Transporter 3 and Sonic Unleashed

Transporter 3:

The 80s and 90s were the culmination of action movie franchises. The Die Hard series began in the late 80s and the newest addition came out in 2007. The Lethal Weapon series also began in the 80s with the newest film being released in 1998. It has been a while since a new string of action movies really took off. That's what made the Transporter movies so exciting for me.

The first Transporter film came out in 2002, and it was fantastic. Jason Statham did a great job playing the solitary Frank Martin, and the action scenes were unique and well paced. The sequel was released in 2005, and, it was less than stellar. Abandoning the European locale, this sequel took place in the States and apparently caught a bad case of American-film-itis. The action scenes were choppy, although still mildly entertaining, and the plot went from a slightly preposterous to saving the world from the apocalypse. So, what does the third one have to offer?

The writers, mistakenly, gave Martin more personality than the previous films. Instead of opening the film with Martin performing a job, it opens with him fishing with his detective buddy. This is the wrong way to open up a Transporter film. It is supposed to start with Martin preparing for his job in a parking garage. Even the awful second film got that right. Martin also is forced into giving an uncharacteristic strip tease, but more on that later.

The film took a step back from the second and reduced the impact of the antagonists. Instead of the possibility of the world being taken over by the baddies, only the Ukraine is at risk in this film. And it's threatened by evil, American polluters, no less. I don't necessarily like being portrayed as a villain, but anything is better than the group of villains from the second film. And the lead villain was played pretty well by Robert Knepper. He was the evil counterpart to Frank Martin, always obeying his own set of rules.

The action, again, was better than the second. The fight scenes (there was a whopping two of them) were still choppy and not as interesting as the first film's, such as the oil slick fight, but were well choreographed nonetheless. The heart of the action comes from other stunts. The crowning achievement was a scene where Martin gets carjacked, but has to stay within 75 feet of the car or else he'll explode thanks to a bracelet the villain put on him. It contains elements of parkour and has great pacing.

The only truly unique thing about this film is likely only to pique the interests of feminists. The leading lady, Natalya Rudakova, plays Valentina, a spoiled, privileged Ukrainian party girl who serves as the MacGuffin for the film. In the second fight scene, Martin utilizes his clothes as weapons against a group of baddies. He begins by taking off and using his coat, then his tie and finally his shirt. Valentina, watching from the car, is visually excited watching Martin undress. This is one of the few films I've seen where the Gaze is fixed on the man as opposed to the woman. And later in the film, Valentina steals the keys to the car and makes Martin strip for her in order to get the keys back. Again, seeing the woman in the position of power is rare, so the experience was refreshing.

Altogether, if you are a fan of the previous two films, then you won't be disappointed by this addition. The beginning and and scenes aren't great, but the middle section is above average. It has great action, a decent story and good acting. Watching this movie now is probably a better idea then waiting for the new Punisher movie coming out in December.

Sonic Unleashed:

I've only played several hours worth of the game, so this is more of a first look than a review. And, this first look isn't pretty.

Well, actually, the game is very pretty. I'm a big fan of the graphics. Some of the best I've seen on the Wii. Of course, if you're playing a game for the graphics, then the Wii isn't the console of choice. The Wii is all about the controls.

The controls aren't bad. The game is easy enough to play, but that's when you can actually play the game. The creators decided to deface the Sonic franchise (again) by making the game part point and click adventure. Part of the game is talking to villagers and trying to get information as to the whereabouts of somebody or something. A sonic game is about running, preferably running fast. It is not about talking to random people only to find out they don't have the information you're looking for.

Also, it should be noted you cannot skip the cut scenes. This wasn't a problem at first. I wanted to bask in the gae as a whole, so I watched the first few cut scenes. But it got to the point where it went from point-and-click adventure to cut scene back to point-and-click adventure. Wanting to get to the fast running, I began mashing buttons during the cutscenes, but nothing would let me skip the scene.

And, getting back to the controls, they kind of suck. Playing as the WereHog Sonic isn't fun. There's no enemy lock-on when fighting, so while shaking the Wii remote and nunchuck you have to keep pointing at your enemies. This doesn't sound difficult, but in practice it's a lot harder than it sounds. Also, there's no way to change the camera angle (much like the new Chrash Bandicoot game), so if you have to back track, you'll be running towards the screen, which is disorienting to say the least.

The only true perk I can think of is the actual running parts as regular sonic. If the game was entirely composed of this style gameplay, then I would enjoy the game one hundred times more.

But, alas, this is just a first look. My fingers are crossed that things will get better.

Round Up

Here's what I've been up to with my limited free time:

de Blob:

“De Blob” is a game reminiscent of “ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron;” it’s a very funky game, and that’s where most of the appeal comes from. The story, while being charming and funny, doesn’t make itself necessary. You could ignore any sign of a narrative, and as long as you followed the prescribed objectives, you’d be fine. There are essentially four types of missions in the game: follow the markers, paint certain structures certain colors, kill the enemies and transform landmarks. Most missions aren’t hard, but some curve balls are thrown from time to time. The game doesn’t getting noticeably difficult until the final boss, who is still manageable. The game is fun though, and considering other Wii games, this one stands out in a positive way.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno:

I had high hopes for this movie, and they were met. This crossing between Judd Apatow’s clan and Kevin Smith’s clique was exactly what a fan of either would expect. The movie was touching, had a good soundtrack and had plenty of laughs. There was a good chemistry between Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, who played the title characters. Craig Robinson, better known as Darryl on TV show “The Office” played his character perfectly as he typically does. The rest of the cast did a good job as well, but what makes the movie is Kevin Smith’s pen. His knack for writing the perfect dialogue hasn’t left him since “Clerks II.” This isn’t Smith’s funniest movie, nor is it his deepest movie, but if you like dirty humor, then it’s one you shouldn’t miss.

The Color of Money:

This is an old movie (1986), and I only rented it because I watched the preceding film, “The Hustler” (1961). Initially I rented “The Hustler” because it was a pool movie, but then I realized there was more to it than that. “The Color of Money” is similar, but not as good, even with Scorsese directing. “The Color of Money” has some great pool, and the actors (Tom Cruise and Paul Newman) did the brunt of their actual shots. Newman was a joy to watch. Even considering how old he was during this role, he had the energy of a young man. And Cruise, well, he was a young man who had the energy of an even younger man. This was a good movie, but the main problem was that it was directed by Scorsese and it wasn’t amazing. Had anybody else been in charge, then my opinion would probably be different.

Mega Man 9:

I should start by saying I haven’t beaten this game yet, and I am pessimistic that I ever will. I have defeated all of the robot masters, but I can’t make it through Wily’s Castle (if you’ve played a Mega Man game, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t played a Mega Man game, then you probably don’t care about this mini review). The robot masters are what I’ve come to expect from the series, meaning they are equal parts imaginative plus equal parts cheesy. Some levels aren’t very difficult at all, such as Galaxy Man whom I beat with only several tries. Other levels are drastically more difficult, such as the disappearing block challenge in Plug Man’s stage. Mega Man 9 is a fun experience, and I would love to see companies make more games in this fashion.