2,) this film was much better than anyone expected it to be. It is a lot of fun, the prefect example of a movie that you can watch with your brain switched off and still really enjoy it for what it is. The humour is crass and immature, but it is so well delivered by the cast members that you cannot help but find the dialogue throughout the movie hilarious. Effron has came a long way since his first comedic outing, the first Bad Neighbours movie, in this film his comedic timing and delivery is so consistently spot on and hilarious and doesn’t feel forced. The whole cast look as if they are having a great time throughout and honestly that just makes the movie even more enjoyable. 8.5/10

 Suicide Squad Review

 We will end this series of short reviews on one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. I went into this film with extremely low expectations, but I actually came out having enjoyed it more than Batman v Superman and I enjoyed it for what it was. Without a doubt though the worst part of the movie was the depiction of Joker and Harley and their relationship. Harley was simply there to be eye candy and deliver unfunny, cringey one liners and Joker was included for the sole reason of getting arses in seats, he is barely in the movie and when he is he brings nothing to it. You could honestly have cut his scenes out of the movie entirely and it would be almost the same film and the events would have unfolded just the same way. However the rest of the team are entertaining and work well together as an ensemble, the villains aren’t great but if you take this movie for what it is, it is quite enjoyable and certainly better than BVS. 6.8/10

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Hardcore Henry Review - An Original Thrill - By Daniel Boyd

The trailers for this movie had me intrigued from the get go, then the reviews were released and they just made me want to see this movie even more, so going in my hype level was pretty high and Hardcore Henry still managed to exceed my expectations. I mean, its not going to win any Oscars, but if you are looking for a non stop over the top action thrill ride, then wade right in. There is no holds barred here, this is proper action done in a unique way. The method of shooting isn’t perfect, it uses a great deal of shaky cam, so much so that it ends up obscuring some of the fast paced fight scenes and stunt choreography, which is a shame as the stunts are really spectacular and they only ramp up as the movie progresses. I loved Sharlto Copley in District 9, but he hasn’t wowed me since then, until I saw his performance in this movie. This performance really shows how diverse he is and there is a certain musical number involving him that is definitely one of the highlights of the movie, but I won’t spoil it here. In fact I can’t really say anything about his character without spoiling him other than his name is Jimmy and he is awesome.

           The villain in this movie is ripped straight out of a cheesy video game, but he is kind of so bad that he’s good. He looks like the Targaryan brother from Game Of Thrones, he sounds like someone doing a bad John Malkovich impression and he has telekinesis powers to boot. His powers are never explained, but he is basically a jedi without a lightsabre from an 80’s electronic music video. Actually, comparing this movie to a video game is probably the most accurate way to describe it. Think a modern sci fi game that plays like classic Doom and you aren’t far off, which in my opinion is one of the most epic concepts ever conceived. However the concept is only the starting blocks of a project like this one, the execution has to be great as well to stop the movie from only ever being remembered as a throwaway neat idea. Thankfully the execution is effective here both figuratively and literally. This is one of they movies where you feel like a kid again while you watch it and it is glorious to experience from start to finish. The special effects are actually pretty good for what is presumably a pretty low budget film, over the top and fantastically ridiculous, but they add to the madness of the piece and they are a feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is pretty spot on too, it perfectly melds with the insane, fast paced, badass tone that the filmmakers were aiming for and helps to keep that high octane feel going for the duration of the flick.

           Hardcore Henry is not a perfect movie by any stretch, but for what it is it delivers in a big way. It is highly entertaining and whether you enjoy this style of movie or not, it is hard to take your eyes off of the screen for the hour and a half that it is on for, this movie is going to grip you and take you for a high stakes mental ride whether you like it or not. If you are into over the top action and ridiculous stunts and set pieces, then I could not recommend this movie more. 8.8/10.