Transformers: Age of Extinction

Last weekend the whole family went to see Transformers: Age of Extinction. This is a big deal since I can't pay the wife or kid to go to an actual theatre and I really don't blame them. We went to the luxury theatre nearby and paid $21.50 a person then a boatload more for popcorn and Icees. Then there is the uncomfortable seats (compared to home) and the inability to pause the film when you have to go, etc., etc., etc. We thought it would be worth it to see some Transformers action as we have enjoyed (most) of the previous films and I am of an age where I remember watching Optimus Prime and crew growing up.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (T:AoE) is the latest installment in Michael Bay's big screen franchise based on the classic cartoon, Transformers. I won't bother explaining the backstory since most people who are reading this have likely already seen or heard of the previous movies. T:AoE picks up 5 years after Transformers: Dark of the Moon and finds all Transformers on the run and in hiding. They are being hunted down by a covert operations team run by the CIA with the goal of ending alien activity (and protecting the country/world). Needless to say they aren't discriminate between Autobots and Decepticons and many of the robot characters from the previous films are dead. The CIA team is also working with others for specific goals that are directly related to the plot (so I won't spoil them).

Okay, so this isn't a great film. It is long, repetitive and tries to pack too much into one story. T:AoE runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes (more if you count the 20 minutes of commercials and trailers we had to sit through). There are several points in the movie where they could have stopped and it would have been a tight, compact story. Instead you get a bloated action fest that leaves you tired, physically tired, when it is done. At times it seems that fight scenes were just going on to provide an opportunity to throw more visual effects at you.

On the plus side, there are Transformers and we get to meet some new ones who are interesting - like Hound (voiced by John Goodman). There are also some nice comedic moments in the film that are laugh out loud and meant to be. Stanley Tucci is pretty good in his role and Mark Wahlberg was better than Shia LeBeouf is the last film or two in the franchise. Though I do miss MoJo.

Oh yeah, Dinobots.

I think my major problem with the Transformers films is that they all end up being about saving the world or stopping some major bad event from occurring. If I could do one thing with the franchise - assuming we want more Transformers - I would reboot the whole thing. I would keep most of the first film but rather than having the aliens come for the Allspark, the Decepticons would come to take over Earth because their planet was used up or have them come because the Autobots are here hiding. Then have the whole movie just be about the fight between the Autobots and Decepticons with humans trying to help the Autobots. Would be a much more interesting than wasting time with all the chasing around for an Allspark or a Matrix of Leadership or Seed or whatever.

Anyway, Transformers: Age of Extinction gets 2 MickHappies. Too long, repetitive plot, too much trying to shove new shiny things in and not enough clever. Watch at your risk. Or watch if you just really like watching robots fighting robots.

Hollow World Review

A year ago or so I read The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan and enjoyed them quite a bit. Recently I had a chance to pick up a copy of his latest novel, Hollow World, as an e-book on Amazon for next to nothing, so I jumped at the chance. Hollow World, for those who didn't hear about it before via its successful Kickstarter campaign or other means, is a recent past/far-future time travel tale - think H.G. Wells' The Time Machine but without quite so bleak a future.

In Hollow World we are introduced to Ellis Rogers, a married man who is going to die and has little to hold him to his current life. Lucky for him, he has built a time machine and if he is willing to roll the dice, he may be able to find a cure in the future to save himself. we are given a very interesting view of the future indeed. That's as far as I will go into the plot as this story holds suspense and mystery and asks a number of social questions and I don't want to ruin it for you.

Anyone who has been reading my recent posts knows I like time travel or stories when people from our world go to a new one. This fish-out-of-water scenario is always interesting when it involves the future and we get to see the author's speculation of what the future might hold for mankind. Mr. Sullivan's take on the future in Hollow World is interesting and thought-provoking and will force the reader to question what the purpose of life is and how do sexuality and religion play a part in it. Luckily it doesn't beat those topics over your head, after all there is still an interesting story going on in there as well.

One thing I did find with Hollow World is that a few of the big reveals were possibly too heavily foreshadowed meaning they didn't have quite the impact that they could have. On the other hand, it was nice to actually guess a few events in the story rather than just go along for the ride. Either way, it doesn't detract from Hollow World being a good book and rating 4 Mick Happies for me. I recommend you give it a shot and if you buy it in print form you can get a free e-book copy from the author. Additionally, the e-book comes with two versions of the book, the explicit language one and the clean version. See you in the future.

Enigma Express Game Review

Hidden object and free-to-play games are not usually high on my list of interesting. However, hidden object games are something that my wife seems to enjoy so when I saw that Relentless Software released Enigma Express for iOS devices and it was free, I decided to give it a test drive. Enigma Express is set in the same world as Relentless Software's other mystery puzzle game, Murder Files. You are a junior detective trying to help Hannah Dakota of the Blue Toad Agency figure out why mysterious objects have been stolen from the bank deposit box of a notorious criminal.

The game is played out by finding hidden objects at various locations. Press on the object hidden on the screen to earn points. The higher points total you have when time runs out, the better. Points help unlock clues that are then used to unlock the next location in the game. A total of 5 clues can be earned at each location - earning additional clues also gives you more time to find objects the next time you play through that location. Some locations have you searching for up to 4 objects at once, adding a new object to find for each one you have already found. Other locations have different variations where you are looking for a single object at time and have to find it before being given another object. There is also a hint system that is on a timer, so you won't be able to use it more than once or twice a try. In the background you have the cut scene (somewhat) interactive story bits that tell you the underlying story of Enigma Express. 

Those are the nuts and bolts of the game, but then you run into the free-to-play elements. Each time you go to a location, you use 20 energy to begin the object search mini-game. Energy is replenished over time with 1 energy coming back every few minutes. If you need a quicker influx of energy, you can always buy some with coins. You earn coins periodically through the game or can buy them with actual $$. When you use clues to unlock a new location, there is a timer while train tracks are being laid to get you there (typically a few minutes) or if you don't want to wait, you can use coins to finish the track instantly. 

What works well with this game is the quirky story, art and voice acting. There is a lot of polish to this game and finding the objects within the 1 - 2 minutes you get for a level can be a challenge at times. This certainly could have been a premium game on the App Store and no one would have blinked an eye. They also have allowed the ability to login into Facebook and have leaderboards with your Facebook friends. 

Where things breakdown for me is in the Facebook integration, loading issues and free-to-play elements. I would much rather have paid a few dollars to have the game without the timers than to be kept from playing the game every 10 minutes or so when I run out of energy. I also don't like that I am asked to connect to Facebook after I finish any hidden-object mini game try - I don't have a Facebook account and don't need to see that pop-up every couple of minutes. It would be nice if there was an option to turn off all of those pop-ups. It would also be nice to be able to pay to remove the timers and coins so that the game can just be played and the story enjoyed. Probably the hardest thing to get over is how long it takes for the game to load up when you first open the app. Sometimes it seems to hang and you have to clear it from memory and re-open the app to get to play. This may just be due to the capabilities of my gen 1 iPad mini being on the weak side for the game, but it is compatible back to iOS 4.3, so there may be a lot of older devices trying to run it. 

You may see this for a while.

I think all the elements for a fun little game are here, but the timers and pop-ups and loading times are killing it for me. Hopefully some of these items will be addressed in updates down the road. For all the quirky polish that goes into the Murder Files games, I would like to see them succeed. I give Enigma Express 3 Mick Happies as a free-to-play hidden object game, just know what your in for before spending too much time with it. Now I need to go spend some time with all of the other games I just bought during the Steam Summer Sale. 

Quick Movie Reviews

Lately I have seen several documentary, I mean historical fiction, based-on-a-true-story and/or fantasy movies. Sometimes I like to think that they are documentaries and that is how things really happened, but alas…no. However, that doesn't mean that you can't have a good time with some of them anyway. Here's a roundup of quick reviews for those movies.

47 Ronin: The latest retelling of the classic Japanese story about the Samurai code of honor, bushido.  This version of 47 Ronin stars Keanu Reeves as Kai, a half-Japanese/half-English outcast, and is directed by Carl Rinsch. The story is about treachery and loyalty and revenge in feudal Japan as 47 Ronin, or masterless Samurai, seek to avenge the death of their master. Overall, the movie is beautiful and Keanu Reeves is visually believable as Kai. Where the movie fell down a bit for me was in the weaving of mystical/magical elements into the story and the use of hyper-fast CGI in some of those instances. It took me out of the story and basically the source material probably didn't need the extra punch of the special effects. If you are interested in Samurai movies that have modern special effects instead of the classic Samurai movies, this one is probably a good one to watch. I give 47 Ronin 3 Mick Happies.

50 to 1: Continuing the theme of movies with numbers in the title is the based on a true story tale of the racehorse, Mine That Bird. The film is directed by Jim Wilson and stars Skeet Ulrich and Christian Kane. We found out about the movie by following Christian Kane, who we are a fan of from his work on Leverage as well as his singing efforts. This is a classic underdog story of a horse trained in New Mexico that no one thinks has a chance but goes on to great success. As with any underdog story there are ups and downs along the way, but it all works out. This is a low budget film, but it has a lot of heart and it is clear that everyone making it was having a good time and enjoying what they were doing. Plus, who doesn't like an underdog story? There are some weak acting moments by some of the supporting cast that may seem a little off, but overall this is a feel good movie. 50 to 1 gets 4 Mick Happies.

Christian Kane as Mark Allen in 50 to 1

Pompeii: This epic of the destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii stars Kit Harrington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) as Milo, a celtic slave forced to fight in the arena. Along the way he falls in love and must fight for his life in the games for the amusement of the citizenry of Pompeii. There is politics, great scenery and landscapes. Again a lot of abs, blood and fighting, oh and destruction. Keifer Sutherland is frustratingly evil as Roman Senator Corvus. This isn't a bad movie at all, but anyone with a bit of historical knowledge knows that things aren't going to end well. Overall, Pompeii probably falls into the category of depressing more than anything else. I give it 2.5 Mick Happies. I hope that Kit Harrington gets another starring role in something other than a fantasy setting to show what he can do.

I, Frankenstein: I know, not based on a true story, but what if it was! That would be great. This take on Frankenstein finds the monster still alive in modern day and caught between two factions that have warred for centuries and look to Frankstein's monster to give them an edge in the battle. I don't want to give anything away as I think this is a film worth seeing. I will say I have always thought there was more to gargoyle statues than just ornamentation on buildings - glad to see them getting into some action. If you like supernatural action films that have a bit of the Underworld films feel to them, check this one out. I give I, Frankenstein 3 Mick Happies.

Magic Kingdom For Sale - SOLD!

Been a while since I posted anything mainly due to life happening. That doesn't mean that I haven't been consuming movies, books and playing games. One thing I did before life started to take over was download the first 3 books in Terry Brooks's Landover series from Amazon (link here) and start reading it (again). The book, The Magic Kingdom of Landover Volume 1 consists of Magic Kindgom For Sale - SOLD!, The Black Unicorn and Wizard At Large all for $9.99 on Kindle. The first novel, MKFS-S! was first published back in 1986, which was about the time I first read it.

The book is about a dissatisfied Chicago widower lawyer who decides to take a risk on an offer in a department store catalog to buy a fantasy kingdom and become it's king. For the rest of the story we follow Ben Holiday and see how his purchase works out for him.

Not as well known as Brooks's Shannara series and possibly not as good as the Sword of Shannara, MKFS-S! reminded of a particular sub-genre of fantasy that I really like, the kind where seemingly normal people are transported to another world. A sub-genre best known by classics like The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia , A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Alice in Wonderland, I personally have found The Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg to be my favorite example. There is something great about the idea that we (any of us) might someday stumble into another world (and hopefully survive).

Some of the things that Terry Brooks does very well in MKFS-S! is give us insight into Ben's doubts and concerns as he questions his sanity for even buying into the idea of this kingdom for sale. Plus Landover is interesting in it's own right, but I don't want to spoil the surprises. Luckily I originally read it so long ago that I didn't remember all of the twists (of which there are a few).

The book probably best falls into a young adult age range, with nothing too violent (more suspenseful) and nothing too sexy. I read it at 16 or 17 and anyone 13 and up would have a good time with the story. I haven't read books 2 or 3 in the series (which currently spans six novels) and am looking forward to reading them as well. I give MKFS-S! 3.5 Mick Happies and highly recommend you go out and grab a copy of the 3 book set if you like Brooks's other novels or want a decent fantasy story with nearly all the trappings of the trope.

Back again soon with a roundup of all the movies I have seen lately.

Walk of Shame Movie Review

Walk of Shame is a new comedy film written and directed by Steven Brill and starring Elizabeth Banks. As the title suggests, "good girl" Meghan, played by Banks, decides to let off some steam and ends up having to walk about Los Angeles in a bright yellow dress - attracting all kinds of attention along the way. The movie has been panned by the critics, but as my wife likes to say - whatever they don't like, I usually do.

Meghan is on this trek across town because she is stranded without money, phone or a car and needs to get to her work (as a newscaster) in order to land a new job. There are many awkward and strained moments in the movie, but there are also several laugh out loud funny bits as well. Particularly when Meghan is hiding out with some drug dealers and a crack-head named, Pookie. Alphonso McAuley (Pookie) steals the show and is possibly the funniest character in the whole film. Elizabeth Banks is good as a frustrated, drunk, out of her depth person just trying to get to work.

Pookie pays attention to the news.

I found Walk of Shame to be a light-hearted, occasionally cringe-worthy (as most comedy is these days) and fun. Several of the characters, scenes and lines have kept me chuckling a day later. We worth the money spent to rent it through iTunes. Oh yeah, did I mention that this movie is in theaters (limited release) and available to buy or rent online? Fantastic and I wish more movies would do that as it really would get more of my money - I would rather pay to rent a movie at release if I could than wait for it on Netflix.

Walk of Shame is R-rated, so not kid friendly, but certainly worth a watch and way better than it's Rotten Tomatoes rating would suggest. Just jump on the couch and strap in for the ride (or walk). Walk of Shame gets 3.5 Mick Happies. More same day as theaters rental options, please!

The Legend of Hercules Movie Review

Hercules seems to be all the rage right now in entertainment circles (or maybe it is just Greek Myths that are popular. The muscle-bound demigod has been showing up in BBC's Atlantis TV show as an overweight slightly cowardly man trying to pump his own notoriety to two films that seem to follow the traditional myth more closely, Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson and The Legend of Hercules starring Kellan Lutz. Last night my wife and I "watched" The Legend of Hercules. Going in to the film, my wife stated that we would probably be done in about 30 minutes as we tend to turn off movies we aren't enjoying without finishing them. Surprisingly, we made it through the whole film. It may be that our own running commentary about the plot, characters, story and flaws that kept us interested when the movie alone might not.

In some respects, The Legend of Hercules follows a lot of the mythical stories of Heracles (the greek name for Hercules). They get the name of his mother, father and brother right and even give us one of the twelve labors, slaying of the Nemean Lion. Where it goes a little askew is by making this more a story of a queen's (Alcmene) interest in stopping her power-mad husband (Amphitryon) by seeking support from the gods. Hera, the goddess, grants Alcmene's wish by allowing Zeus to sleep with her and make her pregnant, leading to the birth of Hercules. In The Legend of Hercules, Amphitryon knows that Hercules (called Alcides) isn't his son and even worse, Hercules happens to love the woman that Amphitryon has decided his true son, Iphicles, will marry. So Amphitryon decides to send Hercules to Egypt where he will conveniently die. That is the first 30 minutes of the movie.

The last hour is the rest of the story with Hercules seeking to get some payback. All well and good, nothing spectacular in the plot department, but not horrible either. Where I think things derail a bit is in the choices of the crew. What we get is 300-esque fight scenes (and actor body-types causing my wife to ask if she could stop to do some laundry on those boys) sometimes seemingly mixed with the blue light effects of Twilight. The film is obviously made for 3D with arrows and other items flying out at you from time to time. Probably the biggest nit to pick is that there is nothing redeeming in the character of Iphicles (the brother). Where Hercules is tan, muscular, shirtless, moral, good, etc., etc., etc. While Iphicles is dark haired, pale, never shirtless, a bit whiny, simpering, and petty. Yes, I know we need to have our bad guys look obviously bad and our good guys squeaky clean, but at least take a book from Thor and realize that it doesn't have to be that way. I mean, Loki looked like a bad guy, but he wasn't incompetent and was even a bit sympathetic. Having Iphicles be almost as good as Hercules but always a step behind might have made the movie more interesting.

At any rate, if you like to chat during a movie and make fun of what you are seeing, then The Legend of Hercules will be easy pickings for you. Now we just have to wait for The Rock's Hercules later this year. The Legend of Hercules gets 2 Mick Happies. Prepare to mock if you watch.