Sherlock Series Two Review

Sherlock is fantastic. By Sherlock, I mean the BBC television reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who also plays Sherlock's brother). The show is set in modern day with Sherlock Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, as a private investigator with incredible talents of observation and deduction. His friend and accomplice Dr. Watson, played by Martin Freeeman, is an Afghan War veteran and medical doctor who lives at 221B Baker Street with Holmes.

The show first aired in 2010 with a three episode first series that is currently available via Netflix streaming (go catch up). Each 90-minute of Sherlock focuses on a specific case and is more of a movie than a television show. The second series, which just aired in the United Kingdom and was released on DVD on January 23, 2012 also includes three episodes. The episodes in series two are: "A Scandal in Belgravia", a retelling of the original Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia, The Hound of the Baskervilles (if you know anything about Sherlock Holmes, you have heard of this story), and "The Reichenbach Fall", which refers to the Holmes story The Final Problem.

There are several things that are great about this show. The acting is superb with Cumberbatch playing a very believable Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman is very good as his suffering sidekick (it’s hard to be Sherlock Holmes’ associate). The writing team translates the Holmes stories into modern times well and the twists and turns in each episode leave you guessing until the very end. They have even figured out a way to visually give you an idea of what Sherlock is seeing and how his brain works that don’t jar you out of the show, but enhance it.

Sherlock series two will be coming to America in May on PBS Masterpiece starting on May 6. Be sure to find it, this is great television – not to be missed. Sherlock earns 5 Mick Happies.

On a side note, I purchased series 2 of Sherlock on DVD and had it shipped from the UK to watch on a region-free DVD player. To rant a little, I am perfectly happy to pay for shows that I want to see, but I am often annoyed that good shows aren’t available because of distribution rights and nonsense that should have been resolved by now in our globally connected world. To content producers and providers: if you can stream or digitally distribute shows over the internet, do it. We will pay for it and don’t want to wait months for you to figure out how to distribute it in another region. Rant over.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo Review

It’s interesting to review a demo, but since I just spent the better part of 3 hours playing the demo for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (KoAR), I thought I would share.  Note that this game is rated mature and you will need to be old enough to access the game website. KoAR is a single player RPG from 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. 38 Studios was founded by Curt Shilling and KoAR is their first game and features significant input from Todd McFarlane and author R.A. Salvatore.  The KoAR demo is available via download on Origin, Steam, Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. The full game will be released on February 7, 2012.

The demo starts with a cinematic scene of two Gnomes pushing a cart with a sheet covered body. As they push the cart, the two Gnomes discuss the body upon it and this discussion leads to the character creation steps. A little different take on the RPG usual setup fare and after the opening cinematic you awake on a pile of dead bodies. From there you are taken through a tutorial to try and exit the tower you find yourself in while getting equipped and learning a bit about how you got there. Once out of the tower, you find the start of an open world adventure and soon are in a nearby town and picking up multiple quests to gain experience and loot. After the initial escape from the tower and completion of that first quest, you have about 45 minutes of game time to explore the world before the demo ends. This is plenty of time since it does not include time spent in the menus or speaking with non-player characters.

The look and feel of KoAR is very nice. The graphics are not as picturesque as say Skyrim, but have a nice feel that is better than but somewhat reminiscent of World of Warcraft. It is easier to see items to pick on screen than in Skyrim due to the helpful lighting effects. The overall combat mechanics and magic system are interesting; especially the over-the-top sword bashing you can give the early monsters. There are a couple of interesting mechanics that involve specific combinations of buttons to yield special effects and they are worth the frenzied button mashing (I was playing on the Xbox). One thing I especially liked was the lock on target nature of the bow, where I didn’t have to constantly be moving to keep the enemy in my sights while shooting (unlike Skyrim where 15 hours in I am still having difficulty tracking dragons with a bow). The game also has the usual pick up ingredients and supplies to mix potions (alchemy) or make items, but unlike most games, finding a source of a particular ingredient doesn’t guarantee that you will be able to harvest it (sometimes you fail unless you Alchemy skill is trained up). As you battle and explore, you will gain experience that will eventually lead to you leveling up, which will allow you to raise your skills and choose perks, rather than a the increase your skills by using them that makes you increase in level mechanic in Skyrim.

As you play the demo for KoAR, you unlock items for use in the full game and a few items for Mass Effect 3. If you plan on playing either game, you should spend the couple hours trying out KoAR. I give the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoking demo 4 Mick Happies. I enjoyed my time in Amalur and will likely be picking this one up after it drops on February 7.  

Super 8 Review

There is one thing I can attest to…J.J. Abrams is on a film roll. My wife, daughter and I all liked 2009’s Star Trek and I really enjoyed Super 8 (they decided not to watch, their loss). Being the two films that Abrams directed in the last few years, I think that constitutes the start of some kind of streak.

Super 8 is a coming of age, sci-fi, quasi-action and thriller film set in 1979 in Ohio. It is the story of the events that happen in a small town when a group of middle school-aged kids witness a US Air Force train derailing in the outskirts of town. The train contains something the government doesn’t want loose, but of course it gets out.

I liked how well Abrams does at putting you in the feel of the late 1970s. I remember riding my bike all over the place the way the kids in the movie do. Granted I wasn’t into filming Super 8 movies or witness to a train wreck.  I also believed the struggle of Kyle Chandler as a recent widower and town deputy who has, through no fault of his own, been thrust into an authority role trying to make sense of what is happening in his town.

The only nits I can pick on this one might be the use of lens flares (it seems to be Abrams’ thing) and the slight suspension of disbelief needed to accept that the kids in the movie have things figured out well before the adults. Those really are nits though. If you haven’t seen this movie, get it on DVD and start watching. I give 4 Mick Happies to Super 8.