11.03.2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens & The Evil Luke Skywalker Theory

     After reading this lengthy and relatively well thought out theory of Luke Skywalker falling to the Dark Side for the upcoming Force Awakens movie, I felt prompted to write a response post. While it is very possible that Luke might turn to the Dark Side, as he did in the very good comic book series Dark Empire, I don't believe it will happen in the film. I already put up a small post about this, but I feel a little more explanation is necessary.

     I'll try to respond in the order Conery presents his own thinking.


Luke and The Dark Side

     He clearly does not turn. He sees what he's doing, giving in to the hate, and stops. To illustrate, he has the epiphany moment, and turns and tosses his lightsaber away. What I think IS important here is that Luke is the one to bring BALANCE to the Force. Not by helping eliminate the Sith, leaving only Jedi, but rather he found a way to balance the two halves- emotion and logic. It's even shown in his having one dark glove and one bare hand. He pleads to his father for help, and Vader once more becomes Anakin- love overcomes hate.
"Good. Now fulfill your destiny, and take your father's place at my side." 
"Never. I'll never turn to the dark side. You've failed your highness, I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
     Seriously, if Luke had turned, he wouldn't know the Emperor had the lightning ability, nor would the Emperor have said, "So be it... Jedi."  This was the moment Luke became a true Jedi Master. By rejecting the Dark Side.

     This ties directly into Conery's next portion- he believes that in Yoda's infallible wisdom lies unalterable truth, "Remember your failure at the cave." The vision showed Luke's path to becoming his father. Or conversely, that his relationship to Vader was being revealed, which could jeopardize his chances to save his friends. So, yes he was being impulsive and hasty, but he was also relying on the Force to guide him.
"Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his emperor. If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."-Yoda
     Just because Yoda is seen as the wisest being doesn't mean he is truly all-knowing. Right before Luke leaves Dagobah for Bespin, Obi-Wan says about Han and Leia, "Even Yoda cannot see their fate." Yoda doesn't necessarily know the future.  This is shown once again in Attack of the Clones, when Obi-Wan and Yoda are wondering why Kamino isn't in any of the Jedi archives, a youngling student suggests maybe someone erased it. A small untrained Jedi child saw something quite evident that the 900 year old Master missed.

     Later, when Luke returns to Dagobah Yoda has tells him, "No more training do you require, already know you, that which you need." With the message that he only has one more thing to do to become a Jedi- to confront Vader, which as I said above, he did. He became a master by rejecting the Dark Side.

"A Jedi shall not know anger.  Nor hate.  Nor love."

     What Yoda didn't account for is a new form of Force user, one that CAN use emotion as well as the Jedi logic. The Jedi failed because they cut themselves off from attachment. During the final battle, Luke gives up his weapon- as Yoda also said, "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." Clearly, through the Prequels we see this isn't exactly something they follow themselves. Over time, the Jedi became detached and the Sith became overly attached. The wedge drove the two paths to diverge further from each other than they may otherwise would have.

     Anakin was touted as being The Chosen One, to bring balance to the Force. Perhaps he did, but not how many people think. In the end, Luke appealed to Vader's love for him to overcome the Dark Side, resulting in his redemption and the death of the Emperor. I think Anakin brought balance by having Luke, and both of them learn that emotions aren't the evil the Jedi taught. It was their shared connection that allowed them both to go on. It was the way Luke found the path between using logic and emotion together.

Luke Lying to Jabba

     For one, he's not lying to the Emperor. He did lie to Jabba, but you know what, Obi-Wan lied to some stormtroopers. He even used the Force to do it.  Sometimes the Jedi lie.

"Who is Luke Skywalker?"

     This is a key element here.  Kathleen Kennedy got J.J. Abrams to come on board the film by asking him this question. It is really important because he is currently the pivoting point for the Force itself. He is the last of the remaining Jedi. As Han Solo points out in the full Force Awakens trailer, "It's true. All of it. The Dark Side. The Jedi. They're real."
     These things have fallen into myth.  They are rare and nearly forgotten, and only one person has answers left- Luke Skywalker. He is the last true light against the rising darkness of the remnants of the Empire in the First Order, and he's in hiding.

     "The Saga films focus on the Skywalker family saga. The stories follow a linear narrative that connects to the previous six films. The Force Awakens follows Return of the Jedi and continues that generational story." -Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy
     The Force Awakens may be a continuation of the Skywalker legacy, but as the original trilogy and prequels passed the torch, I believe this is another case of that- Luke's importance doesn't necessarily mean he's the film's focus. And as I've previously mentioned, he's probably hiding somewhere. Luke has become the Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mentor to a new generation of Skywalker.

     In the first Star Wars related book for the new series, Aftermath, there's an interesting tidbit. It's got a familiar red bladed lightsaber being sold to three ominous looking figures, and there is also a picture on the wall of a Vader helmed head with the words, "Vader lives" written by it. I don't think Vader is alive, but that with all the time that has passed, the miraculous way tales get spun, maybe Kylo Ren is trying to use that feared name to become the Dark Lord of the Sith in his strange obsession. Maybe he's trying to clone or resurrect him or something, I don't really know.
     And lastly, the most obvious reason I think Luke is still good. This Kylo Ren toy mask says, "Together we will destroy the resistance... and the last Jedi."

     If Luke did turn to the Dark Side, it would've long after Return of the Jedi. It's more likely he's simply in hiding, and hanging out with his Force ghost buddies. He might even be a Force ghost himself, but I highly doubt he's evil.  

Metroid: The Sky Calls: A Rainfall Short Film

     Considering Nintendo is doing next to nothing with this series, it's great to see a nice work by some semi-professional fans in Rainfall, who a couple years ago gave us an interesting Wonder Woman short film.  We can see they were heavily influenced by Alien, and they've put in a great effort.  It has some average acting and clunky directing, but it's very much worth a watch for the small bits of fan service they threw in.


     I think the actress here, The Nerdist's Jessica Chobot, was not the best choice.  She looks the part, but she's is a stiff actress with poor voice quality, coming off sounding more like Tara Reid than the badass Samas Aran.  I don't know if she's had acting lessons, but they would definitely help and I do believe she could get much better- becoming a Samas worthy of the name.

     Sure, these are limited complaints, but for a fan video it is pretty damn good.  Rainfall makes some quality fan films, and I wonder what they could do with a bigger budget, a better director, and better actors.  Granted, they are sure to improve over time regardless.

     So Nintendo, you are up now, are you going to give fans some of this made by you?  I recall a decent actress from the Metroid: Other M trailer, so you already have someone more than capable.

10.29.2015

Gotham: Mr. Freeze: Victor & Nora Fries Cast & Thoughts on the Show

Thoughts on Freeze


     Nathan Darrow is pretty decent on House of Cards, and they can't do any worse than what DC Comics did to my Mr. Freeze than they did with his New 52 incarnation.  They took a compelling villain and made him mundane.  Hopefully my taste for Gotham as a series will return (more on that below), so I can return to this show and fully enjoy my favorite Bat-villain again.
     At least they kept his story sound according to Bleeding Cool News:
     "Victor begins as one of Gotham’s preeminent cryogenics engineers. Though ferociously smart and eminently capable in his work, Victor struggles to make meaningful connections with others. The one exception is his wife, Nora, who has tragically fallen ill with a terminal disease. Victor’s love for Nora knows no bounds, and as her condition worsens, he goes to extreme measures to figure out a way to freeze her before she dies."
     As much as it will be awesome to see Mr. Freeze on television again, I think the show needs to cut back on the ever-growing cast size.  I think it would've been cool to have him be a small consultant doctor on a case for Gordon.  Nothing super overt, just a guy doing his job, placed in a role for the fans to spot as an Easter Egg.

     UPDATE: Today marks the announcement of two additional new cast members.  The first is the awesome B.D. Wong (Jurassic Park and Jurassic World) as Hugo Strange, and Kristen Hager (Being Human) as the tragically-fated Nora Fries.

     At least she's going to have a compelling story (via Comicbook):
     "Thanks to her smarts, sincerity and a lighthearted sensibility, she’s the only person who’s managed to connect with the otherwise emotionally cold cryogenicist. As her condition worsens and her husband becomes more desperate to save her life, Nora must make the ultimate choice: play the willing participant in Victor’s mad plan or sacrifice herself to stop the monster inside of him." 

Thoughts on Gotham

     I've been a less than thrilled with Gotham.  Before it aired they were touting it as the story of a crime-riddled Gotham City long before Batman with Jim Gordon working against the odds.  What we got was an angsty show overloaded with all the people that we know from the 'now" all crammed into an impossibly connected world.

     It really bothers me that all these backstories are so conveniently tied to each other.  Why couldn't they make it a tightly knit story of a handful of crime families and the police force interwoven in a way that when someone weird does come along it signals something big?  Nope.  Of course they need to make everything tied together.  We have to deal with constant reminders of all the future criminals when they are young and are being force-fed their origin stories.

     It would make more sense, and in my mind a much better tale, that when Batman finally starts showing up, there's wouldn't be much in the way of strange super villains.  His appearance would serve as a beacon to draw the evil oddities out of the woodwork and bring them to Gotham City.  Hell they could even play it so you never see him in the very last season.  Keep him as a legend in the shadows, and only leave his rumors to be told by those that have encountered him.

     Think about how awesome it would be if a young Bruce Wayne only appeared maybe twice.  And then leave him away, he has his own story that comes much later in life, in a more interesting time of his life.  We don't need his whole damn childhood, and we don't need a kiddie Catwoman, or pint-sized Poison Ivy- Gotham would be much better as a straightforward crime series.  Maybe having the merest weird things, like a precursor to Black Mask with the Sionis family, along with Cobblepot and the Falcones.  I think a smaller story would do wonders instead of smashing together every damn character possible into one mess of an origin story.

10.28.2015

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire Launch Trailer

     Bioware's unparalleled Star Wars game, the MMORPG The Old Republic, has released it's fifth and newest expansion's trailer- the narrative heavy Knight's of the Fallen Empire.


     Players get to take part in a new non-canon story in the Outer Rim facing Sith Emperor Valkorion and his Eternal Empire.  As a continuation of their Knights of the Old Republic, anyone that enjoys gaming and Star Wars should check this game out.  Bioware has made a great name in creating content worth player's time.  They've built a an in-game Star Wars Universe that has great depth with plenty of room to get even bigger.
Jump straight into a deep and personal BioWare-style story where you’ll travel to the Outer Rim of the galaxy to come face-to-face with a new threat, Emperor Valkorion and his Eternal Empire. Your character will start its journey to becoming the Outlander, a veteran of the Great Galactic War, as you discover that the Eternal Emperor’s dark destiny is tied to your own. 
Choose your path, recruit Companions into your Alliance, and make choices that have power to change destinies, all at the center of your own personal STAR WARS™ saga!
Best of all, Knights of the Fallen Empire is free to all Subscribers and every Subscriber also receives a free Level 60 character.

     Knight's of the Fallen Empire is out today.  It has raised the level cap from 60 to 65, with the nice bonus of giving current subscribers a level 60 character as a thank you for the support.

     To Play [ Star Wars: The Old Republic ]

10.27.2015

Gravity Rush 2: New Combat Information & Trailer!

     During their Paris Games Week presentation Sony has given us a nice new chunk of information for the highly anticipated sequel to the single greatest PS Vita game created, Gravity Rush.


     What we get in this trailer is to see the world will now have 2 alternate modes of combat to expand her normal gravity altering fighting ability.  Lunar Style, making Kat lighter and swifter, and then Jupiter Style increasing her weight and subsequently her attack power.  There's also a nice tease towards the tag-team play with the AI controlled secondary character.
   
     The creative team has really been putting a lot of effort into giving players new options for the action portion of the game.  Apparently there's more than one way to combat skinning a gravity defying cat.

     Gravity Rush 2 will be out some time in 2016 exclusively on PS4.

     Gravity Rush Remastered will be available Feb. 9th in North America
          (Exclusively via the Playstation Store for $29.99)

     Source [ Playstation Blog ]

10.26.2015

Suicide Squad: Empire's Jared Leto Joker Cover

     There's been quite a controversy over Jared Leto's Joker in the months since they released the first images of his physical appearance for the David Ayer directed Suicide Squad.  Much of the criticism has been about the ridiculous tattoos all over his body.  And I have a feeling this new cover image for Empire Magazine is going to relight some of those fires.

     Leto said of his portrayal, "I always get the sense that The Joker may be much older than people think. It's something different. If you don't break rules, you're not going to strike new ground. I think I'll be cooling down for the rest of my life."
     And Ayers explained about the way Leto's version will differ from other portrayals of the Clown Prince of Crime, "The Joker is the third rail of comic book movies. There's a power to that character, and by some freaking miracle, through the incredible things Jared has done and the photography and all the other millions of things that went into it, we've cooked up something transcendent. He's scary."

     To be fair, his acting- in the brief trailer moments- is spot on, but that look that he has seems to be off kilter.  He's what I imagine a bunch of goth-hipsters working in a Hot Topic might design him to look like.  Arkham sweatpants (patient bottoms), barefoot, with a leather coat and cane.  That dichotomy seems to really push the opposing forces and idea of insanity in his mind, and it isn't even the strange choice of wardrobe that still bothers me- it's those damn tattoos.

     This is one of those times where I feel that he is definitely playing a Red Hood/Jason Todd in the role of the Joker, and the torture scene from the trailer might be Harley Quinn.  It feels a lot like a cheap ploy.  Granted, it could very well be a completely new take on the iconic Joker, but it still appears like something is "wrong" with him as a character.  At least with Ledger, everyone that complained about him shut the hell up when they saw him in make up and costume, that is not the case here.  The only image I don't hear any complaints about is the one where he's sitting in a straight-jacket with Harley.  I'll have to wait and see as more information comes in.


    Source [ ComicBookMovie ]

Star Wars: Cancelled Darth Maul Game May be Re-Awakened

     In a recent Reddit AMA Red Fly Studios CEO/Owner Dan Borth has said that they are hoping to "resurrect" the game from it's cancellation from LucasArts' closing its doors.  To do so the studio is working in their off time on a next gen demo to showcase the Sith Lord's abilities. (The video below is from the old gen systems)


     The game is described as taking place in Maul's pre-Phantom Menace time and would give us a great example of the path to the Dark Side through our own actions as Maul.
Young Maul age 9 or 11 to right before Episode 1.
We wanted to show what he went through to become a Sith. Showcase the torture the Emperor put him through. Show how you as the player would have made the same mistakes and ended up a Sith.
The Jedi are incredibly flawed in their opinions on not getting involved but getting involved and spying on people and using their abilities to get what they want. They are just like the Sith but don't admit it - the Sith admit it.
      With all the Star Wars stuff flooding the market, we could use a game like this.  The card game is boring, Uprising was alright, and the new update for Knights of the Old Republic looks great, plus Battlefront will be out soon enough, but we need something more along the lines of The Force Unleashed- so hopefully EA will see the merits of a game like this and support it.  Maybe they'll also consider bringing Star Wars: 1313 back into production as well.  I don't really want a Boba Fett game, but it'd sell and I'd sure as hell buy it.


     As a fallback plan, Borth mentioned, "Hopefully EA will see the value in us re-skinning our combat mechanic to be more in line with what they are thinking for Star Wars if they are not interested in Maul."  The fans want some in-depth 3rd person action games, and this makes sense as Maul has been confirmed to still be alive.  They could even cut in portions of his post Obi-Wan fight, and up to the more modern times to explain how he survived.

     To show our support Borth has asked us to go on Red Fly's Twitter (and other social media outlets) and let Disney and EA know we want this with the hashtag #WeWantMaul.

10.23.2015

Jessica Jones: New Official Full-Length Trailer

     In the second of many Marvel and Netflix team ups, Jessica Jones' new trailer gives us a ton of great information.  We see the limits of Jones' powers, her alcoholism, the way she struggles with the torment Killgrave inflicted, and even the extent of how awful of a person he can be.


     Jessica Jones will premiere in entirety on Netflix November 20th.

10.21.2015

The Last Witch Hunter: Review

     The Last Witch Hunter is soaked in convenience and cliche, but the visuals and fun factor keep it together just enough to allow it to remain enjoyable entertainment.  Vin Diesel stars as the titular witch hunter, cursed with immortality and currently protecting the regular humans from those that might do them harm with magic.


     All the actors struggle to make the roles work, even the great Michael Caine is left in a role that was wanting.  Vin Diesel plays his usual one-dimensional self, with no emotional range- in a tonally flat performance.  Rose Leslie plays a young witch/love interest complaining of the plight of her people (despite most witches here living in much better standards than damn near any of the regular humans in the film) who just so happens to have a hidden power to help the quest along, and Elijah Wood is a priest tasked with taking over the chronicles of Diesel's character.

     What the film has going for it is the visuals.  Not the CGI exactly, because there are times when it is laughable, you'll know it when you see it.  The Sentinel is the one magical creature that looks super alien and creepy and could've used more screen time.  The magic looks very spectacular at times, in particular there's a scene with a bunch of magical butterflies that is quite neat and the flaming sword was very cool.
     The set design is also tremendous, from the swanky witch nightclubs to the plague tree, they are all interesting locations and offer an oddly large feel to this cinematic world.  Of course, the pace of the movie is so great it doesn't matter as you'll be pulled right from one place to another.  Unfortunately, the camera work at times is so shaky, combined with consistently choppy editing, that it becomes a huge annoyance to track what's happening and it ruins the magic of those scenes.

     An unoriginal, but potentially interesting idea isn't enough to save The Last Witch Hunter.  The plot and story are dismal, supported by equally appalling dialogue in an effort to merge an ancient fantasy with the modern day world in a way that just doesn't fit right here.  Everything is telegraphed so far in advance that the trailer should be enough to accurately guess the end.
     In the hands of a better team of writers and directors, this could've been a truly amazing film with some real depth.  There are genuine moments that really do work, but they are few and far between.  As it is, it's merely an amusing modern day equivalent of a B movie- it feels like a film made by children trying to mix old genres and emulate the best of the old masters of fantasy and horror to create something new and interesting, and what resulted was this jumbled mess instead.  They have all the right pieces, it's just haphazardly piled together.

*I saw and reviewed this movie with screener tickets.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Thoughts on the Evil Luke Skywalker & Kylo Ren Theory

     I keep seeing these stupid posts concerning Luke Skywalker from The Force Awakens claiming Kylo Ren is actually Luke Skywalker. (1, 2, 3, etc.)  Seriously?  This is demonstrably untrue!  Luke IS in the trailer, and he has a whole voice-over in a nice calm voice.  Sure, he is wearing the dark outer cloak, but the under cloak appears to be the typical old Jedi garb that his own mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, wore.  And it might take place with his, or Han and Leia's possible children- but I think it's Rey and Finn he is talking to, but I can't discount the fact Kylo might be a child hearing it from him either if it is from the past.


     Should I also mention the fact there's been plenty of pics of Kylo Ren without his helmet, showing Adam Driver's visage?  And for the people thinking Luke might be evil because he isn't on the poster forget that Obi-Wan was NOT included on the A New Hope posters.

     I can't say that he won't be a villain in some capacity, but he is certainly NOT Kylo Ren.  Personally, I think Kylo Ren is of the Skywalker bloodline, more probably a Solo, being Han and Leia's child. (also note the first part of his name Kylo- S-KY-walker + So-LO... just saying...)  It would make sense in the Star Wars film saga being a chronicle of the Skywalker legacy to have him be one.  I mean, I also think that Rey might even be a Solo as well, but that's another story.

     Back to Luke- I think he has gone into self imposed exile as a way to preserve the Jedi.  Following in Kenobi's footsteps, maybe he's gone to guard something.  Or I've also thought that maybe, being the only true remaining Jedi as well as being the son of the most powerful Jedi that ever lived, he may have gone into hiding to protect others from an almost uncontrollable amount of Force power.  (Note: Disney scrapped the Expanded Universe, and in Aftermath Luke is mentioned as being possibly the only one left)

     As for Kylo, he clearly is following in the path of Vader.  He's already trying to imitate him with the mask and suit, but what training does he have?  Pretty much nothing.  What if Ren is a wanna-be Sith?  He doesn't have anything other than the stories of Vader to go from.  No master to follow.  He has a small grasp of the Force and built his lightsaber to emulate Vader's- Or from Vader's dropped lightsaber, as my friend suggested- to which I responded that would be a great mirror to seeing Luke's old saber (also from Vader/Anakin) from the trailer as well- but it looks like it might not be quite right and he hasn't got an instructor to guide him.  It has a weird unstable appearance, which makes me wonder if the hilt is actually an exhaust of some sort.  Like Ren couldn't get it to work properly and made due.

     However...  with those ideas, I don't discount the idea that Luke may have turned towards the Dark Side.  That is always a possibility, no matter how doubtful it may be.  Though, I also think that if Luke and Kylo fought each other, I fully believe Luke would crush Ren without a problem.  Ren appears to use fear to his advantage, whereas Luke at the end of Jedi was not only a competent Force user, but a confident Jedi Master and would see Ren as a minor threat.  The equivalent of Luke from A New Hope going up against Vader right away in the first film- it wouldn't even be a close fight.

     Overall, I think Luke is the new Obi-Wan, serving as a mentor to Rey and Finn, to combat Kylo Ren.  He may even become the new Yoda- the teacher for a future generation of Jedi.  Which might be a very important thing here.  These new Force users have no teachers outside of Luke, either good or bad.

     Sorry this is very rambling, but you get the gist of it.