After a series of critical failures such as Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender, writer/director M Night Shyamylan returns with his latest film, Devil. It is the first installment in a trilogy of films which are being called the “Night Chronicles.” This series of films will feature films and ideas coming from Shyamylan himself, but will be directed by someone else. Perhaps it is a good idea to reign in Shyamylan, by having a different person direct his screenplays. After all, I don’t think anyone could accuse Shyamylan of being uncreative, but some have definitely criticized his directorial style over the years. But if Devil is any indication, I don’t think Shyamylan will be bouncing back into good favor with critics anytime soon.
The concept behind Devil is simple. Five strangers are trapped in a stalled office building elevator. As rescuers race to open the elevator, they soon realize that one of the people trapped amongst them could be the Devil themselves. This is not the most original idea ever, but the concept of most of the film taking place in an elevator, could lead to some interesting possibilities. But the film doesn’t make use of this concept as well as it could have, and much of the film feels padded to meet the required running time. For instance, a good chunk of the film focuses on a detective character trying to figure out what is going on in the elevator as he tries to coordinate rescue efforts. He starts going through their backgrounds trying to figure out which one of them could be the murderer. However, by this time the audience pretty much knows that it is the devil that is killing people, and the detective’s efforts pretty much amount to red herring filler.
Devil’s problem lies in the fact that the film is simply not very scary or suspenseful. Left to the confines of the elevator, there is not much our characters can do except argue with each other (with some pretty unrealistic dialogue). Occasionally the lights go out, and some character will meet with a horrific fate at the hands of the devil. This happens so many times, that it becomes pretty banal by the time it happens to the third character. You will start to wonder why if this devil is so evil he just doesn’t break the elevator cable and return to Hades.
Which is another problem with Devil: the Devil doesn’t seem very devilish. Sure he murders several people throughout the film, and makes people’s toast fall jelly side down (I am not joking, this is used as evidence of the devil in the film), but he also seems to spare people who are willing to confess their sins to him. I’m not religious, but isn’t that more of God’s job? I’m sure Shyamylan was trying to incorporate a feel good redemptive aspect to the story similar to what he did in Signs, but while the ending of that movie came across as being genuinely touching, the ending of Devil just feels far too convenient and sloppy, as if Shyaymlan had to force things together in the last ten minutes to get the theme he wanted in the ending across.
Devil is the first of Shyamylan’s films that I just found boring. Sure, The Happening and Lady in the Water had huge flaws, but I can’t say I didn’t find them entertaining. Devil lacks the original concept of The Happening, the thrills and heart of Signs, or even the interesting twist of The Sixth Sense.
4/10
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Alan Wake (2010) VG Review
After encountering a severe case of writers block while working on his upcoming novel, famous author Alan Wake travels with his wife to the Pacific Northwest in order to get away. However, it soon becomes clear that a dark malevolent force is following Alan Wake, and after his wife goes missing he must uncover the dark secret surrounding the town of Bright Falls, Washington.
The game pays direct homage to television shows such as Twin Peaks, and the Twilight Zone with its mysterious twisting narrative. Conceptually, the story of Alan Wake is very strong, and deals with the idea of how a writer “creates” a narrative and how the real world and fiction can intertwine. The developers even went as far as breaking up the game into “episodes” complete with title and ending credits as well as a “previously on Alan Wake” segment.
Unfortunately, while it is great to see a game attempt to recreate TV style episodic story telling, the game suffers from weak voicing acting and some truly cheesy dialogue. Alan Wake’s character in particularly suffers from some lame pseudo-intellectual voice overs throughout the games cutscenes and gameplay. The cut scenes themselves are also distracting as character’s facial animations and voices never sync up quite right. These factors unfortunately took me out of what was otherwise a pretty successful narrative.
Above all, Alan Wake succeeds at creating truly creepy and suspenseful atmosphere. Most of the game’s environments are heavily forested areas, abandoned mines, and deserted buildings. The forest environments are detailed with swaying pine trees, and underbrush, and the game has extremely eerie lighting and environmental effects. It doesn’t help, that often enemies can materialize instantly from almost any direction, and often times the player turn around only to see an enemy about to stab him in the back.
At its core Alan Wake is primarily a third person shooter with an interesting gameplay twist. The player must use light sources to weaken the demonically possessed enemies known as the taken and make them vulnerable to conventional attack. Enemies are numerous, and often attack in large swarms. Completing the game successfully means using your flashlight, flares, and other environmental light sources to keep the enemy swarms at bay, and whittle away their health with your firearms. A distinct lack of enemy and weapon variety can lead to the combat becoming a bit formulaic as the game goes on, but the level design and atmosphere (including some excellent scripted sequences such as poltergeist attacks) serve to help keep the gameplay fresh.
The game attempts to integrate more character based elements and interactions with day time levels taking place in Bright Falls. However these non combat sections consist of mainly listening to exposition from certain characters, and running through a certain location to the end. If Remedy had taken more time to make these segments a little more involving and interesting, it would have added a bit more depth and variety to the game.
While Alan Wake is a great experience for horror fans, it never truly rises above the box’s bold claim of being “A Psychological Action Thriller,” and is instead content with being a competent third person shooter with great atmosphere and an ambitious but clumsily told story. It is disappointing that after five years of development, Remedy did not make something really new or unique but for those who looking for a creepy shooter, Alan Wake is a good time.
7/10
The game pays direct homage to television shows such as Twin Peaks, and the Twilight Zone with its mysterious twisting narrative. Conceptually, the story of Alan Wake is very strong, and deals with the idea of how a writer “creates” a narrative and how the real world and fiction can intertwine. The developers even went as far as breaking up the game into “episodes” complete with title and ending credits as well as a “previously on Alan Wake” segment.
Unfortunately, while it is great to see a game attempt to recreate TV style episodic story telling, the game suffers from weak voicing acting and some truly cheesy dialogue. Alan Wake’s character in particularly suffers from some lame pseudo-intellectual voice overs throughout the games cutscenes and gameplay. The cut scenes themselves are also distracting as character’s facial animations and voices never sync up quite right. These factors unfortunately took me out of what was otherwise a pretty successful narrative.
Above all, Alan Wake succeeds at creating truly creepy and suspenseful atmosphere. Most of the game’s environments are heavily forested areas, abandoned mines, and deserted buildings. The forest environments are detailed with swaying pine trees, and underbrush, and the game has extremely eerie lighting and environmental effects. It doesn’t help, that often enemies can materialize instantly from almost any direction, and often times the player turn around only to see an enemy about to stab him in the back.
At its core Alan Wake is primarily a third person shooter with an interesting gameplay twist. The player must use light sources to weaken the demonically possessed enemies known as the taken and make them vulnerable to conventional attack. Enemies are numerous, and often attack in large swarms. Completing the game successfully means using your flashlight, flares, and other environmental light sources to keep the enemy swarms at bay, and whittle away their health with your firearms. A distinct lack of enemy and weapon variety can lead to the combat becoming a bit formulaic as the game goes on, but the level design and atmosphere (including some excellent scripted sequences such as poltergeist attacks) serve to help keep the gameplay fresh.
The game attempts to integrate more character based elements and interactions with day time levels taking place in Bright Falls. However these non combat sections consist of mainly listening to exposition from certain characters, and running through a certain location to the end. If Remedy had taken more time to make these segments a little more involving and interesting, it would have added a bit more depth and variety to the game.
While Alan Wake is a great experience for horror fans, it never truly rises above the box’s bold claim of being “A Psychological Action Thriller,” and is instead content with being a competent third person shooter with great atmosphere and an ambitious but clumsily told story. It is disappointing that after five years of development, Remedy did not make something really new or unique but for those who looking for a creepy shooter, Alan Wake is a good time.
7/10
Greenberg (2010)
In Greenburg, the titular character (Stiller) is facing a mid life crisis, when he heads to LA to housesit for his brother and figure out where his life is heading.
When I started Greenberg I was expecting a quirky comedy about an oddball slacker. But the film is more of a dark character piece about a very bitter man who has a lot of regrets about his life. Greenberg himself is a funny but unlikable character, who often neurotically criticizes people and has a constant habit of writing complaint letters to companies. Most of the humor comes from these scenes. There is also a romantic subplot with his there is also a bit of a romantic plot between Greenberg and his brothers 20 something assistant, Florence.
The film reminded me a bit Lost in Translation both because of the relationship between Florence and Greenberg, and also because the film itself is almost completely plot less. It is simply a snapshot into a couple weeks while Greenberg house sits for his brother. Because of this, the movie feels a little too uneventful and meandering. It is not helped much by an ending that is both sudden and unfulfilling, but works well as a metaphor for the psychological issues Stiller’s character is dealing with.
For those looking for big laughs or a more traditional plot based story Greenberg will surely disappoint, but for those looking for a more character based drama, Greenberg may be what you are looking for.
6/10
When I started Greenberg I was expecting a quirky comedy about an oddball slacker. But the film is more of a dark character piece about a very bitter man who has a lot of regrets about his life. Greenberg himself is a funny but unlikable character, who often neurotically criticizes people and has a constant habit of writing complaint letters to companies. Most of the humor comes from these scenes. There is also a romantic subplot with his there is also a bit of a romantic plot between Greenberg and his brothers 20 something assistant, Florence.
The film reminded me a bit Lost in Translation both because of the relationship between Florence and Greenberg, and also because the film itself is almost completely plot less. It is simply a snapshot into a couple weeks while Greenberg house sits for his brother. Because of this, the movie feels a little too uneventful and meandering. It is not helped much by an ending that is both sudden and unfulfilling, but works well as a metaphor for the psychological issues Stiller’s character is dealing with.
For those looking for big laughs or a more traditional plot based story Greenberg will surely disappoint, but for those looking for a more character based drama, Greenberg may be what you are looking for.
6/10
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim is a 22 year old loser dating a high school girl, and playing in his nerdy garage band “Sex Bob-bomb” when he suddenly meets his mysterious dream girl Norma Flowers. Scott quickly strikes up a relationship, only to realize that in order to date Norma, he must defeat seven of her evil exes in battle.
The film is designed to be lighthearted and fun, and at its best moments it does succeed at this. However, the film’s plot is so sparse and disjointed it is difficult to have a lot of emotional investment in the characters or story. It all is just blur of ridiculous fights, goofy pop culture references, and video game humor. If this is all your looking for, you will be in for a good time, but I was constantly wondering why Scott found Norma so special that he had to fight an army of exes. Michael Cera as Pilgrim is his usual awkward bumbling self. He has been playing this angle since Arrested Development, but he is the king of this type of character and he works in the film.
What makes Scott Pilgrim bearable is its fast moving stylized visuals that play that reference old school arcade video games and comics. Scott defeats each of his adversaries and turns them into coins and points, and comic style sound effect words are constantly appearing on screen. This visual style gives the movie a lot of style and makes it reminiscent of a living cartoon in much the same way as 2008’s magnificent Speed Racer. Without these fun gimmicks, this movie would be little more than another Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List.
Scott Pilgrim is a interesting watch, and fans of the comics and of quirky comedies may enjoy this film quite a bit. However, I found the movie ultimately unfunny and by the halfway point I was growing tired of the constant pop culture and video game references, followed by repetitive fights that seemed to be motivated by little else than the movies own silly premise of a guy fighting his girlfriends exes like they were a video game boss. By the end credits I wasn’t wishing for a bonus stage
5/10
The film is designed to be lighthearted and fun, and at its best moments it does succeed at this. However, the film’s plot is so sparse and disjointed it is difficult to have a lot of emotional investment in the characters or story. It all is just blur of ridiculous fights, goofy pop culture references, and video game humor. If this is all your looking for, you will be in for a good time, but I was constantly wondering why Scott found Norma so special that he had to fight an army of exes. Michael Cera as Pilgrim is his usual awkward bumbling self. He has been playing this angle since Arrested Development, but he is the king of this type of character and he works in the film.
What makes Scott Pilgrim bearable is its fast moving stylized visuals that play that reference old school arcade video games and comics. Scott defeats each of his adversaries and turns them into coins and points, and comic style sound effect words are constantly appearing on screen. This visual style gives the movie a lot of style and makes it reminiscent of a living cartoon in much the same way as 2008’s magnificent Speed Racer. Without these fun gimmicks, this movie would be little more than another Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List.
Scott Pilgrim is a interesting watch, and fans of the comics and of quirky comedies may enjoy this film quite a bit. However, I found the movie ultimately unfunny and by the halfway point I was growing tired of the constant pop culture and video game references, followed by repetitive fights that seemed to be motivated by little else than the movies own silly premise of a guy fighting his girlfriends exes like they were a video game boss. By the end credits I wasn’t wishing for a bonus stage
5/10
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