Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Cinema Review

If you were like me and hoping that the shield corruption, moral conflicts and commentary on intelligence organisations hinted at in the trailers would play a big part in this film then you'll be pleased to hear those hopes are realised. One of The Winter Soldier's biggest achievements is making a superhero film with the expected mainstream large action sequences as well as an effective espionage thriller. Some of the tense atmospheres of distrust created are potent and will have you second guessing the motives and allegiance of almost every character on screen.

For those less interested in those affairs, the film still delivers on the big-budget marvel action movie side of its persona. Less so than other avenger-centric films perhaps but i feel the extra time devoted to plot and character conflict only makes the action better and it suitably tapers so that the second half of the film is much more action packed than the first.

I can't go into too much detail with the plot because i don't want to spoil things but the film does well focusing on about three or four major characters and exploring them all very well. The acting is also solid on all accounts especially from Samuel L Jackson. Tonally despite a rather dark distrustful atmosphere with quite a lot more violence than other Avenger franchise films, the story still finds time for plenty of injections of humour that help balance everything nicely.

The film is fairly long but it doesn't feel like any scenes are superfluous or time is wasted. From the very first shot the filmmakers are setting up characters and story and for a central character who is so defined by events in his past there aren't too many flashbacks either.

The complex web of betrayals, mystery and corruption is mostly watertight with only one or two minor plotholes emerging in the later scenes of the film. The leaps of logic and realism that can sometimes disengage in these types of films are also few, which considering the substantial, epic scale of events and characters is an achievement.

A few notes about Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow however in regards to character and treatment. In Avengers she was very cold, calculating and detached but in Winter Soldier they've made her much sassier with her far outnumbering the other characters in terms of quips and comical lines. These aren't bad and the acting is still very good it's just a minor gripe about character inconsistency that struck me whilst watching.

They've also made her much less "assier" (thought of that all by myself, i'm here all week, etc) by which i mean far less sexualised than in other films which is a refreshing step forward.
That said there is some interesting sexual tension between her and the titular hero which is mostly underlying and doesn't outstay its welcome but is another well implemented layer to the film weaved into much of the film's comedy.

Overall this is an excellent different direction to take the character in yet remaining a solid story with plenty of action, comedy and intrigue to appeal to fans of the Avengers franchise or action movie fans in general. I was worried that this vast arc of movies planned to live well into the future would be stretching the characters and appeal too thin but if Winter Solider, Iron Man 3 and arguably Thor 2 are any indication, the post-avengers films are only improving.

Video Games Saved My Life

I am an avid video gamer in my twenties who also suffers from depression. I have been playing video games for most of my life, often for long stretches of time taking up entire days. I have also long since lost count of the times my favourite pastime has been blamed for crimes ranging from theft to mass murder. This article feels like throwing a grain of sand against a grand tidal wave of negative press but in a way that justifies the need for it even more. Consider this a piece of much needed positive coverage for video games from someone who has actually played more than one.

The main fear I see portrayed on news reports and discussed on panels of exclusively non-gamers is that gamers will lose the ability to differentiate reality and the world of the video game they are playing. Many people seem disturbed by how immersed gamers can become but I see that and instead think “good” Good that they lose themselves inside video games so that they have a respite from the real world, which I have observed to be more sick, deranged, violent and poisonous than any video game I have ever played.

The thought of witnessing all the injustice, cruelty and random merciless chaos of life relentlessly without release, without break seems more likely to drive a person insane and dangerous than the most realistic, immersive video game I can imagine. People blame video games for crimes committed when in fact I wager that they have delayed or even prevented far more.

During my childhood I was frequently bullied both at school and at home and often the only thing I had to look forward to was the unrivalled blissful escapism of video games. Forgetting who I was and losing myself in these worlds where things were simpler, fairer and more controllable. As a teenager I became severely depressed and this would go undiagnosed until my early twenties. Years of crippling self-hatred, constant doubt and an inability to enjoy life made me thoroughly miserable and I have plenty of memories where I’m surrounded by friends, partaking in some leisurely pursuit I should have been fully enjoying and instead of fun or happiness I simply felt empty.

How does one escape from something that is tied to your very being? A nightmare in your veins? A slow draining rot of the mind? Films, books, television and music work to a certain extent but nothing could match the immersion and scope of video games. Amongst the upsettingly few memories of times I have genuinely enjoyed with friends are also a great many memories of adventures taken, emotions experienced, connections made and satisfaction gleaned from achieving something which I knew was ultimately meaningless but found immense pleasure in all the same because I was immersed. For a while I could feel that my only problems were the challenges faced in video games. Challenges I could actually succeed in.

Forgetting who I was, losing that reference point for all my loathing and self-destructive impulses and instead believing I was an acrobatic time-controlling prince or a cybernetic commander of a cutting-edge spaceship or even just a quick little blue anthropomorphic hedgehog, was often the only release I got from the crushing paralysis present in the rest of my life.

Which brings me to the point of this article in which I confidently state that video games have not only saved me from the darkest, depthless emptiness I’ve ever felt but they have given me some of the happiest times I can recall in an existence otherwise starved of such sensations. I would wager that many people in similar positions would claim the same. There is no news to be found in people who are content with something, so the vast majority of gamers go unheard, primarily because they haven’t broken the law.

I don’t believe the media and politicians are completely devoid of logic in their distrust of the medium of video games ( just mostly) but I ask them to broaden their thinking in that a person who cannot detach and dissociate themselves at all from such an experience is in need of help far more generally in life. An inability to separate fact from fiction can prove problematic and potentially dangerous in all walks of life not just in the context of video games. Essentially, someone capable of the crimes often causally linked to video games has far bigger problems than what video games may or may not contribute to. 

Someone of that disposition is at equal risk in any activity, from video games, to paintball to driving a car, so instead of looking for easy and simple targets to blame, censor, and ban, take up the harder, more complex but also more pressing task of improving mental health care for people with these conditions you are seemingly so fraught with concern about.

DMC: Devil May Cry - Review

Well i'll start with the problems everyone else seemed to have with this reboot. The main "controversial" issues i heard beforehand were the protagonist Dante's hair colour and the soundtrack, neither of which personally bothered me. This is firstly because it's a reboot and despite what the recent world of films and videogames would demonstrate that usually means the franchise undergoing significant changes. These issues secondly didn't bother me for the fact that they are actually not significant changes despite what screaming over-obsessed fans would claim.

Dante's hair is now black but upon entering the devil trigger mode it turns white as it used to be and after first achieving this he earns a permanent white streak through his black hair. If you can quell your rage long enough to beat the game you even unlock a costume change solely to turn his hair white and similarly styled to the old Dante. Would you kindly now calm the fuck down.

The other so called problem was the slightly more electronic and modern soundtrack. When i first caught whiff of this, i thought the whole game had been dubstepped on but in actuality it's still a primarily metal soundtrack with a few club or rave elements. The only distinctly Skrillexian tune i heard was accompanying the penultimate boss battle and there were far more prominent disappointments than the soundtrack at that point.

I don't think anyone can blame the new DMC of disgracing it's predecessors as the developers are clearly fans of the series and while they poke fun at the old games they also honour them with all the achievements being quotations from past games, signature moves being recreated and even classic lines and themes getting a knowing nod here and there. Right, now that's out of the way we'll start properly.

DMC brings the series firmly into the modern era but unlike the abysmal second instalment of the old series, it mixes this realism with what it calls Limbo. A purgatorial plain where demons roam freely and the very environment warps and twists to foil or trap you. This is the main stand out highlight of this new game, they've achieved a surreal modern art style that doesn't bore you to tears and genuinely invokes a feeling of oppression and being hunted which weaves perfectly in with the main narrative's themes. Heavily graffitied streets brimming with demonic disease, twisted neon nightclubs or the clinical filtered digital insides of a news program. It's interesting to look at and enticing to play through and the art direction for most of the game is to be applauded.

Remaining in positive territory the core gameplay is mostly solid also. Mainly the combat which is fast, fun, brutal, in depth and everything it should be for a Devil May Cry game. If anything brings you back to replaying the game it'll be the sheer variety of combos, the satisfying impact of most of the different weapons and the allure of maxing out your stylish points. In short the combat is the second major highlight of this new DMC and it stands proudly amongst the best systems of the old titles.

Unfortunately you soon start running out of good things to say about DMC almost as quickly as it's very short campaign wraps itself up. Dante definitely has an arc throughout the story and the side characters are kept few so we can grow accustomed to them and have a fair amount of time to learn their own secrets and motivations. The writing overall is...mixed. There are times when it really shines and these feel like complex, real characters within a witty and self-aware game. Then there are other times where dialogue feels clichéd and cheesy without the wit or self-aware irony.

The narrative is on a mostly downhill slope, starting off pretty interesting with Dante being a smug carefree prick living a life of lust and lethargy until the smart but scarred character of Kat brings him out of his sleazy world and gives him greater purpose, reuniting him with his past and twin brother Vergil. All this amongst a backdrop of a heavily monitored and oppressed society, with a monopolised manipulative media satirising Fox News, polluted iconic popular consumables, reminiscent of a global brand like Pepsi albeit under the perspective of conspiracy theorists. It's truly a Devil May Cry for the modern age, so it's all the more of a shame when it ends up feeling like the worst parts of games we've already seen.

The narrative builds nicely but becomes more and more predictable and cliched whilst slowly this underlying theme of an Orwellian society takes a back seat to mystical, super-powered adventures in magic land. This instead of the subtle blend between the familiar and the fantastical the start of the game accomplishes. As i mentioned the writing also begins to feel less polished and characters start speaking and acting unrealistically, leading to some effectively built up tensions and conflicts that feel utterly underwhelming, unsatisfying or forced by the end. Even the level design becomes more bland and grey after such a strong opening.

Back in the realms of gameplay it's worth noting that the platforming sections that break up the combat can be more than a little clumsy and the game is not without some fairly glaring glitches in places. Then there's the increasingly common tendencies of modern games to strip you of all your abilities and set you following the path of another character (usually down a bland corridor) whilst exposition and plot happens. It's good and important that we have these bonding moments with characters so we care what happens to them later, but they can be made more interesting and ideally intertwine with the gameplay better than simply, travelling, tag along, storytime moments.

There's a constant contrast between moments of considered, well thought out design and cheap, gimmicks we've all seen before. There are new enemies introduced regularly and many of them are innovatively designed and varied, as are some of the bosses, but the further you get in the game the more ideas seem to run out. Fighting through a news program is a great new idea, the final boss of it being a giant floating head is not. The penultimate boss battle with the game's main antagonist Mundus, who has been really effectively built up as a dormant demonic God, secretly pulling the world's strings, ends up being the standard triple A massive monster fight against a disappointingly dull giant.

Perhaps the game is so short because they realised they were running out of good ideas, but that's not a great sign for the first title in a so called reboot. That said there are a fair amount of collectibles and extras if you enjoy such things and don't mind replaying the levels, along with the many sadistic difficulty settings common to DMC games but it doesn't personally make up for such a short overall story. Things are left pretty blatantly unfinished for sequels and even DLC to slowly expand upon, after sucking up more of your money of course. I don't want to sound overly cynical here because i like the bones of this new series and it has the potential to become something really different and interesting, but i feel quite ripped off with only roughly half of the short game fulfilling this potential.

If you're genuinely interested in this new series, be you a fan of the old one or not, and can forgive the games' brief length and increasingly lacklustre moments, there is definite fun to be had here. If you enjoy titles in the arguable "Hack and slash" genre DMC in terms of combat is a great addition to that category. If you're hoping for the kind of satirical strong narrative or drastic re-imagining of Devil May Cry that the trailers and promotion hinted at you could well be eventually disappointed. More than anything else, i look forward to seeing how this new series develops in the future.