Solty Rei Anime Review

It´s not only been a long time since I post any content on the blog, but it´s also been a long time since I post an anime review (if you count the Animatrix, but that was more of a series of separate shorts and not a series with 30 min per episode and stuff); so I decided to look back at one of the animes I remember fondly, Solty Rei.

The story is set in a futuristic world where humanity lives underneath an aurora that covers a city preventing air travel and is constantly threading it´s inhabitants because of a catastrophe that occurred years ago that left the city in a bad state, many people died, many more got injured and some were never found... Roy Revant is one of the survivors of said event, but he isn´t without his trauma; this man is in his late 40´s lost his daughter to the aurora that fatal day, her body was never found and there is no trace that can proof she is still alive. Unable to move on with his life, Roy makes a living has a bounty hunter working for an old friend of his, Miranda Maverick... During a job, he comes across a mysterious young girl who unintentionally saves his life from a dangerous killer... and with her, his opportunity to finally let go of his past and finally move on from his loss.

Feeling pity when he finds out she is an unregistered citizen, the girl is eventually adopted by Roy and because the girl remembers nothing from what happened before meeting with him (not even her name), he names her Solty and from there the story is more about their relationship developing and eventually moving to the mystery of the aurora, Solty and the truth behind the event that hunts the cities past.

In this futuristic setting, some humans are enhanced with cybernetic implants, despite the original intention of the technological advances are purely humble to help does harmed from the aurora´s blast, many have used the implants to resort to a criminal life... Solty is 100% cybernetics, witch is impossible within the universe, making her a robot with emotions and capturing the attention of some curious people has well has other dangerous people.

The first thing I want to talk about is the good stuff; I really enjoyed the setting, the sci-fyish/post-apocalyptic setting is always cool to watch for me, the action scenes are fun and well animated in general and let´s not forget the story itself, while not perfect and not being exactly the best example I would use for a father/daughter bonding story either, it feels like the creators were´t really targeting to  make something that pushed the envelop is terms of the previous mentioned elects but just make something fun and memorable; and in some respects they do that very well.

The characters are also fun to watch, Solty and Roy´s relationship is shaky at first, in a strange way; I would almost believe like they are forcing things up, like you kinda know that Roy will end up accepting Solty has family, but surprisingly I want them to get along... I guess that comes mostly from Solty herself; she is so innocent and despite all of her inhuman strength she would never hurt a fly. The rest of the cast in also likable, Miranda is supportive to Roy despite being a little stoic at times and the Anderson Brothers are alright.

But the best characters of the whole series in my opinion are the RUC Proceeds agents (witch are all curiously named after car models), on their own they aren´t particularly interesting, but is their legit camaraderie and friendship what makes them great has a group to see them work together and just being overall friends.

These characters are always thrown in harms way and always have something going wrong for them, at some points I felt really sorry for them, not only that... but through out the series these characters really seemed to be the only ones in legit danger. Without spoiling much, one of them dies, killed off in front of the others, I could tell when they are distraught by the death of their dear friend and after seeing just how close they are has friends, I could´t help but feel sorry for them. When characters are in genuine danger and care for their safety, you know the show in doing something right. (On a side note... Integra Martel is the best)

On the bad side, some of the CG animation sticks out like a sour thumb... specially on the mechs, funny because there really aren´t many in the overall show, not just mechs but the overall CGI just looks laking, unlike in something like Tiger & Bunny where the CG in not only good but is also an integral part of the characters, here; it just feels like a pointless additions.

Now I have to give some spoiler warning because I am going to talk about some key story elements, unless you plan to watch the show, you should skip the RED words:

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

The "death" of Rose has a whole was well set if you ask me, she dies just has Roy finds out she was his lost daughter all along and just has they were accepting each other despite their differences, the outburst that Roy had on Solty I can understand, but is the fact that they BROUGHT ROSE BACK FROM THE DEAD what bothers me the most story wise about the whole anime! This was a huge missed opportunity to have Roy truly deal with his loss a second time, yeah it´s hard, but to me it should have been about him figuring out that he still had Solty and that it was all going to be alright, ya know, there is still hope and a chance for him to be happy (I really wanted to see something like that, and it would have really given the anime a more interesting air)... but NO; THEY HAD TO THROW THAT SHIT OUT THE WINDOW!! I think it could have also helped if the Rose that was used later by the RUC would have been reveled to be a high tech AI like Solty but by then it really would have mattered little, the damage was already done...

It bothers me because I can see potential for something very intriguing and that can really put a test to the father/daughter bond between Roy and Solty the series developed for almost the entire show but instead they went with the most dumb way they could have taken the story into... is a huge missed opportunity, is only salt in the wound when you see later how they killed off one of the Proceeds, almost like "oh it´s ok, that one is not an important character" *grunts*.

Despite it´s serious lows, I can forgive some of these and I can really enjoy this story has a whole, it´s a fun ride and one I hope to revisit again in the future when it feels new again and I can experience the entirety of the moments I like in this anime with nostalgic eyes...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello readers!

I am sorry for the long delay but well... I´ve been very busy this last few weeks (yeah Christmas is part of the reason), but plenty has happened.

In the case of the comic, is coming up great... I hope that in January I can show a complete page has a preview of what will be

I will keep updates on this blog, stay tuned!

Monsters vs Aliens Movie Review

This movie is actually more fun than the poster and trailer made it seem back in it´s day...

The story fallows Susan, a young woman who is getting ready to get married and going to live her life has a regular housewife until catastrophe hits on her wedding day, a giant meteor hits her making her become a giant, thus the government takes her from society and locks her away along with other monsters like her; so their time to prove themselves arrives when the government makes them fight against an innovation of aliens.

I have to say that the strength of the movie comes along from the main character Susan; the way the movie plays out her predicament is made in a way that you do feel legitimately bad for her... she is very innocent and would´t even hurt a fly yet everybody is terrified of her, and has icing on the cake her fiancé turns out to be an asshole. The rest of the cast is quite likable has well, I think some people won´t like these side characters but I felt like they didn't came across has obnoxious at any time; in fact I did felt like they were given some funny things to say and do has well has doing a good job in showing how much of a pack of misfits they are.

The animation is also pretty good, the movements and weigh are all very well shown and the characters with different physics move in a way that you would expect them to (or at least me)... textures are good and there is a certain attention to detail that I really appreciate. One thing about the presentation that really took me away from the experience is the character design, the monsters and aliens look alright, but the human character just look awkward to me, like they were trying to make them look like toys or something I don´t know... but Susan is the one they got right though; she looks cute and her design gives room to some funny reactions.

For all my praise it must sound like I love this movie; I actually think is a movie I enjoyed watching twice and that´s it, it´s a fun film but nothing special... is not like the movie changes or does anything new or big for the 3D animated films.

Check it out and judge for yourself if you haven´t already.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well... this took a while, I am still thinking about what other marathon of films I could look at has well has working on the comic...

Boy is hard to be a one men crew... XP

Keep in touch!

Casper: A Spirited Beginning Movie Review + Update

For some reason I can´t be able to explain I have been having this movie on the back of my brain for a while now... and I might be exaggerating with this statement but this is one of the very first movies I ever watched in my whole life; I owned the VHS tape and I used to watch this a lot back when I was like 7... but why?

What was it about this movie that had me watching it so much? why did I liked it? why is the intro theme always playing in my mind? I decided to watch it again to figure out why my brain can´t delete  it or block it once and for all...

This story is a prequel to the events of the original 1995 Casper movie, it was direct to video back in 1997 and produced by Saban Entertainment (The producers of The Power Rangers). Although it´s considered a prequel, I don´t really feel like I am learning how Casper came to be or something about him I didn´t knew... hell it dosen´t even connect in anyway with the movie that is supposed to happen latter in the original. Casper has just died, he is about to go to a ghost school along side the ghost of other people who have died, but they all seem to be unaware they have passed away... because of a stupid reason he get´s kicked out of the train and ends up in this town and I figure out how it was all a convenient plot device by connecting it´s dots to get Casper into a happy little town and creeps everybody out unintentionally and becomes friends with this kid named Chris, and the whole "adventure" is about Casper trying to learn how to be a ghost.

On a fundamental level, the movie is functional, I can´t say I was ever bored about the way the sequence of events played out, the characters are 90´s stereotypes but the relationship between the father and the son is actually quite neat and really want to the see them work their differences out, the rest of the cast is ok, I mean some of them can be a little annoying (the bullies) but they felt harmless to the story... except for that part where they locked Chris up inside a mansion that is about to explode! Does this bullies were trying to graduate from bullying to killers or what?!

Regardless, after watching this movie again I have come to the conclusion that the reason why little me liked this movie is very simple actually... I was young and dumb. Regardless of the negatives, I think the movie is for the most part a fun time, although I doubt I would watch it again.

Casper: A Spirited Beginning feels like a movie that was made because of the success of the original movie without a doubt; but something tells me that the people behind it probably didn´t had evil intentions... like they made this movie has good has it could possibly be on it´s own; true or not it is a fun little movie and I see no harm in young watchers seeing it (well except maybe the murderer attempt by the bullies).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"OH FLYNN WHERE ARE YOU???? WHERE IS YOUR SO CALLED PROJECT HUH????!!!!!!
YOU TALK ABOUT IT BUT YOU NEVER SHOW ANYTHING EVER"

ejem...

Everything is still in rough... but I work every day and still am a one men crew... just in case there are any doubts

Thoughts on the Assassin´s Creed franchise and Assassin´s Creed III Game Review

If you asked anybody who knows me what I think about the Assassin´s Creed franchise, they will probably say something like "I don´t know, the guy says he is not a fan yet he often talks about it", and that is certainly true...

I am not a the biggest AC fan you will ever see and I don´t even consider myself a fan; I actually think the games are somewhat boring specially considering I haven´t played much of them but does I have played have bored me to sleep... but why you ask? I don´t know that myself and yet here I am being able to talk with someone about the stories and their opinion on the series has a whole somewhat like an interested watcher.

I see many reasons to play and enjoy the AC series but every time I pick one up and play it, I find myself struggling with it´s extremely repetitive nature. Up until now it seems like I have been analyzing the series has a whole from my point of view, but I just find myself in the need to say all this before getting to the infamous AC3 considered by many to be the worst AC of the franchise, because I don´t want to come across has an ignorant idiot talking about a topic he dosen´t understand.

I remember when the first trailer was reveled and everybody on the internet was going nuts (literary); there was not a single person I knew was wasn´t exited about the game, so much in fact that I seriously considered buying the game day one; when the first reviews came up and said the game was good I really took it has some sort of mixed message; like is it very good or just... good? Eventually when it got to the publics hands is when the negativity showed itself, some independent reviewers were giving this game 6 and 5 out of 10; I was kinda flabbergasted. Just knowing that it was one of the most anticipated games at the time and disappointing that many people, I could only imagine if I was that big of a fan... when I ask people about their thoughts on the game many answer the same way pretty much, with "is ok, but is not the best" either if they really feel that way or they just say that to feel better about their full price purchase, I don´t know.

I have been skipping pretty much every AC game that has been released (At the time of the post the newest game is AC Unity, and I am not playing it... not even interested), I know that the logical would be that I play every game and talk about them all in one, but with Ubisoft announcing there will be a new AC game every year, I will eventually grow tired of this trend and be completely irrelevant to tackle every game one by one; I am not even playing every game and I feel like I am warmed out, I will keep an eye on the series, but maybe play all games in the future, but not every time a new game lunches.

Although in my somewhat awkward relationship with this franchise, I have only played a handful of games (more specifically Revelations, AC3, Liberation and a little bit Black Flag), non of them have really wowed me at all, in fact the only game I have played fully is Liberation when it was re-lunched for the PS3; I got it after playing Revelations and I was kinda curious about the fact that Aveline was the first ever female assassin to be playable in any AC game.

Quick thoughts on Liberation, it was actually pretty fun to play, Aveline´s story is kinda interesting, parkour is fun and more importantly, the persona gameplay is the best thing any AC I have played or seen has done (more so than the popular boat exploration of AC3 and Black Flag); I mean, how come nobody at Ubisoft has seen the potential of this mechanic, I will never know. Overall, my favorite AC game (for now).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now is time to talk about the game that has cause the biggest deception in the AC community, Assassin´s Creed III was released in October of 2012 for PS3, Xbox 360 and eventually Wii U and PC on November of the same year.

Set in the colonial times in north america, the hooded persona of this chapter is Connor, a native american of British decent who is fighting for the independence of his own people. The story itself is alright; I am not American so I can´t tell how historically accurate it is, but when seeing the moment when Connor is present during the signing of the declaration of independence... I can tell is really stretching many moments in the history of the united states. To be fair the games before it were also very exaggerated historically.

Gameplay wise there is no big leap forward, the boat mini game however was so well received that it became it's own major element in the fallowing year's AC4 Black Flag... is a testament to how sometimes a mini game can do such a big service to a video game. Because colonial america is a setting with a lack of major cities and locals, the wilderness is the most prominent place every player will most likely be wondering around... hunting and finding collectables witch is not really all that fun for me.

The prologue is one of the most infamous elements of the game and honestly is not a mystery at all why it is; has someone who plays plenty of video games, is annoying to have always to get an overly long tutorial for new comers, I may not be an AC veteran but I don't have to be a rocket scientist either to pick the game up and play it, I sometimes feel like the game exaggerates this moment to the point where basic gameplay elements are arbitrarily taken away until I progress through the story. I don't know about the audience but I like to explore and to do side missions and other activities while progressing through the campaign... specially in open world games like this one; but AC3 is very linear despite of the game stating the opposite.

Visually is fine and there is certainly plenty to do, in the story itself and in the world of colonial america has well... Connor has also gotten plenty of negativity has the least interesting protagonist in the series, I though he was ok... he is primitive, raise by a native american group and with actual little ambition or even little interest for the major war that is happening; he does appear to be humorless, but I don't think is about that but about his culture, he was not meant to be funny or cocky like the fan favorite Ezio; he has a noble goal and he is primitive. Overall, Connor is alright... no more no less.

Assassin's Creed 3 is ok, maybe a little rushed and somewhat unfinished but is certainly not bad at all, I have played much worse games in my life that's for sure; but there is no doubt that the game is rough around the edges.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading, I will have more to talk about in the future and a new update on my project... I know it seems like I have abandon it but remember, I am a one men crew here.

Stay tuned for more content

The Animatrix Anime Review

Animatrix is not a whole cohesive single story, but just a compilation of short films telling multiple stories within the matrix universe; created and putted together by the very same Wachowski brothers with some of the most influential Japanese animation veterans making a series of "mostly" well crafted pieces of story... and I have to say, that this single series of shorts injects more life to the matrix franchise than the two sequels that fallowed the original movie.

The first short is called "Final Fight of Osiris" and it was alright; it features some excellent 3D realistic models with some fluid animation, more fluid than what I see in most movies of this kind of realistic 3D approach it works well enough to keep me interested. It fallows a crew of humans when they are attacked by machines and eventually killed; The characters are really not the main focus has much has just witnessing their action that does have an impact the the movies. The animation in the characters faces are also very good, conveying the emotion that many movies in this department fail to bring forward. "Final fight of Osiris" is good... but is not the best in my opinion.

The next is a two parter called "The Second Renaissance" and it´s actually pretty good. The animation in this ones is the traditional 2D Japanese animation but being much more fluid and I would´t want it another way. The story is actually the prequel to the events that take place in the matrix trilogy telling the origin of the war between humans and machines, the plight of the androids and the eventual downfall of humanity. Although it has a computer voice serving has a narrator, the images tell you everything you need to know to understand... you can see when robots are being abused by their human overlords and you can tell when humanity is running down into desperate measures during the war and all just with the images that you are seeing all showing the exact emotions correctly. "The Second Renaissance" is quite good and an excellent "prequel" to the event of the main trilogy.

"Kid´s Story" is probably the worst. The animation is something similar to what you see in "Heavy Metal" and it sticks out like a sour thumb without adding any kind of depth to it´s story because of it. I know that Neo and Trinity in this short are both voiced by their original actors (Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss); it´s a fine nod to fans, but that is not something that makes the short any better; the main problem I have is that is pretty much a re-hach of Neo´s escape from the matrix... the kid feels like his life is a lie and gets contacted by a guy (Neo himself) that he is not going crazy and that he is not the only one; again, a total reenactment of the first matrix movie. While the weakest I can say I do like it´s ending, I won´t spoil it; however I´ll just say that it did got me by surprise and that´s maybe because it was being predictable all the way through the end.

The next short is called "Program" and this is another one I really enjoyed. Unlike kid´s story, this one goes back to the classic 2D animation style with superb and fluid movements helping me appreciate every movement and the feeling each impact during the fight; the story fallows a woman named Cis within one of the many simulations that humans can access and play with, until a close friend of her tells her that he is going to find a way back into the matrix and be plugged in back like he never left. While the core story is nothing fascinating is the dashing animation and fight sequence what kept me interested, it takes full advantage of animation quality to make it one of the most flashy fights in the matrix franchise I´ve seen. Program is a pretty good short and I really had fun watching it for what it was.

"World Record" is the next entry in the series of shorts and I have some mixed feeling about this one. The story fallows an athlete named Dan that while trying to beat a world record he was able to self disconnect of the matrix unwillingly... interesting idea that while similar to the one from "Kid´s Story" this one is done way better and making it more fascinating storywise that even has propose in the series if I am being asked about it. The animation is where I have a few problems with, not that is terrible; but it just docent sit well with me, like every movement is exaggerated to the point of it being kinda funny when it´s not trying to be... is hard to explain, I think is better if you watch it and see it for yourself. I still liked "World Record" though... it was a great short though kinda awkward in the animation department.

"Beyond" is perhaps my favorite of the whole compilation. The story is about a girl named Yoko who while looking for her missing cat finds a house witch is seemingly "hunted" and discovers all sorts of glitches within the matrix; and that´s all I´ll say because I believe is something you must see for yourself... the animation is also great, is fluid, is colorful and the character models are really cute to watch. I really think this one is the best for a seemingly number of reasons but what ultimately sells it for me is the ending, witch is just really fitting for what I though should have been; it could have ended in the way that fitted does who knew what was going on and have it end in that very way but instead it just goes and finishes in another way that´s more open than "Word Record" in my opinion... it has no flashy combat that I would normally associate with the franchise; but it still manages to be interesting somewhat like the first movie, but in a much different way.

"Beyond" still lingered in my mind long after I finished watching all shorts witch is why I considered it the best; the story is simple but deep, the animation is colorful and full of life and it was just fun to watch overall; like a good short film you watch in a film festival.

Now there is "A Detective Story" and this one was pretty good (although after "Beyond"... well). Ash is a detective who is hired to track down and find a hacker named Trinity; when he finally meets her, he is told that that she can show him the truth, is good enough; having Trinity (voiced by Carrie-Anne Moss) is a great nod to the fans of the original films and she is actually quite interesting to watch, I don´t know exactly what it is but she actually come across has somewhat of an interesting individual instead of being boring like in the trilogy, maybe is the fact that she is never fully coming out to Ash about who she is. The animation is also pretty good, the esthetic is that of a film noir; like does old classic detective mystery films. "A Detective Story" was really good and actually has some interesting characters in it (even Trinity is really cool to watch); although the ending was pretty meh...

Last we have "Matriculated" and this one is... well... really strange, although somewhat fascinating. A crew of humans capture a robot and now are trying to hack it by entering it´s... um... "mind"? and then it turns into a journey of what happens when you do drugs I guess. Now seriously, I get is like the journey of transition of this android like understanding human emotion of something like that and it like converts to the side of humans in the end... it´s ok and I get the idea behind it, but it´s just not... reaching out to me... maybe because it´s being to ambiguous and not really helping me understand this robot. The animation is ok although the character models are "bleu" thus being kinda awkward to look at; maybe some like this character design, but not me. "Matriculated" is not bad or even weak... but it fails to be impressive; it has a really interesting premise but is not reaching out to me.

That finishes Animatrix series of short films and I gotta say, this series of films do a hell of a lot more for the series than the two sequels that fallowed, by having interesting stories to tell within the matrix universe and expanding upon it. Maybe it has a few "not so good" ones but others are really impressive; not only for the matrix franchise, but has excellent shorts on their own (*cough* Beyond *cough*).

If you get the chance to see them all then do, even if you are not hardcore on the matrix franchise like myself, you can enjoy of the great animation and of some of the cool stories it has.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That wraps up the Matrix marathon, If you have been seeing everything I have been posting than I hope you have enjoyed reading through every post. After watching every film I have to say that it´s been quite interesting, the first film is quite good and the anime shorts are really fascinating for what they are (at least most of them)... but the two sequels are just, not very impressive.

If you are planing to watch these films then by all means do, I particularly recumbent the first movie and the shorts, maybe Reloaded and I recumbent skipping Revolutions, but then again you might find something in them that make these films great entries to the franchise...

I don´t know what´s in for the future of the franchise but it´s been quite a while since the films... but who knows...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for visiting... I am sorry for the long delay between posts ^^´

I will have more content and news in the future!

The Matrix Revolutions Movie Review

So... we have Matrix 1 where the story is kinda interesting with descent action scenes... we have "Reloaded" where we have much better action scenes but lackluster story and now we get "Revolutions" where we get pretty much the same only worse.

Released in october 27th 2003 by being shoot back to back with Reloaded and released latter the same year; Revolutions is the final chapter of the Matrix trilogy... or at least Neo´s story. The stage is set and the stakes are high, this movie had plenty of high expectations back when it was coming out with pretty much everybody I knew being crazy about this movie... afterwards the world just slowly remained quiet about the movie; I couldn't tell why back then of course, but now, I figure what that means.

It takes place right after Reloaded and continues all the way through the fight at Zion between humans and machines and just has I expected; the problem with the movie is that I don´t care one bit!

Zion always seemed boring to me... even the scenes in the "real world" are totally "meh" feeling unnecessary in the big picture. The whole fight on Zion I am sure was meant to be the big epic battle, kinda like the "Battle at Helms Deep" in Two Towers, but it just doesn't click when I think of "The Matrix"... Where is the bullet time? where is the cool fight choreography? where are the stylish chases? Nothing that I associate with the Matrix franchise is present here.

The final fight between Neo and Agent Smith in the Matrix is like a parody of Dragon Ball Z; I mean, if we though that the cool fight on Reloaded where an army of Smiths are ganging up on Neo had too much CG, then clearly we never though of this movie doing it has well and making it even more corny. It almost feels like Revolutions is afraid of the world the franchise itself created so it keeps itself away from it  until the point of the "big epic fight" that is when we fatally enter the matrix one last time (after all the scenes in the real world were exhausted), it´s too short, too cheesy, ridiculously funny and just underwhelming overall... thats also not mentioning that is just not enough when this is the only "scene" where we are in the actual "Matrix" (The freaking title of the movie itself!) yeah we are in the matrix at the beginning of the movie but none of the coolness of the franchise is there... is just like when we are in the "real world" with all the lameness...

The ultimate problem I feel is that the movie is just not a satisfying experience... is not trying to be like the previous films showing interesting fight settings and overblown action with impossible circumstances that would never happen in real life... just what happened here? what was the mind set? what was being gained through this movie? I am sorry; but out of all the Matrix films this one feels like the worst... it´s ultimate crime is being painfully forgettable.

I can remember things from the previous two films; from the original I remember the cool concept of the world not being real and questioning our own existence, from Reloaded I remember the cool chase sequence and the fight against the Smith army in the alley but I remember nothing from Revolutions other than how underwhelming it was has a Matrix movie... it´s actually quite sad, like watching a ballon deflating hilariously in the air flaying all over the place.

In my opinion... this one is a skip...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like me on Facebook and fallow me on Twitter

Animatrix is the last movie I will be looking at from the Matrix franchise, stay tuned!

The Matrix Reloaded Movie Review

Now we look at the sequel of the original "Matrix", and despite having a much less interesting story, it has superior action scenes being well recorded and well edited has well.

It was released on May 7th of 2003, that is almost 5 years after the original and the whole cast had returned to represent their roles, and is also directed by the same Wachowski Brothers; bringing in their same technique into the mix... this helps a great deal because it does make it feel like a Matrix sequel.

Reloaded continues the story of the original, where Neo continues his struggle to save Zion from the machines... much more convoluted stuff happens and basically is all about them trying to reach the core of the Matrix and see how to prevent the further expansion of the machine's dominance has well has the trapped human souls within the virtual reality.

When I say the story is convoluted I mean that it feels like it's going around in circles without telling me anything I need to know that is relevant to the main story without moving forward; like a dog chasing it's own tail before going finally going out to fetching the stick. It wouldn't be so bad if there was interesting character development in between, but the characters are so boring and dull that I sometimes wander who are the robots... The main characters specially are very stiff and boring to look at, I don't buy into the Neo/Trinity romance at all and the story is shoving down our throats that they are each others motivation to fight for a future.

However the action in this movie is very fun to watch, even better than that of the first film... is fast, is thrilling, you can tell what it´s going on (for the most part at least); is just a fun roller coster flick that is having fun along side with you... that is of course until it tries to tell the story it´s supposed to, but instead makes it hard to focus because of how it all lacks grip and instead has me wandering "When is the next cool action scene coming?"... you know it´s bad when you are less interested in the story of a movie than in the flashy combat.

If it wasn't called "Matrix" I probably would have associated this with another action film, but the esthetic and directing is what convinces me that the name is not just something placed in the title to sell movie tickets, but it really feels like it´s a sequel, I know I have said this before but it really clicks, it marvels me because I know when something like this is a true sequel or not... the same way I can tell with movies like "Terminator 2" or "The Empire Strikes Back". It´s hard to explain but just trust me when I say that the movie itself does make it into the sequel area.

The Matrix Reloaded is a good sequel to the original, maybe not story wise has the majority of the goods come from the action department but that should not be incentive to turn you off. Do what I did, I went to grab myself a snack when the talking wasn't doing it for me then come back to see all the cool fighting the movie has to offer!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like me on Facebook and fallow me on Twitter

Revolutions and Animatrix are coming up next!

The Matrix Movie Review

Hello there! ^^

I know... I have been gone for quite a big while, but believe me, I haven't been with my arms crossed... aside from my personal project I have also been holded by life circumstances and other problems... ya know; life just love to annoy us sometimes. I know that there is a long gap that I have left between posts.

You see aside from all my personal life problems, what happens is that I don't like to just post anything here that is either short or something I don't feel is worth talking about, aside from the fact that when I am doing my work, I sometimes disconnect from discussion topics; if you are a storyteller or an artist you probably understand; It´s about me trying to organize my ideas for the content I want for the blog.

When I started I wasn't really sure how to approach to it, I am kinda new to the general concept of creating content for the internet in general... all while working on my project by myself. I have a bigger and wider idea of how to keep a general content base for this blog, has well has planning on branching out to other sites and maybe types of content production regarding movie analysis, anime, game commentaries and other kind of stuff.

I am sorry if you felt like I gave up or went MIA... don't worry I am still here: I am just starting to look at other ways to continue doing this while making more entertaining, informative and complete takes on this kind of commentaries.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AAAAAAAaaaaaanyway... I have decided to get back on track with my blog posts once again and just like I did with Harry Potter I have found a new series to look at "The Matrix". Back when it came out, this movie was pretty much a big revolution; it made such an impact in the public and on the industry that we started to notice a difference in the action genera. Back in my high school days I distinctively remember class mates talking about this movies, everything: the characters, the combat, the action, the story... it was a phenomenon!

Naturally I looked at this movies and... well... back then I wasn't that impressed, I did made the effort to get into them but I just couldn't find myself marveled by these films... either the world or the story itself; I felt like an outcast, I sometimes asked myself if I was not understanding this movies or just was not on the right edge.

Now that I am much older and movie analysis is something that I am into, I have decided to look back at this movie series and once again give myself the opportunity to find what made this movie franchise such a success... so once again I will be doing a marathon of movies, not just the famous trilogy but also the anime sorts of Animatrix.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Matrix was released on March 21st 1999 and it was a critical and financial successes across the world, it didn't made has much has it´s followers in the box office, however, it is the best received critically, I believe even the fans feel this one is the best movie.

The story fallows Thomas Anderson, a young man who lives not only has another mortal citizen in the world but has a hacker that goes by the name of Neo... he lives wandering and perceiving that the world is not what it seems. His whole life is put upside down when he meets a man called Morpheus and he is about the discover the truth about the Matrix... and he is going to discover it the hard way.

When I see this movie I see two very distinctive aspect that I believe are what makes this successful and click with audiences; the first is the action scenes, there is no doubt that the Wachoski Brothers know exactly what they are doing when it comes to show what goes on in fights, shooting and chases, this is a big deal for me, particularly because when I watch an action movie with lot´s of fighting and stuff: I like to be able to tell what is going on, who is hitting who or who is shooting what, etc... this is particularly important to get right specially when you are making a movie with so much going of in it´s action scenes that have many details you want people to see and the Wachowskis did very well on that area.

The other thing I notice is some of the philosophy concepts, the idea of the world where we live in not being what it seems and everything being a lie and the reality being something that we don´t imagine or see... blah blah blah... is not particularly new or original but the way the exposition is shown is very good; I think is the way they make the characters talk to one another... is quite dynamic and is very interesting; Now... I will take a little while to talk about something I call "The Table Scene Demon".

Usually in movies, series, anime and many other forms of story telling we sometimes have moments of exposition (for does who aren´t familiar with this concept is when you tell the audience directly what is happening instead of them figuring them out themselves), when you want to show exposition to either give concept to the universe you are creating or a background story to something this kind of circumstances usually come in the form of sitting down on a table and just talking; if this kind of thing goes on for long periods of time it becomes aggravating, boring and unbearable to the point that you has a viewer or expectator loose interest this is a particular issue I find on anime, but that´s a whole different topic...

The Matrix handles it´s exposition scenes in a much more interesting and entertaining way, you are seeing things, moving around or the characters are just directly doing it while they talk about it and I particularly think this is very interesting and fascinating, when they tell Neo about how the real world looks, they aren´t sitting on some kitchen while eating they are in a safe program showing it to him while exposing the audience to the films universe and it works great because it takes advantages of the possibilities that the universe provides and gets away with them. What I am trying to say is that these scenes are particularly enjoyable for how they are.

The Pill scene is maybe one of the most popular scenes not only in the movie but maybe of all time; there has been meemes done based on this scene for a while now. I think that one of the reasons why it works is because of the way it´s delivered to the audience; it´s stylistically shoot, well edited and just overall well directed... it really puts you in the shoes of uncomfortability and just trying to interpret the moment on it´s own. I am taken away by the "Alice in Wonderland" constant reference... I don´t know why it just does not stick well with me... like trying to shove a square shape on a circle hole...

Now for the bad things... the first one is the characters, they are just not very interesting to watch; now i believe that Neo gets a free pass here, I mean; he is the main character that is the common blank slate that we can project ourselves into and on that regard I think is alright that they made him like that because of the story the movie is telling, but the others are kinda "meh": Trinity is boring, Carrie-Anne Moss is beautiful sure... but the character is boring, Morpheus is meh and the rest of the gang is just there being "meh" too. This could have worked better if they could have had more screen time and being more entertaining (like showing more chemistry with one another). The only guy I kinda like was Tank, the dude who handles the computers and who wasn't born from the machines for the matrix... I actually wanted to learn more about him than the other characters.

The story itself is also kinda messy; I get that the matrix is a virtual reality where people live their lives not knowing that they are oblivious to the truth about their existence that they are actually serving has a battery for the machines after humanity somehow blocked the sun (an event talked about in the movie)... I can buy the rules the movie has placed for itself... but there are some scenes where I am like "no way really?". For example: there is one scene where Trinity is about to die in a helicopter and Neo saves her... my problem was when the helicopter crashed against the building, the building goes wobbly before the big explosion... why? i get that it´s a digital world but why would a solid object that it´s supposed to be interpreting reality would react like that to the coalition of an helicopter? did the matrix glitched? can the people inhabiting the matrix who are unknowing of the truth see it? does this happen often? why at that moment? it doesn't make any sense... there are more moments like that or others where characters are being dumb that just takes me away from my immersion.

I can safely say that The Matrix is a good action movie that delivers on what is trying to do; however I don´t think it´s one movie that was meant to be having followups or comics based on it, it was a hit so sequels had to fallow and well... we´ll get to does when we get to does... until then just know that this movie on it´s own is a great action flick that is worth watching and you will certainly enjoy your time with it for what it is.

I know I did... I just don´t think is has amazing has my old classmates were saying, not then and not now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for Reloded, Revolution and Animatrix coming up soon

Remember to like me on Facebook!

Oh... and also you can now fallow me on Twitter!

Saving Mr. Banks Movie Review

It´s good, not great or mind blowing... but good...

The story of how the film Merry Poppins was made is one that I don´t think has been dramatized before, and for all the things that Walt Disney did in his time, this is one movie I can think plays with the Disney man himself very well. I really don´t know how to address the movie really... it´s just good, I did liked it and I find myself relating to some of the main characters even if there were moments where scenes that are meant to be funny fall flat or some of the back flash backs failed to really hook me like they were trying to.

I do believe it was interesting how they shown Disney himself at times, there is one scene where he is drinking and smoking... that was really interesting and kinda unexpected...

By the end of the movie I just said "it´s ok" I don´t think is a great movie especially by the way it ends; I don´t know just how accurate it is to the actual making of this movie... but I am willing to bet they took plenty of liberties.

Why you should try Dragon Age Inquisition and give Bioware a chance...

I have been fallowing the development process of Dragon Age Inquisition has close has I possibly can; for the looks of it, it seems to be a great game, now of course part of my enthusiasm is because I am a fan of Dragon Age... hell Dagon Age Origins is one of my favorite games of all time, so you can guess that I am really looking forward to this game and I am very exited.

When I see the gameplay or feature videos showcasing the game itself and what it has to offer, I just have to read a little bit of the comment section to notice that, while there is indeed enthusiasm for Inquisition; there also is the significant group that criticize the game in multiple areas and not in the constructive and structured way... but in a destructive and malicious manner that show that the intentions behind this kind of comment there is nothing more than to cause pain and make a hostile accusation.

Granted there is a reason for people to feel bitter and even betrayed by Bioware... their latest titles haven´t really been meeting up to either the standards set by the company nor the expectations of their fans (just look at the reception for Dragon Age 2 and the reaction of fans to Mass Effect 3´s ending)... regardless of this missteps I can´t bring myself to either insult the people that work at Bioware neither be any less exited towards this game. I will take this small opportunity to talk about why you should give Bioware a chance and tryout Dragon Age Inquisition if you have lost your faith in the series or their work:

The Visuals: I personally am not a guy that would make a fuzz out of a video game if the graphics are not top notch or ultra realistic; of course I do believe is important for a game to look good... but that is called "presentation" and that is what I think Bioware is trying to get the game to have an impressive level of presentation and for it to be has clean has it can. All of the footage we have seen so far of the game is all in-game render, using the frost bite 3 engine is the right course of action and the best one they could use (frost bite 3 is also used on the popular Battlefield franchise since 3).

I think most RPG players don´t put graphics above everything else, but look at Dragon Age Origins for example... there the graphics look average at best; textures are muddy and blurry at times, some character models are alright although their textures do look subpar by today standards even if they look better than the environment´s... Dragon Age Inquisition looks not only improved but way better than the first two entries, not to mention that with the new hardware of the PS4 and Xbox One there is much more quality available in the visual department and of course sound.

The Gameplay: Inquisition´s presentations on gaming events have shown plenty of elements that make part of their big fantasy epic; for followers of the series it´s the same tactical combat of DAO where you command your companions the find the best strategy to defeat your enemies and exploit their weakness has well has the improvements added to DA2 with a much more hands-on approach to combat (though compared to DA2 is much more slower, but better for the feel of each impact). Customization is once again back to allow full control of the equipment that your character will have has well has that of your companions; this RPG element that was present on Origins was taken away in DA2 and with good reason, fans were not happy at all... people have gotten use to elements that DAO introduced and having this  being taken away from them is quite an issue... I know had that problem with DA2.

Not only is Bioware bringing this gameplay back in full, but they are making it feel much grander thanks to the work in animation and character model; this helps the game experience more than the common people think, by watching the game footage I can feel how each hit is impacting and hurting it´s target... how more realistic can you get in a computer game? maybe more, but for an open world RPG, this is a lot.

The Story: This is what Bioware is known for right? We know what Bioware can do with character development and interactions, not to mention the levels of motivation they can give the player with narrative elements is impressive; made so even more with interaction and choice. In Origins your character is tasked with defeating the darkspawn after being made a grey warden, is epic, romantic, thrilling and charming with a great cast of characters (if you recruit them of course)... DA2 on the other hand is one where the main goal is not clear exactly, you know who you are and what your status is has the story unfolds... there is an overarching story to fallow and to complete, but is hard to connect with your character when the dialog choices given to you don´t connect with what comes out of Hawk´s mouth, it really feels awkward. In DAI has the inquisitor you are in a social status that gives you a place of authority that others in the world don´t have, so from the get go you are in a position of power, but you are not without your goal and objective to fulfill; the vail that keeps the fade separated from Thedas has been torn asunder while the world itself is being consumed in total war, your position and status are exactly what the world need and is up to you and does who fallow you to save it.

It´s important to know that according to Bioware, this is the game they have "always wanted to make" since they created the franchise but they felt that Origins was the one they needed to make first to introduce the players into the world of Thedas (the different races, their cultures, religion, etc). While DA2 was actually codename to be released has "Dragon Age: Exodus" they wanted to make a bridge that connects both games together (Origins and Inquisition)... I think I understand what Bioware is trying to do artistically.

When you are telling an overarching story, you want the people to understand and feel that they are part of the world by slowly including them into the universe itself, I actually do believe that Bioware has done exactly that with this franchise.

The Character Creator: One aspect I have always loved about games like this is when they let you play has the character you want to be: you want to be an elf or a dwarf? you can be once again; DA2 did not allowed you to be other race than a human, that is a huge step backwards when compared to Origins where you could choose to be not only human but an elf or a dwarf has well... so when this elements are introduced to you, you don´t want to have does taken away. Inquisition have this problem being rectified but also adding to the mix the qunari race, that is much more interesting than you might think, specially for DA fans, because we have never gotten the chance to play has one let alone see a female qunari in any of the games before.

I know some people don´t like the idea of creating a character, they rather play has a pre-created protagonist and have his own motivations drive you has the player; however has someone who like to create characters myself and have him be the protagonist means a lot to me, it makes you feel more in the shoes of your protagonist. Dragon Age Inquisition is a role-playing game, you placed on the role of the character that YOU want to be and play out with your own choices having their meaning to you, for better or worst; makes a big difference to me has a player.

It´s Production: Did you know that Dragon Age Inquisition is the Bioware game with the longest pre-production process in the history of the company to date? What is pre-production? Just one of the most important processes when you are making any pice of entertainment like movies, video games, etc... is the part of the process where the team studies and analyze what is going to be the game itself, how are they going to do it, writing the story, making storyboards and much more goes into pre-production and is important stuff that will help the team to have a plan and a concrete idea of what is the final product going to be like.

I think this is important because for all the people saying that Bioware is being rushed by EA to release games before they are done (and yes they have, I don´t deny anything), then just look at the production time for this game being around 5 to 4 years in development, where games like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 got less than 2 years and hey if does games were good, imagine what this team can do with 5 whole years of development! Time during game development is so important... and it seems like EA has finally realized that time is exactly what massive RPGs like Dragon Age Inquisition exactly needs (not to mention the reputation of the company also helped then realize that).

Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3: I really want to talk about this games because I through heartily believe this games are not terrible or has bad like some people are saying; I have already made reviews for both of this games and I am sure I was clear on my thoughts however I will give my opinions on what they are... in quality we say.

I first want to talk about Dragon Age 2; yes is a tiny game, yes the environments are reused a lot, yes the story is less than stellar and yes the world becomes boring after 2 hours of straight gameplay... but was is a bad game? well no... I did enjoy my time playing it and my overall playtime clocked around 30 to 40 hours. It wasn't what I expected a sequel to Dragon Age Origins to be like but for what I got I can´t just call it a terrible game; the characters are memorable, the problems feel relatively genuine and the combat is improved and while it sure lacks on many of the things I came to like from Origins, is still a good game... just not great

Now I have to talk about Mass Effect 3; I am sure I have said before that Mass Effect 3 is in my opinion the best game of the Mass Effect trilogy, the characters are great, the story is great, the universe is interesting, the combat is fluid, the RPG elements are still there and oven expanded upon... If these are not the components of a great game, then I don´t know what is. Believe me, that when I got to the ending I hasten´t happy at all; it was incoherent, brought no closure to the story it presented, went against everything an ending to a story should have... however by the end of the game I don´t remember the way it ended but the journey, I remember the way the story played out more that the actual ending and while that of course is an important thing, (I´m not saying it isn´t) is what I ultimately remember about the Mass Effect Trilogy...

I will finish my thoughts with the fallowing: I am not trying to convince anybody of anything since you are the consumer with the money and you choose what you want to do with it, this is me trying to say why I believe that Bioware deserve to be given another chance with Dragon Age Inquisition because the negativity surrounding the release of this game is quite overwhelming being almost on par with the hype from the fans of the series.

Bioware has made a lot of mistakes in past, but I think is unfair to have all the blame placed only on the company when their time schedules are blame of their EA overlords... I say it´s better that we wait for the release of the game to give the judgement that every pice of media deserves and instead of buying it day one and complaint, you should wait a while for the reviews to come in and then decide if it´s something that you will enjoy and dedicate time to enjoy it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fallow me of Facebook to keep up with my activities and projects!

Sayonara!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Movie Review

This is it the last Potter movie in the franchise, Part 2 of "Deathly Hallows" the film that wraps up every loose end in the series and gives a conclusion to this worldwide phenomenon... I gotta say, the movie does end on a good note and there is pretty much every every loose end tied up.

One thing I can say for certain is that the movie is actually quite short, or at least felt like it went by very fast, the final duel between Harry and Voldemort (I doubt I am spoiling anything here... is in every single trailer for the movie) felt like it lasted less than 3 minutes; not to say it had to last 20 minutes either but I do was expecting to see something has exiting has the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort from "Order of the Phoenix"... something with more bite: instead of just an exchange of lightning bolts for a few minutes an actual battle of two powerful wizards casting various spells against one another!

The whole movie does take place pretty much for the time of the battle of howarts, witch is the main event, and there is a lot going on witch is great to see... even if we can´t truly witness everything, it does capture the essence that howarts is being torn apart and students are dying left and right, it is a very dark picture in contrast to the first films... but it is what they were building up to in the last 4 movies pretty much. The biggest moment was the reveal of Snape´s backstory and his real motivations throughout the whole series, even if the movies gave a little bit away every time about his past (specially in HP1, 3 and 5) and already created speculations; I guess it works because the most crucial points of his motivations are save till this very moment, even if the whole story is not really detailed like in the books; you end up filling for the men and will grow to even respect Severus much more has a character because of that.

The whole crew really seemed to had a ball while making this movie and even if I don´t really believe that it is the best, it is a worthy conclusion to the Potter saga, one that in my opinion worked very well for the kind of emotion they wanted to get from people... even if I find a few plot elements inconsistent or just plain ridiculous, fortunately none of that really dragged me away from the experience.

"Deathly Hallows" in general was pretty good and it is one of the best from the later dark films,  by the end you really feel like you got to know the characters and connected with them at some points, maybe not all of them, but yes at some level at least.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well... that concludes my series of reviews of the Harry Potter saga; I had a lot of fun watching this movies, even if some of them were... less than stelar to put it nicely; I have rewatched these movies again since I last saw then in theaters and it is without a doubt one of the biggest generation marking franchisees of all time because of how many kids have read the books and watch the movies with a passion... and I am sure JK Rowling is proud to know that her story got such a recognition.

If you sticked with me till the end of this marathon, than I hope you enjoyed reading through my posts and I am sure you have your own opinions; if you disagree with me... that´s alright, we all like different things for different reasons... right?

Thanks a lot for coming!

Suscribe to my Facebook page to keep up with the updates on my projects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Movie Review

I often hear fans saying that part 1 is more of a "filler" for the grand finale... and although I do believe this is correct, I appreciate the slow phase and seeing the actual storytelling elements unfolding naturally much more than in "Half-blood Prince" without any dumb romance getting in the way.

Harry, Ron and Hermione are now on the run because of Voldemort's relentless hunt for Harry who is also hunting down Voldemort's horocroxes, the source of his invincibility... is all a race against time to find all the pieces and end the dark lord before it's too late.

I like this movie quite a bit, is much more quiet and slow than the other Potter films, but I mean that in a good way; while this is not exactly what I would expect of a Potter film, it's definitely what it needed if you ask me. A fresh setting, a particular trek, core characters doing what they have to do, the feeling of danger lurking around every corner... it's all making the movie different yet thrilling.

This is when JK Rowling herself stepped in has producer for both parts of "Deathly Hollows", maybe her intervention did help a lot the movie to feel more like the story Rowling pictured in her book; is a minor thing maybe considering that she wasn't directing the movie specifically, but a producer is a high position to be in during the making of a film... so she must have gotten her influence across in some way.

I won't argue with anyone who comes to me and says that this movie is slow, because it is, but I do insist that this is what we needed after the clumsiness of the last film, the story does indeed move forward, the characters are behaving in the way I expected; the danger is genuine and is just an overall solid movie... with a big open ending but well of course is gonna end with a cliff hanger right?