Review - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

The Mission Impossible series returns for a fourth installment in what has always been a surprisingly solid bunch of films, the first and third in particular being quite good. Here the action and stakes are raised to even greater proportions but it's still not enough to save this movie from falling a little flat.

The plot here is thin, razor thin. Americans have Russian nuclear launch codes, they get stolen by a sexy mercenary lady, she's gonna sell them to a Russian terrorist and it's up to Tom Cruise and gang to stop them despite Ghost Protocol being invoked by the American government leaving the team disowned by their own country. But the movie doesn't touch of any of the political stuff, or even any sort of mystery or intrigue, it's purely a bunch of set pieces, with the plot driving the team from one to the next. Considering this is a spy movie that's a little disappointing.

The action is undoubtedly the highlight here and it mostly doesn't disappoint. The opening jail break scene is clever but not that exciting, the Dubai skyscraper scene on the other hand is excellent and quite exhilarating, the authenticity coming through and helping to create some genuine nerves and suspense. There's also some clever spy/stealth sequences, such as Cruise and Simon Pegg infiltrating the Kremlin or the team playing a switcheroo on the nuclear code buyers and sellers, all of which work well. The problem is that the plot is almost entirely forgotten about, it seems merely to exist to setup these situations.

Simon Pegg is his usual self in this movie, bringing nice comedic relief at times, almost highlighting the absurdity of the whole situation. Tom Cruise doesn't have much to do here, but he's definitely toned down the cockiness and is quite endearing throughout the film.

So there's quite a few strong points to the movie. What's the problem then? Well the whole lack of a plot thing is a big minus, some forced but weak character development doesn't help, and it is a tad long. The problem here is that the Hollywood trend of forsaking any sort of intelligent script for big brash action sequences continues. If you were to judge the movie on these individual sequences you would say it's quite good, but the fact that there's no plot around any of this except to link these scenes together is going to be a problem for intelligent film fans.


6/10

Gears of War 3 - First Impressions

Finally a reason to dust of the old Xbox 360 with the only exclusive series worth a damn on the Microsoft system. Whereas the Halo series has struggled on the 360, Gears of War has been the epitome of next-gen gaming. Even though PS3 has some great exclusive titles in Resistance and Killzone, Gears of War is the original and best. I've been a fan since day one and I've been eagerly awaiting the third installment for a long time now.

Having tonight played through the entirety of Act 1 on Hardcore, all I can say is that GoW3 has not failed to deliver the goods. The graphics are stunning, the refinements to the gameplay are small but noticeable, the action is non-stop and the controls are still best in show. What's also noticeable now is there seems to be a lot more depth, to the story telling and the characters. There's still a whole bunch of cheesy one-liners and wisecracks, but the guys at Epic are at least trying to add something more to this story.

The game begins with a flashback gameplay sequence of Marcus Fenix attempting to rescue his father. After this, we see the crew now living on a ship, and the obligatory gathering of the crew for a new mission. After the nice cinematic intro it's straight into the action, and it's all so familiar yet still nearly perfect in every way. The shooting in this game just feels so satisfying. The controls are tight and it all comes naturally.

What's interesting about the first Act is that first you play the Marcus Fenix portion, then half way though you switch over to Cole Train and play out his story, the events of which eventually culminate in the same climax. This gives the game some really nice locations to explore from the get go and the action is full on. Gore, explosions and non stop action. Gotta love it. But it also gives the game some time to explore the Cole Train character, as well as showing some of the survivors still dealing with the enemy. Again, the depth to the story and characters is very noticeable here.

The graphics are great. and while there is the odd stutter here and there during cut scenes or transitions, the gameplay sections are always smooth. It's a testament to Epic at just how much pride they take in their product and just how much juice they're able to squeeze out of the now ageing 360.

I can't wait to get back into this game and finish the rest of the campaign. And then all of the other modes as well. This game is jam packed.

The New 52 Review: Green Arrow 1 and Hawk & Dove 1

I'm going to group these two reviews together because neither of these issues is very good and I won't waste your time or mine dissecting it. Needless to say, both titles offer very little in quality or distinction.

Let's start with Hawk & Dove. This one at least has a redeeming quality in that it does have some interesting things regarding the overall DC Universe and it's new continuity. However, it is a little convoluted and rather un-exciting. The artwork is typical Liefeld and by that I mean totally rubbish. Now Hawk has always been depicted as a hulking beast so that's right up Liefeld's alley, but it all just screams the worst of the 90's. So why would you read Hawk & Dove? No idea really. And it seems neither do DC.

Now Green Arrow is at least a character people have heard of. They may even have some fondness for him from some great runs from Denny O'neil, Kevin Smith and Brad Metzler. Here J.T Krul goes for something different. Green Arrow is now the head of Apple, or something like that. Who cares. The supporting characters are lame. The villains are lame. The lame attempts at pop-culture significance are lame. Green Arrow was alright in my books. Not sure I'm liking where this is going.

The New 52 Review: Swamp Thing #1

I'm not your typical fanboy. I don't get up in arms about continuity. I just want awesome comics. So I'm open minded about things which I think is exactly what DC Comics wants, so let's give them a shot. How does the new Swamp Thing stand up?

I love the Alan Moore Swamp Thing. But that's been and gone, and I'm interested in seeing where else the character can go. The big news is that Swamp Thing is back in the DC Universe, although the appearance of Superman in this issue feels a little shoehorned just to emphasize the point.

We meet Alec Holland, developing memories of a Swamp Thing. Superman drops in on him to see what's going on and talk about it all. The dialogue here is very good and supplies a lot of depth to the narrative without feeling like it's all exposition. Meanwhile, there's the Swamp Thing side of things and here it's a story of some archeologists who run into a neck-snapping foe. It's not the best origin story but where writer Scott Snyder succeeds is by mixing the Alec Holland story with a side story This side story brings some much needed horror overtones to the comic.

It appears that Swamp Thing and Alec will be two separate characters, at least for a little while, and it's an interesting way to look at the character. If the darker tone is maintained this will be a fun book.

The artwork is again excellent. DC are delivering the goods art wise on a lot of these new issues and it's good to see. I'm definitely excited for the next one in this series,

The New 52 Review: Detective Comics #1

It doesn't look like much of a reboot for Batman so far. I haven't been keeping up with the mythos for a long time now but this seems like a well written Batman story plain and simple. Is it good? Even very good? Yes, but with all the excitement regarding the reboot the lack of surprise in this title is somewhat disappointing.

So what we have here is a a strong Batman story. The fact that it's also the origin story for the Batman taking on the Joker helps to enhance what may have otherwise been far more pedestrian Batman fare. This title tries to hark back to classic Batman tales of yesteryear and it pulls it off well, but it's a little more nostalgic than original. The problem here is that it's not that hard to write Batman well. The cliffhanger ending promises intrigue and I'm hoping it delivers.

Yep...that's Batman alright.

The artwork here is a little up and down, some beautiful gory and grimy scenes are contrasted with iffy panels throughout. The Joker just doesn't look right on a few pages. I'm interested to see where this goes, and this is the saving grace for this relaunch, the fact that people will be giving the books a while to settle in before deciding whether to stick with it or not.