Tag Archive: movies


Green Lantern’s Light!

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April 20, 2010

Originally Published: August 4, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

Perfectly timed by DC Comics to coincide with the Blackest Night comic saga and news of Ryan Reynolds being cast as Hal Jordan for a live-action movie, Green Lantern: First Flight is the next installment in the DC Comics/Warner Bros. series of animated spectacles dealing with some of DC’s greatest heroes.

Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU) as Hal Jordan, Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog, and Victor Garber (Alias) as Sinestro headline an all-star voice cast brought together by Warner Bros. Animation veteran voice casting director Andrea Romano and directed by another WB vet, Lauren Montgomery.

Green Lantern: First Flight deals with how Hal Jordan, one of the most celebrated of the Green Lantern Corps and founding member of the Justice League, came into possession of the galaxy’s most powerful weapon, a Green Lantern ring. It also goes into depth with the beginnings of his relationship with Sinestro, once thought to be the greatest of all the Green Lanterns, and now Jordan’s greatest foe.

One of the movie’s greatest strengths also may have been its greatest flaw in that Jordan gets his ring within the first five minutes of the movie. Although it throws you right into the action with him having to prove himself against Sinestro, Boodikka, Tomar Re, and Kilowog (all major ranked officers in the Corps) before he gets shipped to Oa (the Green Lantern Universal Headquarters) for basic training, you don’t get a real sense of his relationship with Carol Ferris, his boss and main love interest in the comics, or his love of his job as a test pilot.

It isn’t a major gripe because as a movie watcher it helps hold your attention for the entire 77 minutes, but as a die-hard fan of the Green Lantern mythology, I wanted a little more depth. Not going into Hal’s relationships on Earth left him as a very one-dimensional character when he left for Oa five minutes into the movie.

Another major gripe was the death of Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who bestows his ring to Hal Jordan upon his death. Atrocius, one of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy, killed Abin Sur in the comics. In the movie, Cuch, a two-bit henchman, killed him to help further the plot that Sinestro is going to betray the Green Lanterns.

This aspect of the storyline disappointed me because it goes against Sinestro’s character to work with anyone in any kind of a partnership. His ego prevents him from being anything but the alpha dog and having him cavort with space pirates in a conspiracy does not do the character justice.

Along with those gripes is the fact that many of the more infamous, non-Earth based Lanterns are killed off including Boodikka, whose character is completely trashed in the movie, and Tomar Re.

Aside from these inconsistencies from the original comic storylines, the movie is actually very good as a stand-alone tale. It establishes the yellow impurity against the green (although again, nothing like in the comics), turns Sinestro evil very early and shows that he is willing to go to any lengths to achieve his means of establishing his order throughout the galaxy, and shows the Lantern Corps’ early distrust of Hal Jordan before he saves them all.

Overall, the movie is solid and should be watched by any fan of the Justice League or the Green Lanterns, especially considering it is only $12.99 at most stores in regular DVD format. If you want to drop a few extra bucks, you can get the 2-disc special edition (like yours truly) and get an extra three hours of content along with a three and a half inch action figure with 14 points of articulation.

The extra DVD features were definitely worth it. From Geoff Johns, long-time Green Lantern writer, talking about the future of the franchise, the purpose of the movie, and the origins of the characters to episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Duck Dodgers featuring the Green Lanterns, the bonus features were just as good as the movie and make this a must purchase for Green Lantern fans.

My critical points aside, Green Lantern: First Flight is an interesting take on the Green Lantern/Hal Jordan origin story. Combined with some great voice acting from all those involved, this was a fun, action packed watch that can hold your attention the whole way through with great bonus DVD features.

Green Lantern: First Flight gets 3 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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1.21 Gigawatts!

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Originally Published: July 10, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

When you think of classic comedies and memorable characters in the 80s and 90s, you might include Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or Doc Emmitt Brown from Back to the Future.

The man behind those iconic characters is actor Christopher Lloyd. Ever since he made his film debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Lloyd has left his mark on both the big and little screens with some of the most over-the-top performances in history.

Now, Mr. Lloyd is returning the little screen for a two-part mini-series on NBC called Meteor, which airs this Sunday, July 12, and the following Sunday, July 19, at 9PM EST. Lloyd plays Dr. Lehman, who discovers that a meteor is on a collision course with Earth, and he needs to find a way to get the proper authorities to believe him before it’s too late.

I had a chance, along with Robin Lundberg of Lundberg Doin’ Work, to talk to Christopher Lloyd about this role and some of the classic roles he’s embodied over the years.


CLICK HERE – to listen to Robin Lundberg and me interview Christopher Lloyd.

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More Than Meets the Eye

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Originally Published: June 30, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Examiner.com, and Lundberg.me

Continuing with my summer series analyzing blockbuster movies and the video games based off them, today I look at Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

This sequel to the smash-hit based off the Hasbro toys and cartoon of the mid-’80s picks up two years after the first movie. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (still voiced by Peter Cullen, the same man who voiced him in the cartoon), are now known by the world’s governments and work in tandem with them to cull the persistent Decepticon threat, even after the defeat of their leader Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving of the Matrix, V for Vendetta, and Lord of the Rings fame).

After extinguishing the sixth Decepticon attack in eight months against the humans, this time in Shanghai, Optimus receives an ominous threat from the dying Decepticon Demolisher that the Fallen shall rise again. Unsure of how to perceive this threat, the Autobots return to US shores to try to appease political red tape that has arisen from the damage their latest excursion.

Meanwhile, Autobot ally Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) prepares for college on the East coast by consoling his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox). After delivering her a long-distance-relationship survival kit and breaking the news to Autobot Bumblebee that he will be leaving him behind, Sam begins to pack. As he rummages through his closet, he comes across a shard of the all-knowing All-spark (which was the focus of the first movie) that embedded itself in his clothes.

Upon touching the fragment, Sam has the language of the Autobots and Decepticons, Cybertronian, embedded into his mind with a map of where an ancient Autobot artifact, the Dagger’s Tip, is located. Unable to decipher the information, Sam goes off to college, spasming all the way. Now, as the mystery of the Fallen begins to unfold, the Autobots and Decepticons race to the East coast in order to procure the map from Sam; one side trying to prevent a worldwide catastrophe, the other trying to ensure its outcome.

This movie was amazing. I loved almost every second of it. From the first fight scene in Shanghai five minutes in, to Optimus battling three Decepticons at once midway through, to the final climatic battle between the Autobots and Deceptions in the deserts of Egypt, this movie was non-stop action. It is no surprise, though, that the fight scenes between giant alien robots would look phenomenal from director and special effects guru Michael Bay.

Die-hards of the Transformers will be thrilled with this movie because it held true to a lot of the original cartoon. From the inclusion of the Decepticons’ moon base to Soundwave unleashing his pet robo-dog as an advanced scout were both brilliant moves that only fans of the cartoon will truly appreciate. Die-hards would also recognize all of the extra Transformers that were thrown in to flesh out the rosters, from Mudflap and Beat for the Autobots to Grindor, Sideways, Long Haul, and Devastator for the Decepticons.

These additions though may ostracize more casual fans because they see these brightly-colored robots dropping bombs (literally and figuratively) and they’re barely acknowledged in the movie by their more popular counterparts, such as Bumblebee for the Autobots or Starscream for the Decepticons.

I felt that all of the main characters were used almost perfectly in this big screen visualization of a giant alien robot war. With all the new robots though, I was surprised, as a die-hard myself, that Breakaway wasn’t included for the Autobots (an F-14 fighter jet and the good counterpart to Starscream), but I guess too many planes might take away from everyone’s favorite evil second-banana.

The only other point that takes away from the overall experience is that the movie is two hours and a half hours long. For the most part, it flows surprisingly well for a long movie, but there easily could have been 15 to 20 minutes cut from the entire Cairo excursion scene. It felt drawn out and you just keep asking yourself, “When is Sam going to get to Optimus already?”

Aside from those minor complaints, this movie really delivers the goods. You have funny, memorable characters, like Leo, and John Turturro coming back to reprise his Sector 7 role from the first movie (some would say there were a few too many of these characters, but I understand the need to have a counter-balance between the human and robot characters), deeply dramatic moments, a compelling plot combined with over-the-top action, and giant robots. What else could you ask for from a summer blockbuster?

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen gets 4 out of 5.

One of the problems with most summer blockbusters is that the movie will typically deliver the goods and you’ll have a sub-par video game that takes away from the overall experience. The only exception to this trend, where both the movie and the game have been exceptional, was Spider-Man 2.

Spider-Man 2 finally has some company on that short list.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is also an awesome video game. Getting a chance to hop into the driver’s seat of both your favorite Decepticons and Autobots as you follow the plot of this amazing summer blockbuster is a thrill. It appeals to both die-hard and casual fans because it fleshes out the roles of more minor characters from the movie while also letting you wreak havoc or save the day with Megatron and Optimus Prime.

The transformations from vehicle to robot and back are seamless and often necessary to complete the missions in the fastest possible time. You need a fast time in order to get an energon reward (energon is the life force for Autobots and Decepticons) and upgrade your characters’ firepower, speed, recovery time, etc.

As you progress, you can also go back and perform the same missions with different robots. Sometimes Starscream’s fighter jet is more apt for a mission than Long Haul’s dump truck or Iron Haul’s turret ability is more of an asset against a large group of foes you’ll face compared to Bumblebee’s EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) ability.

Along with the ability to replay missions for better scores or to play through two different storylines as either Decepticons or Autobots, there is also an online versus mode that will pit you against different people in team or single death-match, capture-the-flag mode, or Guardian mode where a team has infinite re-spawns until one of the teams’ leaders is defeated. This really ups the ante in terms of the game’s replay value.

Included with these aspects, the unlockables are probably the best feature of all. By meeting certain mission requirements, you can unlock original episodes from the mid-’80s cartoon. There are six episodes in total, three from the Decepticons and three from the Autobots, and this will bring die-hards back time and time again.

The only real knock on the game is that the high-end graphics, such as the transformations and explosions, create a real strain on the system’s processing power. In order to prevent further slow-down, developers had to tone down the backgrounds. Not to say the terrain graphics are bad, they’re just a little bland.

The sound effects are perfect for the game in terms of transformations, explosions, and jets screaming through the air, but the music is generic at best. Aside from this minor complaint, the audio works pretty well.

Overall, this game is a must-have for any Transformers fan because you’ll flash back to all of your battles with your action figures as a kid, except the explosions will be more than you making swooshing sounds. Casual fans will appreciate the game because it will help them get into the lore of Transformers and probably help them understand the movie better because it cuts away all of the superfluous comedy of the plot and gets to the heart of the matter. Either way, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is a great game that is worthy of this great movie.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.5: Nothing special in terms of graphics. The transformers themselves look great and the transformations look smooth, but this needs extra processing power and it leaves the terrain looking bland and monotonous.

Audio: 8.0: The SFX are great and fit the game perfectly, but some generic music takes away from the overall experience enough to dock it a couple points.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: The plot follows the movie perfectly in the Autobot storyline and only deviates slightly towards the end for the Decepticons (obviously so that they can win), but does so in a way that was a little bit of a stretch. Aside from this blemish, the plot is just as good as the movie.

Gameplay: 9.0: No glitches to speak of keeps the game flowing at a great pace just like the movie. The only thing that knocks this down a peg is that the targeting system can be a little fickle at times, but not enough to take away from the overall experience.

Replay Value: 10.0: When you offer entire cartoon episodes as unlockables, you’ll be working towards them all night long if need be. Add in high score online leaderboards and a near flawless online versus mode and this game is definitely worth the $60 pricetag.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: Minor aesthetic complaints aside, this game delivers on all fronts. Die-hards will love taking control of their favorite characters and wreaking havoc or saving the day with them and casual fans will love how it fleshes out a story they might have a little difficulty understanding at first. Couple this with tremendous replay value, classic cartoons, and just as many explosions as its movie counterpart and you have a sure winner on your hands.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is available now on all platforms.

-Ray Carsillo

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‘Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good

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April 19, 2010

Originally Published: June 15, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Examiner.com, and Lundberg.me

The 80s was a hotbed for geek culture. With Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles permeating the popular culture, it’s hard not to see why my generation is having a renaissance of our childhood, as these franchises have celebrated or soon will be celebrating anniversaries.

The only geek-geared franchise that began in the movies though, and is now celebrating its 25th anniversary by releasing both a brand new video game and both movies on Blu-ray on June 16, was, of course, Ghostbusters.

With shock-value scares and classic humor from some of the greatest comedy minds of the era, Ghostbusters struck chords with fans young and old (although some of us younger fans couldn’t truly appreciate all the comedy until we hit our early teens).

From an entire universe being encapsulated in the fictional work of “Tobin’s Spirit Guide” to the gluttonous green ghoul called “Slimer” haunting the Sedgewick Hotel, Ghostbusters caught our imaginations from the opening scenes. Add in classic characters like the sarcastic Peter Venkman, and “the heart of the Ghostbusters,” Ray Stantz, and you had an instant classic.

Unfortunately, after two movies, a long running cartoon series, and a cartoon-inspired line of action-figures and video games, Ghostbusters faded away far quicker than those other classic 80’s franchises. Die-hards of the series though had always been clamoring for more; especially a third movie to complete what many have felt should have been a film trilogy.

While rumors continue to swirl about a third movie script being green lit by Columbia Pictures (which actually have some validity to them after I chatted with Harold Ramis, which you can check out by CLICKING HERE), many fans are saying this new video game is the closest thing we will get to a third movie.

The story opens up in 1991, two years after the end of the second Ghostbusters movie, with your character being hired as the newest Ghostbuster. Simply known as “the rookie,” you begin your Ghostbusting career ominously by short-circuiting the famed containment grid that holds all the ghosts, ghouls, and specters that the Ghostbusters had already caught. Only a couple of ghosts escape, including our old friend Slimer, before Egon can get the grid back online. However, since you let them go, you have to catch them. Thus begins the obligatory training level as you hunt the loose ghosts in the Ghostbusters firehouse’s basement. After catching the first ghost, Slimer floats out of the firehouse to find safety at his favorite old haunt, the Sedgewick Hotel.

After arriving at the hotel and disposing of Slimer in similar fashion to the first movie, Egon reveals the startling news that there is a lot more ghost activity going on in the hotel other than Slimer (anyone remember the twinkie?). Thus begins the stirring of a plot that started in the first two movies and will come to a fright-filled, comedic head in the game to give a fitting finish to this trilogy.

Visually, this game is stunning. From the ghosts and goblins to the Ghostbusters themselves, this game looks hauntingly good. The environments set the mood perfectly as you work your way through such unsuspecting settings as the New York Public Library to the murky New York City sewers as you uncover a cataclysmic plot over a century old. Add in the classic Ghostbusters soundtrack to help lighten or darken the mood as necessary and you’ve got a game that feels like you’re playing a new movie.

The gameplay is strong, but not perfect. No one actually dies in the game, but if you or the other Ghostbusters get knocked around too much, you’ll be planted on your backside like a turtle as you wait for someone to help you up (they’re carrying around 100 lbs. of equipment on their backs, not easy to lift while on the ground). This sets up an interesting conundrum while fighting harder ghosts. Do you keep saving your own bacon or risk it to pick up your teammates and get some extra proton streams on the ghoulish baddies? Sometimes the decision is made for you though as some ghosts, either by accident or on purpose, not quite sure, will hover directly above your fallen comrades and prevent you from reviving them. Unfortunately, if everyone in the party gets knocked out, you have to start the mission over from a checkpoint. To say this can be frustrating after being knocked out 15-20 times on hard mode is an understatement. Along with a few too many glitches for my liking, it does a lot to remove you from the overall experience that this game tries to create.

A big positive for the game is the replay value. An impressive multiplayer system that allows you to team up with up to three friends to bust ghosts in three different modes will have you coming back for more as you try to rack up the high score as you catch more and more ghouls online. Add in a varying amount of possessed collectibles per story mode level and the challenge of trying to scan every breed of ghost with your PKE meter into your own personal Tobin’s Spirit Guide and what is only a 10-15 hour story mode will easily give you many more hours of secondary gameplay.

Of course though, the best part is that there is no greater feeling than listening to all of the original Ghostbusters come back and do their own voices for this video game. Bill Murray sounds like he forced his performance a bit since it has been so long since he has been involved in a comedy anywhere near the quality of Ghostbusters, but age hasn’t affected any of the other Ghostbusters and Ernie Hudson surprisingly sounded the best of the bunch. Along with Alyssa Milano as Venkman’s newest love interest and this star studded cast delivers for the most part another classic comedic performance.

If you are a fan of Ghostbusters, this game is beyond a must-have. A story that has been waiting 20 years to be made, this game is the culmination of everything fans have come to love from the series and more. There is no greater satisfaction than forcing a ghost into a well-placed trap and listening to Venkman whine when a new ghost slimes him from behind. An instant classic! For the nostalgia alone, this game could be a game of the year contender.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 9.5: The game is beautiful visually. From the way the proton stream wraps around ghosts as you try to wrestle them into traps to the character and ghost models themselves, this game will blow you away with graphics. Only that the models look a tad cartoony at times keeps this game from getting a perfect score (not counting the Wii version which purposely looks more cartoony).

Audio: 10.0: The entire original Ghostbusters soundtrack is included and it makes even the load screens entertaining. Add in tremendous voice acting from everyone involved and the SFX being spot on with how they should sound and this game is a treat for your ears.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: The plot ties together with the first two movies perfectly and develops at a natural pace like you were watching another 90-minute masterpiece. The game explained many common questions from the first two movies very well, but also brought up a few new questions with the Ghostbusters canon. For the most part though, everything was well explained in terms of new plot points, technologies, and spirit guide additions. Only drawback would be that if you haven’t seen the movies, you might miss many references. Of course, if you haven’t seen the movies, you most likely aren’t going to want the game either.

Gameplay: 7.5: Glitchy and frustrating at times, considering everything that is happening on screen it can be forgiven to a point. It was nice to see a game’s hard mode actually be hard and not just a walk in the park like the easy mode. If you’re looking for a challenge and can tolerate the, at times, weak teammate A.I., then you’ll definitely enjoy the game experience overall. Another nice feature would have been able to customize your rookie Ghostbuster on all systems, a feature only found on the Wii.

Replay Value: 8.5: Plenty of collectibles from haunted items to filling your personal Tobin’s Spirit Guide will be plenty to keep you coming back for a few more story play throughs. Add in though a very enjoyable multiplayer mode online where you compete with friends to catch ghosts and earn cash and any fan of the series, the game, or both will keep coming back for more.

Overall: 9.0 (not an average): The game provides everything you could have hoped to expect from it. A great plot that continues the classic Ghostbusters storyline along with awesome surprises will make any and every fan of this classic series jump for joy on more than one occasion as they play through the story mode. Along with a solid multiplayer mode and this game is a must have for anyone where ‘bustin’ makes them feel good.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game will be out for every system on June 16th.

-Ray Carsillo

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Interview with a Vampire Writer

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Originally Published: June 12, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Being a true geek to my very core, it is easy to understand why I am a fan of most everything that Guillermo del Toro does. He is easily one of the premiere special effects and costume design experts in the film industry and his directorial work speaks countless volumes about the depth of his creativity. Add to that his Oscar for Pan’s Labyrinth and his résumé speaks for itself.

It was for these reasons that when it was announced that he was releasing a vampire novel, what would be the first in a trilogy, that I had to jump all over it. Already a New York Times bestseller, The Strain is a thrilling read that is everything a vampire novel should be.

I was given the rare opportunity to sit down with this visionary media emblem and talk about everything from his inspirations for the book to how his work on The Hobbit is coming to the possibility of a third Hellboy movie. Check out the interview below!

Ray Carsillo with Guillermo del Toro
Video by Jared Bodden

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More Serious than Swine Flu

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Originally Published: May 28, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (ESPNNewYork.com), Collider.com, and Lundberg.me

Normally literature doesn’t fall into my realm of reviews, but when the director of the Oscar winning film Pan’s Labyrinth and the comic book movies Hellboy 1 and 2 says he’s written a vampire novel, you reconsider. Guillermo del Toro, the premiere modern guru of visual effects, teamed with accomplished fiction writer Chuck Hogan, and they have released the first in a trilogy of thriller novels.

The first book in The Strain Trilogy, aptly titled The Strain, sets the stage by playing on the fears of the modern age mixed with classic figures from horror’s lengthy mythology.

A plane suddenly dies on the runway after a perfect flight overseas and landing at JFK airport. After the plane is pried open since it was locked from the inside, and almost all of the passengers are found dead, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is called in and the head of their early response “Canary” team, Dr. Eph Goodweather, is baffled by the strange findings in the plane. After examining the situation, he is left with a feeling of dread that chills him to the bone as he tries to implement his scientific methods to a situation that clearly does not follow the rules of modern science.

Meanwhile, on the Upper East Side, a pawnbroker from the old world realizes that there is an even older evil at work and it is a race against time to contain this ancient force before it spreads outside the city limits.

As events unfold to bring these unusual allies together to contain this viral invasion of immense implications, other forces behind the scenes begin to work against them in the hopes of seeing a grander plot come to fruition.

The Strain is a tremendous, thrilling read. I had to keep putting the book down after every few pages because I was so creeped out by the amazingly descriptive passages. If you can work up the courage to finish the book, you’ll be clamoring for the second and third installment of this trilogy in no time.

This story will redefine how you look at vampires; del Toro mixes science and mythology like some mad chemist. Bela Lugosi doesn’t hold a candle to the vampires depicted in this book. There are a few clichés thrown in as well which probably comes from del Toro’s previous vampire works (he directed Blade II) like a “day walker” or “chosen one” they refer to as “Sun Hunter”, but aside from these necessary stereotypes for the vampire novel, this is an experience unto itself.

This will especially appeal to anyone from or familiar with New York City. The story carries you from JFK Airport to the Bronx and Queens to Vesey St. down in Tribeca or the very heart of Times Square. The thought of vampires emerging in these familiar settings, ready to prey on unsuspecting tourists (although I wouldn’t mind a few less tourists in the area) as the lights of Broadway flash over their pale, almost transparent flesh is a terrific mental image. Even if you are a stranger to New York City, del Toro and Hogan paint such a vibrant picture with their words that it shouldn’t take away from this phenomenal read.

With the culture flooded with media that aggrandizes these classic horror figures (Twilight and True Blood just to name a couple), it was refreshing to see someone represent vampires in the way they were meant to: scaring us into leaving a light on at night. If you like a good thrill and aren’t apt to nightmares (and even if you are), The Strain is a must read for any horror fan.

The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, will be on bookshelves this coming Tuesday, June 2nd. If you want a little bit more information on the book, be sure to check out The Strain’s website by
CLICKING HERE.

-Ray Carsillo

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Searching for Salvation

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Originally Published: May 25, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

Continuing the trend of movies geared towards the geeky genre this summer, we look at the second movie and game combination of the summer blockbuster season with Terminator: Salvation. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine fell flat on its face in the theatre, but delivered a strong performance on the home gaming consoles, you were wondering if T4 would be this summer’s best hope for salvation; would it rise up and be able to provide that rare combination of great movie and game that we haven’t really seen since Spider-Man 2?

Terminator: Salvation takes place in the year 2018. John Connor (Christian Bale) has always had his fate intertwined with the fate of the world and is now one of the top heads of the resistance against the machines in California as Skynet’s global network has overridden the entire world and established itself as the dominate form of “life”. Now he searches for Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the man Connor will send back in time (the original Terminator movie) to protect his mother and end up becoming his father before the machines can find him and wipe Connor from the timeline of existence by killing Reese.

Along the way, Connor also discovers that the machines have begun making the necessary advancements in order to upgrade the common, but still very deadly T-600 model (the famous skeleton-looking foot soldiers that comprise the bulk of the machines’ army), to the T-800 infiltrator unit that could mimic a human’s appearance with living flesh and tissue covering the silver skeleton of the Terminator units (made famous by Arnold), just as he had always known they would.

Meanwhile, a “too good to be true” fault in the machines’ programming is found and Connor must weigh the decision to go after Reese or lead an assault that could possibly end the war with one massive offensive.

While Connor searches for Reese, Reese stumbles across Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convict given the death penalty back in 2003, but signed waivers to donate his body to science upon his demise. An un-aged and amnesiac Wright was released from a human holding pen that was supposed to be used in the T-800 experiments after an attack on a Skynet base by the resistance and was sent stumbling through the California desert before being found by Reese.

Reese saves Wright from a “Skin Job”, a T-600 covered in rags and rotted rubber skin to appear more human from afar and lure resistance members close before mowing them down with their mounted mini-guns. Reese proceeds to catch Wright up on everything he has missed over the past 15 years and they set off to look for John Connor in the hopes of meeting up with the resistance, all the while Reese not realizing his fate is pre-ordained should he be able to survive the machines for a little while longer.

As Wright and Reese head out on a grueling mission to find John Connor, Connor struggles with his decisions on what orders to carry out, his superiors’ or fates’. The two groups don’t realize though they are headed for an explosive collision course that will change the fate of the resistance forever as Wright is not exactly what he appears to be on the surface…

This was a spectacular action movie from start to finish. Everyone involved gave great acting performances from Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Wright to smaller characters like Common as Connor’s left hand man Barnes, his wife Kate played by the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard, or sympathetic Blair Williams played by the lovely Moon Bloodgood.

The special effects and settings were unbelievably real and you couldn’t tell what was CGI’d or not. The robots moved and acted with a realism that you just don’t see and the post-apocalyptic California countryside was amazing to behold.

The story was well-written and kept well with the continuity of the first three movies, making sure to keep the set-up of the story of Kyle Reese having to go back in time and the resistance getting their hands on a T-800 model to send back in time later in tact.

Watching this already established story unfold and be expanded upon was easily the most wonderful part of the movie though. From robots that lurked in rivers and attacked humans looking for a drink to giant Hunter Killer aerial units patrolling barren patches of desert to smaller motorcycle units racing down highways void of any and all traffic, the thought that Skynet ruled the world was not a stretch to believe from the picture portrayed in Terminator: Salvation.

The only problems I had with the movie was that there were a lot of nukes going off in relatively close vicinity to humans and usually if you can see the mushroom cloud coming, you’re not going to survive, and from the looks of a “Skin Job”, I don’t see how anyone could get fooled into thinking this thing was human.

Aside from these minor complaints and add-in a special CGI’d Arnold cameo and this movie gave you everything you could ask for in the 4th in the series. Terminator Salvation has at the very least saved the Terminator series as we look forward to a 5th film to continue the futuristic adventures of mankind’s last hope in John Connor after watching this fun, action packed gem.


Terminator Salvation gets 4.5 out of 5.

After such a wonderful viewing experience from the movie, my hopes were raised that the game would deliver at least a par experience, but it would be all too soon before my hopes were markedly dashed.

The Terminator: Salvation video game, out for XBOX360, PS3, and PC, is set two years before the events of the movie, which immediately had me groaning knowing that it would not follow any of the events of the movie that I enjoyed so much.

The plot follows John Connor, of course, but as a low-level member of the resistance instead of one of the higher-ups as we’ve always known. He receives a distress signal from fellow resistance member David Weston that he is trapped behind enemy lines with his unit. John sets off alone to try to rescue his comrades since “every life is sacred” and so against all odds, he is joined by his good friend Blair Williams as the two of them set off against the machines and work their way deep into Skynet territory.

What I liked about the game is it finds a way to introduce all the main resistance characters from the movie and show how they joined up with John, but aside from this point, the game is a complete waste of time. Even on Hard mode, I beat the entire game and got every achievement in less than eight hours, nowhere near worth the $60 price tag this baby carries.

The graphics are easily subpar for any current generation console. It looks similar to Fallout 3‘s unpolished graphics, but at least that had the excuse of cramming a massive world, 30+ hour plot, and an open-ended decision based path onto one disc while this is a small, linear world with no room to explore and only nine short, simple levels. It was supposed to look like a post-apocalyptic world, not like it had been made in one.

The audio is one of the few bright spots for the game since it takes the music straight from the movies and the constant din of gunfire and explosions work. Unfortunately, Christian Bale refused to do the voice-over work for the game or have his likeness used and his replacement had some big shoes to fill and fill them he did not. Although getting Rose McGowan to serve as another resistance fighter, Angie, and getting Common and Moon Bloodgood to reprise their movie roles was nice, the voice acting overall was still subpar.

The gameplay was full of glitches and frustrating as both you and the enemy would occasionally find holes in the cover that you could both shoot through. Last time I checked though, grenades could not be lobbed straight through steel girders.

The game does feature a co-op mode where a friend could take on the role of Barnes or Blair, but this makes the game an even more simple experience as flanking the robots is about as easy as turning the game on to begin with. Even when Blair or Barnes is computer controlled, they understand how simple it is to flank the robots since most of the time your computer controlled partner will do it on their own. I don’t know if it is good A.I. for your partners or bad A.I. for the robots, but this is part of the reason why the game is a breeze as enemies refuse to use or find cover and can only target one character at a time allowing one of you to just fire away with the enemy’s back turned. Add in that there is always an abundance of ammo lying around when you are about to get into a firefight helps eliminate any element of surprise for the enemy and allows you to camp out in good positions to pick them off one by one as they haunter by.

Combine these poor experiences with no unlockables, no collectibles to search for, and no vs. mode and the replay value on this game has been nuked like Skynet dropping bombs on Judgment Day. Terminator: Salvation is easily one of the worst gaming experiences you can have on a modern console and probably isn’t even worth a rental for the die-hard Terminator fans.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 4.0: No current console game should look this bad. For such a big budget movie that ended up so good, you think they could’ve thrown the game developers a few dollars to get some designers that knew what they were doing.

Audio: 7.5: The audio is passable as the game takes the soundtrack straight from the movie and the firefights sound great. The voice acting was awful though considering the talent and I think part of that falls on the poor writing for this movie prequel storyline.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: John Connor sets off on another suicide mission, but survives because it is what he does as humanity’s last hope against the machines. Simple, to the point, and not nearly fleshed out enough to get any kind of a decent score. It was nice to see how Blair and Barnes join John and the resistance and how John begins to get some real recognition in the ranks, but even adding in those minor points, the plot is still a stinker.

Gameplay: 3.0: A bevy of glitches with a beyond simple enemy A.I. makes this game a quick and simple once playthrough, even on Hard mode, and I still unlocked every achievement.

Replay Value: 1.0: No unlockables, no collectibles, no vs. mode, and a co-op mode that makes the already simple story mode even more of a cake walk means you should start getting ready to trade this one in before the disc even gets to speed.

Overall: 2.5 (not an average): Even the most die-hard of Terminator fans should steer clear of this game unless you have a free rental coming your way and you want to see some poorly animated T-600s on your home console or are looking to bolster your achievements score with a ridiculously easy 100% completion. The game is lacking in every way imaginable and is just another victim added to the list of horrible games to follow great movies.

-Ray Carsillo

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A New First for the Final Frontier

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Originally Published: May 11, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Capitalizing on the great space race between the USA and the USSR of the 1960s, Star Trek dared to go where no other TV show had gone before with the promise of exploring fantastic new worlds and providing unique challenges for the men and women aboard the USS Enterprise…or something along those lines.

Now, more than 40 years, several TV spinoffs, and 10 full-length feature films later, Director/Producer J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III, TV’s Lost, Fringe, and Alias) has taken it upon himself to reinvent and retool that original concept and serve it piping hot for a brand new generation of would-be trekkies.

Star Trek looks back at how the crew of the USS Enterprise came to congeal into a legendary unit back at the space academy. With most of the original cast being in their 70s, an entirely new cast, headed by Zachary Quinto (TV’s Heroes) as Spock, was called into action and everyone delivers spot on performances of the characters that the diehards have to come to know and love and that the newcomers will easily learn to.

Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings 2 and 3, Bourne Supremacy) as “Bones” McCoy and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as Scotty were both beyond brilliant in their roles. John Cho (Harold and Kumar 1 and 2) worked well as a very green-behind-the-ears Mr. Sulu with the only real question coming from Chris Pine (Princess Diaries 2) who plays Captain Kirk. Many have criticized his performance, but I thought he had done a great job, taking beating after beating, just like William Shatner did, but always finding a way to come through in the end for himself and his crew. Also, the way Kirk’s promiscuousness was played up was perfect. The only real question about his performance is did anyone really expect him…to…talk…like this? Cut the kid some slack.

With the cast in place, the biggest question next fell towards the plot about how to re-launch a series that has had such success over the years simply building on top of everything that had come before it. When working with a mind like J.J. Abrams, why am I not surprised that he found an interesting loophole when dealing with a re-launch. Stealing a plot line from many of Marvel Comics’ most famous story arcs, he decided to create an alternate universe.

I know, your initial kneejerk reaction is this is a horrible idea, but the way it was explained as a major plot point to the story, with a time and space travelling Leonard Nimoy as “Spock Prime”, was actually quite brilliant because it gives them the freedom for future movies to make whatever changes they want and not have to worry about die-hard fanboys crucifying each movie in online forums because it doesn’t affect the original Star Trek whatsoever. If they can get past the whole parallel universe aspect, of course, which they should because in essence it fits in with the entire idea of Star Trek: Unknown worlds and dimensions and things beyond human comprehension until you actually come face to face with it.

With this being a different universe, the origins for everyone are slightly tweaked. Kirk’s father dies in space when he is just an infant, the planet Vulcan is destroyed a la Death Star style from another famous space opera series, an interesting on-going relationship between Spock and Nyota Uhura, played by Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean), and the enemy, a Romulan simply referred to as Captain Nero, (played surprisingly well by Eric Bana; probably because you don’t realize who it is until the end credits because of all his make-up) comes from a different future, just like “Spock Prime”.

If you take a look at these differences though and embrace them instead of being steadfastly entrenched in the old ways, then it boils down to the same basics of what made Star Trek great to begin with. Amazing visual effects, awesome weapons, strong sci-fi action with a bit of humor mixed in with a few far-fetched plot points that are made to work under the guise of some expanded branch of new science, and characters that pull you into the story from the very beginning, and you’ve got a perfect modern variation on what Star Trek should be. With the differences being explained with a major plot point of the movie, there is no way you can walk away from this not being happy with the way it turned out. If anything, it can’t be called a re-launch because it serves as a completely new adventure, tying in the old with the new, and allows for the new series to take off with only slight variations on the same great characters and leaves the memories of the old ones perfectly intact.

Star Trek will continue to live long and is definitely prospering ($76.5 million in the opening weekend) and gets 4 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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Adamantium Abound!

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Originally Published: May 6, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

This year’s summer blockbuster movie season is geared more towards geeks than any other in recent memory: G.I. JOE in August, Transformers 2 in June, and Terminator: Salvation and Star Trek later in May. Of course, most have corresponding video games as well so our first double review, to kick off the summer blockbuster season with a feral roar, is X-Men Origins: Wolverine. To hear my initial movie review on The Seth Everett Show this past Friday, you can
CLICK HERE!

Be sure to tune in to Seth’s show every weeknight from 7PM-10PM right here on 1050 ESPN and be listening this Friday when Seth and I talk about Star Trek.

Now that the obligatory plug has been sufficed, on with the review. Geeks have been salivating for years since this movie was announced as Wolverine is the most popular comic character in history (as per Wizard magazine last year). Would the movie live up to the unparalleled hype? What changes would be made to the story to fit the original trilogy?

Well, after seeing the movie, I can decree that this was easily the biggest disappointment to start the movie season in a long time. Classic characters like Deadpool and the Blob were destroyed and the unnecessary need to tie every character in with each other was annoying and inaccurate to the original stories. And if there was one more shot of Wolverine screaming at the sky a la Shatner from the original Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry would have crawled out of his grave and sued for copyright infringement. The basics of the original plot were there, but the discrepancies were abundant.

Young James Howlett was a sickly Canadian from a well-to-do family who saw his father slaughtered and his mutant power emerged from the trauma. In this movie, it also wielded the first change in the story as a young Victor Creed was revealed as Howlett’s half brother. Immediately I knew bad things were coming for this movie.

After an entertaining montage of Howlett and Creed over the years through war after war and how their mutant abilities served them over and over again in bloody combat, the mutants were imprisoned in Vietnam after failing to obey orders.

Freed by Col. William Stryker after James and Victor’s healing factors allowed them to survive a firing squad, they were offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse and the events were set in motion that would change mutant history.

James and Victor join Team X along with fellow mutants Wade Wilson (later Deadpool), Fred Dukes (known in the comics as Blob), John Wraith, Bradley (known in the comics as Bolt), and Agent Zero (better known as Maverick), a group of military trained mutants that handle missions that only their special talents could pull off. After some misgivings on an African mission, James, now called Wolverine, leaves Team X, much to the dismay of Victor, now Sabertooth.

Team X also had the second obvious inaccuracy as Bradley is never given his codename and Maverick was depicted as Agent Zero and an Asian dude. In the comics, he was only Agent Zero after being brainwashed and he was as German as a blitzkrieg. Christoph Nord doesn’t sound very Asian to me. I’ll let that slide and remain more furious over the Agent Zero codename.

After leaving Team X, Wolverine goes off to marry a Native American woman named Silver Fox and become a lumberjack. Sabertooth kills Silver Fox in cold blood to, supposedly, try to force Wolverine to embrace his feral side. This is a self-explanatory sequence and was relatively accurate to the comics.

The next big disappointment in the movie though came with the ENTIRE Weapon X sequence. Wolverine doesn’t have his memories erased here like in the comics, he doesn’t kill anyone when he escapes, (him going “berserk” in the comics is an understatement and one of comics’ most classic moments) and the entire sequence seems as a weak plot tool to give him the adamantium and give a gratuitous butt shot to Hugh Jackman instead of the major character changing moment it was in the comics. This lack of respect to the character and the blasphemy of changing a major portion of his history turned my stomach.

Then the story begins to really get ridiculous (even more so for a comics movie). He kills Agent Zero, which is a major no-no if it wasn’t done in the comics (and it wasn’t) and then tracks down Wraith for help. In order to get the info he is looking for, Wraith tells Wolverine he will have to beat it out of Fred Dukes. Only after a misunderstanding is Dukes even referred to as Blob, which in and of itself made me just shake my head in disbelief, but then they explained this as an eating disorder. In the comics, Blob was always a big guy who was proud of his bulk and had a secondary mutation to make him even more massive. This cheesy write off of his appearance made me feel like they were trying to be politically correct or trying to say “Come on fat people! You can fight back just like Fred Dukes!” This turn of events was beyond depressing because what would have been an epic battle in the comics was anti-climatic in the movie as it was in a boxing ring in the hopes of helping Dukes shed a few pounds. Gym trainers everywhere rejoiced.

The lead that Blob gives to Wolverine an hour and fifteen minutes into the movie was that a mutant named Gambit knows where to find Sabertooth. FINALLY. Aside from Deadpool and Blob, Gambit was a mutant that fans were clamoring to see on the big screen and this was one of the few times it did not disappoint in terms of the character. However, the way he was used in the plot, again this movie falls short. Instead of a major battle or drawn out exposition, he is simply another tool used to further a mediocre script.

Gambit leads Wolverine to “The Island”, the secret facility where Sabertooth is, before conveniently disappearing during the climax of the movie. At “The Island”, we find Stryker, Sabertooth, and Silver Fox (who faked her death) are all working together to round up mutants to allow Stryker to do tests for his most insane experiment yet, Deadpool. After stealing the opening scenes, you hoped to see Ryan Reynolds as the disfigured “Merc with a Mouth” in the red suit. Instead, his mouth is removed by Stryker so he could be the perfect weapon and the worst depiction over the character’s 20-year history. Deadpool is given several mutants’ powers, including Cyclops’, which again, was nothing more than a flashy special effect and simply another way to tie everyone in the entire X-Men universe together, and ultimately is the undoing of Stryker.

Before he gets away though, Stryker shoots an adamantium bullet through Wolverine’s skull to destroy his memory. (Since when has Wolverine been a vampire or werewolf?) With his memory destroyed, he only knows his name due to his dog tags that say “Logan” on one side and “Wolverine” on the other.

The action sequences were great. I’m not taking away from the pure action that the movie had and the acting from all involved was amazing. Liev Schriebrer did the character of Sabertooth credit and Hugh Jackman was great as Wolverine as usual. Everyone involved did really well considering it looks like the script writer was fired after the first 30 minutes of the movie and a kindergartener was hired in his place.

Professor Xavier, Cyclops, and Emma Frost all making cameos was beyond ridiculous and having Silver Fox conspire against Wolverine and work willingly with Stryker because Emma is supposed to be Silver Fox’s sister doesn’t make any sense and is beyond comic continuity comprehension.

The movie did mostly keep with the continuity of the original trilogy, but this is right on X-Men 3‘s level of competency in terms of justice to the comics. It gave people a lot of what they wanted to see, but in the entirely wrong context and it destroyed the spirit of the characters from the original comics.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine kicks off the summer movie season to a disappointing 2 out of 5.

When a movie is as bad as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you don’t expect much from the game, but the corresponding video game was actually good, borderline great.

The same basic storyline from the movie serves as the plot here except the entire game is told in flashback as if from Wolverine’s memories. The only problem with this is that if he lost his memories at the end of the flashback, then how can he remember the story to tell it?

Aside from this obvious flaw, the video game is chock full of action and goes far more in-depth with the Weapon X program than the movie. Along with this, a few continuity surprises along the way make this game a far superior product to the movie.

The game is graphically beautiful. Wolverine takes real-time damage and heals as he runs around. You can see straight down to his skeleton and Activision even took the time to make sure that in the flashbacks to Africa he doesn’t have adamantium claws. At least they follow that part of the continuity and wait till he actually receives the adamantium at Alkali Lake.

The beautiful graphics and bountiful amount of enemies for Wolverine to rip to shreds does cause some lag in the gameplay though, but aside from this and the overly linear levels, the game is as technically sound as it can be. With hundreds of ways to tear your enemies apart, you truly feel like your character is a living weapon.

The music is taken straight from the movie and having Hugh Jackman, Liev Schrieber, and Will I Am reprise their movie roles for the game was superb and anything less would never have worked. No Ryan Reynolds though meant not having any Deadpool until the final confrontation and this was a bit disappointing because I was really looking forward to his original wit, but I blame this more on the movie script writing (or lack there of).

The addition of the right characters from Wolverine’s past into the game that weren’t in the movie and some of the best battles in recent gaming history, including a battle with Wolverine taking on a full-sized 50ft. Sentinel (yes, Sentinels were worked into the video game story and it made more sense than anything from the movie), and you have one of the best action gaming experiences out there if you can look past the sub-par movie plot at its heart.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 9.0: Aside from a few glitches, this game is beautiful. From the lush jungles of Africa to the frozen shores of Alkali Lake, to Wolverine’s real-time battle damage and tearing enemies to shreds, this game is gorgeous.

Audio: 8.5: There is nothing too special in terms of sound. Great voice acting from all those involved, especially the three big stars from the film and proper sound effects whenever necessary. Just hearing the SNIKT! of Wolverine’s claws though in a video game is enough to bump up the score.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: I expressed my displeasure with the plot in the movie review and do not need to compound my frustration by repeating myself here. The game does slightly better than the movie because of additions made by Activision in order to flesh the game out some.

Gameplay: 8.0: Glitchy at times due to the amount of enemies and detailed surroundings on screen at one time, but everything else came out solid. The fighting mechanics and physics were effective and I enjoyed the fact that the game had friendly fire so that some enemies could take each other out if they missed you. A little more open-endedness would have been appreciated, but I can’t fault Activision too much for making it as linear as they did.

Replay Value: 5.0: The game really falters here because after you beat it once, there just isn’t enough to bring you back for more. You could try to find extra collectibles to unlock classic costumes or max out Wolverine’s stats, but after that, the game is over and this will end up probably sitting on your shelf until the next movie comes out and you need a refresher.

Overall: 8.5 (not an average): Epic boss battles, great gameplay, and classic comic characters brought to life is enough to warrant a buy from this game more than a ticket to see the movie. A lack of replay value and the proper comic plot knocks some points off, but at the end of the day you still feel like Wolverine and it feels good to be the best there is at what you do, even if it isn’t very nice.

-Ray Carsillo

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Who Watches the Watchmen?!

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April 18, 2010

Originally Published: March 8, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (ESPNNewYork.com)and Lundberg.me

Mine isn’t the most original title, but when talking about DC’s Watchmen, no other title fits. What many experts considered impossible to bring to the big screen, visionary director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) grabbed by the horns and wrestled into a masterpiece worthy of the novel. To describe this as anything less than a labor of love would take away from the awe-inspiring brilliance ripped straight from one of TIME Magazines 100 Best Novels of All-Time.

The story is simple. Imagine an alternate universe America circa 1985. Superheroes have been outlawed for almost a decade, after a half century of service to their nation and to the world, due to a public outcry from events perpetrated in Vietnam. One of those now retired former heroes, the very definition of an anti-hero named the Comedian, is brutally murdered in his penthouse apartment and a set of events is set in motion that will bring some of the world’s best and brightest heroes together to unearth one of the most shocking conspiracies ever concocted.

Many felt this movie would be impossible to make because you would not be able to include a lot of the writing devices used in the novel and still keep it under three hours. The first and possibly greatest difficulty in bringing Watchmen to the big screen would be being able to still develop the amazingly complex main characters to their full effect without the ancillary characters and chapter addendum devices used throughout the novel.

The novel gave convoluted psychological profiles from everyone from the man selling newspapers on the corner to Dr. Manhattan’s former lover to the prison psychologist that has to analyze Rorschach when he gets taken into custody to help flesh out major plot points and character flaws in the heroes. The novel also had special addendums at the end of each chapter like excerpts from novels within the novel, shipping manuscripts, and other items that only make sense in the novel’s thrilling conclusion. So would the movie still be able to portray the main characters’ full spectrum of personality without these additional materials that could never be included in the movie?

The short answer is yes. The movie develops the main characters just as deeply as in the novel and compensates by keeping most major points from the original story and adding a handful of subtle moments to make up for the lack of these additional writing devices. This, along with some spectacular acting that made it feel like the characters had jumped right off the page, did pure justice to the characters of Watchmen.

Another problem that arose from the lack of extra writing devices was that without the ancillary characters and chapter addendums, the original story’s ending would not make sense. Even though Zack Snyder did his best to be as true to the original novel as possible, several major plot points had to be tweaked or removed in order to make more sense and appeal to a larger audience, especially the ending. Some would argue that the movie’s ending might have been better than the novel’s because it more directly related to the main characters, but that is clearly up for debate. Still, for the most part, the movie of Watchmen is ripped straight from the novel’s pages and it feels like the comic had come to life.

Another amazing aspect of the movie was the artistic style. From the perfectly emulated streets of the run-down 1985 New York City in the novel, to the colorful costumes and devices used by the characters, to the music choices made through many of the scenes from Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ to Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of All Along the Watchtower. Every visual and audio choice made by Snyder fit perfectly with the style of the novel and the music added so much more to the scenes than you could’ve hoped for.

There are only a couple of major critiques to this movie. I’m all for sex and violence in movies, but one major hang-up, especially amongst die-hard purists of the novel, is that Zack Snyder likes to step up the sensationalism in most of his movies and some of the gore and sex scenes were so amped up by Snyder’s style that you felt some of the movie could have been at NC-17 levels. I know that Dr. Manhattan was naked most of the time in the novel, but it is a little different when you see a blue-man group reject naked on the big screen for almost three hours. Combine that with 10-minute long sex scenes and people being torn to shreds when they aren’t having relations; it was all just too unnecessary.

Another major critique was that if you did not read the novel, you might not have understood or been able to follow as clearly everything that was going on. The plot is very complicated and even with the movie timing out at 2 hours and 43 minutes there are still some things you wish they could have expanded on to help the general audience. For example, if you did not read the novel, you’ll have no clue as to why Ozymandias has a blue tiger as his pet in his Antarctic fortress. Without being explained in the movie, I could see how something like a blue tiger could bother people. I guess we’ll just have to grab the 3 hour and 10 minute Director’s cut when it comes out on DVD. Oh, those tricky marketing and merchandising departments.

In the end, this is not a movie that you can just check your brain at the door. If you have not read the novel (highly recommended before seeing the movie) and miss a moment here and there, you could very likely not understand some of the major plot points. So, be prepared if you’re going to the theatre. Be sure to go to the bathroom, get your snacks beforehand, and get comfortable because if you miss any of the near three hours, the entire experience will likely be markedly worse. For this reason, along with the clearly unnecessary gore and sex, I have to dock my score some.

Watchmen gets 3.5 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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