Inception Review

"What is the most resilient parasite? An idea" - Dom Cobb, Inception

Inception is a film directed by critically acclaimed director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige). The movie revolves around the lead character, Dom Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) and his expert ability at theft and extraction. Though, he is not stealing from any bank or museum. He is an expert in the field of subconscious. In order for this to work, the dream needs to be created by an architect, someone who is working with Cobb, and the subject needs to fill the dream with their subconscious. And in turn, their secrets. Sound a bit complex? Well, it gets better. To return to his family Cobb must perform Inception, which is the reverse of what he normally does. Instead of going in and extracting, he is going in and planting. He is planting an idea that will grow into something more.

Inception's only flaw that I realized was it's slow start. While it does perfectly set the stage and allow the rest of the movie to go in freefall (joke to the movie, you will get it when you see it), it does get a bit taxing on an average viewer. However, it all plays out well in the end. Exceptionally so, as a matter of fact.

Inception is an intelligent, amazingly done original idea that is a gem in an otherwise unoriginal film industry. The story is complex, but you will understand it if you think about it for a moment during the movie. That is probably where this movie shines; making the viewer think. The movie feeds off of confusion, often making you feel like you are in a dream.

The movie's whole idea, entering dreams and then entering dreams within dreams, is an incredibly smart and oddly logical idea that allows for a multitude of different film moments. And these moments are memorable and amazing. The film takes what people already know about dreams, like dreams seemingly longer than the time passed in the real world, only remembering a dream from a certain point, ect and make it into fact and utilize the fabric of the confusion and unknown elements. It sets the stage for a truly epic film with many moments for me to talk about.

The diversity in the sets is astounding and all are well down. It goes from thick in the city, to a rain drenched chase, to a snowy mountain top, to a desolated city. The story arc for the lead character is good, but predictable, but often draws a reaction from the entire crowd (such as when a certain woman shows up here and there). The movie also takes enough unexpected turns to not remain boringly predictable, which is also good.

Now, for the actual directing. The way dreams are portrayed against the real world and the way the time is compared is simply genius. The effects of the real world on the dream end up being some of the best cinematic moments in recent films, the one standing out the most being "The Hallway Scene" (which actually doesn't involve Cobb at all). I do not know how Nolan did it, but gravity constantly shifts fluently and in one shot, all while one of the support characters fight off enemies to protect his colleges. They go from ceiling to wall, to ground to room, to floating to wall, and all manners of amazing shots. The movie is just pure excellence. I don't want to give away too much, so I am afraid I will have to cut the review short. Just know the movie is interesting, intelligent, well acted, and diverse. See this movie.

Inception: 9.5/10
Recommend? With every fiber of my being
Live up to the Hype? Yes
See it Now or Later? Right now
Theater or DVD? Theater

Crackdown 2 Review

Crackdown 2 is, in short, a guilty pleasure. It is a game that I describe as very "gamey". You can tell it is a game when you can jump and maneuver yourself around a corner to get somewhere you're not supposed to reach yet. You can tell it is a game when you stand on something you're supposed to be shimmying on so that you can jump up higher. You know it is a game when you can go off a ramp with a jumping SUV and make it do a barrel roll or a front flip with the right analog stick. Crackdown 2 is a game; one that offers unconditional fun and multiplayer action.

Crackdown 2 picks up where the first game left off, which isn't saying much because both games have next to no storyline, providing some at the beginning and then some at the end (for the most part). But then again, I suppose this game goes back to the purpose of games and the original reason for which they are mad: fun interactive entertainment. With an industry that has recently seen a number of games that attempt to bring cinematic aspects and dark themes (Heavy Rain, PS3) as well as ones that attempt to play the mind (Alan Wake), it is a nice break to leave the solo soul-searching trek to some unadulterated and moronic fun. Who doesn't like smashing people with a car or running zombie creatures over for points? I know I sure as hell do.

It is also a nice change from what has dominated the multiplayer aspect for consoles. First Person Shooters like Halo 3, Modern Warfare 2, and Battlefield Bad Company 2 have seemingly monopolized the online aspect (for platforms) for as long as I can remember. Crackdown 2 offers multiplayer fun. You and four of your friends can rampage through the game with superhuman strength and cars than can scoop innocent commuters off the road. It is fun, and the game has a lot of replayability. However, the game is held down by other aspects.

The game lacks things to do. What you can do normally consist of remedial tasks that involve you clearing Pacific City (I suppose the New York City of the game) of one of two enemy groups. That said, it is fun to do, but once you begin to do it, there are less things to occupy your time in the game. As you progress through the "campaign" mode, there are less and less enemies for you to plow your vehicle through or throw your vehicle at. And once all is said and done, there honestly is not a lot to do. This was not a good decision to make in a combat-driven game. Especially when (after a certain point) you can walk through rockets blasting into you and punch the dude in the face, making the enemies not so dangerous anymore. This leaves me to wonder if the game scales according to how many of the four available co op slots are filled. I went through the entire game with one of my friends and we demolished the entire thing. Now, how much easier would it be with four people? Time will tell.

One thing I must say though is that the game missed a plethora of good story twists and possibilities, as well as a few gameplay opportunities.


My Consensus: Crackdown 2 is a game that is fun while it lasts. It offers silly fun throughout and remains fun for some time. But if you are looking for things to do later in the game, you will be hard pressed. There are a few technical issues, but nothing that should largely be worried about. The game is at it's best online with friends.

Crackdown 2: 8/10
Recommend? Yes
Live up to the Hype? Is as expected
Buy or Rent? Rent

The Last Airbender Review

Regardless of excellent source material, amazing sets, good cinematography, and music to fit the scale, The Last Airbender is a movie that just plain sucks. There are so many things wrong with the film, that it is difficult to enjoy it even going into it with low expectations. M. Night Shyamalan has wrecked yet another beautiful vehicle.

There are four nations: The Fire Nation, Water Nation, Earth Nation, and Air Nomads (wtf, nomads?). The Fire Nation has declared war on the other three nations and the only one that can stop them is the Avatar; The only being who can master all four elements in the art of Bending (controlling an element) and the only one who can travel between the Spirit World and reality. Pretty solid plot, right? You would be surprised how Shyamalan can mess things up.

The film is based on the insanely popular nickelodeon show "Avatar: The Last Airbender". The tv show, which is aimed at kids but can very well be enjoyed by adults on a separate level, is a marvel in itself. The backdrop of the story, the world, and the characters are all very interesting and unique. Each character has a flaw they must overcome in their own way, and the show ties in themes that aren't present in most shows today. While it is geared towards kids with low attention spans, there are many elements that take the show deeper, making it one of my top five shows of all time. But none of these are present in Shyamalan's adaptation. The movie is shallow and heartless, which betrays the very things that made the show so great.

What kills me is that the movie had so much potential. The sets were creative and just flat out amazing, the music was great, the costumes were top notch, and the acting was bearable. There are two things that made this movie crash. Two things that worked together to make the movie a running joke. Two things that caused the sets to be wasted, and money to be lost.

The script and pacing. The script was terribly shallow, silly, and overall just bad. But is it really a surprise, seeing how Shyamalan wrote his own script? And then there is the pacing. The show spans twenty episodes (about 9 hours), while the movie is an hour and a half.

Really Shyamalan?

The show, unlike a lot of shows, does not have a lot of filler. In nearly every episode, a significant event occurs. There is so much content, so much history, and so much development, I am wondering why the movie was shorter than most of the other movies playing at the time. The movie tries to sell itself off as an epic, but an hour and a half just doesn't do it. The scenes are weak, then they are short, which normally leaves one laughing at the end of it. There are also terrible excuses to give insight to the world, even going as far as pulling a random character aside to tell the story of Zuko; a prince who is trying to regain his honor.

Up until the last fifteen minutes of the movie, it is all exposition. Major events that happen in the movie normally lack any good reason for them to happen. The 'reasons' didn't even seem like reasons at all, they seemed more like an excuse to take an epic section from the show and put it into the movie. Even the finale (which was good, I admit) didn't have a good reason to happen. The reasoning, the drive, and explanations that appear in the show just aren't present in the movie, making it an incoherent fail.

There is also the lack of build up, which makes a few of the key points in the movie feel like they are just there. What is supposed to be a 'holy crap!' twist (which appears in the show), it turns out to be a 'Oh...ok'. Most of this is caused by an abysmal script and terribly paced story. Often times through the movie, I wondered why the director would make decisions as he did. I mean, he isn't Uwe Boll; Shyamalan doesn't bleed stupidity like him. I will give Uwe Boll this though: he is consistently bad. If I had been told "oh yeah, Uwe Boll is making a 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' movie", I wouldn't of gotten my hopes up at all. But Shyamalan is a cruel man; he makes a good movie, then a bad one, then a good one, then a few bad ones. Then my optimism gets the best of me.

While I appreciate what Shyamalan tried to do, he is just an idiot when it comes to this. In the show, there are forms to bending (similar to martial arts). And, naturally, the harder the form, the more advanced the bending. But Shyamalan said 'to hell with that!'. He says 'lets do interpretive dance instead!'...ok, Shyamalan, I will let you do that. But when it takes five people six movements to throw a (small) rock, then one man one movement to shift a giant slab of earth, thats when I say enough. The bending in the show is awesome, innovative, and outside of the box, but Shyamalan doesn't seem to be able to think outside of the box in this regard. The bending in the movie is largely lame (except a certain bit of water bending in the finale) and it isn't present enough. You can see pretty much every fight scene between all the trailers, and in these fight scenes are long moments of nothing. Which means that a lot of times, even though you are watching an action scene, there isn't much action.

This movie just fills me with a rage known only too Twilight (until now). If Shyamalan does make another Last Airbender, he better pray that he fixes his act.

I will riot.

The Last Airbender: 4/10
Recommend? No
Live up to the Hype? No