Superheros Galore and More

Ok, so I missed a week or so, no biggie. Let's talk about some more important things than my inherent tardiness.

Let's talk movies. Yesterday my friend Lindsey took my girlfriend and I out to see Dark Knight. I'll try to keep this spoiler free for the faint of heart, but I do need to review it. Overall, it ruled. Ledger's acting was above and beyond the best of his I've seen, and he really took the creepy version of Joker and ran with it. You really get the feeling that this is the kind of guy who could shoot a woman in the spine just to make her dad wince. Aaron Eckhart did just as well as Harvey Dent, and managed to come off as incredibly charismatic instead of a preachy know it all. The writer of this film has done a masterful job. That being said, there were parts of it that just ran....long. I realize it probably says something about the attention span of my age group, but really, did we need that much material? I dunno, I imagine it's a side effect of doing the dual villians in a comic book movie that Hollywood seems so fond of. Either way, a minor quibble with a great movie, go see it in theaters. Moving on now.

Let's talk musicals. That's right, musicals. I just finished watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and was very impressed. The first act was a little slow, but everything really came together for the second and third. For those not in the know (a population sampling roughly equivalent as those that speak gaelic), Joss Whedon (along with the rest of the Whedon clan) wrote a musical from the perspective of an aspiring super villain during the WGA strike. It was free to download until Sunday, and it's being put onto a DVD available for purchase. Check out the Master Plan. Anyway, very well done. Neil Patrick Harris was very likable, and had a relatable presence (well, as much as one can relate to someone who has a PhD in horribleness). I don't typically go for musicals, but this one really hit the spot. I hope to see more projects like this spring up, and if it turns enough of a profit, maybe some other writers will jump on the bandwagon. That's eleven sentences more than I ever thought I'd write about musicals.

Next up, video games. Since my last post, E3 has come and gone. Now, while I didn't attend (apparently a college kid who rants about stuff in his spare time doesn't really qualify as a desirable representation of the press...whiners), I tried to keep up to date on what was going down. A few things caught my eye. First, a new Final Fantasy 13 trailer is out. The game looks very pretty, and one of the stated goals is to make combat as fluid as the fights in Advent Children. Now, I'm not sure if they can really pull that off (the trailer does have some impressive in game scenes, but I'm withholding judgement until I get my hands on a copy), but the game should be worth checking out anyway. Todd Howard did a demonstration of some gameplay with Fallout 3, but it was kinda lackluster. I realize this is because he just focused on the combat (with a god-modded character and the bloody mess perk on), but what he showed other games do better. I did read a hands on review that actually dealt with dialogue, travel, side quests, that kinda thing, and from that source it sounds really good. Hmm, I was going to mention something disparaging about No Mutants Allowed, but after checking their website, they seem to have done a 180 and are in total support of FO 3. How odd. I remember grating my teeth every time Brother None said something I disagreed with. Anyway, the point I was trying to make earlier was that if the story elements of the game are good, I don't care if they recycle Thousand Arms' combat. If the combat ends up matching the hype, so much the better. Lastly, Megaman 9. That's right, an 8-bit classic Megaman game is being released on XBox Live, Playstation Online, and Nintendo Wiiware. There shall be much rejoicing.

I think three general topics is a good place to stop. Next post I'll be reviewing Soul Calibur 4 and Song Summoner.

- Andy