Author: torstenvblog

Writer of the strange and everything; lover of horror, literature, comics, and the alien is my spirit animal

Captain America: Brave New World

Some time has passed since Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Sam Wilson faces his first crisis as Captain America. When former Cap and friend, Isiah Bradley, tries to assassinate former Hulk antagonist, now president, Thad Ross without any recollection, it’s up to Sam to prove his friend’s innocence. With his new Falcon, Joaquin Torres, they find a network of conspiracy and mind control led by a familiar foe out to not only ruin Ross but make him the thing he hates the most…

Captain America: Winter Soldier is one of the best movies in the MCU. Brave New World feels like a dumbed-down callback with unused Hulk sequel assets. Anthony Mackie tries his best to keep this weak script afloat, but he ultimately fails. Giancarlo Esposito gets wasted as a villain who ultimately doesn’t go anywhere; bless the man for trying. What really cripples this movie is Harrison Ford phoning in his performance as Ross; the late William Hurt damn near played the obsessed, power-hungry general in Incredible Hulk as well as the smaller return cameos in the MCU til this. The main villain is the Leader, who was also set up in the Incredible Hulk movie, and he looks godawful. He also doesn’t have his psychic powers from the comics, nor does he want to dominate a world of gamma-radiated evolved monsters. He’s a salty, sickly looking broccoli man who spouts your typical end-credits spiel. And Red Hulk is basically a glorified cameo in the end. The action scenes are fine. The movie runs at a decent pace and isn’t overly long.

In the end, Cap 4 isn’t the worst I’ve seen from the MCU ( I’m looking at you Thor: Love and Thunder ) but it’s totally skippable. Fantastic 4: First Steps gave me hope for the MCU and I’m hoping Mackie will get some good Cap time in the next 2 Avengers movies, but until then, stick to the Chris Evans trilogy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (sn1)

During an exploration on the moon, a strange object was found. A space dumpster. Inside the long sealed empress of evil, Rita Repulsa, is unleashed to conquer Earth. Zordon, an ancient alien wizard, and his trusty robot servant Alpha 5 spring into action. Zordon has Alpha find five teenagers with attitude from the nearby city of Angel Grove. Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly were chosen to become the Power Rangers, the only heroes mighty enough to stop the forces of evil…

If you grew up as a 90’s kid as Savior and I did, this show is peak nostaglia as you can get. Fighting, monsters, a colorful giant robot fighting said giant monsters- what else can any kid ask for? Hell, I was a Power Ranger for Halloween the years I wasn’t Batman. The first season with the classic 6 rangers is lightning in a bottle. The core 6 had good chemistry and for the first 60-episode season, it is it cool seeing the characters grow. For example, Billy starts as a weak, stereotypical nerd who gradually becomes the team’s tech wizard as well as a competent, confident fighter. The show’s structure is aligned with self-contained episodes but the multi-part arcs are some of the show’s highlights. The evil Green Ranger arc that introduces the legendary Tommy into the group is still awesome all these years later. The original Zords are iconic: the Mastodon, Triceratops, Pterodactyl, Sabre-Tooth Tiger, Tyrannosaurus, and the Dragon Zord. The theme is one of my all-time favorites and I still smile each time I hear it; the music all around kicks ass.

Like many show’s there’s some dull episodes here and there. Because of the use of Japanese footage, there is quite a bit of repetition to the Ranger and Zord scenes. This show looks goofy and over the top, but to a charming degree. A couple of times in the first season, plotlines do repeat, just slightly altered. As a kid I remember thinking Bulk and Skull, the comic relief bullies, were annoying, and they are, but they grew on me. Rita is a goofball villain with a shrill voice and neither her or her lackeys are competent, but damn if it isn’t funny.

In the end, Power Rangers is a fun, goofy, kids show but it’s still plenty of fun. Whether you’re riffing it with friends, or getting hyped whenever you hear “It’s Morphin Time!”, the first season of Power Rangers is a good, light-hearted time in our dreary world I recommend. May the power protect you.

Dead Space (2023)

We live in a world of nostalgia and remakes, most of which exist for a quick cash grab. DeadSpace was a classic in horror gaming. Well, thankfully, the folks at Motive understood the assignment. Dead Space is honestly the best horror remake I’ve played, beating Resident Evil 2 (2019) .

The story at it’s core is virtually the same. What changes is everything around it. Issac is no longer a mute protagonist but rather is voiced by the same VA as Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3 as well as given a much-needed backstory, adding to the pathos of the engineer. All the characters are flushed out more. The story is told with a deeper narrative emphesis instead of being hidden away in the logs around the ship.

The Ishimura has expanded. Now there are side missions that make you want to retrace your way through the doomed vessel. There is a price, however. Combat has drastically improved but so have the nercomorphs. The weapons are the same but reworked so that the Plasma cutter won’t easily carry you through the whole game. Ammo is much more scarce so you do have to get creative. On the flipside, the necromorphs are smarter, more aggressive, and respawn more throughout the ship. The necromorphs are nothing short of nightmare fuel. The attention to realism, especially when chopping them down, is nothing short of masterwork.

Perhaps what I really admired was that Motive fixed nothing that didn’t need it. The controls are basically the same as 2 and 3. They replaced the annoying gravity jump mechanic with the booster jets from the later games. Parts like the meteor shower and the congestion boss are no longer a pain in the ass but are arguably highlights now. Every weapon has a good pro and con to it. The atmosphere, creatures, story and experience have either remained pure terror or have been carefully elevated.

Unfortunately, this is an EA game. While well-loved by critics and players, they canceled the Dead Space 2 remake, so as of now, this slice of horror game perfection is all we have. Stranger things have happened but I cannot recommend this horror masterpiece enough. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

God of War: Ragnarok

Winter has fallen since Baldur was slain. Kratos and Atreus struggle to evade Freya’s fury and fear the wrath of Odin. Odin comes, accompanied by an enraged, grieving Thor, looking for peace. After an awesome battle between the former god of war and the god of thunder, the duo finds themselves on a new journey, uncovering Odin’s cruelty, Loki’s destiny, and testing the strained relationship of Father and son…

Being the very first game I played on my PS5, I was blown away. Ragnorak is easily the best game in the series. The story and voice work are S-tier. Kratos and Atreus are incredibly developed. I was pleasantly surprised by how fun Atreus was to play and how invested I got in his story. Kratos vs Thor is nothing short of legendary. I loved the game’s depiction of Odin, Thor, and Heimdall. Visually, the game is breathtaking. The music is powerful. My only real complaint is that the Norse saga is basically closed now and where the GOW series is going, I don’t know, but I wish we got a little more in Norse myth. In the end, GOW 5 is an incredible sequel and easily one of the best games on Ps5 I can’t recommend enough. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Conjuring: Last Rites trailer

Nothing in modern horror has possibly made me sadder than the decline and implosion of the Conjuring universe (that should never have been a cinematic universe to begin with). This film looks better than The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It but after the flood of pointless spinoffs and steadily bad sequels, I can’t say I really care about the “final” Conjuring. All I can hope for is that the saga goes out on a fairly positive note. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal trailer

I want to have hope. I want to believe this awesome trailer is a promise of Battlefield’s legendary return. Unfortunately, this is a EA game. After the lackluster Battlefield 5 and disastrous Battlefield 2042 as well as a host of other despicable choices, I’m rightly worried. I want to love Battlefield again. Time will tell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Silent Hill F demo

My hype for Silent Hill’s latest entry is officially through the roof after watching the latest gameplay demo. I adore the imagery. The scarecrows are a creepy ass enemy design. I love the environment. The combat looks fair- you aren’t a soldier or superhero, but at least you can reasonably defend yourself (it’s all I ask in my horror games). I’m already saving money to hopefully get it near release. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Predator: Badlands trailer 2

Wow…this movie is starting to look pretty badass. I love the direction I see it going in. I think Badlands looks like a cool way to expand the Predator mythos. The monsters and fauna look cool and I can’t wait to see a young, fledgling Predator face off against them. I like Elle Fanning so far and how it looks like a weird buddy journey with her and the Predator. In the end I’m super hyped. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Zombie (aka Zombi 2 aka Zombie Flesh Eaters)

Ann’s father has disappeared while on vacation. Along with Peter, a journalist, and two vacationers, they bum a ride from, they set off to a tropical island to find them. This island has been ravaged by death. A plague or something more supernatural, maybe both. The dead have begun to walk, and they are hungry.

Zombie (or whichever title you prefer) is one of Lucio Fulci’s most well-known works. The Beyond is my favorite, but Zombie was my first. I’ve heard it said the movie is a knockoff of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead , but I disagree. Zombie doesn’t hold a candle to Dawn’s memorable characters, good acting, or the sheer scope of the film. What Zombie does have is nightmarish zombie effects and top-notch gore. The zombies are well-detailed and absolutely gross to look at. I do really like the movie’s theme. The story and characters are meh; the dubbing isn’t as good as I’d like it to be. The slow pace kills the movie. When things happen, the movie is great, but a lot of it feels like the main characters wandering around. My favorite moment will always be the zombie fighting the shark at the bottom of the ocean. In the end, there’s definitely better Fulci films and zombie films all around, but this is a solid horror with great effects, blood, and some absurdity that’s worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.