Opinion – Page 146 – Savior Gaming

Mowgli trailer 1

So we finally get a live action adaptation of the classic novel the Jungle- hey, wait a second, didn’t we get one of these a couple years ago? Regardless, we’re getting what seems to be a darker adaptation with different actors. I’m a huge fan of the actors for both film but so far I like the vibe the new one brings, especially with Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cate Blanchett lending there voices. I like that Mowgli looks a bit more feral with this movie which looks cool. I’m interested in the concept and I do want to see more. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Spider-man 3

spider man 3

Look at this picture. This picture describes this film as well as describing my reactions after watching Spider-man 3. It’s epic to see, at first; many would notice the fact the famed “black suit” is basically just the normal costume painted grey and black, and there is no Venom symbol and something seems off in the back of your mind but you can’t tell why or what. Well, if you loved the first two, get ready to be depressed when potential gets devoured by a horrible black CGI goo.

Not long after the second movie, Peter’s life is almost perfect: he’s doing great at school, he’s about to marry Mary Jane, and the city loves Spider-man. So what’s wrong? Harry gave in to his demons and with daddy’s toys and leftover crazy juice becomes the “New Goblin” ( aka the Samurai Snowboarder with a slight Halloween vibe) but is quickly defeated, losing his memory of his hate and knowledge of pretty much last two movies. On top of that, Peter discovers that Uncle Ben’s real killer is still on the loose and has been transformed into the Sandman. After his rage starts burning in him, a black space ooze creeps up on his ass and gives him a black suit making him stronger, more aggressive and 50 times more emo, leading him to go down a “dark” path where he may not be able to return from. Oh, and Venom and Gwen Stacey are in this dumpster fire too…

Nerds and Spidey fans all around the world groaned when his bummer dropped. The plot is bloated as hell and none of them are really developed to there full potential. James Franco, despite the stupid outfit, was my favorite part of the main cast, actually feeling like he actually cared to try; Thomas Haden Church tried like hell to give a good performance as Sandman but I felt the script made his character laughably pitiful. The rest of the actors just kinda feel like they are phoning it in; J.K Simmons was by far the absolute best part of this thing. Venom, fan favorite and one of Marvel’s most beloved characters looks like shit and is so damn rushed it hurts. There’s a scene so infamous, and I try most know of it ( the Jazz Club) that killed a small part of me inside. Sandman’s effects are stunning but on the whole, the fights and symbiote CGI are lackluster at best. Friends, instead of ripping this movie a new ass hole, I’m going to give it to you straight: this was the first movie that ever gave me amnesia- no that is not an over-exaggeration. I did not remember it as soon as the end credits rolled; I told myself it wasn’t real, after how awesome the first two were, this couldn’t be the end. But it was. Friends don’t let friends watch Spider-man 3, but I’ll let you see how my hopes were puffed up like a gentle souffle only to be popped by the pin of reality and studio interference. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Spider- man 2

spider man 2

Ok, so like I began my Spider-man review, there are some movies that stay with us and inspire us as well as change the way we see a genre. Where the first movie was a great beginning, the second chapter is without a doubt one of the greatest sequels I’ve ever seen- enough that I’ve seen it in theaters 5 times when it came out.

Two years after the first movie, we again pick up with Peter Parker dealing with life’s struggles as well as dealing with life as Spider- man: his grades at school are slipping and he can’t hardly keep a job, he carries the guilt over the deaths of Uncle Ben and Norman Osborn- leading to a rift in his friendship with Harry. If all this wasn’t enough, Mary Jane is soon to be wed, though she does love Peter. Suddenly Peter’s powers start crapping out and Peter see’s a possibility to continue his life and give up Spider-man. But there is a new foe to bring him back, Doc Ock, a hero and mentor to Peter who suffers a tragic accident while trying to accomplish his dream of creating unlimited energy, losing his wife his beloved wife and having the metal tentacles attached to his spine. Peter’s lives collide but can he find it in himself to become Spider-man once again and save New York from Doc Ock?

Ok, this movie is a damn good example of a sequel. Everyone gives great performance, especially Alfred Molina as Ock and Tobey Maquire shines as Spider-man. The effects are impressive; Ock’s tentacles are genuinely badass to watch. The emotional tone and epic fights are leveled up and the story is a solid continuation. The only flaw I really have is he does take his mask off a bit too much and Ock’s end feels a bit anti-climatic. In the end, if you liked the first movie, I think you’ll love the second movie…just leave it at that. Let’s pretend there isn’t a 3. And may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Maniac

maniac

There is a few times in my years as a horror fan that I’ve been rendered speechless by a movie. I’d say there is maybe 5 times in my life a movie made me speechless, Maniac is the 5th. Be warned, this is not a pleasant movie.

Frank Zito is a serial killer, slaying random women at night and scalping them to attach to mannequins, which he talks to out lonely psychosis. Through the movie we gather pieces of information about Frank’s troubled upbringing as well as the bitter loneliness and isolation he feels. He eventually meets a lady photographer he genuinely falls in love with, and for once, she seems to feel affection for him but he is haunted by the urge to stop her beauty from aging, so she would always be his…

See, I told you, this is not a pleasant movie but damn if it isn’t a good movie. Whereas 99% of horror movies have a heroine or perhaps a police plot or investigator plot, this movie focuses 100% on the killer and his day to day life. The late Joe Spinell is frankly fucking chilling as Zito who somehow is disturbingly terrifying but sympathetic despite the horrible things he does. The movie does well to not glamorize the murder scenes and feels like a legitimate story about a serial killer instead of a common Jason movie. If you can take the blood and graphic nature, it is a great acted, gritty movie I’d recommend to check out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Spider-man

spider man og

There are some movies that both help define a genre and inspire people, leaving impressions on us almost two decades later. After Spider-man (N64) I was in love with the wall-crawler and his rogues gallery and what do you know, we got one of the best superhero movies of our time.

We meet Peter Parker, that good hearted geek just living with his loving Aunt May and Uncle Ben next door to lovely Mary Jane Watson, who his best rich best friend Harry Osborn starts dating. Peter’s high intellect and work drive strikes the attention of Harry’s father, Norman, who admires Peter over his own kid. One day, during thhe fateful field trip Peter gets bitten by the genetically modified radioactive spider and his life is changed forever, but not just his; Norman, a scientist about to lose his company, in desperation tests a new formula on himself with malevolent results. Peter develops powers of a spider and suddenly things are looking up, but in a moment of selfishness, Uncle Ben is killed and Peter learns the hard way that with great power comes great responsibility. Using his powers to become Spider-man, Peter goes out to help the people of New York and stop a maniacal menace called the Green Goblin…

Ok, so most people know the story; I’d say Spider-man has arguably the well known origin story next to only Superman and Batman. That being said, it’s a damn good retelling of his origin. Tobey Maguire will always have a soft spot in my heart as Spidey and Willem Dafoe is awesome as Osborn and Goblin. The acting and effects are solid with an unforgettable score. In the end, it’s a classic in the genre and is absolutely worth a watch.

South Park: the stick of truth ( Second opinion)

south park stick

We’re big South Park fans here at Saviorgaming, and Savior already gave his opinion on South Park, The Stick Of Truth and we both gave it’s sequel, South Park: The Fractured But Whole a review each. I didn’t get to play the classic last console generation and with the digital copy I got to.

A quick synopsis of the story is the kids of South Park are playing fantasy with rangers, elves, mages, etc and we play the mute, new kid who has an astounding ability- he’s able to get a shit ton of Facebook friends…and he can fart like no one’s business. But the new Taco Bell in South Park has brought on a new threat that turns it’s citizens into Nazi zombies! Can the new kid unite the kids to take on this menace?

On a whole, I feel Fractured may have had a better story, but Stick has superior gameplay. The gameplay is solid turn based combat which takes time to master, but is rewarding as hell once mastered. The game also has great boss fights that are both challenging and epic. I was disappointed by the ending, but was still solid. In the end, like its sequel, it is an amazing game I recommend picking up if you need a great laugh and want a good game. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tag Trailer

I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this considering all the star power this movie looks to have, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet. The premise made me do a double take at first, but after a seeing a trailer like The Happytime Murders trailer 1 I can’t really say anything is going to shock me today. The trailer looks genuinely funny and I do like the actors involved so I’d be curious where it goes, but what do you think?

Thanos Not the Villain?

thanos

Ok before we go any further I have to be really up front. There will be spoilers for Infinity Wars in this posting. Like massive spoilers, if you have not seen the movie this post is not for you. I can not stress this enough, I will be spoiling various major parts of the movie including major plot points and the ending to the movie. Do not read this unless you have seen the movie. Last chance to back up and come back later.

Ok I assume if you are still reading you have read the title and thought this dude is nuts, and have seen the movie. Let me preface this by saying I am not condoning the actions of Thanos, but maybe he isn’t as evil as we think. I actually heard someone say he was basically space Hitler, but Hitler was just an evil dick that thought an entire race of people were inferior. Thanos however, well we will get to that. Lets take this one step at a time

First let’s get his motive out-of-the-way first. There is no way around this, he wants to get rid of half the universes population. That is his actual reason for wanting the stones. Now knowing that instinctively you are going to want to say well case closed. Homeboy is evil as evil gets. Keep that initial thought on the back burner tho and lets move on.

Thanos is one of the last remaining of his race after his home world Titan died out from over population, something he predicted would happen, and he actually knew how to solve but nobody would listen. Yes his way of solving it was pretty brutal but it would have saved his planet and the race. His solution was to randomly select half the population to be out to death, regardless of age, wealth or any other status. Because of their refusal to listen however they are all gone.

It is a well-known and undeniable fact that resources on every planet in the galaxy are in fact finite and will eventually run out, regardless of technological advances. Thanos simply wants to rid the universe of half its life to make sure the rest of life can survive.

Think of this on a small-scale. If you have a small farm that can grow enough food to feed 5 people at a time but you have 10 it won’t take long for you to run out of food and everyone will die. However if you kill half of them everyone can live as the farm is capable of supporting everyone. This is what Thanos intends to do. Make sure the farm can feed everyone, tho in this case the farm is the universe.

Now clearly there are some flaws in the plan. For example clearly every planet does not need such treatment. Earth at the time the movie takes place did not need this, tho Titan obviously did. Gamora’s home planet may not have but Thanos hints that it is doing better since than, but clearly knowhere did not need it and neither did Asgard. Also theoretically if the power of the stones could wipe out half the life in the universe as Thanos did at the end of the movie it should be able to create enough resources to sustain life indefinitely as well, after all they did help create the universe.

At the end of the day however, Thanos isn’t truly evil or even a bad guy. He simply disagrees on what the best way to sustain life in the universe actually is. After all there is plenty of evidence that over population is a problem on numerous planets in the Marvel universe is an issue. What do you guys think? Best wishes and ,may the gaming gods bring you glory.

House by the Cemetary

house by the cemetary

I’ve been watching some horror movies as of late, the first in the set was the unofficial third part of Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy ( City of the Living Dead and The Beyond being the first two parts.) Over a decade ago I watched The Beyond and a couple years later I saw Fulci’s Zombie, both films impacted me a lot so I was glad to see another.

The Freudstein house has had a long a sordid history of gruesome activity and murder. A young family takes the house over, the father working on research to jump start his budding career. His wife and young son are predominately left alone in this murky old house where the mom hears noises and her son keeps meeting a mysterious little girl that tells him to get out of the house, but something is lurking below them and it’s not friendly. Could it be the old Dr never left his home?

This review is rather tough. House by the Cemetery is a very eerie movie with terrific atmosphere, a great score, and some haunting practical gore effects BUT the dubbing is goofy at times, Freudstein looks likes he walked off the set of Goosebumps and there are some unintentionally hilarious things, especially with the damn son. It’s really freaking hard to say which side of the spectrum the movie falls on and in the end, that’s it’s biggest flaw. If you want something different in horror, it is a respectably freaky movie that deserves a watch, though you will laugh a few times you probably shouldn’t. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Phantasy Star Series

Every so often a series will catch your heart for various reasons, usually as a kid. For me those games were Shining Force 2 and Phantasy Star 4. That being said I was able to play many of the Shining Force games but as a kid, I was limited to Phantasy Star 4. See the internet wasn’t much of a thing yet so I was limited to what I could find and afford locally, and the Phantasy Star games simply were not in the cards for me. Once day through the power of the Sega Channel I was able to play Phantasy Star 3. Yes I will back up a step. At one point in the 90’s, way before Netflix and Xbox life and Gamepass Sega had a monthly gaming service called Sega Channel

It worked through your cable hooked into your Sega Genesis and you could play a bunch of games as much as you wanted that month. Yea it was PlayStation Now/Gamepass about 20 years before they existed. Ok history lesson over.

The issue was in the time I had to play back in 1994 or so between being 10 and having homework and school and such I couldn’t beat the game then of course the game went off the channel. It would be years before I was able to play it again or Phantasy Star 2. In fact the next game in the series I would play is Phantasy Star Online, great games in their own right.

It would be years more before I would finally play the original Phantasy Star, and it pains me to say I have never beat any of the numbered series except number 4. I know the story, when I finally got access to the internet I read them many times. I love the story, and I hope to eventually sit down and beat the games. It would be nice to play a remaster, in fact there was one for the PS2 years ago but it never made it to the west. Sadly I doubt we ever see one, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.