Movie review: Se7en (rewatch)

Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

Holy shit this movie is horrific! Ok, so I may have seen this film about se7en times by now (haha, pun very much intended :D), but I'm still quite horrified by it. The murders (sloth in particular) are brutally imaginative, the setting (this terrible city) is merciless, and Somerset's (Morgan Freeman's character) attitude towards life in the city is down right depressing. All these terrible things, and yet I feel the worst about Mills (Brad Pitt), who just becomes detective and has to face off against this monster.

David Fincher's dirty and gritty view of this city is displayed very clearly and it works so damn well for this story. I'm sure that only a few other directors would have been able to fully present the horror that this story tells.

This brings me to the acting. Oh my god the acting! This is where I first discovered Morgan Freeman and I've considered him to be the greatest of all time ever since. Brad Pitt is also one of my favorite actors, and I love him in this part - as the new detective who acts on his emotions. Kevin Spacey is especially menacing as John Doe. But then again, when is Kevin Spacey not good? I mean, he was absolutely terrific even in Horrible Bosses. And my god is he creepy in this part.

I know some people love to make fun of the "what's in the box?" scene, but I think it's an absolutely brilliant scene (granted, this is where Brad Pitt's acting takes a bit of a dive).

Overall I think this is the greatest thriller film of all time. But I only consider it to be David Fincher's second greatest film of all time. I love Fight Club to nearly no end. But this isn't all that far behind it in my opinion.

I do have to say that I don't find this to be the most horrific movie of all time. That title goes to the South Korean thriller "I Saw The Devil" which made me feel sick to my stomach at times - whilst being a perfectly 'entertaining' thriller movie.

9/9

Anime review: Natsume Yuujinchou Shi

The fourth season of Natsume Yuujinchou is here. But is it as good as it's predecessors? The answer is "I guess..."

Natsume Takashi has the ability to see spirits, which he has long kept secret. However, once he inherits a strange book that belonged to his deceased grandmother, Reiko, he discovers the reason why spirits surround him. Containing the names of these spirits, a binding contract was formed between the spirits and the owner of the book. Now, Natsume is determined to free the spirits and dissolve the contracts. With the help of a spirit cat - Madara/Nyanko-sensei, his days are filled trying to return the names to these spirits. 

- Source: Anime News Network

Quick recap of my feelings on the previous seasons:

First season - Great! Relaxing, fun and heartwarming.

Second season - Almost as good. Pretty much more of the same.

Third season - Pretty good. It went for a more serious storyline, which it suffered for.

So how's the fourth season? Well, honestly it wasn't all that good. I did like it better than the third season. But not by much. For some reason it was somewhat dull. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I suspect it's because I'm simply tired of this series by this point. It's not particularly "heartwarming" at any point in this season (with the very last scene being a possible exception), and all the scenes of this kind revolves around Natsume - his past and his feelings. I would prefer to have stories that focused more on the spirits - and we would get to experience these stories through Natsume's point of view. The spirits aren't very imaginative either anymore. It's kind of just trodding along in the same manner it always has, but it needs to be new and creative in at least some way for it to work. And if not, then it should excel at being heartwarming (get used to seeing me write this word) or emotionally gripping or having some sense of urgency.

Don't mess with Nyanko-sensei!

 However, if this is really how it is, then why do I consider the third season to be the worst when it actually tries to introduce a slightly more serious and lasting story line? Honestly, I can't say exactly what it is that bothers me with this season - but there is something with Natsume Yuujinchou that simply doesn't work for me anymore. And it's not because I don't like slow paced Slice-of-Life series. If they excel in some particular field then they could be some of the better anime series out there. The Aria franchise is one of my favorites within anime. That's because the entire series is so heartwarming (there's that word again) and nice and pleasant and sweet. I feel so good inside when I watch that series. Then again, another reason why I love the Aria franchise so much is because it has such an amazing ending. And by ending I mean half the last season - Aria The Origination. So it didn't exactly trodd along the same path forever. If it would, then I'm sure I'd grow tired of it as well.
But this review is supposed to be about Natsume Yuujinchou Shi - so I'll stop bringing up Aria now :P

If anyone else is having the same thoughts as I am, then please let me know why you're thinking this way. Or let me know if you merely have a theory on why I'd be feeling this way about the series.

Ok, so that's what bothered me with the series - but that's not to say that I didn't like it overall. In fact, I did. I found it to be pretty good. It never outright bored me, and Nyanko-sensei is still as fun as he's ever been. He's entertaining in every single scene he appears in and his the greatest aspect of this entire season.
My second favorite character is Natsume's friend Tanuma - because he gets some pretty good development when he ventures further into the world of spirits in order to discover more about what Natsume goes through.

Despite it's flaws it is still quite enjoyable for me and I will definitely watch the fifth season if they ever make it.

6/9

The good:
Nyanko-sensei!
Tanuma Kaname
More of the same

The bad:
Just more of the same...
Not as heartwarming as it could be
Spirits aren't imaginative

Just started (sort of): Dragon Age II

I didn't really like Dragon Age: Origins - And yet I've started playing the sequel. Bad move.

Ok, technically I haven't "just started" playing Dragon Age II. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm over the halfway point. But I figured that I should at least make a post saying that I am in fact playing it. A big reason as to why I want to state that I'm playing it is because it has been eating up a whole lot of my time. Time better spent elsewhere to be honest. Mainly because I have so damn much I SHOULD do. Like watching anime, writing reviews, studying for my C# class, continue studying C++ or for the CCENT, or looking for actual work.

But no, instead of doing any those actually important and useful things I'm playing this mediocre RPG. So why do I do it even though I think it's mediocre? Because one thing it has gotten right is the addictive aspect. It's easy to think "I can play a little while longer" every time I beat a group of enemies or finish a quest - even if I didn't really enjoy doing those things. This is what I like to call "braindead gaming".

However, I'm not sure wether it's better or worse than Dragon Age: Origins yet.

Game review: Bayonetta (Xbox 360)

Killing angels have never felt - and looked so good!

Bayonetta is a third person shooter centering around a sexy four-gun wielding witch named Bayonetta who spends her days killing all kinds of angels in the most stylish manners.

What did I expect from Bayonetta before I began playing it?

I had heard that the game's pace was very fast, the visuals were cool and the heroine - Bayonetta herself was smokin' hot. That's about it.

Did it deliver on these aspects? Hell yeah it did! That and more!

One thing I hadn't heard about it that I love is the immensely entertaining "combo fighting style" the game uses, which I consider to be a mix of a fighting game and a hack n' slash. Or maybe most hack n' slash - like God of War and Devil May Cry - are like this. I haven't played many games in this genre. But if they're like Bayonetta, then consider me a future fan of those two franchises :)

There are a heap of different combos one can use, so it didn't exactly become boring right away. It did however get a bit tiring towards the end of my overall playtime, because I tend to use the same few moves most of the time, because those were the button combinations I felt most comfortable pressing. If I wanted to use something I wasn't used to - or didn't "fit" me all too well, I really had to put my mind into it.

This did come with a certain upside however. It forced me to keep my mind alert while playing. The furious button mashing during the quick time events doubled this effect. And I ALWAYS mashed the buttons as fast as I possibly could. So it was effective to say the least. 
So Bayonetta has great longevity - but don't expect it to be everlasting.

When I'm saying it has great longevity, people need to understand that the game isn't very long if you simply blast through it chapter after chapter. In that regard it's actually quite brief. No, the thing that ate up most of my time was the constant replays to find every hidden item, every alfheim challenge and optimizing my playthroughs for higher scores and better trophies. And this is addictive! I felt compelled to replay every chapter (except the "rocket riding" one) several times right after I finished them.

The fun and addictive gameplay was a saving grace in some manners. Why? Because the story wasn't especially interesting. I hardly ever cared where the story would go, and where it eventually led to wasn't very interesting either. And the supporting cast isn't much to cheer about. No one - except for the main villain - is terribly bad, but when you have a main character of such caliber as Bayonetta - who's cool, sexy, bad-ass, and funny - the others just pale in comparison.

Say hello to Bayonetta's demon friends

As for the technical side of things; It looked very nice with it's neat character and creature designs, stylish visuals, highly entertaining overall directing, and precise controls.
There are very few games that gives me the feeling of watching a movie or series, but Bayonetta sure as hell is one of those games.

Now that I've covered the visuals I guess I'll continue with the music. The choice of standout songs as background music is good. The problem, however, is that the few songs they have are so heavily overplayed.  I love "Fly Me To The Moon" in most of it's form and I didn't think I would get sick of it. But after hearing it a gazillion times - I did.
This isn't a big issue considering how I was always so engrossed in the battles that I hardly payed any attention to the music. But big or not - it is a negative aspect of the game.

The story and most of the characters may be placed into the 'meh' category, and the music can get on your nerves at times - but because of the incredibly fun and addictive gameplay and the stylish visuals, I can't help but to give this a full score.

9/9

Playing Bayonetta is one of the most fun games I've ever played in single player. It's pure entertainment.

I recently read that Bayonetta 2 is in production and will be released for Wii U. Which means I will definitely buy Wii U. I'm almost more excited for Bayonetta 2 than the new Legend of Zelda (which is my favorite game series).

The good:
Replay value!
Super sexy heroine
Great combo battle system
Button mashing at it's finest
Stylish visuals
Good music

The bad:
Repetetive music
Story is rather uninteresting
Supporting characters pale in comparison to Bayonetta

Dishonored live preview

I'm watching a live streaming preview of the first-person stealth assassin game Dishonored at gamespot.com.

I have read a few articles about Dishonored in LEVEL (a Swedish gaming magazine), and from those articles, it seemed like a pretty badass game. My impression of it has only strengthened from watching bits of this preview. Generally I'm not too fond of sneaking games. I did somewhat enjoy Deus Ex: Human Revolutions - which I stealthed myself through. But besides that one... nah.
Dishonored however looks really fun, intense and challenging. I am definitely going to play this (although it's gonna be a while until I do that because of othergames I still haven't played) when I get the chance.

Just started: Bayonetta

I recently started playing Bayonetta - the game where you're a witch (who is a total babe) that hunt angels and demons. 

What I had heard about it before I started playing it was that it was a very high-paced and stylistic action game. That description is completely spot on! The story and characters may not be anything to cheer for. But the game oozes style from every part of it's being. And the speedy arcade style battles are furiously entertaining and addictive. Despite that I've only played through four chapters so far, my need to improve my own score and increase my halos (the game's currency) has gotten me to re-play those chapters several times.

I just hope that I won't get sick of this game before it ends. But right now I absolutely love this game!

Anime review: Ben-To

While innocently reaching for some half priced bento, You Satou finds himself beaten up on the floor of a supermarket. He soon learns that getting half-priced bento is an all-out brawl between customers. Satou is invited to the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by one of the top fighters, Sen Yarizui (a.k.a. The Ice Witch), in order to train to compete in these battles.

Ben-To is a "shounen ecchi comedy battle series" with an incredibly ridiculous (the good kind) premise and harem tendencies.

The harem aspects are much less serious and 'in the way' than I expected - which is very good. But unfortunately, it does still have some tendencies to that category.

The battles are decent (I guess...) sometimes, and pretty damn bad other times.

The comedy is a waste of potential most of the time. Sometimes it can get me to smile or chuckle, but it usually fails to make use of it's crazy premise. It should be WAY over-the-top. Like Gintama, Sexy Commando, Hare + Guu, HSDK or Ouran to name a few.

Fortunately, the ecchi is well done. It's not too much and doesn't get in the way of the show. It's merely a side dish. 

The characters aren't great, but they are neither annoying nor terrible. Just like the show as a whole - they're merely kinda 'meh'. They're either stereotypes that are somewhat enjoyable, or they start out as fun and interesting characters, but become boring after a few episodes.

The main character, Satou, is the far too common wimpy male lead. Sure, he's better than most of his kind and he's a great fighter in the anime and all - but he's the kind of guy who takes every beating (emotional, mental, physical etc.) he gets from the ladies and does nothing but let out a complaining "eh", or something to that effect. Ugh, I hate these characters. I also hate the voice actor for Satou. Whenever he tries to be all intense, loud and/or funny, it makes me grind my teeth.

It's not a boring or completely un-funny anime. It's just that it could have been absolutely hilarious, but ended up being nothing more than a big pile of forgettable 'meh'.

Ben-To is a good idea handled terribly. Instead of making it over-the-top silly and focusing on humor, they decided to go with the 'ecchi harem comedy' approach.

This anime can be summed up in two words - Wasted potential.

5/9