For those of you who have just crawled out from under your rock, let me remind you of the basic story of Star Wars. Big war, good vs bad. Young hero thrust into the heart of the action with two witty android sidekicks. Avenging the death of his close family members and fighting for good he leads the team to victory in the epic finale. Boy becomes hero, shares a kiss with his (unknown until the next movie) twin sister and the good guys all live happily ever after (until the next film). It was the masterpiece of a certain George Lucas and lets be honest if you don’t know of this tale then chances are you wont be reading this.

Now that thats out of the way, back to the “Uncut” version. At two hours long, this release is by no means a half hearted fan spoof. The direction is at times genius and at times well crazy. The lighting is shoddy, the acting is poor and the sound is sometimes painful. The script is at times improvised and the story occasionally delves into a random tangent.  Sets are poorly made, props are often made of junk and the characters seem to change size, shape, colour and even species sporadically. Having said this, who cares. The though and effort put in is second to none. With a cast of literally thousands, personalities, charms, jokes and wit are shared in tiny segments throughout the film and while there are genuinely passionate scenes, they are often immediately met with hilarity just seconds later. This film is, dare I say it, perfect.

On a more technical side, the efforts of the behind the scenes crew are simply outstanding. Faced with thousands of entries, each scene was hand picked and stitched together to form a seamless passage through the epic tale. Sound flows from one scene to another and although each clip is short, the motion never seems jerky or awkward.  The background music is perfect ad to my recollection no scene is missed out. How such a fine outcome is achieved should be an inspiration to all underground film makers.

Needless to say, I think my opinion on this one is clear. If this were ever to be released on DVD, i would highly recommend buying it but for now, thankfully it can be viewed online  at Youtube or Vimeo. If you have a spare 2 hours, I urge you to watch this. So, after a rather short but to the point review, it gives me great honour to welcome “Star Wars Uncut” into the Epic-Reviews hall of fame with a perfect score. Mr Lucas, take note!

Final Verdict: Epic Win

The plot here is that James Franco is a scientist working for the Gensys Corporation and attempting to develop a cure to Alzheimer’s, a disease which is currently in the process of taking his father (John Lithgow) away from him. He eventually successfully develops a virus which repairs the brain cells before an unforeseen catastrophe hits and all the apes who have taken the virus have to be put down. However, feeling pity for a new born baby ape, Franco begins to look after him and it soon becomes clear that Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mothers intelligence.

Rise is relatively rare amongst recent films as it’s one of the few which have been marketed off the back of the special effects studio producing it. Instead of really driving the presence of James Franco, the teaser trailer really drove home that this was from the same effects studio behind Avatar. Ultimately this pays off as Weta Digital provide some truly stunning set pieces. Although sometimes the movements of the apes in some of the later action sequences can come off as a touch too computerised, like something from a video game cutscene, this is more than made up for by the absolutely outstanding facial animation on the all of the apes.  The effects really help make the film and they give Serkis and all the other ape performers the opportunity to deliver an outstanding performance with every facial twitch accurately transferred to screen. This looks to be one of the films in which the making of… documentary on the DVD will be almost as interesting as the main feature.

The performances, aside from Serkis, are a mixed bag. Lithgow is impressive accurately portraying the trauma of Alzheimer’s and how it can effectively steal a personality. James Franco also does a decent job and makes a very sympathetic lead, but the character seems somewhat contradictory spending the entire film railing for the advancement of his research and then when the corporation actually pushes ahead he whines about how it’s going too fast. The other characters are fairly competently acted but are in most cases two dimensional such as Brian Cox and Tom Felton as the villains of the piece who ultimately set the war in motion. The most disappointing secondary character, however, is Freida Pinto with her character just being a pretty face for the sake of it with little to no impact on the actual story. Even her romance with Franco seems undercooked with what little screen time it’s given only serving to take time away from the apes without adding anything interesting.

The films main success is the empathy the audience feels for Caesar and the apes. No matter how well or poorly the human characters are portrayed; the apes are truly the star of the show. In order to set this up the film has a leisurely pace to its first half which allows the audience a gentle introduction and the chance to make a connection with Caesar and also mean the later scenes of anarchy pack a much greater punch as we see what drives the apes. It’s interesting that in a film which was marketed as a special effects extravaganza the film lets the action take a back seat to character development and there’s not even a real fight scene till the second half of the film.

In conclusion, Rise is not a perfect film. What it is is a refreshing take on the big money blockbuster. It’s that rarest of things, a blockbuster with brains which also boasts a fantastic performance from Andy Serkis. It successfully retains the spirit of the old films whilst also taking on the source material in a new and interesting way and it absolutely deserves its inevitable sequel.

Final Verdict: Epic Win

That was what I was thinking when Duke Nukem Forever came through the letter box. I’d been waiting for 13 years, kept track of all the promises and problems and like so many people at one point or another excepted the truth, that there will be no Duke Nukem Forever. Even through the lead up to release there was always doubt. And all that vanished when game was in my hands.

The story is as simple. “Aliens come to Earth, Duke is sent to kill aliens”. However a more in depths description in my opinion would be, “Over powered aliens come to Earth. Duke is sent to kill over powered aliens by using under powered weapons, whilst also trying to survive bad level designs, annoyingly difficult platform puzzles and loading times long enough to make you feel board and frustrated.

As far as presentation goes the game looks and sounds better than a lot of games today…..If today was June 20^th 2001. The frame rate is ridiculously bad and everything overall looks and sounds dull and unexciting.

The game dose feels nostalgic for a short time once the action properly kicks off, for those who played Duke Nukem 3D. The classic Duke enemies and weapons return, you are able to interact with most of the objects in the game which dose help to change the pace. You can play pinball, air hockey and shoot hoops. There is also collectables in the form of messages on answer machines and interacting with unique objects to increase you “Ego Meter” which Duke has instead of a health meter.

Apart from the one liners and occasionally fun gun fights there truly is nothing spectacular about his game. The same formula is used though out. Walk through the level, come to a dead end, kill set amount of enemies, dead end opens up, solve boring unimaginative puzzle, walk through map, kill enemies, get to boss battle, circle around cover whilst shooting at boss, boss gets crippled, use quick time event to finish off boss…..yawn. This “excitement” is dispersed on occasion with boring turret battles and being able to drive barely controllable vehicles through some levels.

The multiplayer it has to be said, dose provide more excitement than the single player. Keeping it simple with only 3 game modes, death match, capture the flag and king of the hill, this is a part of the game that was right to go old school, with weapon spawn points and some crazy “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” moments. There is also some replay value here with a level up system and unlock-ables that you can view in Duke’s penthouse.

One problem that this game also suffers from is an identity crisis. There is constant “poking fun” at other first person shooters such as Halo, Call of Duty and even Portal and yet Duke can only carry two guns at a time and has a regenerating health system. It is very much a definition of the pot calling the kettle black.

If this game came out when it was suppose too, 10 years ago, it would have been fantastic. But the genre has moved on and grown since development started and Duke Nukem Forever just feels dated as a result.

There are two type of people will play  this game. The loyal Duke fans and the casual first person shooter fans. The Duke’s may feel some enjoyment but will also feel ultimately let down and disappointed, and the casuals will more than likely feel screwed out of forty quid, and trade it in as sood as possible before the price begins to drop.

If this had been a generic FPS it would just be a fail. However due to the fact that it is Duke, with all the wait, the hype and ultimately the disapointment, it can’t be given anything but an…

Published by: 2K Games

Developed by: Gearbox Software / 3D Realms

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Release Date: Europe: June 10, 2011

PEGI: 18+

Available On: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The film kicks off well and follows the general comic story as best it can, introducing us to the main Lanterns and giving us a basic insight into what is going on. The embodiment of fear itself, named Parallax, has escaped from his imprisonment and is charging around the universe whooping everyones ass. The Green Lantern Corps, aka the space police, are really all that stands in his way and using their rings of power, begin to devise a plan to halt Parallax’s march. All whilst this is going on, Hal has made his way to team Lantern HQ for his initiation. Being a pesky human, no one cares much for him and so he is dismissed before he is even given a shot.

Without dictating the entire story, we can all guess what happens, but if you cant, I shall give you a clue. Parallax is killed in the end and it is by the “weakest” Green Lantern who also happens to be their newest recruit. Yes it is (almost kinda) similar to the plot of (some of) the comics but it really is to predictable and slightly lame. For the embodiment of fear, it doesn’t take much to kill Parallax and well it also only takes our hero a good 5 minutes (after saving the girl first of course). Never mind though, I shouldn’t criticize too much as much of the film was quirky with some fun jokes and cool effects.

All in all, the film is simply O.K. The direction is great, actors great, casting great but the plot is bland and really needed work and this really, REALLY, lets the film down. For such a universal budget, I really expected more and although it pains me to give this a fail, it unfortunately deserves it. One last observation though… they have clearly set up for a squeal and although this was tough to enjoy, there is great potential here to start a serious rival to the other large Marvel/DC movies!

Overall Verdict: Fail

For more info on the Green Lantern movie, check out: http://greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com/

When Kinect was first released, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures were really the only two solid games we gamers had to play with. Although both funtastic, their longevity was fairly short lived and naturally we all got bored quick. It has been around 9 months now and I wont lie, I haven’t purchased a single Kinect game, simply none look good enough. Virtua Tennis 3 looks pretty fun but again it could easily suffer from longevity issues and for £30 I might give that a miss. This week though, Microsoft are perhaps doing themselves proud. The release video is short and although it doesn’t show much, it looks like a lot of fun.

Kinect Sports Season 2 looks to introduce numerous new and exciting sports including; Football (the American version), Skiing, Golf, Darts, Baseball, Tennis and more are rumored. Hopefully this isn’t a dud like the other Kinect sports game and hopefully it keeps me excited for at least a few weeks. Without further suspense… the preview:

Looks like a potential winner to me!

It’s hard to review this first person shooter nowadays without comparing it to Call Of Duty, but I shall try none the less.

Homefront is set in the year 2027 and centres around the occupation of the US by the Korean military . The opening movie gives a brief history of the 21^st century to date. A Korea unified by Kim Jong-Il’s son Kim Jong-Yun quickly begins greatly enhancing its military and nuclear presence. At the same time the oil crisis in the Middle East worsens causing the price of oil to sky rocket. This causes a mass exodus in the US weakening the economy further. By this time Kym Jong-Yun has already annexed most of Asia and at this point, a Korean satellite deploys and EMP that cripples the US, leavening it open the Korean invasion force. The occupation has begun.

The game it self is about a resistance group, which you are apart off, trying the take the fight to the Koreans. Unfortunately the fight you lead is only four hours long. That’s right. The single player campaign is a mere 4 hours long. There are few flaws in this game, but let’s be honest, that’s a biggy.

I have to stress that this  a bad game. The story is dark, gritty and at time truly horrifying. A scene near the start of the game see’s two Koreans shooting dead a toddlers parents in front of him, as they beg for there life’s. They then walk away as he cries for his dead parents. I had to pause the game for a second to take in what I just saw. The set pieces are well done, levels are designed to give the feeling of constant danger and the game plays just as well as any other first person shooter. I would even go has far as to say that this game is a bit more difficult than some other FPS’s out today. But the fact remains that 4 hours is too short for a single player campaign. From a story telling point of view, there isn’t enough time for character development or to give the game a feeling of depth. From a gamers point of view, would you be happy spending £40 for a 4 hour game? Especially if you don’t play multi-players often or have Xbox Live?

Due to the achievements the game could have a longer shelf life. Each level give you gamer-score for completion, completion without dieing, completion on the hardest setting and for doing certain tasks in a level. But the truth is, by the end of the game you can’t help feeling a bit disappointed that they wasn’t more to it.

The multi-player is a different story altogether. The biggest differences to its closest rival is the 32 players in a game and the Battle Points mechanic. With every kill you get you a rewarded with battle points. You can use these points to instantly upgrade you character during a match. Upgrades such as better armour, rocket launchers, UAV’s, air support and attack drones. If you’ve been killed, you can use the points to re-spawn in a Humvee, tank or helicopter. The BP system creates a strategic element as well. Use them early on to quickly gain the upper hand, save them up for a time when you’re falling behind or for the final moments of the match to drive a victory home quicker. Because of the sheer number of players in a match and the vehicles witch need more than one person to operate more effectively ( I don’t care who you think you are, there’s no way you can drive a Humvee and fire 50cal at the same time.) there is more of an emphasis on teamwork compared to other first person shooters. The maps a few but huge and compliment the games modes perfectly. It’s obvious even after playing the multi-player briefly that a lot of time was spent making it as engaging and original as possible. Certainly more time than was spent on the single player.

Opinion will always be divided over what role the multi-player should take in today’s games. In this games case, I would have preferred a longer single player the compliment the story. Even if it meant the multi-player would have taken a few knocks, it still would be better than Call Of Duty’s….. There I said it.

Overall the single player is enjoyable, just badly let down by it’s length. Or lack there off. It’s hard to imagine why in this day and age of gaming where it is possible for some FPS’s to have 10 hour game and immense multi-player, THQ thought 4 hours would be okay. I can only think that it must they thought of a good multi-player formula first, and a single player second. It’s clear that a lot of time was spent on the single player. The story tells us that much. But it’s also clear that more went into the multi-player, and not everyone will have or use online capabilities.

This game certainly a win for those who can get the most out of it.

Developer: THQ

Release Date: March 18

Genre: First Person Shooter

Without giving too much of the intricate details away, this in essence is the classic alien invasion tale. Aliens invade, they are stronger and better equipped than us and begin pummeling out military might. When it all seems over a near miracle happens and boom we send E.T back home to lick his wounds. Yeah it is a little unoriginal in that department but don’t fix something if it isn’t broke right? Where this film really comes into it’s own is the style in which the story is shot. Imagine for a second “Black Hawk Down” mixed with “Independence day”. The plot basically follows a small force of Marines who are tasked with evacuating a group of civilians from the oncoming wave of alien invaders. In and around the suburbs of LA, the team are met with problem after problem and are slowly whittled down to just a few remaining members. As I am sure you have guessed, this team provide the miracle and the finale and become national heroes… hooray! and the story simply ends. Disappointed right?

The plot was potentially fantastic and the cast was packed full of stars. Some of the cast live up to their usual standard and yet some spoil the party for us all. The film is literally filled with cheesy, inspirational “US Marines never give up” moments and although seemingly one of the most disciplined units on earth, petty handbag fights break out throughout the entire film. The film in actuality ends up being some sort of weird Jeremy Kyle meets Ross Kemp in Afghanistan compilation with a US army recruitment video thrown in for kicks. It started so well, but it was just too fake, even for a sci-fi.

In the end, my initial fears were right. This was yet another close, yet so far tale and for that I feel really frustrated. Battle: LA could have been one of the releases of the year yet small sub plots detracted from the value of the grander scale. A good effort from a strong cast with an enjoyable outcome but petty arguments and inspirational moments killed it’s chances of joining the elite.

Overall Verdict Win (just)

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Release Date: March 11th 2011

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo

Genre: Sci-Fi/War

For more information on Battle: Los Angeles visit: http://www.battlela.com

In the main, this can be attributed to the confident direction of Kelly Asbury. Having previously taken the reins of Shrek 2, it’s clear that he knows exactly how to handle parodies without being too heavy handed. It would have been extremely easy for this film to descend into a stupid slapstick parody only aimed at kids and boring everyone else to tears, but instead the jokes end up being evenly paced and even when the jokes misfire (which is infrequent) there’s always a funnier line coming up shortly to make you forget the stupid pun. A prime example can be seen in the trailer where James McAvoy’s Gnomeo loudly announces ‘let’s kick some grass!’. This unfunny gag is then swiftly followed up by a great visual gag involving Matt Lucas’ Benny. this pattern repeats several times in the film where some of the more kid-pandering moments are followed up by jokes that hit the mark for the wider audience.

Of course a large amount of the credit for this has to go to the writers of which there were 7, including Asbury himself, and it’s important not to understate how hard they work to make the film accessible and entertaing to both young children and adults. It’s also key to the films success that they manage to acknowledge and pay respect to the original tragedy instead of just ignoring that whole aspect of it. Indeed the original ending of the play is referenced in an extremely amusing cameo from Patrick Stewart who plays a brass statue of Bill Shakespeare himself who warns Gnomeo things might not end well for him. Eagle eyed viewers should keep a look out for several references to other well known Shakespeare characters and plays, my personal favourite being the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern moving compa

The real charm of the film, however is the supporting characters. By and large Gnomeo and Juliet are fairly forgettable stock hero/heroine types but what really brings the film to life are the background characters that flesh out both the warring groups. The highlights here are a Pink flamingo with a tragic backstory (Jim Cummings) and a ceramic reindeer voiced by Ozzy Osbourne. The only true weak point here is the aforementioned Benny (Matt Lucas) who, in spite of several great moments, sometimes comes across as a bit too one note, but fortunately he’s usually removed from the equation just before he becomes too tiresome.

It should also be noted that if you don’t like Elton John, it’s probably going to become an issue at some point. The soundtrack to this film is not subtle and intrudes on the film on more than one occasion. Most of the time it fits the mood, but every now and then it becomes both intrusive and stupid. A particularly jarring moment occurs when Gnomeo first meets Juliet and the music sets an odd tone.

Ultimately, though this film is an extremely pleasant surprise. It’s safe to say that my expectations going into this were exceptionally low and i expected nothing more than a flamboyant vanity project from Elton John. Instead what you get is a surprisingly accomplished, witty and most importantly entertaining film. It handles it’s subject matter with equal parts affection and parody and is definitely well worth catching if you can.

Overall rating: Win

Director: Kelly Asbury

Release Date: February 11

Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt,  Michael Caine

Genre: Animation/Comedy

Rogen stars as media mogul Britt Reid by day, Green Hornet by night, and the basic idea of the story can be summed up as ‘what if Batman was an idiot and Bruce Wayne was actually the playboy jackass he pretends to be?’ Though this whole idea has pretty much no relation to the original radio serial, it’s pretty obvious why they’ve gone down this route as an attempt to force Rogen’s broad style of comedy into the film. Events are livened up by the appearance of the mysterious Kato, a former servant of Reid’s father who is an expert martial artist and mechanic who basically does all the work when the two actually go out crimefighting.

In terms of performances, there’s nothing really special from anyone. If you’ve seen Rogen in pretty much any film ever, then you know what to expect here, though it doesn’t quite come off as well as it has in the past. Mainly this is due to his own writing making Britt Reid into a bit of a dick. Rogen usually works because he plays likable characters who audiences can relate to and feel an affinity with. Reid, however acts like a complete tool towards Kato, in real life would be fighting off numerous sexual harassment cases from Cameron Diaz’s character, and doesn’t really seem to care who gets injured during his and Kato’s adventures, at one point flipping a police car and merely celebrating how badass they are.

The ancillary characters fare a little better though. Chou has a natural charisma that helps bring the underdeveloped Kato a natural charm lacking in Rogen’s Reid and some of the back and forth between Kato and the Hornet wring some of the best laughs from the tired script. Diaz is pitifully underwritten but her Lenore Chase still manages to bring a bit of spark to each scene she’s in. Unfortunately, ahe ultimately ends up as mere window dressing to give the film an attractive love interest. Waltz fares the worst, given a poorly written villain and mugging his way through countless interminably boring scenes. The end reveal where he comes out wearing a red gas mask after having attempted to transform himself into a supervillain to counter the Hornet is toe curlingly bad and just another example one of films many comedic misfires.

The direction by Gondry manages to hold it all together well. Ultimately the visionary director isn’t really given much to work with, though does the best he can with limited material. Most scenes are shot fairly statically, though the action scenes are very well done allowing Gondry a bit of freedom to bring some surreal visuals into play. On that note, if you get the chance, see this film in 2D. The 3D could not be more pointless and action scenes aside, the only other time it really comes into play at all is when Kato opens a beer bottle and the cap flies towards the audience. This scene is stupid, adds nothing and I’m almost certain it will look absolutely ridiculous in the 2D version.

Ultimately, the biggest offense that The Green Hornet makes, is that it’s just so average. The script attempts to throw together broad slapstick humour whilst also taking a pot shot at the media and the way it reports certain stories. Ultimately it hits none of these targets succesfully and though it’s not terrible, there really is no need to go out of your way to see this. It’s a rental at best and if you really want a film about a slightly rubbish superhero that comes good in the end, go watch the vastly superior Kick-Ass instead.

Overall Rating: Fail

Director: Michel Gondry

Release Date:14th January

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christopher Waltz

Genre: Action/Comedy

For more info on ‘The Green Hornet’ check out: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegreenhornet/

Without delving into too much detail, the basic Disney plot is still in place. Princess (Rapunzel) meets Prince charming (Flynn Rider) and after an epic journey (both physically and spiritually) they fall in love and live happily ever after. Boring you say? No. This movie, although classically Disney, is so very modern and perfect for today’s world. Tangled is a fun, fast paced, exciting story with modern twists and quirky jokes at every corner. The characters are very well designed and every single one seems to fit so naturally with the entire plot. Rapunzel’s sidekick, Pascal (a chameleon) is one of the stars of the production and yet never steals the limelight to an extent where the main story becomes obsolete.  The adventure flows very naturally and a few of the sub plots are genius. Really, this film was a real surprise and a great start to 2011.

Although obviously aimed at the younger market, the film will be enjoyed by all and really should be given a chance. Disney set aside an astronomical budget for this production and with a simply unbelievable team, they have not failed and produced a real modern classic. Before heading out to see this, I expected to see yet another painful attempt by Disney to produce a modern fairytale but gladly, I was wrong. This film was surprisingly enjoyable and for keeping me amused for almost two hours, joins the elite of epic reviews.

Overall Verdict: Epic Win

Directors: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Release Date: 28th Jan (UK)

Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman

Genre: Comedy/Animation/Adventure

To find out more about tangled, visit: http://www.disney.co.uk/tangled