The Expendables may have the most pressure on it of any movie ever, just look at the cast list

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crewes, Mickey Rourke, Stone Cold Steve Austin and cameo’s by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  It’s cast are all legends and almost all of them are used to headlining  their own movies.

Question:How can you possibly live up to that?

Answer: With some  good fights, lethal knife usage for brutal kills, lots of guns and a ludicrous amount of explosions.  The only thing Expendable about this is the plot which is vintage 80s storytelling (i.e. the story is more of an excuse than an actual plot and you know that’s deliberate here).  Oh and Charisma Carpenter has a small role in it and is still hotter than all of the explosions in the film combined.

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I never wanted the A-Team movie to be made, you could not better the TV series cast, each and everyone one of them nailed their character to perfection.  With that said, this may suprise you, I really enjoyed the new A-Team movie.  It was a fun no-brainer popcorn film, and even with my love of the original clouding my opinion, I was still able to enjoy it and want to give some credit where it’s due.  Of course there are plenty of things I disagree with and I’ll get to those later but the film gets a fair amount of things right too and everyone should give it a watch.

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Back on the crusade to bring more giant robots to the site and my choice this time is another blast from the past.  Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs was along with Macron-1 and Robotech, a staple of my early morning viewing when I was a child.

The show is your basic futuristic western. The Star Sheriffs protect the New Frontier from Outriders, vapour beings from another dimension.  Because they turn into a puddle of vapour when shot, there’s a lot of killing of bad guys which wasn’t something you’d see in many other shows of the time.  Their boss Nemesis even goes as far as getting his forces to kidnap all the Wilderbeasts (think buffalo) just because he thought it would amuse him.  How can you not love a bad guy with so much power he invades another dimension and kidnaps an entire species just for fun (oh and he’s voice by Peter G1 Optimus Prime Cullen).

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After what seems like a very long wait Iron Man 2 is finally out. I was very surprised with the first film. If there are two things I have never really got they are Robert Downey Jr and Iron Man.

I don’t know what it is that has never really worked for Downey, but is has certainly re-established himself since Iron Man came out. He can carry off the narcissistic Tony Stark like no one else, and is definitely fun to watch.

The concept of Iron Man itself is one of those comics that passed me by. Of course I know of Iron Man, and a basic understanding of the story but beyond that I really don’t know how Iron Man fits into the Marvel universe. Some of that history is coming out in this film, along with references to other films in production. I counted three, but I might have missed something.

So how does this one stand-up? In short it has its moments, but overall it does not have the same feel or impact of the first.

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Anyone who is a fan if first person shooters has probable seen, if now picked up “Crackdown”. A great FPS that combines an incredibly open environment with super human abilities to make a very fun and interesting take on a fairly standard experience.

Realtime Worlds the creators of that have been very quiet since its release working on their next game. Having handed over the follow up to “Crackdown” to Ruffian. Due to be released later this year “Crackdown 2″ will be pretty much more of the same. I am sure they will have added some new twists, and improved the engine. But to be honest I have done that now, and I don’t really play “Crackdown” other than to have 10 minute blasts of crazy jumping around the city, and driving the great cars.

What looks much more interesting is APB. A game Realtime have had in development for a long time now.

Initially it looks very much like a standard open FPS (think Grand Theft Auto) but as the video shows it is something a lot more interesting than that. The on-line aspects of the game make for a much more immersive and fun looking game. We have all played where the computer AI is just no good at all, APB looks like it can solve that problem.

Being able to call for backup is a clever idea and one that I have wished for in a lot of games. How well it plays out depends a lot on the muppets who are in the world with you, but it has the potential to be a lot of fun.
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Normally I research new games before buying them, be it reviews or wait for friends to try them. I didn’t actually pay attention to the words of the previews or reviews of White Knight Chronicles, any game with good looking anime-style graphics where you can transform into a giant knight to hack up giant trolls and ogres is going to be my kind of game. If there’s one thing I’d like to do in Dragon Age Origins, it would be exactly that (turning into a bear or spider doesn’t count – not big enough and doesn’t use a sword). For the record using the white knight is fun, not using it and getting trampled on sucks. Transforming, to a cry of VERTO (Latin for Transform because English isn’t cool enough) you turn the tide of a battle in an instant, give passive buffs to your team, crush man sized scorpions with a single strike then go toe-to-toe with whatever golem or dragon was giving you grief – marvellous.

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It’s funny how some things work out. I was battered into buying Dragon Age Origins by multiple friends telling me I’d love it. Turns out my friends know me too well. I’ve spent longer playing it than most of them and only Disgaea 3 has cost me more of my life (well apart from when I was young and games didn’t track how long you played them).

Anyway, the first thing about Dragon age: Origins is the choices available. You have the usual choice between 3 races, humans, elves and Dwarves and 3 classes, Warriors, Rogues and Mages (unless you’re a Dwarf) and there’s plenty of customization to be done once you pick.

Initially you play through one of 6 different origins stories depending on your race and class.  From here on the real choices that affect the whole Dragon Age world begin.

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Saw this trailer and I was blown away. Any good geek loves a zombie film, but one area that is sadly neglected when it comes to zombies is animation. From the looks of it A.D.intends to put that right.

You have to agree just from the trailer it looks like it could be a lot of fun. I especially like the style they have used, and the actual animation is top notch. Head on over to Zombieinfo where they have an interview with the creators and some additional concept art that looks fantastic.

As of yet I have not found the official site, and IMDB seems to be behind the curve on this one. So keep your eyes peeled and I will put out more info as I find it.

I have also just realised I have hardly talked about zombies on here at all, what a crime against undead nature. I will have to see what I can dig up.

What more can I say?

Announced this week is Bruce Campbell’s next film “Bruce vs Frankenstein”. This is going to be a follow on to the excellent “My name is Bruce” that came out last year.

All of us here at BGR are big fans of Bruce Campbell, from his early beginnings in “Evil Dead” all the way to his show stealing performances in the Spider-man films, he is always a joy to watch.

“My name is Bruce” really surprised me when I saw it. In many ways it felt a little unpolished and probably could have done with a little more work, but somehow that makes it more endearing. Bruce and the supporting cast are fun to watch. Ultimately Bruce carries the film (he also Directed it), wins the day, gets the girl, and slays the demon in a style only he could do.

I am looking forward to this when it is released some time next year.

If you are looking more Bruce Campbell action check out:

• Army of Darkness
• Bubba Ho-Tep
• The Evil Dead
• Evil Dead II

and a whole ton of other great films.  If you want to know more about the legend, check out his site

The day of the Triffids makes its return

Some time ago I wrote about one of my favourite Sci-Fi TV Series “Day of the Triffids“. Made in 1981, much like “Blakes 7” it is a little known British gem of a show that never really seemed to get the regard it should have got. Over Christmas the BBC have finally shown the new version. With some excellent actors, and a more grown up feel it is an excellent addition to the growing catalogue of remakes of this classic story.

I have to confess I have not read the book, and now I am starting to think I should. Every remake of this story has something new, while the core story still remains as chilling as ever.
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I see you

This film can really only be described as a master piece of film making that it seems only a few directors are able to pull off.

Lets not mince words here, Avatar is a brilliant film! There, it is said! This is an epic film in every way, from the grand story to the amazing vistas, right through to the stunning technology they have used to create this marvel. The majority of this film is computer generated but in such a life like and detailed way it is hard to see where the computer generation ends and the real people begin. I was very impressed with the similarity between the real actors and their avatars. It just leant a little more to the life like quality of the animation work.

This is a long film (3 hours) but not only does it not feel that long, there isn’t really any fluff that can be trimmed away. Every scene has something it needs to get across to you and where there was a chance to remove a scene it was taken. As a result the film is long but moves at a good pace all the way through. In fact there were a number of scenes where I wanted it to slow a little so I could take in the stunning backgrounds and the details of the world. This will be a very rewarding film to watch at home, not only will you get to hear James Cameron’s take on it, but you will get to really take in the details. I get the feeling the directors cut (if there is one) will be longer.

A lot has been made about this films eco ethics, to be honest I did not feel it. I can see why people would say it has an eco message to tell you, but I never felt it was rammed down my throat. It was more realistic than that. A planet has a mineral people want, they turn up and want to destroy the planet and its people because they don’t give a toss. Any corporation would do that, especially if that planet is six years into deep space.

Confession

I did not see this film in 3D, I wish I had. Even though it has been out for two weeks the 3D showing was completely full (I have never seen that before). There is a very good chance I will be going back just so I can see it in 3D. There are various parts of the film that will really reward you for it, and there was only one moment where I thought it was gratuitously used but you have to forgive every 3D film at least one cheap shot.

Conclusion

Go and see this film, it is as amazing as you have been lead to believe!

No not in that way….well maybe I am a bit hehe. What I’m referring too is my preference for playing games on easy mode <gasp> I hear you cry and “What a noob!” (if your harsh) but yes I play on easy and I always will.

No I’m not a casual gamer in that I only play on the Wii on weekends, I don’t play Sing Star once every six months round someone’s house and I certainly don’t like playing Who wants to be a millionaire on the tv at Christmas.  I’ve played games for over 20 years, I’m not elitest or showing off but I’ve played a very broad spectrum of games including many obscure and weird games (mostly Japanese). What this all boils down to is, I’ve been around a bit (gaming wise) I know my stuff but I choose to play games the way I want.

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