SUMMER WARS

Summer Wars is an oddball mix of science fiction, cyberpunk, teen romance and family comedy/drama, all rolled up into one beautiful, lavish-looking Anime. Also manages to throw in a chilling end-of-the-world scenario and some awkward Japanese teenage romance, just to cover all the bases. Somehow with all these threads scattered around the place it creates a well woven story that’s less confusing than the new transformer movie.


Like most gen y, I love the Internet.How else can I immediately download movies or get in touch with friends in other parts of the world. Having grown up with creepy msn chat friends and spam bots. I now have an irrational fear that the Internet could create the next apocalypse, like the one in Summer Wars. An animated feature from Japan directed by Mamoru Hosoda, whose other effort include The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children. Both of which you should watch.


The movie start of innocently enough, when high schooler Kenji Koiso a maths genius who like most high school geniuses, is shy, uncoordinated, and inarticulate in the area of girls and love. Things become even more complicated for him when Natsuki Shinohara "hires" him to be her fake fiancé to please her ailing great-grandmother at an upcoming family reunion. Because pretty and confident Natsuki doesn’t want her cantankerous great-granddaughter to believe she couldn't find a boyfriend. There, Kenji the meek math nerd is confronted by an overwhelming group of relatives, including a tai-chi-devoted computer genius; a hotheaded uncle with a penchant for revenge fantasies; and the prodigal if unapologetic son, who returns after 10 years in the United States to swill Sapporo and prove he's still a rebel.Cue the family dramatics.

 On one sleepless night, Kenji solves a digit riddle sent to his phone. In doing so, he inadvertently compromises Oz, a virtual world chock-full of rainbows and cutesy avatars. That’s protected by two whale guardians called John and Yoko.

It's also a treasure trove of information. Imagine if Facebook were also a destination for gift-buying, GPS usage, e-mailing, online banking, tax filing, top secret government information. Thus putting millions of people around the world and japan into casual chaos. Seriously felt like people were more annoyed that they could use the internet, then the possible of mass destruction. Probably because this all happens in the background for the first 45 mins. The movie was more keen on retelling The Proposal. But this is anime, so eventually there would be over the top fight scenes.

 The story waivers between a family drama, a romance and an action movie. Found the balance of cheesiness some what endearing. Yet at times ventures too much into the melodramatic and corny. Surprisingly Natsuki family members are alive and brimming with over the top personality, poise and humor, a rarity in most films these days. Especially given how many family member Natsuki has. Really you wait to be transported to Oz. This is where the film shine. Oz is a visual carnival, a brilliant world that spins in midair with all manner of swirly things.The enemy avatar, who goes by Love Machine, also proves to be an entertainingly worthy adversary, with a face like Donnie Darko's rabbit friend and a body like an extra from "300." The humdrum reality of the real world often takes precedence over the nail-biting possibility of imminent apocalypse. Least the time spent with Natsuki crazy family is enjoyable due to their ability to conjure up crazy items, its wacky yet grounded. All come together in the last 30mins and delivers a golden cheese pizza of computer game kung-fu power ups. They even put a magical girl transformation sequence.


I enjoyed Summer Wars it was like a kaleidoscope stuck in a gumball machine. Its pretty yet confusing but you’ll enjoy the time you spending trying to get the fancy toy.


3 out of 5 shiny rainbow waffle warrior

COMIC REVIEW- Superman: For Tomorrow

Superman: For Tomorrow is a comic that starts off so promising. However, the longer it goes on, the more it becomes a bloated mess, dropping the ball as it limps along to an ending. This review has spoilers throughout, so you have been warned.

To start with a positive, throughout the whole book, the artwork is strong. Superman is drawn in vivid colors and the battle scenes are always drawn interestingly. The only exceptions are the female characters: Wonder Woman and Lois Lane may as well be interchangeable models with abnormally large breasts. Despite this, the artwork does hold up well and maintains a good balance and really drives home the differences between the warzones, cityscapes and the paradise.

The story, however, doesn’t hold up nearly as well as the artwork. For Tomorrow follows Superman after the disappearance of millions of people worldwide. This includes Superman’s wife, Lois Lane. Superman seeks out a random priest, who is dying of cancer, to confess about his ‘sin’. The first part of the story is then told through flashbacks from when Superman first learned of the disappearances as he is telling the priest of his ‘sin’ in saving the world. For me, this had the best part of the book in it when Superman takes on 4 giant elementals (earth, fire, wind and water) summoned by an Amazonian witch to kill the alien ‘foreigner’. When the elementals threaten to destroy the world to get Superman to leave, he effectively beats them at a game of chicken.

From here, the book starts to become bloated and loses allot of its narrative momentum. Superman travels to a warzone in order to stop the fighting, which somehow leads to a coup by another group. We are introduced to a commando, Orr, who Superman, despite his superior senses, somehow continues to miss. There is also a genetically-engineered killing machine in the employ of the group who stage a coup. Although marginally effective in showing why Superman shouldn’t be a one-man peace force, there are allot of other books which have done this better. Superman’s visit to this warzone feels like a convenience just so that he can discover the device that caused the disappearances: A portal to a paradise in the phantom zone which he created and then meditated to get forget about. If that sounds confusing and unnecessary, it is probably because it is.

For me, when he travels to the phantom zone is where the story really went off track. Zod is the big surprise villain as they have a beat-down. The priest, the most interesting character in the book, is wasted and rushed out of the picture after he is transformed into a mindless killing machine who wants to die after accidentally killing some innocents, Aquaman and Superman have a stand-off for some reason that is built up then forgotten about, and Batman and Wonder Woman try to stop Superman trying to save the millions of people trapped in the phantom zone. Adding in frequent flashes to the Amazonian witch and Orr which feel pointless within the confines of the story and just makes the narrative more confusing and have no decent rhythm. It almost feels like the story is at odds with itself, alternating between being a thoughtful meditation on Superman’s role and then having a bunch of dumb action scenes.

For Tomorrow ends up being a bloated mess of a Superman story. It has one of my favorite Superman scenes I have read in it, and it does start off promising. The artwork throughout (except for the one complaint) is really well done. I think it really could’ve benefited from reducing in the scope of characters towards the end to keep up a narrative rhythm. There should also have been more time for the priest, built up to be such a big part of the story, to actually give his character arc a meaningful conclusion.

1.5 out of 5 waffles of tomorrow, today!

MOVIE REVIEW: Monument’s Men (2013)

The Monument’s Men is a film based on a true story which follows an extraordinary group of individuals. These individuals, collectively known as The Monument’s men, were an American team tasked with capturing and returning works of art originally stolen by Nazi Germany during World War 2. I can’t judge how historically accurate the film is (although I do want to go find out more about them), but it depicts them as being right on the frontlines in order to achieve this goal.

The leader of The Monument’s Men, George Clooney, manages to look as sexy as ever on the screen while sporting a very classy moustache. He also somehow manages to not look evil while he has it. Of course, George is joined by several other Monument’s Men including Matt Damon and John Goodman. Each member of his team has a specific specialty (such as an Architect or a Scupltor), but for the most part these never seem to affect anything as his team is thrown into the war.

This film seems very keen to involve the Monument’s Men in the war. However, it does this at the expense of character development. It spends precious little time at the beginning of the film establishing the characters or showing any of their background or occupations before being recruited. Instead, we are treated to George Clooney meeting each of them in turn in his typical suave fashion and them agreeing to be involved. This felt particularly jarring when you are told that a certain character has a dark past but it is never once explained until after his heroic sacrifice (and implied redemption).

The only reason this works is because it is set in World War 2 against the Nazis. This means that there is never any question of their motivations or who the bad guys are. These men want to be involved in the war effort but are not physically able (due to age or medical conditions) so it isn’t too big a leap to fill in the motivations myself.

Instead, The Monument’s Men seems to want to establish that they were real soldiers. This is from George Clooney’s expository voice-overs that tell us how heroic they were to showing them in battles or with the enemy whenever the situation presented itself. This is often despite their commanding officers thinking that there goals were not important or failing to support them, sometimes with disastrous results for The Monument’s Men. The Russians also provide a ticking clock as they are trying to grab as much art as they can for reparations as opposed to returning it, which in this case is presented as them stealing the art for themselves.

 And that is, in a nutshell, what makes this film compelling. It focuses on a small group that has to battle with the Nazi’s and (to some extent) their own forces for a goal that only they truly believe in. While they are battling, they continue to prove their worth. Although it could have spent some more time establishing the basic characters, it does a good enough job when they are all together to keep the action moving and a tight focus on them being involved in the war.

3.5 out of 5 Stolen Picasso-waffles. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past

The X-Men boldly go forward to the past, or possibly sideways. In this chaotic prequel,sequel hybrid reboot. Days of Future Past opens in a dystopian future where the massive mutant-hunting Sentinels have practically exterminated mutants, incarcerating the surviving ones in concentration camps. Of course the only the most popular X-Men have survived. Luckily they have a plan to send Wolverine back in time telepathically in order to stop the mutant holocaust.

Day of Future Past moves at a delirious pace. Professor Xavier explains situation how the sentinels come to be because Mystique failed to assassinate anti-mutant scientist Dr Trask (Peter Dinklage). Turns out, Mystique’s mutant abilities are the key to giving the Sentinels there metamorphic properties. So wolverine must inception-style his mind  back to 1973 – to persuade Magneto and Xavier's younger selves to join him in this quest. The problem is that he will be a stranger to the younger them.. The further complicating factors are that Xavier is drug addict and Magneto is incarcerated in an ultra-secure unit below the Pentagon. But with the help of Beast and Quicksilver they spring Magneto out 

.From there it becomes a race against time to stop Mystique, restore young Xavier’s hope, and prevent the X-Men of the future from being wiped out.Then the story gets muddled down with a bit of repetition about the whole bleak dystopian future scenario. Major credit to both director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg from  balancing all those elements with very little confusion.

The action scenes are over the top flashy. The visual effects looked great. The post-apocalyptic wasteland was brooding and desolate. Future Sentinels come across as menacing killing machine unlike their 1973 dyson vacuum cleaner counterparts.

If you're a X-Men fanboy like myself you’ll notice lots of little nods to previous movies. X-Men: Days of Future Past is a dizzying ride. That allows for the series to be re-set. Was an surprisingly witty adventure rewarding installment for avid fans. Thanks to the power of time travel we can all forget that Last Stand, Origins and Superman Returns never happened.

4 out of 5 time travel sentinel waffles.

PC GAME REVIEW: SERENA

Serena is a narrative-driven game. It is quite short, but it was also free (on Steam). I thought its brevity was one of its greatest assets as it told the story it wanted to tell without overstaying its welcome. It took me only around thirty minutes to beat this game, but I considered that time well spent.

Serena is a point-and-click style adventure game. You wake up in a cabin in the woods wondering where Serena is. You then click around to move or examine different items. You also happen to be afflicted with that most common of videogame character traits-amnesia. As you explore different areas of the cabin you uncover more of your past with Serena as well as details about the protagonist, whose name I cannot remember.

The game tells its story entirely from the perspective of the protagonist and his memory as you slowly uncover the mystery. The voice acting is superb as it slowly alters its tone to match how you remember events occurring. The graphics also do a good job of getting across the tone that the designers were trying to go for. Neither the sound nor the graphics needed to be flashy but they did a good job of matching the tone of Serena.

The tone of the game continues to change as you discover that things are not as straightforward as they first seem. Without spoiling how the game progresses and ends too much, it seemed to foreshadow its plot twists and then deliberately invert them. This keeps the game feeling fresh as it moves towards the story’s conclusion as you regain your memory of what transpired.

Overall, Serena is a very good game. Although it is short, it is also free and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It has a very deliberate message and tone that it conveys really well. I definitely enjoyed this as a fan of story-driven games that have a satisfying conclusion.

4 out of 5 amnesiac-waffles.

Movie Review: Godzilla (2014)

 Why does Godzilla feel like an afterthought in his own movie? Especially after having a hype campaign that was solely centered around having the mystery of how Godzilla looks? All the latest Godzilla monster flick made me do was remember Pacific Rim. And the comparison is not kind to Godzilla.

 The Godzilla movie starts off at a nuclear reactor in Japan. We are introduced to a family consisting of a father and mother who work at a nuclear reactor and their son. I found this opening very effective to establish the family in a short amount of time before a monster attacks the reactor. This leads to the mother dying, the father becoming a conspiracy theorist to try and find out what really happened and the son joining the military. We are also introduced to a scientist looking at a massive crater somewhere close by. At this point I thought this would take the approach of World War Z (the awesome book) and follow different peoples perspectives during the monster attack, which would have been awesome.

 Unfortunately, this was not the case. Fast-forward to 15 years later and the father is still looking for the truth, the son has grown up and joined the American military  (but as bomb disposal, so there are no grey areas about him killing foreigners and being a bad guy, of course) and has a family in San Francisco and there is a giant monster containment unit over the Japanese nuclear reactor site. And this is where the movie starts to go off the rails. In short, the parts with the family are horrible and bland and often take the focus off where it should be: the monster (or spoiler alert, monsters).

 There are multiple monsters in this movie, being a male and female Muto that are quite bland and a giant Godzilla that is quite uninspired. In effect, the Muto are trying to breed and Godzilla is hunting them, for some reason that is never adequately explained (they don't even feed on eachother, instead feeding on radiation). This would have been fine, except that everytime the monsters go to fight it cuts back to the bland army guy trying to do his stuff. This was particularly evident when they initially face off and instead it just cuts to the next day and the destruction caused. That being said, once the movie settles back and lets you see the monsters fight, it is as impressive as Pacific Rim.

 Compared to Pacific Rim, Godzilla ends up being an extremely boring mess. There are many other things wrong with this movie, but it would have all been okay if it just got Godzilla right. However, like Transformers, it cuts away from the action I wanted to see to some human characters I didn't care about at all. The best parts are the very beginning (the prologue) and some giant monster fight scenes at the end. If it was released earlier, it might have been okay. But in a world post-Pacific Rim, monster movies should be doing better.

1.5 out of 5 monstrous waffles.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

 Quirky,charming, oddball and a little bit dark are all ways to describe Wes Anderson new flick The Grand Budapest Hotel. Really it should have be titled the Grand Adventures of Gustave H and his sexy mo. For the most part thats exactly what the movie is, it just didn't live up to the movie my mind created from the trailers.

The story is. Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous Grand Budapest hotel is accused of murder of a rich old lady. Who bequeathed him a  priceless Renaissance painting . This lead to a battle with the family over her will - all against the back-drop of a dramatically changing continent. While being the story is being recounted by  Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.

All that sounds pretty much like a wonderful misadventure with Gustave H. But its more convoluted than it needs to be, also the focus is much more on Zero the lobby boy. I found Zero to be like a cardboard cutout with a drawn on mustache. Only really because Ralph Fiennes embodies Gustave H with so much lovable charm that every character around him become a one dimensional  pieces of driftwood.

The plot is merely a mechanism that allows Anderson to transport his vision onto the screen, a vision of a peculiar world seemingly different from our own, but filled with just as much loss and, at the same time, human compassion as ours. There is comedy, but its either very subtle or incredibly over the top.  I would technically describe it as a detective comedy, that's been dipped into nostalgia with a hint of bittersweetness longing for an age long past. Anderson unique film styling helps to bring the world of the Grand Budapest to life. The colours, the camera movement that switches between different parts of the set, the music, the lens angle distortion, absolutely ridiculous CGI is used perfectly to add some surrealism to the movie.

Really I just wanted to spend more time with Gustave H in The Grand Budapest rather then watching him escape a prison or ride several trains. The hotel itself is a character thats never truly explored. Don't think the movie spend really much time at The Grand Budapest. Still it was an enjoyable adventure with the charming concierge Gustave H.
 




2 and half quick witted comeback waffles out of 5.