2015 Year in Review for VIDEO GAMES!!!!!

After writing my year in review for movies, I realized I've never reviewed any video games in my blog.  I'm not called "The Highlander Movie Reviews," so video games (ooh, and I'm just realizing TV) are things I should be including in my posts.  That said, here are highlights of what I played in 2015 (though some are not 2015 releases):

Mass Effect 3: Skyrim Edition
-er, ahem, I mean-
Dragon Age Inquisition
I love long, open-world, RPGs.  Inquisition is certainly the most open-world of the Dragon Age games.  I didn't care for the leveling system, but I haven't cared for any of the leveling systems in the series, probably because I don't particularly care for the combat.  Despite my love undying love for Knights of the Old Republic, the "realtime turn-based(?") combat is rather off-putting for me in the Dragon Age franchise.  I get none of the satisfaction of realtime combat and none of whatever I feel when I do turn-based combat in games like Pokémon or XCOM.  But perhaps that's because I never feel like I'm accomplishing anything in combat.  The enemies all scale with the player in such a way where I rarely, if ever, get a one-hit kill with my archer, despite her doing the most damage per hit of any party member.  In fact, combat is mostly tedious and boring, especially if you're fighting a dragon.  It all just a bunch of particle generators buzzing around while you watch numbers fly everywhere on the screen.

I liked the open world aspect.  It was cool exploring such large environments, and there were some fun hidden Easter eggs in proper Bioware fashion.  However, if I'm going to pour days or even weeks (months) into exploring every corner of the globe, completing every side quest, and collecting every collectable, I'd like it to mean a damn.  The story was decent, but I felt like nothing I did affected any of the story's outcome.  So, despite being a massive open world, I felt incredibly railroaded.  I even completed all the operations where you send your NPC helpers out to do missions for you; I completed everyone of them, hoping (fool that I am) that it would somehow benefit me when I went to fight the final boss.  I thought, Surely it's not like Mass Effect 3.  Surely my actions mean something and will prevent soldiers from dying in the final assault or side characters will survive, or the final boss will be weaker.  Ah, but no.  And here's where things get even more disappointing.

The final boss fight, the thing we've built up to this whole game, the thing you spent weeks or months preparing for, is exactly that.  Just a boss fight.  There is no final assault on Corypheus' stronghold.  No series of gates to get through, no puzzles to figure out, no waves of enemies.  In fact, you don't have to go anywhere; when you trigger the end game, Corypheus literally comes to you.  You and your current party fight him, and that's it.  It's incredibly easy to; far easier than any of the dragons.  I beat him on my second try; might have done it on my first try, but he used a knock-back attack that hit me so hard I was thrown all the way back to the Xbox home screen, because it crashed my game.

Adding to the pile of things that made me feel like I didn't mean anything was the dialogue wheel.  Maybe it's my own fault for making my character have arched eyebrows so her face was in a humorously constant state of surprise, maybe it was the voice acting, but I really missed the "sarcastic" options from Dragon Age II.  But, then again, even if you "import" a Dragon Age II game into your profile when playing Inquisition, the game still pretends Hawke is this bearded man who made all the decisions you didn't in DA2, so maybe Bioware wants to pretend none of DA2 ever happened.

It was really a strange experience, because, throughout the game, I found myself saying, "This is awesome.  I'm really enjoying this," but, when it was all over, I walked away with a sense of disappointment and that I might have wasted my time.  But I do have some good memories, right?  Am I still talking about Dragon Age or my past relationships now?

In the end, like all the other entries in the franchise Dragon Age Inquisition is fun, but ultimately I feel I could have a better time just replaying some Mass Effect.

• Is it fun?  Yes
• Would I play it again?  Probably not
• Is it worth $60? Yes

Halo 5 Guardians
Now, for all its faults and the disappointment I felt with Dragon Age Inquisition, at least it was long, fun, and I felt like I got my $60 worth.  Then there's Halo 5 Guardians.  Long story short, Halo 5 follows the Halo 2 game design approach of putting a lot of effort into creating a fun (I assume) multi-player experience and half-asssing the campaign mode saying, "Er. . . We'll finish it in the next one."  Now, I'd be fine with this, if they only charged me half the price.  Especially since a lot of what would be the most fun moments of gameplay are reserved for the characters to do outside of your control during cutscenes.

One sentence review:  I suppose it's still a little better than Halo: Reach.

Is it fun?  Kind of?  Sometimes?  I guess?

Would I play it again?  Eh, probably.  In co-op?  If friends do.

Is it worth $60? NO!

Fallout 4
If I had to give a Game of the Year award, it would probably go to Fallout 4.  However, it should be noted I don't play a ton of "new" games each year, so those accolades carry little meaning coming from me.  However, I really like Fallout 4.  However, I also like just about any Bethesda title, so grains of salt, people.

Screw people who complained about it's graphics, I think it's pretty.  The first few hours (let's be honest, days) spent wandering the wasteland, discovering new places and people, and tinkering with your guns and settlements is incredibly fun in that sense of exploration and discovery sort of way.  However, as I got further into the plot and discovered more and more places on the map, I began to get the sinking feeling that the game is actually really lacking in a Bethesda staple: side quests!  Oh there are a bunch (but all those infinitely looping defend settlement, acquire artifact, etc faction quests don't count).  My favorite moment in the game came from a side quest.  I just don't feel like the wastes were filled with as many weird stories and side missions as they were in Fallout 3 or New Vegas.  Maybe the DLC will help; of course I bought the season pass already, because Bethesda DLC is always awesome (except Horse Armor).

Disclaimer though: I still haven't finished.  I'm a completionist gamer, so I've been putting off any quests that feel like the could lead to end game or result in me pissing off a faction.  I'm especially paranoid after Fallout New Vegas turned out not to be infinite.  But now, I'm in a rut where I've run out of real side quests.  So hopefully today I'll force myself to do the dreaded main quest.

Is it fun?  YES, definitely!

Would I play it again?  Probably.  I usually at least start a 2nd play-through on Bethesda games.

Is it worth $60? YES!

2015 Year in Review

I'm still catching up on a lot of the Oscar noms this year. For instance, I still have to see The Hateful 8 and The Martian. But here are my thoughts on the movies of 2015:

Overview

What a competitive Oscar season! And so many Sci-fi/special effects/action-heavy movies competing for the same awards against the traditional "Oscar bait" pictures. I love that Mad Max Fury Road, The Revenant, and Star Wars The Force Awakens are all competing for a lot if the same categories. And they're actually competitive! Who's going to win Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound? They're all anyone's game. Even Best Picture and Director could easily go to Mad Max, The Revenant, or The Big Short, and I would not be angry about any of them winning.

Another thing I find amazing about this year is that we have three films that are so unanimously reviewed. Everybody I talk to in real life and every review I read or hear gives the same likes and dislikes for Mad Max, The Revenant, and The Force Awakens. I've never seen films so universally enjoyed by critics and audiences. That's not to say these films are without problems, but, rather, everyone recognizes the problems and likes the films anyway for what they did well.

So, that said, let's make some lists, because the internet loves lists.

Top 5 Personal Favorites of 2015
1) Mad Max Fury Road
2) Jurassic World (don't hate!)
3) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
4) Bridge of Spies
5) The Peanuts Movie

Top 5 Disappointments of 2015
1) Spectre
2) Inside Out
3) Avengers: Age of Ultron
4) Black Mass
5) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Top 5 I Missed and Want to See
1) Ex Machina
2) The Martian
3) The Hateful 8
4) Ant Man
5) The Heart of the Sea (I think? Based on what my dad said about it?)

Top 5 I'm Looking Forward to in 2016
1) Rogue One
2) Captain America: Civil War
3) 10 Cloverfield Lane
4) The Jungle Book
5) Star Trek Beyond
Honorable Mention: Swing State (because it's the feature is just finished working on)

Thank you for reading, and here's to 2016.

The Big Short Revenant

I've wrapped the feature film that took up all of my January, and I finally have time to see movies and write about them again.

I saw The Big Short last night and The Revenant the week before and noticed a few interesting similarities between the two, so I've decided to combine my reviews. I'll also likely mention Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens quite a bit in this post as all four of these movies are competing for a lot if the same categories at the Oscars this year.

The Revenant

What a gorgeous film. The camera work in the opening battle and subsequent battles/fight scenes is mind-blowing. The steadicam follows a character; he gets shot with an arrow and dies; a new character runs past the action and we pick him up, moving with his frantic escape attempt, and an arrow hits him and he dies; and the camera keeps moving, showing us more and more action in a single, amazing take.

And there are so many 360 degree shots that almost brag about the filmmakers' use of all-natural light.

And the landscapes! It's no wonder Revenant is up for Best Production Design. Though, much like Mad Max, the "production design" is mostly just good use of beautiful locations.

Story-wise, I think Revenant is actually rather plain. It's a simple revenge story mixed with some woodland survival, all of which we've seen before. Now, the film's technical prowess more than makes up for it's straight-forward story and character arcs. The directing and camera work keep you on the edge of you seat. While the long-story is predictable, individual moments are full of suspense, and I actually gasped at one surprise that involved a horse (if you've seen it, you'll know).

Speaking of characters, I thought Tom Hardy gave a stellar performance, even though I couldn't quite understand all of his dialogue. His squirrel monologue was quite entertaining and engaging, and such a good character study moment.

Leo, however. I like Leo. I think he deserves an Oscar. But not for this film. Here's why: Does he give a great performance? Yes, absolutely. Can you tell how much passion and dedication he poured into the role? Yes. And I give him kudos for each. However, I don't think he gave a performance that demanded his talents. That is to say, I think just about any solid actor could have been put into that role, given a good performance, and the movie wouldn't have been any worse. To me, there was nothing particularly special about Leo's performance that made that rather cliché, under-written character come to life.

I haven't seen a lot of the other Oscar nominated performances this year, so I can't say if any of them deserve it more than Leo does; but I want Leo to win his statue for a truly spectacular role, and I don't think it's this one.

Now, on to...

The Big Short

Who'd have thought the director of my favorite Will Farrell movie (yes, Talladega Nights) would be nominated for an Academy Award? Let's give Adam McKay some major kudos, because The Big Short is one of the most unique movies I've seen in a long time. It has a voice that is all its own, and damn do I respect that.

Good performances all around. And the writing! They way it boils down the Wall Street lingo and process to be understood by financial idiots (like me) is absolutely brilliant. Engaging from beginning to end.

Now, here's where I start to talk about a lot of movies. Big Short, Mad Max, Revenant, and Star Wars are all up for Best editing this year. And I have no idea who deserves it. Probably Mad Max, and I say that for three reasons. 1) Mad Max's editing is about as perfect as editing can be. They maintain continuity and screen space during insane action sequences, and you the viewer always know what's happening. 2) I had some nitpicky problems with The Revenant and The Big Short's editing. Both movies spend a little too much time on their transitions. Yes, Revenant, you can have too many pretty shots of clouds and too much pretentious dead wife dream sequence. 3) And, while Force Awakens does have very solid editing, it's doesn't stand out nearly like the other three films I've mentioned. Now, you could say that that's its virtue: good editing is editing you never notice, so maybe this category really is anyone's game.

I'll have more Oscar talk in my next post, my 2015 year in review.

Long story short...

Go see The Revenant, because it's very pretty.

Go see The Big Short, so you can understand how evil and stupid big business is. Rise up, Comrades!

Six Alternative Versions of Episode VII

I've noticed that most of my friends and most of the internet all have the same likes and dislikes with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  A lot of reviews site the same disappointments and the same triumphs.  I feel like I wouldn't really add much to the conversation if I wrote a review, so, instead, I'll offer my Six alternative versions of Episode VII for your entertainment.

[SPOILER ALERT] I will mention specific events from Episode VII.

For Better
1) Kill Po Dameron.  Not because I disliked his character or anything.  But imagine how ballsy it would've been if they killed him off in the TIE Fighter crash at the beginning?  A main character dead out the gate.  That sets the precedent for the rest of the film.  Anyone can die; no one is safe.  The stakes would've been so high, and it would've made the whole movie more intense.

2) Remember when we gave George Lucas shit for having the finale of Jedi be a bigger Death Star?  Let's be honest, Force Awakens would have been SO much better without Starkiller Base.  Look at what the alternate script could've been:

The open crawl starts with "Luke Skywalker has vanished."  There.  That's what the movie's about.  It starts off that way.  As it is, the movie sets up to be a huge story about searching for Luke.  If that had been the main focus of the movie, we would've gotten a nice, character-driven adventure that would've been a very personal story.  Something akin to what made us love Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, and another movie I really liked. . . what was the name of it. . . oh yeah The Empire Strikes Back.  When the stakes aren't the end of the world, just the main characters' lives, it makes for a more intense, emotional story.  It's personal, and it draws us in.

This idea would probably have slowed down some of the parts that felt very rushed and forced.  Like everything with Maz Kanata.  She's one of only two new characters I disliked.  I felt like her quirkiness and wisdom was really forced on me.  Like Disney said, "Hey, you like weird quirky, strong women.  Eat this shit up you assholes."  It felt to me as forced as all the A New Hope throwbacks where Disney just screamed, "This is Star Wars!  You love it, right?  Right?  Please love us."  I really like Rey's Force-vision at Maz's bar.  I like a lot of ideas from Maz's bar, but it's all so rushed and out of nowhere.  I'm sorry, but the execution of the Maz Kanata scenes bothered me so much, almost more than any other disappointment with the movie, which is saying a lot.  There are a lot of emotional beats that happen here that don't have nearly as much impact as they should because they don't get any breathing time.  The whole sequence is rushed (much like the movie as a whole).  And why?  Why do movies do this these days?  Do they assume everyone in the audience has ADD?  Even if they do, it doesn't mean they'll dislike a properly-paced movie.

3) If we have to keep Starkiller Base, here's how it should've ended.  Remember how the Resistance is like, "We fly inside, blow it up, and go home.  Easy.  We've done it before."  How great would it have been if they had been all cocky about it, and then they failed?  Like miserably.  Ending the movie on a low-point like that would've set the tension so high for Episode VIII.  They even had the perfect moment for it.  Here enters most disappointing new character number 2:  Captain Phasma.

Imagine a movie where Captain Phasma isn't a complete push-over (I mean, she's played by Brienne of freaking Tarth for crying out loud!).  What if instead of deactivating the shields when she's under Han and Finn's guns she activates an alarm instead, and says something cool and cold like, "I'm no traitor."  And that's what causes the Resistance to lose their attack.  How great would that have been?

For Worse
Before Episode VII came out, I was thinking to myself, "What's the worst way they could tie-in the prequels.  And I came up with this:

4) The First Order develops a virus that can kill midichlorians.  Without the midichlorians, the Jedi and the Sith can no longer feel the Force.  Chaos ensues.  The Jedi and Sith are forced to team up to stop the midichlorophage.

For Fun
5) Post Credits Scene:
Rey and Finn walk onto the Falcon.

Rey: "Chewie." *no response* "Chewie?"

The lights are dark; there's evidence someone else has been here.  A man sits in a chair in the shadows.

Mysterious Man:  "You think Luke's the only Jedi in the galaxy, Rey?  You've become part of a bigger universe.  You just don't know it yet."

Finn:  "Who the hell are you?"

The man steps forward, missing an arm.  We see his face as he enters the light:  "Mace Windu.  I'm here to talk to you about the Jedi Initiative."

6) Instead of hauling rathtars, Han is hauling an ancient Sith artifact that the First Order is trying to acquire (Supreme Leader Snoke is a nut on the subject; he's obsessed with the occult!).  It culminates in Han, Rey, and Finn being captured and present at a ritual ceremony where Kylo Ren will open said artifact (along with General Hux and Captain Phasma) to make sure it's authentic before delivering it to Snoke.

Kylo Ren:  "It's beautiful!"

Finn:  "Don't look at it, Rey!  Close your eyes!" *looks at Han, who has his eyes shut tight* "Right, Solo?  We should keep our eyes closed?"

Han just shrugs, eyes still closed.  Finn and Rey close their eyes.

Force ghosts of ancient Sith come out of the artifact and start shocking everyone with lightning.  Captain Phasma's helmet and face melt.  General Hux's head shrivels up.  Kylo Ren's head explodes.

***Later***

Han, Finn, and Rey are seated across the table from Admiral Akbar, Luke, and Leia.

Han:  "It's an artifact of terrible power, and it needs to be researched."

Admiral Akbar: "And it will be, we assure you, Captain Solo."

Luke:  "We have top men working on it right now."

Finn:  "Who?"

Leia:  "Top.  Men."

***Cut to***

R2-D2 and C-3P0 put the artifact in a crate and store it in a warehouse full of identical crates.

THE END.

The Peanuts Movie

I finally got around to seeing The Peanuts Movie, and I'm glad I did.  It was charming and emotional and nostalgic in all the best ways.  They really nailed all the characters and gave each one just enough screen time (though Linus probably could've used more).

It's been a long time since I've seen a move that gets remarkably better as it goes on.  By the third act, you are invested in Charlie Brown's dilemmas, and it is so satisfying to see him score a win.  Snoopy's Red Baron sequences are intercut at great moments to parallel the Charlie Brown story.  They don't distract from it, and the find a way to draw you in and get you emotionally invested in them as well.

There's just enough Vince Guaraldi music to satisfy classic Peanuts fans like me and just enough modern music to hook a younger generation.

The comedy was that great blend of slap-stick humor for young ones and existential heartache for adults.  It has plenty of references to the old jokes, but plenty of new owns to let it stand on its own.

One thing I've always respected about Peanuts is its ability to create drama without any real antagonist.  Sure Lucy can be a little intense sometimes, but she's never "the bad guy."  I normally don't like stories without an antagonist, but, for some reasons, Peanuts has the charm and existential insight to pull it off.  Life itself is hard enough for Charlie Brown;  he doesn't need some villain actively working against him to give him challenges.  Charlie Brown represents many of the best qualities in all of us, and that's what draws us back, what makes us cheer for him again and again, no matter how many times Lucy pulls that football away.  Charlie Brown keeps trying, and, if he can keep his outlook positive, so can we.

Spectre of Disappointment

I knew that Spectre couldn't live up to the awesomeness that was Skyfall for me.  I knew that, but gosh was I still disappointed.  Now, there are good Bond films and bad ones, and there are ones that are just okay.  Spectre was still better than films like Quatum of Solace or A View to a Kill, but it suffers from a couple of major sins.

A movie can be bad; it can be downright terrible, but the one thing a movie should never be is boring, especially a James Bond movie.  Spectre had a great opening shot.  That one-er was beautiful, interesting, and really well-done, unlike everything that came after it.  Bond's hanging from a helicopter over Mexico, and I didn't care.  Bond blows up a Spectre base in a sequence so carelessly put together that it only lasts a minute.  There's no dramatic countdown.  No self-destruct sequence.  He basically tosses a cigarette aside as he walks away and lets the base Michael Bay itself to death.  Almost every action sequence in the film receives this little emotional investment.  I cared so little about anything happening throughout the entire film, and it felt like Daniel Craig and Sam Mendez felt the same way.

I'll be honest, I wrote some myself some bad fan fiction when I was in middle and high school. . . but I never tried to sell it as a Hollywood feature film.  [SPOILER ALERT] Blowfeld in Bond's adopted brother?  Seriously?  Let's just rename him James Coincidence or Fraternal Bond.  Oh, and let's just retcon the last three movies so Blowfeld was pulling the strings all the time.  Quantum was a part of Spectre?  I guess I could buy that if I didn't know that Quantum was invented to replace Spectre during the whole Spectre/Blowfeld rights debacle.  Silva is a Spectre agent?  I could maybe buy it, again if it had actually been set up instead of retconned later.

Also, I was not impressed with Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall."  It set the tone for the whole move:  BORING.  I know Bond films don't always work the name of the film into the song.  A lot of the time it doesn't even make sense when they do.  But you couldn't work with Spectre?  Seriously?  Even just as nonsensical as "Your love is like a Spectre."  Boom.  Bond song.  Uses the title of the movie.  Done.

Basically, I wish we could all just pretend this Bond film didn't happen, let it fade away like a spectre.

Bridge of Spies

There's a reason Steven Spielberg has the reputation he does. The man just understands storytelling. He understands characters. He understands film. There's a certain caliber of director where even their weakest films are proficiently crafted and still a cut above the average flick.

Bridge of Spies is incredibly engaging. Stellar performances by all the cast (even the kids!), along with Spielberg's superb directing help you care about these characters. Good writing and use of set-up--pay-off structure create a level of tension that keeps you in the world of the movie from start to finish. You may already know the ending; you know Tom Hanks is never in any real danger, because you know how movies work. But Spielberg keeps us wondering "How is he gonna pull it off?"

Bridge of Spies also uses its themes of Constitutional values and what we believe in as Americans to transcend time and keep a modern audience invested in this period piece about a time that many would (incorrectly) argue is behind us.  It calls on one of humanity's favorite stories: the underdog, the man who stands up even when his closest friends and family members beg for him to sit. In a greatly appreciated reprieve from today's nihilistic film and television landscape, Spielberg uses Bridge of Spies to present us at our best, to make us all see how good we can be if we stand by our principles. I can really see why it's being compared to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and why Tom Hanks is being heralded as "the James Stewart of our time."

TLDR: It's a damn good movie that should make you want to be a better person and make this world a better place.