Man of Steel

Directed by Zack Snyder

Written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan

Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

            Despite the bad press Superman Returns has gotten since its release, I rather enjoyed it when I saw it.  Granted, I haven’t seen it since then, but I thought it was a perfectly fine revival of the series.  And I was also rather excited to see the series rebooted with Man of Steel and given a new take.  Unfortunately, while there is a new take here, it’s not the kind of view I was looking for.

            When Krypton is about to be destroyed, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his baby son, Kal-El, off to Earth.  Now grown up, Kal-El (Henry Cavill) has to adjust to the role of Superman and show the world his powers when General Zod (Michael Shannon) attacks.

            As usual, we’ll start with the praise.  The special effects are pretty breathtaking.  All of Krypton looks like a visual effect, and when it gets to the battles, there are plenty of good-looking shots of spaceships and buildings being destroyed.  And there is also some good acting here.  Both Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent play the mentor roles well.  The real treat is Amy Adams as Lois Lane, giving a determined performance that makes me wish the movie had focused on her.

            Sadly, this is a Superman movie, and Henry Cavill does not impress me.  He has a few nice Superman moments, but too often, he’s reduced to the muscle, and his expressions seemed little more than mild confusion, which is all I could think trying to read what he’s actually thinking.  But the big problem lies more on the writing, the fact that the movie simply doesn’t have enough glimpses into how Superman is.  It’s hard to get a reading on his world philosophy and his personality, which is a shame, since Superman’s personality is what makes him Superman.  Instead, the movie transforms him into the flying brick archetype, who does nothing more in the fight scenes then just fly around and punch things.  The movie’s climactic moment hinges on Superman being the savior of the people, yet all we’ve seen of him up to that point is the big strong guy that seems really obsessed with the demolition of Smallville and Metropolis, considering how often he flies the villains into pieces of it.  Perry White gets a better scene of trying to save someone than Superman does.  And the final battle scene seems to go on forever, without enough good moments to make it worth it.

            The movie’s absolute biggest flaw, though, is its constant use of exposition, flashbacks, and a combination of the two.  Superman enters the Kryptonian ship and activates a 5-minute exposition scene.  Zod explains his plan in an exposition scene that flashes back to his time as a prisoner.  Long after the opening sequence uses up its supply of flashing back to Clark’s childhood, the movie continually shoehorns more scenes of it in, and again, we don’t get Clark nearly as much as we get Jonathan teaching Clark a lesson.  It’s lazy writing, and it’s spread all over the movie.

            Man of Steel is dull and endless.  If this is DC’s answer to Marvel’s movies, then I’m sticking with Marvel.  

The Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror

Written by Roger Langridge

Art by J Bone

            I made my love for the Rocketeer revival pretty well known with my Cargo of Doom review.  Since that time, I’ve also read the original Dave Stevens Rocketeer stories, which I highly recommend.  Hollywood Horror takes the series in a very different direction from Cargo of Doom, but doesn’t falter at all in quality.

             Betty, Cliff’s girlfriend, gets tired of playing second fiddle to the Rocketeer.  When her roommate sends a frantic call after investigating into the Cosmicism preacher Otto Rune, she decides to investigate into him—and of course, so does Cliff, as the Rocketeer.

            What shines through most in Hollywood Horror is Langridge’s love of Golden Age Hollywood, starting with the fact that this story is dialed down.  There’s no dinosaurs on a rampage in the streets of LA here, only traditional villains and heroes.  And it also moves at a slower pace than Cargo of Doom.  This doesn’t make it any less fun, it’s just more about a central mystery than about over-the-top moments.  It’s closer to the kind of fun mystery that might have been in the Thin Man movies.  And that’s not really too left field, considering that Nick and Nora Charles are prominent characters here.  No, they’re never mentioned by name, and anybody not familiar with them can easily just think they’re a random detective couple, but it’s a nice nod of the hat by Langridge.  Most importantly, he writes the characters well, along with the narrator, who also turns out to be a notable Hollywood celebrity.  But even with the cameos, the focus is still on Cliff and Betty.  And Betty does get to be a little more than the damsel in distress that she normally ends up as, which is always a good thing to see.  We also get to see Cliff evolving ever more into the role of the hero.  He tends to slide on the scale from “kind of a jerk” to “outright heroic”, and he’s farther on the latter side here.  When his rocket pack is taken away, he continues to be the hero, and that’s what makes him so endearing.

            J Bone’s artwork is also notably different.  That’s kind of the fun here, to see a completely different creative team take over Rocketeer.  So while Samnee’s art from Cargo of Doom paid a little more tribute towards pulp films, Bone goes more towards being fairly cartoony.  Not overly so, but the goons are more goonish, Otto Rune is unmistakably the evil villain.  His artwork fits the story being told here: a fun story of black and white morality where you know good is going to win, and you’re just interested to see how good wins.

            Hollywood Horror continues the winning streak out of IDW’s Rocketeer revival.  If you’re looking for pure fun in your comics, this is the place.

The Dream Machine (Chapters 1-3)

Published and developed by Cockroach Ink.

            The recent revival of point-and-click adventure games by indie developers has been great for anybody interested in the genre.  If nothing else, there has been a great selection of them, and The Dream Machine’s first three chapters are a promising start.

            After moving into his new apartment with his wife, Alicia, Victor Neff finds a mysterious note that the previous tenant left.  From there, he realizes that there is something more going on in the apartment building, eventually leading to the reveal of the dream machine itself, which is mapping out the collective dreamscape.

            It should be noted that this game is a bit of a slow mover.  It’s lucky that the first two chapters are bundled together, as chapter 1 on its own does not stand at all.  It’s basically just “There’s something odd going on here” up until halfway through chapter 2.  If this was a game as itself, this would have been acceptable, but the fact that the game is being released episodically makes this a bit of an odd choice.  The other big note I should make before I continue is that this game may look family-friendly for a while, with only a sprinkling of harsh language, but the end of chapter 3 goes to a very dark territory.  Make no mistake, this is a game for adults.

            What sets this game apart most of all are the visuals.  They are done with hand-made claymation, giving the game a great style.  It lets it be very stylized while still being grounded.  Most importantly, it gives it that touch of love that shows that the developers really dedicated themselves to this game.  The other interesting thing Dream Machine does is in its dialogue choices.  During dialogue, you’re constantly given the chance to be mean to other characters.  It seems to have little effect on how the game actually turns out, but it is nice to give the player a chance to put some personality of their own into Victor.

            And of course, every adventure game stands or falls based on its puzzles.  I’d say the puzzles here are fairly simple.  There was only one I really had trouble with, while most of them tended to be “Pick up everything you can and find a use for it”.  Still, there were never any great logical leaps that had to be made, no games of guessing what the developer was thinking.  Everything made sense, and it may just be that things made too much sense at times.  This does make the game a good place to start for those new to the adventure genre.

            While its puzzles may not be the most difficult, Dream Machine’s interesting visuals and atmosphere make it a fun adventure game.  Its first three chapters are out now, and hopefully, it won’t be too long for the final two.

Darksiders II

Developed by Vigil Games

Published by THQ
Played on 360

            Few games wear their influences on their sleeves quite like Darksiders does.  The first game took God of War’s combat and mixed it with Zelda’s dungeon design, mixed it up, and ended up with a rather fun game.  Darksiders II adds more games to the mix, and somehow, comes out as a near-classic.

            Taking place during an early point of the first game, II has Death (Michael Wincott) setting out during the time when War is under trial for starting the apocalypse.  Refusing to believe that War could have done such a thing, Death travels to various realms to look for a way to prove his innocence.

            The first big change here is that the game doesn’t take place on the ruined Earth the first game took place on.  Instead, Death’s journey expands the world that the game takes place in.  There’s four different worlds you go through, and each one has a very unique visual design.  The almost idyllic Forgelands look nothing like the Kingdom of the Dead.  And the visuals of the game are rather striking.  While there are plenty of dark, gory moments, the game doesn’t try to be dark and edgy.  Instead, the character designs are very caricaturized, coming out looking somewhat cartoony, and it works in the game’s favor.  And you spend enough time in each world to make them worthwhile and worth exploring.

            The other big additions here are the extra games whose influences have been added to the melting pot.  Prince of Persia-style platforming gets added in, with Death running along walls and jumping off columns, and action-RPGs are sprinkled with an equipment system for Death.  For the former, well, I love Prince of Persia and I love parkour in games, so this was an instant hit with me.  The equipment system has its pluses and minuses.  On the one hand, it is always nice to look for and find new equipment, and there’s enough small changes you can make to make things worth messing around with.  On the other hand, I generally just went for whatever had the highest attack or defense and didn’t really mess around with the sub-stats.  It’s an interesting system, but it never quite gets the satisfaction of finding some awesome new gear or weapon that games like Borderlands or Torchlight have.

            What Darksiders II definitely does best is its dungeon design.  They’re very intricately designed, with plenty of nooks and crannies that collectibles are hiding in, without being overwhelming.  You might enter into a huge room, but you’re nudged along the set path.  And new gimmicks are introduced to keep each one interesting and unique.  It’s not just how each dungeon looks, it’s what you do in each dungeon that ends up standing out.  You control golems in one, and then have to clear out dark matter by linking up crystals to proceed in another.  It’s also helped by a very limited selection of items that you get.  Not having many items may sound like a bad thing, but it ends up meaning that each one gets plenty of time in the spotlight.  You don’t pick something up, use it against the boss, and then forget about it for the rest of the game.  When you pick it up, you think back to all the other spots you saw where you could use it, and immediately go “Oh, I can go back there now”, thanks to each one having a very clear use.  And the puzzles are just difficult enough, enough to stump for a while until that “I know what I need to do!” moment.  Overall, the dungeons are certainly Zelda-like, but in a way that rivals Zelda itself.

            The game does have a few hiccups, though.  For one, there’s some bugs that showed up, including an odd case where the door to the end of the dungeon didn’t lock during a boss fight, letting me proceed without fighting the boss.  Sound also became very buggy at one point.  With THQ out of business, don’t expect anything to get fixed.  There’s also one “dungeon” that turns the game into a very mediocre third person shooter that goes on far too long.  You get a couple minutes into it and you just want it to end.  And finally, the final boss and ending just kind of disappoint.  It doesn’t help that the big plot hook at the end of Darksiders doesn’t get followed up on.  And with the future of the series in question, who knows if we’ll ever see the other two horsemen.

            Darksiders II is an improvement over the first game, in the sense that it’s gone from “fun” to “very fun”.  It still comes off as a blender of various games the developers enjoyed, but when the final product ends up as good as any one of those, it’s hard to complain.

Top 5 Animal Kingdom Attractions

Animal Kingdom is Disney’s newest park, even at 15 years old now.  Similar to Busch Gardens Tampa, it combines a theme park with a zoo, although with more focus on being a zoo.  Here’s my favorite Animal Kingdom attractions.

Note: Attractions marked with * have a FastPass.

5. (tie) Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and Maharajah Jungle Trek: If you’re at the zoo, you definitely want to see some animals, and Animal Kingdom’s two walking trails will deliver on that.  Africa’s Pangani features gorillas, meerkats and hippos, while Asia’s Maharajah gets you a look at bats, tigers, and Komodo dragons.  And don’t miss some of the other animal viewing spots throughout the park, such as the monkey island in Asia.

4. Expedition Everest*: Florida’s tallest mountain (no, really) has a train-themed roller coaster that provides some big thrills.  In particular, there’s the fact that it goes backwards and the encounters with the Yeti that make this unique.  It may be stretching the Animal Kingdom theming, but it’s definitely a fun time.

3. Dinosaur*: Animal Kingdom’s other big thrill ride isn’t quite a roller coaster, isn’t quite a normal dark ride.  But it’s definitely in the dark, in one of the darkest attractions at Disney next to Space Mountain, and tosses you around as you come face-to-face with dinosaurs that range from the docile to the Carnotaur.  Loud, fast, and fun.

2. Finding Nemo: The Musical: Over at Hollywood, there’s a quick adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, my favorite Disney musical, but Finding Nemo wins out over it, and that wasn’t even a musical.  Instead, a group of catchy original songs were written for this, and the entire thing is given a Broadway-level production value, especially with the impressive puppet work that brings the fish to life.

1. Kilimanjaro Safaris*: Kilimanjaro is always my first destination at Animal Kingdom.  This is a lengthy ride (at least 15 minutes) that brings you up close to various animals, giving you a good look at giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and more.  It really transports you to the savannah as you go through the area.  And now that the goofy story has been eliminated, this can truly earn its top place here.

Top 5 Hollywood Studios Attractions

I don’t know what it is about Hollywood Studios, but it has long been my favorite park at Disney World.  Maybe it’s just the atmosphere, maybe it’s the restaurants, maybe it’s the rides, I just enjoy it most.  Here are my must-see attractions for it.

Note: Attractions with * have a FastPass.

5. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror*: Leave it to Disney to take what could be a basic freefall attraction, put it inside, and theme it as a haunted hotel.  The nicer ride vehicle means that this is probably the only freefall attraction I would ever do, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be terrifying, as it randomly launches you up and down at high speeds.

4. The Great Movie Ride: On the one hand, this could badly use some updating or just some polish, with the trailers in the queue looking particularly worn out.  But it does take you through great movie moments, some nice surprises as your vehicle gets taken over, and some fine animatronic work.

3. Muppet*Vision 3D: Even in 1991, the Muppets could already see the way this new 4D technology was going to be used.  Muppet*Vision hangs a lampshade on every gimmick it uses, parodying the “cheap 3D tricks” that so many other theme parks use (yes, even Disney—just look at It’s Tough to Be a Bug), while providing a great look at the Muppet personalities we know and love.  The movie has even had a recent refurbishment which makes it look better than ever.

2 (tie). Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! and Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show*: Hollywood Studios definitely has a focus on its shows (Beauty and the Beast and American Idol can also be fun), and it’s the stunt shows that come out as the real winners.  Indiana Jones goes through several sequences loosely based on Raiders of the Lost Ark, while LMA has its own fictional movie that’s being shot, but both of them feature good humor and plenty of awesome stunts.  It comes down to whether you prefer more physical stunts or car stunts.  Also note that LMA only has two shows a day, so it’s good to plan out when you want to see that one.

1. Star Tours: The Adventure Continues*: This can probably be marked as the best update to a ride that Disney has done.  The original ride was a fun simulator, if a bit standard.  The update adds in 3D and a “slot machine” ride system, which randomizes who you meet and where you go on your tour.  So you might end up flying under AT-ATs on Hoth, in the middle of a pod race on Tatooine, or even through the under-construction Death Star, all of which adds plenty of reasons to ride it again.

Top 5 EPCOT Attractions

EPCOT is in a weird transitory period.  On the one hand, there’s still enough to do (and, especially, eat) to make a visit there worthwhile.  On the other hand, there’s plenty of areas that still fall under the “too boring” side of edutainment or had a bad renovation and haven’t recovered.  Nevertheless, here’s my top 5 EPCOT attractions.

Note: The * indicates rides that have a FastPass, which is generally worth getting.

5. Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros: Tucked inside the pyramid in the Mexico section, it can be easy to miss the Gran Fiesta.  A boat ride in the style of It’s a Small World (including a section that seems like it wouldn’t be out of place there), it may not be the most informative tour of Mexico, but it’s fun with plenty of humor from Donald’s antics.

4. Mission: SPACE*: A simulator, Mission: Space takes four people and puts them in an experimental rocket, where everybody has their own roles to perform to make a successful trip to Mars.  Note that there are two versions of the ride, the Green Team and the Orange Team.  Orange Team is a centrifuge, while Green Team is more of a light simulator.  I’ve never done Orange, but on Green, there’s still some nice effects.  Green Team also has a lighter wait, making the FastPass only necessary for Orange Team.

3. Journey into Imagination with Figment: While it may not quite have the flair of the original ride and post-ride area, Figment is worth visiting, taking you through the Imagination labs which test your senses and, of course, your imagination.  After the renovation that completely removed Figment, having him back is welcome.  The post-ride here, ImageWorks, might be best skipped, though, not really having enough to entertain for long.

2. Test Track*: The new renovation of Test Track, which lets people design their own cars, is interesting but not really incredible.  More fun is the ride which combines actual information about how vehicles are tested before being sold, the new Tron-like visuals that the ride has, and the thrilling outdoor area.

1. The Seas with Nemo & Friends: The Seas starts with a nice ride through several of the movie’s great moments (including the incredible EAC and the jellyfish field), and then just expands as you leave the ride.  There’s a two-floor aquarium filled with fish, manatees, and sharks, all with Nemo-themed information about the species in there.  And there’s Turtle Talk with Crush, which leans more towards kids, letting them talk to Crush using the same technology that the Laugh Floor uses, but can still be entertaining for adults.