Book Review #11- The Legend of Drizzt: Homeland, by R.A. Salvatore

For the longest time, I heard the name R.A. Salvatore being thrown around by fantasy nerds, but never had any desire to check him out for myself.  That all changed when I played the game “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” whose major selling point was that its story and world were written by none other than Salvatore himself.  My interest finally piqued, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the first book in the series I had heard the most about: “Homeland” in the Legend of Drizzt series, and WOW, it was worth it!

For those who don’t know, R.A. Salvatore is a very well-known fantasy author who primarily writes stories set in pre-existing universes, most notably Star Wars and, in this case, Neverwinter.  Homeland sets the stage in the dark underworld of Neverwinter, the ridiculously large network of caves and caverns known as the Underdark.  A family of dark elves (referred to as Drow in this story) named House Do’Urden have set their sights on becoming the ninth most powerful family in the Underdark city, Menzoberanzen.  The key to their success is the sacrifice of their newest child, who is being born as the attack takes place.  But in an unexpected turn of events, the child is allowed to live, and is named Drizzt.  There is something different about Drizzt, though, as his family comes to realize as he grows up.  While he commands unequaled skill with weapons, he lacks the ferocity and cold hearted ambition his kind are known for.  Homeland details Drizzt’s life growing up, such as the cruel treatment of his wicked family, being trained at the Drow academy, and being sent on missions that test his resolve to remain above the Drow’s appetite for violence.

The first thing that I noticed while reading Salvatore’s work was how fast paced it is.  While other fantasy authors love to bog down the story with a truckload of details about the world its taking place in, Salvatore keeps the world building to a minimum.  While he does give you a clear explanation of how the Underdark looks and how Drow society functions, among other things, he does it quickly and simply, without bringing the story itself to a crawl.  Whether this is because he expects you to already know about the world (possibly by playing the Neverwinter games), or because he simply wishes to focus more on the events at hand than the setting, I’m not sure, but for some uninitiated to the world of Neverwinter before reading this book, I was never once confused by what was going on, even with the sparse amounts of detail given.  This, for me, is a huge plus seeing as how I usually end up putting down books like this because the story moves too slowly.

That being said, it is the characters that bring this story to life.  All of these characters, from Matron Malice, to Zaknafein, to Drizzt Do’Urden himself, have strong, believable personalities that are very fun to read.  In a world that almost worships the stoic lone wolf protagonists, Drizzt was a refreshing step away from the norm with his longing for friendship, reluctance to use violence, and all around innocent personality.  Of course, he can still kick some serious butt.  When he pulls out his twin scimitars, prepare yourself for some of the most entertaining fight scenes you’ll ever read!

I think the stark contrast between Drizzt and his family is the highlight of the book.  While the young Drow revels in his skills with the blade, he rejects Drow society to the point of being completely unable to comprehend their mindset.  While the reason for this is unclear, the lack of an explanation didn’t really hurt the story in my opinion.  And while the ending wrapped the story up satisfactorily, it left enough open ends for there to be a sequel… or in this case, more than twenty!  And if they all maintain the excellence that Salvatore has presented in Homeland, then I plan to read them all!

I give The Legend of Drizzt: Homeland a 9/10!

Movie Review #12- Death Race

I’ll admit, when I picked up Death Race for $5 out of the Wal-Mart bargain bin, I can’t say I was   And after viewing it, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised.  While it wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, it does more than a decent job at what it does.

expecting much.

Jensen Ames may just be the most unlucky guy on earth.  All in one day, he loses his job, his wife is murdered, he is framed for said murder, and is taken to the world’s most dangerous prison, where the attractive yet ruthless warden, Hennessy, hosts her world-renowned television event: Death Race.  Every year, her prisoners will race in cars armed to the teeth with deadly weapons.  Win five races and you go free.  Lose, and… well, they don’t call it Death Race for nothing.  Hennessy offers Ames a deal: her most popular racer, Frankenstein, was killed last year, and she wants Ames to stand in for him.  With four wins already under Frankenstein’s belt, if Ames can win one race, he will go free.  And so begins the brutal carnage of this action packed, and very adult oriented movie.

So, let’s start off with what the movie does best: the action scenes.  The best way to describe the Death Race is, “Mario Kart for grownups.”  If you’ve ever played the red plumber’s racing game, then you’ll be more or less familiar with the weapons-based racing of Death Race.  As the racers go around the track, manhole covers will light up, and depending on which one the driver goes over will unlock offensive weapons, like guns, defensive weapons, like oil slicks, or unleash a trap on the next driver.  This concept is put to very good use, and the violence levels go through the roof!  And the atmosphere during the races is dark and gritty, setting the perfect mood for some vehicular homicide.  I’m not usually one to get really worked up during movies, but I was practically biting my nails when Hennessy’s secret weapon, the Dreadnaught, was introduced, so you know the director was doing something right!

The acting was about as good as could be expected, given the type of movie this is.  They characters all played their parts well enough.  Jason Statham plays Jensen Ames, Tyrese Gibson plays Ames’ gangsta rival, Natalie Martinez plays Case, the obligatory hot sidekick, and Joan Allen plays the conniving Hennessy.  Out of all of the performances, I have to say that I bought into Allen’s the most.  I couldn’t help but despise the wicked, lying, cheating warden, and wanted nothing more than to see her get what was coming to her in the end.  But who actually watches these movies to see stellar performances from a cast of the world’s greatest actor?  You don’t, you watch it to see a bunch of beefed up men blow each other sky high in the world’s coolest cars!

There’s not much more I can say about Death Race.  While not a movie that will be remembered years from now, it serves its purpose as a high octane action flick.  Awesome car fighting scenes and good enough acting pull this movie through.  If you’re in the mood for some mayhem, give Death Race a try.  If you’re looking for something deep and involved, with an engaging plot, there’s nothing here for you.

I give Death Race a 7.5/10!

Death Race is rated R for: Strong Language and Violence.

Movie Review #11: Wreck-It Ralph

With huge titles like Hotel Transylvania, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, and The Lorax debuting, 2012 was a pretty great year for animated movies.  And to top it all off, we got to end the year with the best of them all, Wreck-It Ralph.  Made by Disney, but not by Pixar, Wreck-It Ralph is one of the most creative movies I’ve ever seen.  It stars the titular character Wreck-It Ralph, who has the unlucky job of being the villain of a classic arcade game called Fix-It Felix Jr. (which is a pretty obvious homage to the classic Donkey Kong game).  Despite his importance to the game, Ralph is hated by his fellow characters, which has forced him to live his life in loneliness.  When he finally gets fed up with his life, he leaves his game in order to prove that he is capable of doing something worth being appreciated.  The story is a lot of fun, and even becomes a bit dark towards the end with a twist that I thought was awesome.

First of all, I love this movie’s setting.  It’s similar to Toy Story in some ways, as it takes place in an arcade full of games whose characters will come to life every night when the store closes.  They are able to leave their games and travel through their power cords to the main power strip, which is depicted as being like a large train station called “Game Central Station,” which I thought was a very creative touch.  Lots of well-known video game characters make appearances, such as the Pac Man ghosts, M. Bison and Zangief from Street Fighters, Bowser from Mario, Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog, and many more.  There are even some indirect references to video games that you have to look for, such as “Aerith Lives” being graffitied on a Game Central Station wall.  I also love how video game villains will congregate for weekly meeting of what is basically Villains Anonymous- and in the center box of a Pac Man maze, no less.  Like I said, this whole movie is just oozing creativity.

The movie looks amazing as well.  It makes an effort to show the differences between classic arcade games and the newer, more graphically impressive ones.  Some of the older characters will move in jerky animations, and the newer characters will be designed with a higher level of detail.  What I wasn’t able to figure out, though, was why the main characters of titular game, Wreck-It Ralph and Fix-It Felix Jr., would move in smooth animations while the minor characters in the game would move in the aforementioned jerky animations, even though Ralph and Felix both move in the same sort of way in-game.

While on his adventure, Ralph visits two different games.  The first is Hero’s Duty, a light gun shooter clearly reminiscent of Halo..  The second game, where Ralph spends the majority of the movie, is Sugar Rush, a brightly colored racing game that looks like a mixture of Mario Kart and the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon.  Both of these worlds look amazing in their own way.  Hero’s Duty has a much darker color scheme, giving it a very cool scifi theme.  Sugar Rush is very Candy Land-ish, with bright cheerful colors, and everything being made out of candy.  Another thing I didn’t understand, though, was why Sugar Rush’s programmers went to the effort of programing rules into the game world that, as a racing game, the players would never be able to use.  Such as, when climbing candy cane trees, if you grab a double striped branch, it will vanish and send you plummeting back to the ground.  While it makes sense being in a video game world, it just doesn’t fit in this video game.

The voice acting is amazing in this movie.  There are always animated movies where you can listen to the character’s voices and just tell that it’s an actor reading his or her lines, but in this movie everybody really got into their roles perfectly.  John C. Reilly is the brutish yet kind hearted Ralph, Sarah Silverman plays Vanellope, Jack McBrayer voices Felix, and Jane Lynch does the voice of Sargent Calhoun.  These actors are all perfect for their roles, and it’s their voices that help the story make such an impact.  I could connect with these characters, even if sometimes they were on the verge of being ridiculous.

So, in the end, Wreck-It Ralph is an amazing movie.  While not quite perfect, it still shines bright as an example that I hope future movies take inspiration from.  A great story with a surprising twist at the end, fun characters, and amazing art, I can safely recommend this movie to anybody who enjoys animated films.  You don’t need to be a video game fan to enjoy it, though it definitely does help you understand some of the inside jokes.

I give Wreck-It Ralph a 9.5/10!

Video Game Review #8- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Well, now… What can I say about Ocarina of Time that hasn’t been said a thousand times before?  Widely renowned as the greatest game of all time, the first 3D Zelda game was definitely a groundbreaking title.  Between it and Super Mario 64, I’d say you have the two games that influenced gaming as we know it today.  So, what do I think about it?  Is it truly the greatest game of all time?  Well, no, not in my opinion.  That doesn’t mean it still isn’t a great game, though!  Read on for some more details.

So, first of all, the story.  It’s all pretty basic stuff.  In the magical land of Hyrule, a young boy named Link has been chosen by the goddesses to be the Hero of Time, the savior of the world.  When an evil king named Ganondorf sets his sights on conquering the kingdom, Princess Zelda entrusts Link with the titular Ocarina of Time, believing that doing so will prevent Ganondorf from gaining access to the Sacred Realm and acquiring incredible power.  But they don’t realize that their actions were exactly what Ganondorf was expecting, and they open the doorway to the Sacred Realm for him anyway.  Link goes to sleep for seven years, and awakens to find that Ganondorf, now known as the King of Evil, has all but destroyed Hyrule, and it’s his job to usurp him from the throne and restore the land to its former glory.  It sounds a bit complicated, but the story, while well told, is less intrusive than other story driven games, such as Final Fantasy.  Basically, it all boils down to “Gather the magical items, save the princess, beat the bad guy, save the world.”

The most instantly notable aspect of Ocarina of Time back at the time when it was first released was that it was no longer a two-dimensional game.  While the original Zelda game and Link to the Past were overhead adventure games, and Link’s Awakening was a sidescroller, Ocarina of Time was the first game in the franchise to boast 3D graphics.  While not nearly as visually stunning now as it was back then, it’s still awesome to see the characters and scenery you know and love transition from 2D sprites to fully fleshed out 3D models.

Which brings me to the main concept behind the game: time travel.  When Link opens to Door of Time, he awakens seven years later as a full grown man.  After beating the first temple, you are given the ability to freely switch back and forth between the present and past whenever you want.  Young Link’s world is happy and vibrant, while Adult Link’s world is in shambles- it has seen the worst and has adapted to it.  It’s awesome to see how characters you met in the past have changed in the future.  Perhaps the happy horse breeding ranch is now run by a jerk who only wants to make money.  Perhaps a person who used to be happy and very carefree is now solemn and brooding.  Perhaps some characters have even died!  This makes exploring the world a very fun task, because you’ll want to meet everyone you can so that you can see how the story’s events have affected them.  And the ocarina isn’t just used for time travel, you can also learn songs on it that will do various things for you.  Some of them will warp you to important locations, others will change what time of day it is, and others do less important things that will only be used once or twice.  And the way they incorporate playing the songs is unique as well.  While they could have easily just given you a menu to select which song you wish to play, they actually make you press buttons (or move the joystick) to play certain notes, thereby making you play the game yourself!  While this does add an extra element of immersion to the game, though, there were times when I wished that I actually could just select the song I want to play.  Having to manually press the correct buttons each and every time you want to play the song can get tiresome, but it never really becomes a problem.

The gameplay is, for the most part, done exceptionally well.  Something that threw me off the first time I played it was that there was no jump button, which has become a staple of the 3D Zelda games.  I quickly got over this, however, when I learned just how effective Link’s autojump mechanism was.  Simply run at a ledge, and Link will automatically jump when he reaches it.  His jumps are usually accurate, and he’s able to grab the side of the platform and pull himself up if you slightly misjudge the distance.  And the combat works great as well.  Instead of swinging your sword around willy-nilly, the game allows you to Z-Target your enemies, which is better known today as a lock-on function.  The biggest complaint I have with the game is how stiffly Link moves.  When running around a wide open area, this isn’t a problem at all, but when you’re on a narrow ledge, with a deep chasm on both sides, it becomes aggravating.  For one thing, you do not have manual control of the camera.  While you can readjust it to be directly behind Link, you can’t alter it any other way.  Couple this with the fact that oftentimes it’s difficult to get Link lined up exactly how you want him to be, and certain sections of the dungeons that require precise movement can become maddeningly difficult.  I remember one section in the final level that required me to guide Link across a narrow, twisting bridge that was only visible when I used a certain item.  Needless to say, I came to the point of cursing at my television several times while playing this section.

And the final piece of the puzzle is the soundtrack.  While the game lacks any voice acting (all the speech is done in text), the game still boasts some amazing music.  Every location of the game is given a different tune, and they all perfectly portray the mood that is needed.  Kokiri Woods sounds lively and playful.  Zora’s Domain is calm and peaceful.  Goron City has a primitive feel, being played all by drums.  The Shadow Temple theme made my skin crawl when I first heard it!  But nothing can beat the Hyrule Field theme, which is enough to make any couch potato want to leap from his seat and go exploring.

In the end, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has passed the test of time- pun intended.  While it’s graphics aren’t as mind blowing as they once more, and the controls feel a bit lacking at times, there’s no denying that this game is still fun!  While not entirely story driven, the narrative is still very entertaining.  While I can’t say that it lives up to the hype of it being the greatest game of all time, I can still safely say that it is ONE of the greatest.  And it helped spawn 3D video games as we know them!  That’s got to be worth something, right?

I give The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time a 9.5/10!

It should be noted that I played this game on the Wii with a Gamecube controller after downloading it off of the Wii’s Virtual Console.

Movie Review #10- The Tall Man

Wow, I’m not really sure what to say about The Tall Man.  I rented this movie from a Red Box thinking that it was going to be a fun, creepy slasher flick, reminiscent of the oh-so-popular Slenderman myths.  Was it what I was expecting?  No, no it wasn’t.  Was I disappointed?  Surprisingly, the answer is still no.

So, what is The Tall Man about?  That’s where things get tricky.  If I give away too much of the plot, I’ll take away the amazing surprises that it holds, but if I only tell you what the advertisements want you to know, you might go into this movie expecting something different than what the movie will bring you.  Well, the story takes place in a small mining town called Cold Rock.  The mine has been closed down, bringing the entire town to a state of poverty.  What’s more, it seems that a local legend known as the Tall Man is running amok once more, stealing children right out of their own homes, never to be seen again.  And I really have to stop there, because revealing any more would, as I said, ruin the surprises the movie has in store.

The Tall Man has some very convincing acting.  Jessica Biel plays the main role of a mother whose son has been kidnapped by the titular Tall Man.  I didn’t recognize anybody else in the cast, but they still played their roles well, ranging from the angry drunk, to the caring diner waitress, to the disgruntled cop.  You see some very real emotions fly around in this film, and at times you just can’t help but feel them along with the characters.

Honestly, there really isn’t a whole lot more I can say about The Tall Man.  The entire story is dependent on the twists that it throws at you, and you need to watch it without knowing what they are.  Those twists are what makes it into an amazing movie that is worth watching, with an ending that will shock you to your core, and not just another cheap horror b-movie.  Would I recommend The Tall Man?  Again, that’s difficult to say.  I loved the movie, but I went into it with the wrong mindset, so it was just sheer luck that I enjoyed it anyway.  It pains me to think of how many people walked away from this movie disappointed just because they were expecting something that it didn’t deliver.  I honestly can’t blame them, because that’s exactly what the movie wants you to think about it.  It lures you in pretending to be a horror movie, and then reveals that it is actually something quite different.

So, let me put it this way: if you want a scary slasher film, skip The Tall Man.  It’s not what it appears to be at first glance, and you’ll go into it expecting something you’re not going to get- and there’s no guarantee that you’ll enjoy it anyway like I did.  However, if you’re looking for a story filled with surprises and a genuinely surprising amount of depth, then I highly recommend The Tall Man.  I honestly wish I could provide a more solid way of recommending it to people, but it is what it is.

Based on my own personal experience with The Tall Man, I give it an 8.5/10!

The Tall Man is rated R for Violence, Terror, and Language.