Opinion – Page 166 – Savior Gaming

Strangers 2, trailer 1

strangers 2

One of my favorite horror films of all time, and one of the most underrated of last decade was The Strangers. Emphasis on the last decade part. Strangers came out in 2008, and a decade later we get a sequel, or rather a prequel? What the hell is with this decade in horror where sequels are prequels but still named 2? Anyway, there is a family, a mobile home, and those creepy, simple bastards in masks that just freak the hell out of me. Immediately I have to say this is a much brighter, colorful movie than the first.

So far, I’m conflicted by the trailer as well as by the movie itself. I think Strangers should have been left alone personally but as far as sequels goes, this doesn’t look bad. There is enough to feel like the first but there is a different flavor too. My biggest fear is that the sequel will try pushing it into slasher territory instead of keeping psychological horror. We don’t have long to wait, so I am curious. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

John Wick: Chapter 2

john wick 2

When are people going to leave poor John Wick alone and let the man be? Seriously, pissing John Wick off is bad for your health.

Picking up pretty much where the first left off, the epic assassin gets his car back in a badass display of awesomeness. Finally, with his new dog and his car back, he can pack away his guns and black suit once and for all. But alas, someone from Wick’s past returns, demanding a favor Wick owes him. Wick politely refuses and this dude blows his house up, destroying the last things he had to remember his wife. Mr. Wick doesn’t take take kindly to this but has no choice to do the favor, so after he can kill this jackass. But suddenly Wick finds the underworld of assassins becoming a enemy of itself as he finds a massive bounty on his head. Can John Wick take on the underworld and a huge crimelord at the same time?

John Wick 2 is freaking awesome, but like may sequels isn’t as good as the first. The movie continues with great performances, choreography, music, and effects while actually exceeding the first in the setting and cinematography. The story is a bit more complicated but rightfully so. My issue that keeps it from being on par with the first is the extent of the amount of assassins there are. Like hundreds of these bastards, and while it adds to the suspense it does jump the bullshit meter a bit. It’s not a huge grip though. I highly recommend this if you loved the first or you just like good action movies. May the gaming gods bring you glory and for the love of god don’t piss off John Wick.

John Wick

john wick

John Wick was one of those movies I always heard about but never really had inclination to see. Everyone I knew that saw it praised the hell out of it, many said it’s one of the best action movies of our time and after watching it, I can can tell you much of the praise and acclaim is well earned.

John Wick is a retired assassin who just lost his wife to a terminal illness. He receives a beagle puppy from his wife as a last gift to help him cope. Still hurting, John and his puppy get along and nothing seems so bad…until the son of an old employer, a high stakes Russian mobster, stupidly decides to kill Wick’s dog and steal his car. John decides to come out of retirement and kill every single person in his way until he gets revenge…

Despite the plot sounding blah on paper, it’s executed wonderfully. Keanu Reeves gives the best performance I’ve ever seen from him, being menacing, stalwart, and heartbroken all at once. The action scenes are insane but are predominately practical which is a huge breath of fresh air over many modern movies that relay too much on CGI. The choreography is utterly immaculate, but what I really appreciate is that for how much ass John Wick kicks, he gets the shit beat out of him just as much. The music is pretty cool and the cinematography is interesting and thank god no damn shaky cam during the fights. I found the characters and underworld of assassins intriguing ass. I highly recommend John Wick to anyone who is fed up with modern action movies and wants something old school with real heart and some sweet laughs. May the gaming gods bring you glory, and please no drinking games while watching this movie, you will likely die.

X-men: Evolution

xmen evolution

A very underappreciated show from my childhood that blends teen drama with superheroes, X-Men: Evolution was a short lived show that changed my life and helped me see things. Not only do we get to see our favorites like Wolvy, Cyclops, Storm, and Beast, but we get many other favorites throughout like Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Spyke, and a huge host of others as well as villians like Magneto, Mystique, Sabretooth, and Apocalypse at the very end. While the show doesn’t reach as far out into the lore like it’s 90’s counterpart did, it dwells on the lives and depth of its characters just as much. There are more characters that are more flushed out than others and because of the early 2000’s timing, it can’t come as close to the dark subject matter as the 90’s cartoon could get away with. I did find myself attached to it’s characters though.and there is some cool action throughout. In the end, it is worth checking out. Best wishes an may the gaming gods bring you glory.

X-Men the animated series

xmen animated

Only in comparison to Batman’s animated series, there was X-Men’s and Spider-man’s. The 90’s X-men series recounted some of the mutants most coolest adventures whether fighting the Murlocks or The Brotherhood of Mutants or the planet shattering Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix sagas. We get to join our favorites like Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Gambit, Beast, Jean Grey, and Professor X and many others throughout the series. It is a pretty dark show and there is a lot of social commentary for the older folks like myself. A small problem I have with the layout is there is A LOT of cliffhangers and you find yourself getting slightly annoyed by the sometimes lengthy arcs; it’s not really a show you you can often sit down, watch a episode or two, and be satisfied. I feel more comic book fans will enjoy the series more than the casual viewer but for the hardcore X Men fans, this is for you. On a final note, the opening theme is addictive as hell. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes.

Batman: Sub Zero

batman subzero

Subzero is a movie based around the animated series. Victor Fries loved his wife Nora with all his heart and was devastated when she became inflicted with a terminal illness; until he could find a cure, he froze her in suspended animation. After a tragic turn of events, Victor was mutated by his own cryogenic science and became Mr Freeze. With time ticking, he has a final option to save Nora but there seems to be only one match for her: Barbara Gordon. Kidnapping Barbara, Batgirl, it’s up to Batman and Robin to rescue her before Freeze may end up killing Barbara. I always loved Mr Freeze so I was glad he got an appropriate movie (we all know about the other Mr Freeze film). If you loved the animated series, you’ll love this movie. It does feel like a long episode but still has great performances and some sweet action. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Batman: the animated series

batman animated

“I am vengeance. I am the night. I AM BATMAN!”- Kevin Conroy, portraying Batman and delivering the greatest I am speech of all time. Any 90’s nerd knows the classic opening noir with Danny Elfman’s perfect score and feels a chill when we catch that iconic image of Batman before the show begins. With four seasons, and four animated movies, Batman was edgy and dark as hell for a kid’s show. With dark, complex adult plots and extremely well acted characters the show didn’t pull punches. Whether it was the tragic two part Two-Face origin episode, or the creepy ass Mad Hatter episode to flushing out the epic story of Ras Al Ghul, we got to see the darker side of Batman’s lore come out. Not to say the show was all doom and gloom. Robin added some levity without being annoying or dragging the show down as much as Joker and Harley frequently brought on laughs without taking away from there menace. Kevin Conroy delivers a masterful voice performance as Bruce Wayne and Batman while Mark Hamill is iconic as Joker but there is too many great performances to name. I will say the suddenly artistic reset in season 4 may jar many fans, especially Joker’s appearance which is the worst of that seasons redesigns but the stories and voices remain just as good. In the end, I highly recommend the show to pretty much anyone. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fullmetal Alchemist

fma

The ultimate rule to alchemy is equivalent exchange, you never get anything without a price for it. There are very few times in life I see something that totally shakes my life up and changes my outlook on a genre or a art form. Fullmetal Alchemist did this for me.

Edward and Alphonse Elrich are young brothers who have seen tragedy: their father is out to war and their mother tragically dies. In an attempt to revive her with alchemy, the brothers fail and are left nearly dead. Edward without his arm and leg, and Alphonse without a body, instead his soul encased in a suit of armor. Edward, becoming a State Alchemist after being recruited by the Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang, vows to gain the knowledge and skill to set things right, setting forth on an a epic journey with his brother to set everything wrong, fix the wrongs of the world around them, and face the embodiments of there sins and the people in there past…

Fullmetal Alchemist is probably the most heartfelt anime I’ve ever watched, weaving touching genuinely touching moments with pure tragic times. The characters are all compelling and memorable. Alchemy is a fascinating and imaginative power. The only real flaw I can see is the ending is a bit anti climatic and while exciting and captivating, it lacks the action level of say DBZ or Bleach but I’ve been told Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is more action packed, though I haven’t watched it yet. I highly recommend this fantastic anime. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes everyone.

Knights of Sidonia

knights of sidonia

You ever wish John Carpenter’s Thing was mixed with space mechs or J.J. Abrams Star Trek was creepier? Well, here you go. Sidonia is the last bit of humanity left, a militarized colony in space, struggling to battle the Guana- giant, fleshy space creatures that cause mass devastation. Sidonia’s main defense are the Knights, mechanized suits of weaponized armor. Upon the brink of destruction, a young man emerges with an uncanny gift to pilot, but will that be enough to save him and humanity from the threats inside and out?

My feelings here are pretty mixed. Regardless, the show looks beautiful. My problem is I was truly invested in season 1, addicted even. There was intrigue, danger, creepy shit, and messed up political scheming going down. After the first season though, two fell flat for me. I couldn’t really dig the direction the story was going in; in lames terms it blew its load too soon, pardon the expression. If you watch season 1, its a fast, exciting, and creepy space adventure. After that- meh. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes everyone.

Elite Dangerous: My Journey Home

As some of you may be aware I made the epic or maybe horrible choice not long ago to travel to Colonia in one day. It took just under 14 hours. More on that trip here. Elite Dangerous: Colonia

The journey home I was a bit more methodical about and took my time, and even visited some of new stations they added along the way such as the one shown in the picture inside of a nebula, hence the red lighting. From Colonia to there I made about 30 million in exploration money. Could have done better but I am trying to combine making some cash with getting home in a decent amount of time.

Now like most explorers are prone to doing I chose to land on a random moon to take my SRV out for a spin, break up the travel a bit, find some new materials and such. Tho while streaming and chatting with a friends I sort of messed up a bit and landed hard, LIke real hard, my shields failed instantly and my hull dropped to 28%. So i drove around a bit, found some stuff and went back to that station for repairs before heading back out on my journey home. Probably not my best move. Anyway the journey continues, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.