Cinema Corner: Exodus: Gods and Kings

It’s been a while since I last wrote a review, with my exam period over I had some time to visit the cinema and catch up with some movies that I had initially missed out on. Last week I had the opportunity to see the latest Ridley Scott biblical epic and the new Disney Marvel animation Big Hero 6. This review, as stated in the title, is going to be about the former. I was originally surprised at the quiet release of this movie, well around my area that is, I was skeptical of this movie as well based on the reports about the ‘whitewashing’ of the movie; i.e. the majority of the main cast being Caucasian. I would address that later in this review. But I have to say I enjoyed the movie overall, the acting and the visual effects both worked perfectly. It took some time but I was finally able to see Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton as Moses and Ramses. This is my personal review, you may not totally agree with me, but please remember subjectivity is key. There are a couple of minor spoilers.

“A game of biblical thrones”

xxxMINOR SPOILERS AHEADxxx

The movie is mostly adapted from the Bible, particularly the chapter of Exodus. It follows the life of Moses as he grows up in the family of the Egyptian royalty and eventually follows his exile and his quest to liberate his Hebrew brethren who have been subject to slavery under the Egyptian regime, through the help of God. The movie deals with themes of spirituality, oppression, liberation and more. Moses was able to carry out his mission to free his people through the help of God. This was another interesting dynamic to me cause I was curious to see how Ridley Scott was going to portray the image of God. The childish representation used in the movie actually resonated with me as I could see how truly frustrated God would be to see his people be continually oppressed for so long. It also made me think of the jealousy of God, which in my opinion made sense, as I could imagine the annoyance to see one’s own creation behave in such bizarre and uncouth manner like the Egyptian did. Another thing I really loved about the movie was the portrayal of the 10 plagues, which were captured beautifully and albeit realistically with some really good and practical display of the plagues which were hilariously explained scientifically by a character from the movie adding some plausible logic behind the plague. The effects jumped right out of the screen and felt really captivating. I saw the movie in 3D and the plague with the flies did make me a bit queasy as I felt like the flies were in the cinema.

“Who let the toilet overflow again”

Now that I have spoken about some of my pros about the movie, I would like to talk about some cons, firstly I did not really like the pacing of the movie, as it felt like a drag at times particularly after Moses’ exile. The movie slowed down to quite a halt during Moses’ shepard years. There was also some lacking character development in some characters namely Joshua( who was played by Aaron Paul) and Aaron, the latter being Moses’ blood brother. agreed the story wasn’t mainly about them, but it would have been nice to see more fleshed out personalities from them. As a Christian myself, I have read the book of Exodus a couple of times and I know how much personality that both Joshua and Aaron have. These were my major cons with the movie. Concerning the ‘whitewashing’I must say I was also very peeved initially with the casting choices for the movie, but after some while I was able to see Christian Bale as Moses, a man conflicted by his beliefs and desire for justice and sanctity and Joel Edgerton as Ramses,  a brat of a king with the personality of a man child. Although most of the slaves in the movie were portrayed by Egyptian actors, I could see why Ridley Scott would cast the popular actors like Bale and Edgerton, given the fact that this was a very expensive movie to produce with a budget nearing 150 million dollars, it stands to logic that one would use the faces of popular actors in order to sell the movie and besides Charleton Heston(a Caucasian) also portrayed Moses previously in the Ten Commandments. Although I would have preferred Egyptian actors to play the parts of Moses and Rameses, I quite understand why they were played by these A-list actors. With all this been said, principally found the movie to be entertaining and I would like to see other biblical stories and chapters done on this epic scale like the book of Joshua and Judges. Overall I give this movie a 7 out of 10. Have you see the movie? Let me know what you thought about the movie in the comment section?

“Where is my bat suit when I need it”

PROS

• Epic scenery:- The movie truly felt epic and grande, the battle scenes were well done and perfectly shot and the plagues were well represented and showcased.
• Gorgeous landscapes:- The Egyptian empire was shown with awesome flamboyance and beauty.
• Strong lead cast:- Despite my initial cynicism, the lead actors really held their own and showcased their characters well.
• Accurately portrayed plagues:- The plagues did feel very real and devastating just as they were described in the bible.

CONS

• Slow second act:- The movie crawled a bit for me during some moments in its second act
• Poorly developed secondary characters:- Other characters like Joshua and Aaron were not given enough personalities.
• Little whitewashing effect:- Despite the lead actors delivering amazing performances, some of the actors were unconvincing as Egyptians like John Turturro and Sigourney Weaver.

What are your thoughts? What were your opinions on the ‘whitewashing’ in the film? I have also been working on developing my own YouTube channel were I would be reviewing movies and videogames and talking about other things. Once my channel is completely set up, I would let you know where to find me and follow me. Stay tuned for my Big Hero 6 review. Till next time. Szia.

“Well tell Moses to stop hiding my mascara”

Watchdogs: Impressions

As an avid video gamer, I have played tons of exciting and mind blowing games ever since my conception. Although I’m a picky casual gamer, as there are a lot of genres that I don’t really play. 2014 saw the release of various games and also saw the popularity boost of the next gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox one. A particular game that I had been anticipating ever since the initial announcement in the E3 2013 was the Ubisoft sandbox shooter Watchdogs. A third person shooter that introduces a new aspect of gameplay in a form of hacking. The game follows a linear mission gameplay style but it also has an open world exploration in which the player can roam freely and trigger side missions and engage in side activities. Players can roam the entire landscape of Chicago, although story progress is required to unlock certain aspects of the game. I have played the game for quite some time now and I would like to point out my own pros and cons of the game. As for the matter on the game being overrated, that’s all subjective. I would try to avoid major spoilers and give detailed points. In light of the widow that recently acquired $23bn in a lawsuit against a cigarette company, let’s get it on.

"I'm watching you"

STORY
The story follows that of Aiden Pearce, a hacker and vigilante whose most recent job puts his life at risk and causes the death of his niece. Aiden then results to finding out the person responsible for ordering a hit on him, just to discover that he is part of a larger network of murders, vices and conspiracies that he slowly drags himself into. The story itself is pretty basic, not as complex as other triple A titles, but it was engaging enough to interest me. I found the main protagonist, Aiden Pearce to be a bit boring in comparison to other main protagonists of other free roam games. His motive seems to be to find justice for his niece’s murder, but his demeanor is cold and one dimensional. Although some of the supporting characters were really interesting like T-Bone, a hacking mechanic and Jordi Chin a fixer that helps Aiden from time to time with problems.

"You killed my niece, now I'm gonna go Batman on your ass"

GAMEPLAY
The overall gameplay was very decent, the game utilizes a cover based shooting mechanic much similar to games like GTA and Gears of War. Stealth is another impressive feat that works really well, I found it very reliable and fluid, once the player is in a restricted zone, Aiden automatically assumes a crouching position and can take out multiple enemies with close quarters takedowns. Although the lack of an actual crouch or jump button is pretty frustrating, it causes issues like having to walk around an entire mountain side simply because the player could not jump over a ridge. Enemy AI is very responsive as well, during a shootout, enemies will constantly flank the player and even lob grenades to flush the player out of cover. Enemies will also respond to fallen bodies that they see lying around making them very alert of their surroundings. The heat system is also pretty convenient, whenever the player commits a felony, a nearby pedestrian can call for the cops, the player has a limited time to interfere with the call and prevent the cops by either taking them down or jamming their comms( which I will elaborate on in the next topic). The police are pretty aggressive and will try to ram the player’s car continuously, but the cops can be impeded by hacking various interactive objects like road blockers and steam pipes. The enemy class is not so diverse, the major enemies are the enforcers which cannot be taken out with a regular gun, only with explosives. Driving in the game is pretty arcade, as the different classes of cars basically function similarly in the sense that all heavy cars basically function the same way but differently from all sports or high performance cars, which also function in the same way. The driving mechanics can be very light at first, especially for hardcore racing fans, but after some time it gets better. Unfortunately players cannot use their weapons while driving which is a real bummer especially when trying to evade the cops.

"Why does it have to be so cold?"

HACKING
Hacking plays a very crucial aspect in the game, the player’s in game smart phone is his most powerful tool, his phone can be used to hack blockers and steam pipes in order to cripple enemy vehicles and can also cause blackouts that can be helpful at night times to evade pursuers on foot. Hacking is also crucial in opening up gates to shortcuts, accessing databases and many more. There are this side activities called intrusions where players have to hack an access panel that leads to an NPC’s webcam and can monitor what the person or persons are doing. This provides some really hilarious moments. Hacking panels at times require the player to play a mini game that involves the direction of currents(similar to pipe turning games) to unlock the final lock. They are not too hard and tasking, and are very enjoyable to play through. Hacking also enables the player to be able to profile civilians revealing their personal information, some of which are hilarious like an HIV positive person that happens to be a blood donor. Profiling civilians also helps the player to hack their bank accounts, siphoning hundreds of dollars from the unsuspecting victims(an aspect of the game I wish I could have on my real phone). Although hacking and siphoning cash from civilians ensures that the player can never go broke which takes away some of the excitement and hustle other games like GTA provide. There are these random occurring events that happen and requires the player to intervene with local crimes like mugging, the player can either hack civilians for potential mugging locations or can come across them while exploring the city. Hacking is by far the best aspect of this game.

"To hack or not to hack"

ACTIVITIES
There are tons of activities to keep the player engaged even after completing the main story. There are intrusion boxes as earlier stated, criminal convoys that can be intercepted and taking down before they reach their destination, gang hideouts to wipe out. There are other benign activities like chess, an awesome drinking game segment that tests the player’s button mashing skills and a shell game that tests the player’s eye coordination. My best side activity would have to be the digital trips, which are like cybernetic psychedelic trips that place the player in bizarre worlds with awesome gameplay, one of which is the Spider Tank, the player assumes the role of a giant mechanical spider armed with weapons and is tasked with completing objectives and causing mayhem. Another is Madness, which requires the player to run over demons while driving around in a rugged muscle car while completing objectives, the last two are Alone and Psychedelic, which are stealth and image inducing games respectively. Other side activities include ctos breach and QR codes which primarily involve speed hacking and image alignment respectively. Overall the side activities were very engaging and they kept me entertained long after I had finished the main story.

Say hello to my massive arachnid inspired friend

ONLINE
As for the online aspect, there are six main game modes, Online Roam, which puts up to eight online players in a free roam Chicago to wreck havoc and have unlimited fun, Online Tailing, which involves a player following and silently monitoring another player while avoiding detection, Online Hacking is also similar to Tailing, the difference being that the player has to hack the other player to a 100% in order to install a backdoor virus in secrecy whilst avoiding detection as well. Online Mobile Challenge, this mode requires a player using a tablet or smartphone who gains access to the entire grid of Chicago and access to the police force as well, they hack and disrupt objects around another player in a car whose goal is to get to the finish line under a time limit. Online Decryption, which is one of my favorites, in which two teams consisting of a maximum of four players must battle each other in order to decrypt a file and Online Racing, which is my favorite so far, is your typical racing match with a maximum of eight players with an added twist of hacking obstacles to impede one’s opponents. The online modes are engaging enough although there are bugs that frustrate the experience like in the Online Racing, traffic spawns cars randomly that can appear out of nowhere and obstruct the driver or lagging in the game can lead to a messy game session. Overall it’s a nice experience, just the annoying bugs that need tweaking. The online modes also has a notoriety system that grades the player based on performance, but it is very confusing as I find myself winning some races and getting less points than the runner ups.

Stevochy is my online ID, the points don't make any sense

CONCLUSION
Overall I must say that Watchdogs is an interesting game with tons of activities to keep the player engaged for at least 30 to 40 hours. I do like the fact that the game utilizes the concept of surveillance and privacy invasion, which are the most controversial topics in our modern society. A couple of minor issues prevent the game from achieving greater heights, but it is worth a purchase at full price. Many people have compared it to GTA V which is normal but GTA V is still superior in my opinion, both games do have different playstyles overall and the major similarity is the fact that they are both third person shooters. I enjoyed my time with Watchdogs and I look forward to more contents. As for the graphics on different consoles, I don’t really know, as my version was on the PlayStation 4. If you have played the game, please feel free to comment on your favorite and least favorite aspects of the game in the comment section and list out some points that I may have missed out. I recommend the game to those who haven’t acquired it yet. This has been my experience with Watchdogs. Till next time. Szia.

They are watching

PROS
-Good stealth gameplay
-Superb hacking abilities
-Dynamic and interactive environment
-Engaging side activities
-Satisfying enemy A.I.

CONS
-Lack of jump or crouch button
-Lack of vehicular combat
-Too easy access to cash
-Frustrating online resolution bugs
-Confusing notoriety points system

Game of Thrones S04E01 review

Okay so this is a new addition to my blogosphere and this is mainly due to the return of the medieval fantasy tv drama. I planned on doing this also for The Walking Dead but the fourth season had gone for a while before the thought occurred to me. Just to clarify, this is a totally subjective approach to the episode that aired on Sunday. Feel free to comment and air your own opinions. And oh one more thing.
xxxSPOILERS AHEADxxx

The episode starts off with a cold open on a rather sombre note as we see Tywin Lannister unsheathing a huge ass sword which belonged to none other than the noble Ned Stark. He orders it to be smelted into two blades. Then the awesome intro plays. Jaime Lannister is back at Kings Landing, however not in one piece, he is missing his trusty right palm following the events of the past season. However Jaime is met with such lukewarm welcome from both his father and sister/lover, the latter citing that he was wee bit too tardy in his return.

"I should be a Bond villain"

Then there is everyone’s favorite imp, Tywin Lannister who is trying to uphold his diplomatic skills which no one regards, the episode also introduces us to a Dawnish Prince, whose name I have a hard time pronouncing, and who has a personal vendetta against the Lannisters and who might also be one of my favorite characters yet. Skip to Daenarys and her dragons that are now human size and still do not play well with others including the Khaleesi herself, she seems to be on her way to conquer another city. Back to our favorite imp, Tywin can’t seem to make peace with his newly wedded bride, Sansa who we can’t honestly blame for being in a sore mood, we leave off with Tywin and Shae and their possibly doomed affair, as a spy is seen eavesdropping on them.

"Hey mom, when can we see Smaug our big brother"

Over the wall, we can see the wildlings planning their attack on the Knightswatch, we see them join alliances with a cannibalistic horde. Back at the wall, we see Jon Snow facing the council of the Knightswatch who have accused him off treason, which Jon merely counters with his knowledge of their plans, at least he knows something now.

He knows something now

My favorite part of this episode must definitely be the scene with Arya and the Hound, we start to see Arya embrace the darkness and evolve into a more violent and mature person, which she displays with utmost precision when she takes the life of the guy that killed her friend earlier on in the previous season. This episode also shows the extreme love that the Hound has for chicken. The only pet peeve I had with this episode was the change of the actor that plays the character Darrio, I felt like the actor from the previous episode fitted the role more in comparison to the current actor, but there are more episodes to come for me to adjust to the new actor. In a nutshell, this was a fantastic season premiere that didn’t waste any time in jumping right back into the action and drama that we’ve all be anticipating. I give the season premiere a solid 5 out of 5. It got me pumped for the next episodes. What were your thoughts on the season 4 premiere. Let me know in the comment section, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more Game of Thrones news. Till next time. Szia.