By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

This piece marks the first time I’m going out of my way to soften my words a bit. That’s not to say I’m regularly in the habit of offending people, or being “edgy.” But as far as Star Wars fanboys are concerned, this topic tends to be a bit heated at times. And as I’ve learned in the past, passionate fans can occasionally turn into rabid ones. *sigh* Okay, here we go…

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace returns to theaters this month, this time in 3D. Because even though George Lucas is tired of being ridiculed about the quality of his newer films, he certainly isn’t opposed to making additional money off them. I’m interested to see how much the movie pulls in during it’s stay, as The Phantom Menace was unquestionably the least well received of the Star Wars films. Even Lucas himself has talked about that.

It’s been well documented that the majority of die-hard Star Wars fans harbor negative feelings toward Menace that range from simple dislike to pure loathing. Hell, there’ve been entire films dedicated to just how bad people think this movie is. Red Letter Media did a video review of the film that’s nearly as  long as the movie itself. Yeesh…

By now, you’ve likely heard the common complaints: 1. Jar Jar Binks is an annoying cartoon character placed in the movie solely to appeal to kids. 2. Jake Lloyd’s acting is as bad as it is cheesy. 3. Darth Maul is the coolest character in the movie, but doesn’t get enough screen time. 4. The Force should be a spiritual gift, as opposed to biological one, which we learn about in this movie. And those are just a few.

But here’s the thing, and this is where it might get messy…I really don’t have much of a problem with The Phantom Menace. In terms of it’s execution, I think a lot of the dialogue (specifically the lines coming from Anakin and Jar Jar) is corny. But for my money it’s not half as bad as some of the stuff we got in Attack of the Clones, and especially Revenge of the Sith.

It took me years to break out of my state of denial about the prequels, and the fact that they are indeed of questionable quality. For the longest time I had this blind loyalty to George Lucas and the Star Wars universe because of how much the original films meant to me. But enough time has passed and I’ve grown up enough that I can finally be honest with myself about this. Not bitter or cynical, as a lot of fans are, but honest. And this is my honest opinion of The Phantom Menace.

1. A Kid’s Movie
Many moviegoers, perhaps understandably, questioned why we even needed to see Darth Vader as a young child. I remember when Attack of the Clones came out, some fans were saying that movie should have been Episode I, so that Lucas and his cohorts could have more time to explore Anakin’s turn to the dark side, the Clone Wars, etc. Menace takes place about 32 years before the events of the original film. Did we really need to go back that far? In the past, George Lucas has said things to the effect of: “The story simply is what it is.” Well, not necessarily. You wrote the story, you can change the story. Lucas certainly knows a thing or two about changing his creations…

Hindsight is always 20/20, of course. But if the story you’re going to go with is that at 8-years-old, this slave boy was discovered by warriors, taken from his mother and thrust into this intergalactic conflict, thus beginning his descent into darkness, it makes sense for us to actually see that separation. That way, we’re sitting next to Anakin during his entire journey, as opposed to entering in the middle. By doing that, we’re seeing that Anakin wasn’t born as this unstable individual on the path to bloody murder. At one point, he was a good person. That’s important to establish.

How well our look into Anakin’s childhood was executed? That’s another story. It wasn’t perfect. Anakin’s big “yipee!” after discovering that he’s leaving this barren desert world of child labor and slavery is a bit…awkward. Some fans also had a problem with the fact that he got in the starfighter and blew up the big ship at the end. That never bothered me, personally. We had established that this kid had Jedi talents, and he was already a skilled pilot. Plus, he didn’t even blow the ship up intentionally! His ship was shot down, and he ended up crashing INSIDE the damn thing. Far fetched? Maybe. But it’s a movie. Give it a break.

I would also take issue with people who’ve said Lloyd was a bad actor. He wasn’t Haley Joel Osment, but he wasn’t supposed to be. This 8 or 9-year-old kid was saying the lines that had been written for him, and doing the things he was directed to do. Who wrote those lines? Who was sitting in the director’s chair? George Lucas. When the buck stops with you, as it does with Lucas on almost all things Star Wars, inevitably so does all the criticism. If I’m not mistaken, The Phantom Menace was the first movie Lucas had done the actual screenplay for since Return of the Jedi in ’80s (and even then he had help from Lawrence Kasdan), and the first film he’d directed since the ORIGINAL Star Wars film in the ’70s! If I had to pick one factor to point to as the major cause of the prequels being inferior to the original films, it would be Lucas hogging both the pen and the director’s chair. For whatever reason, it worked in A New Hope, but the prequels suffered for it. So if you want to gripe about Jake Lloyd’s scenes in this movie, which really aren’t that bad to begin with, gripe about the man in the flannel shirt sitting in the director’s chair.

2. “Meesa Called Jar Jar Binks”
Even as a kid, I remember being amazed at how much grief this film got over Jar Jar Binks. Is he a bit over the top sometimes? Absolutely. When he does the big dive into the water during the first half of the movie? Too much. Also too far: When he shouts at Qui-Gon about “When’a yousa thinkin’ weesa in trouble?” But I never thought he was even remotely as annoying as other people thought he was. Maybe it’s the fact that I was fairly young when I saw this movie. Maybe I was just more tolerant of this kind of thing. Either way, I was mostly fine with the character.

The common thread running through the majority of the complaints is that he was too clowny and too childish. I can understand that complaint. The original films managed to get their humor across without having characters that were in the film specifically for that reason. And I suppose on some level Jar Jar’s humor feels a bit forced. At the very least, Jar Jar was something never seen before in a Star Wars film.

In defending his use of Jar Jar, Lucas at one point told BBC News: ”There is a group of fans for the films that doesn’t like comic sidekicks. They want the films to be tough like Terminator, and they get very upset and opinionated about anything that has anything to do with being childlike. The movies are for children but they don’t want to admit that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and C-3PO. In the second film they didn’t like Yoda and in the third one they hated the Ewoks… and now Jar Jar is getting accused of the same thing.”

I can’t say for sure whether the droids and Yoda actually felt a backlash. The Ewoks definitely had one. But none of them even felt a portion of the wrath that Jar Jar has felt. The main thing I can say in defense of this character is that I saw this movie in the theater three times. Each time, the kids loved Jar Jar. For that young demographic, he was one of the best parts of the movie. I suppose what I would say to avid Jar Jar haters is to remember when you first fell in love with Star Wars. For most fans, it was when they were children. So, think about how your younger self have reacted to this character, and be honest…

Heesa not great, but heesa not so bad.

3. Jedi, Sith and Lip-Syncing
I’ve always enjoyed Liam Neeson’s presence in this movie. He always plays mentor characters rather well, and as we’ve learned in the last few years with movies like Taken and The Grey, he makes a great bad ass. In The Phantom Menace we get both.

Darth Maul obviously played a huge role in the marketing of this movie, which to an extent was not a good thing, as he gets considerably less screen time than you’d expect for a character advertised so heavily. Still, he’s become one of the most recognizable characters in the entire series, and most fans agree that the fight between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul is great.

One thing I’ve always complained about is that the lip syncing for Nute Gunray and Rune Haako sucks. If I could change anything in this movie in terms of the special effects, it would be that. Thankfully we don’t see them enough for it to be a hugely memorable problem.

Also, during the scene near the beginning of the movie where the Jedi are being shot at by the destroyer droids, there’s a brief moment where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do a Force-induced dash away from the blaster fire. But when they do it we only see them from a distance, and initially I actually wondered if it was an editing error. I’d have clarified that moment a bit.

Will I see The Phantom Menace in 3D? Probably not, but that’s not because I have anything against the movie. It’s because I think, as Roger Ebert once said, “It’s a waste of a dimension” and “it adds nothing to the experience.” But George can always hear that money train coming, and when it comes to Star Wars, it’s never too late to jump on. In all honesty, I hope it does well. It may be a marketing slogan, but there’s really nothing like seeing Star Wars on the big screen.

Front page image from insideturnedout.blogspot.com. Image 1 from pariscine.com. Image 2 from starcasm.com. Image 3 from screened.com. Image 4 from hiphopjedi.blogspot.com. Image 5 from petergett.com. Image 6 from joblo.com. 

TITLE: Chronicle
STARRING: Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell
DIRECTOR: Josh Trank
STUDIO: Davis Entertainment, Adam Schroeder Productions
RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 84 min
RELEASED: February 2, 2012

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The time when Hollywood, in all of their infinite wisdom, decides that it isn’t worth competing with the Super Bowl, so they give us a half-baked superhero movie that stars teenagers and usually has some sort of secret government plot.

In years past we have been the unfortunate benefactors of Jumper, Push, I Am Number Four and now this. We did miss a year, but they kind of made up for it with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It’s not quite the same, as I tend to relate Percy Jackson to Harry Potter more than random dudes with random super powers being chased by a random made up shadow organization.

So now they give us Chronicle. A movie which looks to try and break the mold by going the route of found footage movies like Cloverfield, or any number of recent horror films. While I enjoyed the other movies, I was not looking forward to this one. Found footage films have too much screaming and panicky filled nonsense. The previews looked like that was exactly what I was about to get, but with superpowers.

I could not have been more wrong. The found footage was woven into the story in a way that made sense, and it was pulled off quite well. Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is the awkward high schooler with no friends. He has a cousin Matt (Alex Russell), and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), who appears later. Cursed with a crappy home life, he decides to start recording everything as his outlet. While this seems like just a lazy excuse to get the camera into the hands of someone to accomplish this style of filmmaking, it didn’t feel forced at all. They didn’t always show the audience important or exciting things, like just him having lunch alone or just sitting at home editing videos. This let us get to know Andrew and get inside his world.

This also allowed for a nice story about high schoolers growing closer as their telekinetic powers manifest. We get to see them learn to fly, and use their ability to move objects. It is all of the little things that endear this trio of friends to us. But invariably things must go south so we can get to the final battle sequence where buses are flying into people. You would think that this would look utterly ridiculous, but it looks pretty damn good. When you think about all of the millions of dollars that movie like The Matrix spent and couldn’t give a good final confrontation, you just have to wonder what is wrong with Hollywood. This is a low-ish budget movie and it gives us the type of fight we wish The Matrix could have had. While providing a solid story and good characters, and Chronicle doesn’t feel the need to stretch the movie out unnecessarily to hit some arbitrary run time.

One of the things I had wondered about from the trailer was how they could keep the final confrontation in the same style as the rest of the movie ,with crazy battles happening high in the sky. But they pulled it off and it gave the audience some pretty cool and unique shots. One is from the camera mounted on a police car as it is racing towards the fight, only to get flipped over during the brawl. The found footage style lent itself to the action in a great way while still being able to show enough closeups of everything that is happening.

Overall, Chronicle is a great movie and a great superhero origin story. I have not been this impressed or elated with an original superhero story since Unbreakable. The originality and creativity is more of what movies need and this proves you do not need a big budget to pull it off.

RATING: 9/10

All images from rottentomatoes.com. 

TITLE: Catwoman, Vol. 1
AUTHORS: Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker
PENCILLERS: Darwyn Cooke, Brad Rader, Cameron Stewart
COLLECTS: Excerpts from Detective Comics #759-762, Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score, Catwoman #1-9
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $29.99
RELEASED: January 25, 2012

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Wow. I’d forgotten how much I miss this era of Catwoman. Containing content from 2001 and 2002, this book captures the beginning of a creative high in the character’s history, shortly after she lost the purple costume with the tail, and about a decade before she and Batman bumped uglies in-costume in a public place. Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke cast Selina Kyle as a woman trying to rediscover her purpose, serving as a valiant yet at times uncertain defender of the defenseless in Gotham City’s east end. It’s done with a delicious street-level noir flavor that, when you read it, you start to pine for it in the New 52 Bat-books.

Set several months after Selina is believed to have been killed in an explosion, she goes broke after a job turns into a dead end. She heads home to Gotham, and catches wind of a $24 million money train heading into Canada to pick up some heroin. She plans an intricate heist with help from Stark, a grizzled face from her past. Meanwhile, the mayor of Gotham City tasks private eye Slam Bradley with tracking down Selina Kyle. Bradley’s not as young as he used to be, but he’s honest to a fault and determined to find answers no matter whose feathers he ruffles, including Batman’s. Later, Catwoman takes on a prostitute killer and dirty cops as she returns to her roots on the east end, with help from her younger sister Holly, and her new therapist Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

Ah, the sins of a young comic book reader. This 2001/2002 period was about the time I started seriously getting into the medium. As such, I didn’t necessarily have a good sense of what I had in my hands with these books back then. Now, I really want to be ashamed of myself for not knowing. Cooke’s art, which has been described as a blending of artists like Jack Kirby, Bruce Timm and Alex Toth, isn’t what would normally come to mind when you think of Catwoman, the places she inhabits, or the things she does. But my God, does it work. I’ve always said that Selina Kyle should have an inherent sense of sophistication, maturity, and even class about her. Selina is not an older woman, but she’s been hardened by her life as an orphan-turned-prostitute-turned-vigilante. She can’t just be a hot chick in a catsuit. Catwoman has to have a certain aura about her. Cooke’s art, which is in some ways a throwback to a more dynamic mid-20th century style, mixed in with some explosive action sequences (see Catwoman’s fight with the revealed prostitute murderer), provides that aura very well. Brad Rader and Cameron Stewart are given the unenviable task of following Cooke in the later part of this collection. The transition is fairly smooth, but you still find yourself missing him.

In some ways, this book is a tribute to both the classic American heist film, and the definitive street detective story. If you know your heist stories, you should feel more than welcome in the pages of Selina’s Big Score. Selina never actually appears as Catwoman, but given the nature of the story and the timeframe in which it takes place, she doesn’t need to. And, in many ways, Slam Bradley is the quintessential trenchcoat-and-fedora-wearing gumshoe. He’s a grizzled, incorruptible, cigarette smoking, head knocking troublemaker who tends to have more guts than brains. He’s a perfect fit for Brubaker, and a surprisingly natural partner for Catwoman. And of course, you’ve got a lot of your classic superhero elements in here too. This book pulls from so many different sources, which even today makes it a unique offering.

This collection was undoubtedly released to coincide with The Dark Knight Rises, which comes out this July. If DC was looking to give fans a definitive Catwoman story to prep them for the character’s appearance in the film, they succeeded on almost every level. The content in this book is unquestionably the definitive Catwoman content of the last decade.  At times, it’s a downright beautiful thing.

RATING: 9.5/10

Front page image from mognetcentral.files.wordpress.com. Image 1 from maxmiliani.tumblr.com. Image 2 from joblo.com. 

TITLE: Winter Soldier #1
AUTHOR: Ed Brubaker
PENCILLER: Butch Guice. Cover by Lee Bermejo. 
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASED: February 1, 2012

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Between this book and Fatale #2, Brubaker had a pretty good week.

In Winter Soldier, Brubaker takes James “Bucky” Barnes, the character he resurrected in 2004, and expands on the tweaks he made to the character’s history. Namely that Barnes had been trained to undertake covert missions that Captain America would be unwilling to do, and that after his alleged death during World War II, an amnesiac Barnes was found by the Soviets and brainwashed into becoming a covert assassin for them. His code name? Winter Soldier. Following yet another alleged death in Fear Itself, the world now believes Barnes to be gone (Steve Rogers, Nick Fury and Natasha Romanova, a.k.a. Black Widow, are the only exceptions). He takes this opportunity to resume his work as Winter Soldier, this time for the US with Black Widow at his side.

Obviously when a writer works with a particular character long enough, it becomes almost second nature. That seems to be the case with Brubaker and Bucky Barnes here. His dialogue with Natasha all comes off natural and effortless, even during a scene when they’re discussing restaurant selections while being shot at. We get the vibe that this sort of Jason Bourne, life in the shadows existence is simply another day on the job for both characters. Such a demeanor is obviously a little far-fetched, but it avoids being too hokey in a “you still alive, baby?” kind of way.

Butch Guice provides the sort of art you’d expect to see in a Brubaker story like this. It’s got a darker tone, and a texture that almost looks painted at times. But it’s a perfect fit for the tone Brubaker seems to be going for. Bettie Breitweiser’s colors, especially her serene yet somehow sour blues, round things out perfectly.

All in all, this book is a no-brainer for fans of Brubaker’s work with Captain America and his cast of characters. Fans of espionage/secret agent/covert ops type stories should enjoy it too.

Front page image from legacycomics.net. Interior image from comicsalliance.com. 

TITLE: Transient
AUTHOR/ARTIST: Justin “Coro” Kaufman
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: Massive Black Entertainment
PRICE: $45
RELEASED: January 2012

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Mythology, both modern and classic, is filled with heroes. Think Osiris, Prometheus, King Arthur, Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and the like. Some would even add Jesus Christ, Moses and Buddha. In Transient, we meet a brand new name for the list: Bob the homeless guy.

No, seriously,  Bob the homeless guy. He’s our hero in this monomyth parody/black comedy by Justin “Coro” Kaufman.

In Transient, we find that our main character is a homeless man who once led a fairly prosperous life with his wife and son. He eventually left them because of a series of freakish visions he’d been seeing on and off since childhood. In said visions, Bob is visited by strange, and sometimes rather disturbing creatures, who insist that he’s destined to protect humanity and save the universe. Fast forward to present day, and Bob witnesses the bizarre murder of a friend by a man who appears to be wearing a jacket made up of live pigeons. An unconventional investigation into the killing sets Bob on a path to Sacramento, where he must find those behind the murder, and save the universe once and for all.

First and foremost, Transient has some of the most creatively designed monsters I’ve ever seen in the comic book industry. Frankly, they’re right up there with whatever creatures you’d find in any other storytelling medium. Granted, they’re rather morbid-looking at times. For instance, at one point Bob runs into a female creature who seems to have numerous breasts arranged like a fruit-basket on her head, a mouth that looks eerily like a vagina, as well as exposed intestines and a penis-like protrusion extending from her groin. They’re not all that graphic, but you get the idea. They all fit the same depraved, yet somehow amazing mold. Kaufman, or whoever designed all these monsters, must have an imagination that’s…very unconventional. Yeah, let’s go with very unconventional.

What’s all the more interesting is that we don’t know whether the things Bob is seeing are actually real. He is told he has the rare ability to see into different planes of existence, which explains why no one else can see the creatures. But even though we learn that Bob is a genuinely good person, we’re never sure how sane he really is. We trust his heart, but not his mind. In the end, Bob may simply be trapped in his own personal land of Oz, unable to wake up.

The art in this book is absolutely beautiful. It’s got the grimy feel you’d expect a book about a homeless man to have, but at times it’s also got a great sense of awe-inspiring wonder about it. I’d compare it to seeing some of the other-worldly creatures in a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie. That wonder helps instill a sense of believability in Bob’s visions. They look so real, you can’t help but believe they are real.

As for the comedic aspect of this book, it’s not hilarious, but I chuckled a few times. Obviously, it helps if you have at least a vague familiarity with Joseph Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey, so you can pick up on some of the things Kaufman’s making light of. But there are funny little moments that add to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the book. One of my favorites is when Bob and his love interest Peaches are having sex, and she tells him: “Bob, it feels like we’re the only people on Earth right now.” Then we pull back and see they’re out on the sidewalk.

Transient isn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but it accomplishes it’s goal in manner that’s so creative and clever that you can’t help but recognize it as a wonderful piece of art that it is. Not bad for a homeless hero…

RATING: 9/10

Front page image from awesome-robo.com. Interior images from webcomicoverload.com. 

TITLE: Batman & Robin: Dark Knight, White Knight
AUTHORS: Paul Cornell, Peter Tomasi, Judd Winick
PENCILLERS: Scott McDaniel, Patrick Gleason, Guillem March, Greg Tocchini. Cover by Gleason.
COLLECTS: Batman & Robin #17-25
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $22.99
RELEASED: January 25, 2012

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne have a lot on their plates in this book. A crazy lady with a hole through her head, an angel-themed villain who’s dropping people from high places, and even their “brother” Jason Todd. But one person you won’t find in this book is Grant Morrison. Dark Knight, White Knight collects this title’s first nine months of existence without Morrison at the helm. It still manages to do well, but Morrison is definitely missed.

This book collects three stories, each lasting three issues. In the first, one of Bruce Wayne’s old flames is shot through the skull during an attempted robbery, but manages to survive due to a condition called dandy walker syndrome (long story, look it up). Obsessed with the fact that Wayne didn’t attend her funeral (he was lost in time at that point), she becomes a supervillain named Absence and vows to get revenge on him. As Dick and Damian are in charge of Gotham in his absence, they step up. I’ve talked about this story already, and for the most part my opinion hasn’t changed. I’ve softened up a bit on Absence, though the hole-in-the-head thing is still a huge stretch for me. Her crimes all force Batman and Robin to figure out what’s missing from a bigger picture, which is a nice little quirk. Scott McDaniel handles the art, and I’m not a big fan of his. But all in all, it’s a worthy addition to a book.

Next, our heroes go up against the White Knight, a luminous angel-themed villain who’s enforcing his own brand of merciless justice. The trouble is, are innocent citizens. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason take the reigns on this one, and manage to deliver something solid. It’s a bit more intriguing than the Absence story, especially once we discover what White Knight’s pattern is. We also get a really interesting, yet tense little moment between Commissioner Gordon and Damian. I’d love to see that dynamic explored further.

Finally we run into Jason Todd, a.k.a The Red Hood, who’s freshly sprung from prison, but quickly finds himself at odds with a bizarre gang of South American gang called The Menagerie. Inevitably, Batman and Robin find themselves dragged into the situation. Judd Winick, who ushered in Jason’s return from the dead, gives us an okay story here. There’s a decent-sized flaw, in that we never find out exactly why these gangsters are targeting Jason (is it just because they’re evil?). Guillem March, who pens the early portion of this story, has done better but is still alright. Greg Tocchini finishes it with a respectable effort. It’s not Winick’s best work with Jason Todd. Still, few are better at writing the character than him.

All in all, a respectable addition to the Batman & Robin series, but it’s certainly not at the level Morrison left it at. Considering three different writers worked on this volume, along with even more artists, that’s understandable. It’s a fairly entertaining read, and that’s what matters.

RATING: 7/10

Front page image from comicartcommunity.com. Interior image from bubblesbounce.tumblr.com.
For more Batman & Robin, check out Batman Reborn, Batman vs. Robin, and Batman Must Die.

TITLE: The Grey
STARRING: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Nonso Anozie
DIRECTOR: Joe Carnahan
STUDIO: Open Road Films
RATING: R
RUN TIME: 117 min
RELEASED: January 27, 2012

 By Seth Miller
Staff Writer, Part-Time Ninja

I have decided to introduce a new term into my reviews that I’m sure has been used on other websites: “Cinematic blue balls.” This is when a movie builds to a moment and just when you think it’s about to happen, the movie ends. The Grey will no doubt cause this to happen to God knows how many moviegoers. That’s not to say this isn’t a good movie though. It is a film movie with several themes running through, dynamic locations and cinematography, skillful direction by Joe Carnahan, and excellent acting by the whole cast.

Ottway (Neeson) works for an oil company guarding a station from wolves and other animals that live in the harsh Alaska wilderness. On the way back home, their plane breaks apart and crashes. Ottway and six other men survive; now they must gather what supplies they can and stay alive while dealing with the elements and constant attacks by wolves.

This movie delivers in many ways. Carnahan has an uncanny eye for the wilderness and can make this frozen hell seem both deadly and beautiful at the same time. His scenes never feel like predictable Hollywood, and every wolf attack or force of nature comes out of nowhere and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The plot is very basic; the plane crashes, there are survivors, and they must find a way to get home before they die. But the story of these characters and the themes that are woven into the it is what elevates this film. You get the standard stuff that comes with men trying to survive in the wilderness: humans being more like animals, trying to hold onto their humanity, etc. The strongest themes are the struggle of these men to find meaning in their life, to keep going on when death seems a certainty, and how this inhospitable land clarifies everything for them. These characters are described in the beginning as being outcasts at the end of the world; their journey to survive is more about them finding something worth living for. Neeson’s Ottway and ex-con Diaz (played by Frank Grillo) are the best examples of the themes in the film and they are fantastic in their individual roles.

As great as I think the majority of this The Grey is, there are one or two flaws that it has. The first being the use of the wolf pack as a stand-in for the how the survivors function; sometimes it is just implied and this helps ratchet up the tension in some scenes, but sometimes it is so overt that it the next scenes become very predictable.

Then we come to the ending [THIS MIGHT BE A SPOILER, SO STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW MORE]. I understand that there is more to this film than what has been advertised prominently. But when you get to the end and the scene that has brought the audience to the seats starts and it feels like a completely natural and logical end to the film, don’t cut to credits right before the action. Our journey has led us to this point, and it has been developed over the course of the film to be the natural ending. Cutting to credits at that big moment does more than hurt the movie, it really pisses the audience off.

This is a big flaw in the movie but I still believe that The Grey is a strong film filled with fantastic performances, a compelling story, beautiful cinematography, and expertly directed scenes.

RATING: 8/10

Images from rottentomatoes.com.
For more from Liam Neeson and Joe Carnahan, check out The A-Team.

TITLE: Pushmo
PLATFORM: 3DS eShop
DEVELOPER: Intelligent Systems
PUBLISHER: Nintendo
ESRB: E
RELEASED: December 8, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

Just when I think there will be no original smash hit for the 3DS shop, Pushmo appears out of nowhere and proves me wrong. I’m not usually the type of gamer that goes for puzzle games, either! I think of myself as an above average gamer in terms of skills, but something about most games in the genre creates some sort of mental block, and I play as if I recently just started to get into video games.

I suppose the relaxing nature of Pushmo helps ease my nerves. One of my gripes about most puzzle games is non existent here — a sense of urgency. There is no timer, and you aren’t judged on how fast you solve a puzzle. What is it that you are required to accomplish? You control a character that moves series of blocks back and forth up to three levels of planes.  Sometimes these blocks are just as big as your character, and sometimes they are an enormous wall-like structure, along with everything in between. This style of gameplay obviously plays well into having the 3D turned on, but it’s just as easy to find spacial relations with the feature turned off.

As expected of a game developed with close ties to Nintendo, the learning curve is perfect. As you play Pushmo the game eases you into gradually more difficult puzzles and slowly introduces new concepts and tricks to solve levels. Some of said levels are a random series of blocks while others are murals resembling old school sprites. I also found it convenient that if you get stuck you can either reset all blocks to their starting positions. Even if you make a minor flub or miss a jump you can always rewind time! It’s as if the developers put careful thought into crafting this title.

Though you have to play the main game to unlock all the components, you can also build your own Pushmo level and share it online! Obviously, that means that you can try your hand at other user created levels! Once you create a level, the game will have you crate a QR code that you can save on to the SD card. Copy the file on to your computer, post it online and the rest is history. Bear in mind that your levels have to be solvable in order to get a QR code in the first place. That’s actually a relief for me, because I can see tons of users creating unsolvable troll face after unsolvable troll face if they let you release levels that were impossible. In fact, try my level that I quickly threw together in a last minute panic!

Yeah, so I’m no level designer, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t all sorts of cool ideas out there from classic game references to brain teasing walls of hell. Though, no matter whether the level was user created or in the main game, the best puzzles are the ones that appear deceptively simple, but actually make you think. When you finally solve it, you smack your forehead and yell, “Of course!” As far as the main game goes, if you get stuck on a level for a decent amount of time, you can always skip it and come back and try later. To paraphrase what I said earlier, the developers really went out of their way to be as user friendly as possible.

Pushmo is a game you are practically obligated to download to your 3DS. If Nintendo gets a few more title like this one, their slow but sure momentum will finally hit full speed.

RATING: 9.5/10

Front page from nintendolife.com, header image from vgtribune.com, screenshots from joystiq.com, Pushmo level “I rushed this” courtesy of Justin.