THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Story:
You have crashed on Isla Nublar aka Jurassic Park and must collect the eggs of seven species of dinosaurs scattered around the park. You have a real-time twelve hour limit in order to accomplish this.

Graphics:
The graphics are top of the notch for 1993. Movie-like quality, tons of detailed frame speed, solid pixels, the ability to pan in 360 degree motion, and smooth moving images. The graphics suit it well, from your movement to the reactions and attacks of the animals themselves. Visually, this game is much more well put together than its Sega Genesis counterpart which was a totally different animal in of itself.

Controls:
It’s a point-and-click adventure game, it’s rather easy to get the hang of here, even if you have never played a point-and-click game before, you’ll pick up on this long before you tune into the mechanics like use of items and battle options. Overall, no complaints whatsoever. Point-and-click games are really that hard anyway.

Gameplay:
Although it’s a point-and-click game, it has a lot of focus on action sequences with split-second timing. You must work your way around the park, collecting dinosaur eggs under a real twelve hour time limit (ala “Prince of Persia”). You play from a first person perspective with a panoramic view of your environment and surroundings, you have plenty of tools to interact with it as well as weapons (a stun gun, gas grenades, and tranquilizer darts), none that are exactly dangerous but most of the combat here is often disguised as a puzzle of sorts, so you’ll have to do a little more than just shoot in order to survive.

The game has mixed difficulty, you may find yourself taking up to an hour in one area of the park. You don’t have all the time in the world here, you only have twelve hours to accomplish all of your objectives which range from collecting dinosaur eggs, fixing areas of the park, restoring power, and avoiding bad guys who eventually show up.

Overall:

 This is a very enjoyable game as long as you complete your objectives and do what you need to do. The game also makes several references to characters and events from the original book by Michael Crichton; I think it’s somewhat like a precursor to “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” in some ways.

“Jurassic Park” also has a eerily creepy vibe to it as well - You’re all alone in a park with all these dinosaurs, there’s no dialogue, you’re on your own, and there’s bad guys on their way to the island who will show up in the later hours of the game (trust me, when you see that helicopter coming in and landing somewhere beyond your horizon, you will feel a lump in your throat). It’s too bad Sega CD didn’t come out with more games of quality like this one.

Rating: ***1/2

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Tony Burton, Joe Spinell, and Sylvia Meals.

Directed by: Sylvester Stallone.

Story:
The film opens with the last round of the original fight in “Rocky”, resulting in both Rocky and Apollo obtaining several devastating injuries. Apollo is announced as the winner by split decision, but retains the championship based on points. The two fighters are transported to the hospital where a mob of reporters hassle them. Meanwhile, Apollo is furious with Rocky who is the first opponent to go the distance with him in a fight, anxious for another chance to knock him out. Later that night, Rocky visits Apollo in his hospital room and asks if he gave him his best, to which Apollo responds Yeah. Rocky decides there won’t be a rematch and announces his retirement from boxing due to his medical surgery.

Released from the hospital, the story builds upon the lives of the characters that were introduced in the last film. Rocky and Adrian spend some of their wealth, buy a car, some nice clothes, they get married, and make a baby as well. Meanwhile, a recovering Apollo Creed receives a lot of disappointing fan mail degrading his role in the fight between him and Balboa. This leads to Apollo challenging Rocky for a rematch. Rocky, eventually, goes for it. But at the same time, not all is well with Adrian’s pregnancy and she slips into a coma as he trains for the rematch fight.

Characters:
*Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone): The former loan shark enforcer turned heavyweight champion thanks to an exchange of cuts and bruises from his previous fight with Apollo.
*Adrian Pennino-Balboa (Talia Shire): Rocky’s romantic interest, a shy pet store clerk, whom he marries this time around and has a baby with.
*Paulie Pennino (Burt Young): Adrian’s brother and Rocky’s best friend; works in a meat-packing plant.
*Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers): Heavyweight champion until Rocky knocked his lights out in the previous fight, now he wants a rematch.
*Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith): Former bantamweight fighter from the 20s turned trainer/manager for Rocky.
*Tony ‘Duke’ Evers (Tony Burton): Apollo’s trainer.
*Mary Anne Creed (Sylvia Meals): Apollo’s wife who tries to deter him from the rematch.

Overall:
The story continues in “Rocky II” and this time the screenwriter and main actor himself directs - Sylvester Stallone. Also returning from the original is Carl Weathers as Apollo, Burgess Meredith as Mickey, Burt Young as Paulie, Talia Shire as Adrian, Joe Spinell as Gazzo, Tony Burton as Duke, and Sylvia Meals as Apollo’s wife Mary-Anne. “Rocky II” tells the story of a rematch between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed, following ten months after the previous up to the new fight.

In “Rocky II”, the story does indeed continue as the film’s tagline tells us and the story itself can be regarded as one of the most successful and well-written sequels ever made that is certainly up-to-par with “The Godfather, Part II”, “Dawn of the Dead”, “Aliens”, and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”.

Rating: ****

Story:
In 1999, a multinational counter-terrorism group of elite NATO soldiers known as RAINBOW is established in response to the growth of international terrorism. The group responds to a series of unrelated terrorist situations by a radical eco-terrorist group known as Phoenix.

It turns out that the advisor of RAINBOW, John Brightling, is also the chairman of a powerful bio-tech Corp. known as Horizon Inc. which Phoenix Group happens to be a front for. Brightling is in the process of unleashing a super-virus known as Shiva with the intention of wiping out all mankind on the planet.

Graphics:
This is a PC-to-console transferred game. The graphics here, more or less, get hit hard as there is little-to-medium character detail (they all look pretty much the same, if you ask me). However, you probably won’t notice once you really get into the gameplay.

Controls:
It may take a few tries to get a hang of the controls here as there is a lot of stealth and tactical stuff for you to do in this game. The basics, however, like shoot, proceed, turn, action, etc. is no problem. It’s relatively easy even though the layout is somewhat complex.

Gameplay:
Welcome to the world of tactical shooters where the focus relies more so on stealth and tactics rather than sheer firepower. Terrorists can be handled with one-two shots and so can the player and his teammates. There’s a briefing and planning stage before each mission where you get to select your team members, the weapons, uniform, and equipment. You may also assign your crew orders to follow in the mission, such as where to deploy devices like flashbangs, etc.

During mission, you start out as the team leader but you can switch in between any crew member you’d like and take over them. If any of them die, it’s permanent, you will no longer be able to control them in future missions/levels. However, you do have the option of ‘rewinding’ to a mission that was, although somewhat successful, pretty much a disaster in an attempt to try it again.

Each of your missions will begin with you and your teammates at a safe zone on the map, they will immediately begin following your orders and going wherever you told them to go and do. Your objectives are mostly set around rescuing hostages, you must either escort them to a certain area or eliminate all of the bad guys on the map firsthand.

Overall:
This is one of those games that were built for the two player mode. There’s big levels that are loads of fun to explore, realistic tactical gameplay, and an attractive array of firearms to aide you in your missions. The game is pretty doable in one player mode as well, but when you team up with a friend and have him join in, man, that is such a defining trait here.

The only downside to “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six”, aside from the medium-subpar graphics, is that there are simply not enough levels while some levels might actually be a bit too confusing for the player, and lastly, some of the items may be a bit too difficult to use at first. This is, however, the very first video game in the ‘Rainbow Six’ franchise and it proved to be a much better successor on the PC than it was on the console versions like here.

Rating: ***1/2

Starring: Garret Dillahunt, Michael Bowen, Joshua Cox, Riki Lindhome, Aaron Paul, Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn, Martha MacIsaac, and Spencer Treat Clark.

Directed by: Dennis Illiadis.

Story:
Remake of the 1972 film of the same name. The parents of a raped daughter, who was shot and left for dead, act out their revenge on the four rapists that have taken shelter in their very own home.

Characters:
*Krug (Garret Dillahunt): Leader of the gang.
*Sadie (Riki Lindhome): Krug’s bisexual girlfriend.
*Francis (Aaron Paul): Krug’s brother.
*Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton): Main character/victim of the flick; John and Emma’s daughter.
*Emma Collingwood (Monica Potter): Mari’s mother.
*Paige (Martha MacIsaac): Mari’s best friend.
*Justin (Spencer Treat Clark): Krug’s son.
*John Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn): Mari’s father.

Overall:
“The Last House On The Left” has been the second remake so far this year to surprise me and blow my fears away (the first remake being “Friday The 13th”). I believe having the original director return as a producer here may have helped out significantly in terms of how this film turned out.

The remake is basically the same story as the original except it builds upon it much like the remake for “Friday The 13th” did. First of all, the annoying music in the original which did not match what was going on at all is now gone, thank God. The finale is more action-packed and extended as well.

Many of the improvements is noticable within the characters. Krug’s girlfriend, Sadie, is depicted as a far more fierce villain; Mari’s father, John, appears more middle-aged here than his elder counterpart in the original and puts up more of a fight as well; Krug’s son, Justin, shows more depth and is more likable here. The only problem I have with the new cast is with the two girls - Mari is not attractive whatsoever, the original Mari was beautiful therefore making her more believable as a rape victim; then there’s her friend, Paige, who actually looks like Mari from the original film (looks like the casting director got it all backwards if you ask me).

Overall, “The Last House On The Left” deserves to sit up there with all of the other worthy remakes including the brand new “Friday The 13th”. Now, let’s hope 2009 is a good year for remakes, then next year, we can start working our way towards some original ideas.

Rating: ****

Story:
Set in the backstory between “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”, mercenary Dash Rendar assists Luke Skywalker in his efforts to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Prince Xizor.

Graphics:
Not bad at all, considering this is one of the first ‘Star Wars’ games released on the Nintendo 64. The levels are very expansive, allowing you to see in great distances and detail. The frame rate matches with the images and there’s plenty of detail involved with the characters. Many of these levels are well designed and pretty cosy, not to mention, there’s plenty of references and sets from the movies; you’re bound to do a few levels here and there over again just for the fun of it.

Controls:
It may seem a bit awkward at first as far as moving around and weapon switch, especially a few jumps here and there - You might be falling through cracks or off of ledges a few times before you get the hang of it.

Gameplay:
There’s space battles, swoop biker chases, and you even get to have a jet-pack - that’s plenty of variety for a ‘Star Wars’ game right there. The Hoth battle is pretty cool the first time around but you don’t get to take out as many enemies as there were in the actual film’s invasion. The game also offers a variety of camera angles to choose from - third person, first person, overhead, and Hollywood. Each one is fun to play through with. The Hollywood angle is icing on the cake as it allows you to view Dash as you play him in a blockbuster film-like profile.

Overall:
While this game has no multiplayer option, it is quite a fun and definitive single player experience. There are also cheats which make the game even more fun and allow you to experience the game in a different light (you can play as the X-Wing or Tie Fighter in the space battle finale) and even reach areas in levels you wouldn’t normally be able to reach.

To this day, “Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire” on the Nintendo 64 still holds up as a unique ‘Star Wars’ experience with plenty of interesting atmosphere and quality to make you want to play it again. Overall, a ‘Star Wars’ game that was well-developed and well-crafted.

Rating: ****

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, and Lara Robinson.

Directed by: Alex Proyas.

Story:
50 years ago, an Elementary school class buries their images of the future in a time capsule. Jump to present day, the time capsule is opened by the new students and John Koestler’s son receives a message with bunch of numbers on it which turn out to be dates of disastrous events that are to take place.

Characters:
*John Koestler (Nicolas Cage): An MIT professor of astrophysics.
*Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne): Daughter of Lucinda.
*Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury): John’s son.
*Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson): The young girl who wrote the numeric message 50 years ago.
*Abby Wayland (Lara Robinson): Diana’s daughter.

Overall:
“Knowing” is an original sci-fi/disaster film (surprise, surprise for 2009!) that tells of an apocalypse to come. See, the young girl who wrote the numeric message found in the time capsule was mentally ill and often heard whispering voices from beings that are not of this Earth. It is the goal of this so-called race of beings ,or rather ‘whisper people’ as they are called here, to warn humanity of future catastrophic events.

The numbers include the month, day, and year that the events are supposed to occur as well as the longitude and latitude of where it will occur. Oh yes and it also tells you the number of people who will die from a specific event. Every major disaster you can think of can be found within these numbers - September 11th, the Oklahoma bombings, everything and anything you’ve heard of in the past fifty years. However, there are three dates in particular which have yet to come and that is what the film focuses on. There’s an airplane crash involving a major highway jam, then there’s a major New York City subway accident that is reminiscent of (if not, more grandiose than) the incident in “Die Hard With A Vengeance”. The third and final event is the apocalypse itself and it comes straight from the Book of Revelations, involving a reenactment of ‘Noah’s Flood’ except this time, the water is replaced with fire (giant solar flare, anyone?).

“Knowing” is a film that keeps you piqued until the very end, wanting to know just what the heck is going to happen and what these characters are going to do about these inevitable events as the final one is the most challenging of all. The last ten minutes or so contain the most surreal, chilling, and haunting apocalyptic images ever depicted on screen (I won’t say much, but if you want to know the true definition of ‘global fire’, then you will find certainly find out here). There is a glimmer of hope in the very last shot and it comes straight out of the Book of Revelations.

Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne deliver very satisfying and sympathetic performances here. The story works for the most part, with the exception of the origin of the ‘whisper people’, that was a little awkward at first but takes some getting used to as the film goes on. The subway disaster feels a bit like a rehash of the one from “Die Hard With A Vengeance”, granted that “Knowing” does a lot more with its range of special effects, however, the one from “Die Hard With A Vengeance” was simply shot in a more realistic fashion. Nevertheless, none of this should stop you from seeing and enjoying this thrilling sci-fi/apocalyptic film.

Rating: ***1/2

Story:
In an apocalyptic 2029, the Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war brought on upon by self-aware AI, resulting in a Humans vs. Machines war. The AI in question, Skynet, sends back a cyborg (they’re called Terminators) to the year 1984 terminate Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor, who will grow up to become the leader of the future resistance. At the same time, a rebel named Kyle Reese has been sent back to 1984 as well to protect Sarah from Skynet’s Terminator.

Graphics:
It’s a 2D side-scroller and much of the graphics may appear to be cartoonish, but hey, what else can you expect from this era of video games? The graphics do get the job done for the most part, I’ll give it that. It’s not “Super Mario Bros.” graphics, but it does work.

Controls:
The controls are very tight, you are able to jump and control basic maneuvers very easily. There’s nothing here that interferes with this aspect of the game.

Gameplay:
Well, the first couple of levels have absolutely nothing to do with the film itself, it takes place in future Los Angeles 2029, you play as Kyle Reese and you have to jump buildings and even take out a fighter jet in order to reach Sarah Connor in 1984. The rest of the levels stay true however. This game does a have a fairly high amount of difficulty associated with it, you must survive every level without losing any of your lives or else you’ll start over from the very top. For the most part, the gameplay is half action-packed and half-snorefest.

Overall:
Just to clarify, the Sega CD version of “The Terminator” is not just a straight Genesis conversion with enhancements here and there (which most Sega CD side-scrollers are widely known and criticized for). There are ten brand new levels, new backgrounds, animations, cinematic intermissions, and they even gave it a new musical score.

This isn’t the best ‘Terminator’ game out there, but once you start playing it, you may just feel like following through to the very end just to see what comes out of it for you. On a personal note, however, I kind of felt like each time I played it, it seemed more worse than the last as things just became uninteresting. If you’re a hardcore ‘Terminator’ fan though, you just might play it through for a second time.

Rating: ***

Starring: Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzle, Gene Dynarski, Lucille Benson, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel, Shirley O’Hara, Alexander Lockwood, Amy Douglass, Sweet Dick Whittington, Cary Loftin, and Dale Van Sickle.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg.

Story:
The story opens with the sound of an engine starting up, that of the car’s. We follow along the road, via the car’s point of view, while listening to the radio as the driver takes heads out from the city, to the countryside, and finally, to the remote desert highways. The driver, played by Dennis Weaver, eventually runs into the villainous tanker truck which seems very persistent to stay in front of him. They even stop at the same gas station to fuel up; it is here where we begin to see bits here and there of the truck’s driver (i.e. his boots from beneath the truck). Then, later on, the truck follows him to a diner where he sees two-three men with the same exact boots with whom he suspects. They all turn out to be wrong guesses and the truck drives off again. Curiosity gets the best of our hero as he pursues the fear of the unknown, which the movie heavily plays on, until the two drivers are having it out by themselves on the highways as the flick approaches climax.

Characters:
*David Mann (Dennis Weaver): Middle aged businessman driving to an appointment.
*The Tanker Truck: A mean and big Peterbilt 281 model whose driver nearly goes unseen throughout most of the flick.

Overall:
Replace the shark from “Jaws” with a scary looking tanker truck and you have “Duel”, a film which marks the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s career. Released on television, the film is about a man who journeys cross-country in the west with his 1971 red Plymouth Valiant, only to be stalked on an almost remote and deserted road by a 1955 Peterbilt Tanker Truck, whose driver goes almost unseen throughout most of the flick.

The truck driver is always anonymous and unseen for the duration of the film, thus making it seem that the actual truck is the real villain, more so than its driver. It is also very notable how Mr. Spielberg decided to include multiple license plates on the truck’s front bumper, subtly suggesting that the truck may be a serial killer (i.e. possibly have run down other drivers elsewhere). Spielberg shoots the truck in ways that make it almost seem as if the machine is alive.

Being that this was a success back when it was aired on TV, the 74 minutes of film were extended into 90 minutes for a theatrical release in Europe one year later. These new scenes add a lot of more meat to the story, including Dennis Weaver’s character - A railroad crossing sequence, a school bus, and a telephone conversation with his wife. “Duel” may seem dated, but the content it delivers certainly doesn’t fail. After watching this movie, one can’t help but wonder what it would be like if Steven Spielberg was chosen to direct Stephen King’s 1986 flop, “Maximum Overdrive”.

RATING: *****

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Starring: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Austin Pendleton.

Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich.

Story:
Somebody with an attention span disorder (aka 90% of today’s young audience) will not be able to tolerate a clever plot like this one. There’s four identical bags - One cotains a bunch of igneous tambula rocks which belongs to Dr. Howard Banister (Ryan O’Neal), a musicologist from the Iowa Conservatory of Music, along with his very annoying and overbearing fiance, Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn). They have arrived at San Francisco in hopes of winning a grant funded by Frederick Larrabee (Austin Pendleton). Howard’s theory revolves around how ancient man may have used rocks to create music. Challenging him for the grant is the uptight, dubiously-accented Hugh Simon (Kenneth Mars).

     The second bag belongs to Judy Maxwell (Streisand), filled with her clothes (a dictionary included). Everywhere this girl goes, trouble goes along right with her. Car accidents and confusing scenarios galore. Being a college drop out, she happens to be very intelligent and can talk herself out of just about anything she gets herself into.
Bag number three belongs to Mrs. Van Hoskins (Mabel Albertson), a rich old lady who stores her extremely valuable jewels in the bag. The fourth and last bag contains some top-secret government documents that belongs to the mysterious Mr. Smith (Michael Murphy), who has obtained them illegally with the intention of going public. Rivaling him is the mysterious Mr. Jones (Philip Roth) who happens to be a government agent who’s mission is to get those documents back to where they belong.

     Following me so far? Good. All of those people happen to check into the same San Francisco Hotel. The main catalyst for the chaos and confusion that follows is Judy Maxwell, for the most part. She lodges herself into the hotel without paying and pursues Howard whom she finds very attractive and tries to deter him from marrying that wicked witch of a fiance he has, she goes to great hilarious lengths to win the heart of her desire (i.e. posing as his fiance while securing the Grant for Howard). Meanwhile, two hotel employees (Sorrell Booke and Stefan Gierasch) are plotting to steal Mrs. Van Hoskins’s bag (the one with the jewels in it), but at the same time, Agent Jones is trying to get the government bag back from Mr. Smith. Over the course of one evening, the four different parties unwittingly take one another’s bags (i.e. Howard ends up with the jewels, Judy with the documents, Mr. Smith with Judy’s clothes, and the hotel thieves with Howard’s rocks). Things get way, way out of control in some of the most funniest situations ever imagined on film, from burning hotel rooms, a shootout, and to one of the most laugh-out loud and longest multi-car chases that scales down the hills of San Francisco, Chinatown, and into the San Francisco Bay. The film has an anti-climax which continues in a hilarious courtroom/arrest sequence and then an airport where everything gets tied up very neatly.

Characters:
*Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand): A big troublemaker where, no matter where she goes, trouble just happens to find her.
*Dr. Howard Bannister (Ryan O’Neal): A musicologist from the Iowa Conservatory of Music.
*Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn): Howard’s overbearing fiancee who doesn’t know how to relax.
*Hugh Simon (Kenneth Mars): Another musicologist who wants nothing but to compete with Howard for Mr. Larrabee’s attention.
*Frederick Larrabee (Austin Pendleton): The funder behind the grant which Howard and Hugh are competing for.

Overall:
     It’s movies like “What’s Up, Doc?” that reminds us that good comedy actually exists out there amidst all of the saturated garbage. The film pays homage to the genre of screwball comedy that ran rampant mostly in the 1930s like “Laurel and Hardy”, “Bringing Up Baby”, the Bugs Bunny cartoons, among others. In fact, it is a remake (in a way) of “Bringing Up Baby”.

     As the third highest grossing film of 1972, “What’s Up, Doc?” was a huge cinematic hit that won Best Written Comedy and even made the lists of American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Comedies (#61) and AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Passions (#68). Although the film is dated in some ways, you won’t find comedies like this in today’s mostly screwed up cinematic era. Don’t let the decade it was made in fool you, “What’s Up, Doc?” is a true comedic gem that will forever bring you to your knees laughing.

Rating: *****

Starring: Malin Akerman, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Danny Woodburn, Niall Matter, Dan Payne, Apollonia Vanova, Glenn Ennis, Darryl Scheelar, and Doug Chapman.

Directed by: Zack Snyder.

Story:
In an alternate 1985, vigilantes have changed and aided the course of history throughout World War II, Vietnam, etc. As the Cold War increases tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, a group of former vigilantes investigate a murder conspiracy against one of their slain members and uncover something far more sinister.

Characters:
*Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman): The only woman in the ‘Watchmen’ group. She finds herself often caught between the odd but intelligent Dr. Manhattan and the human but normal Nite Owl II. She dresses like Storm from “X-Men”.
*Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson): The guy who looks like Batman in his outfit. He seems to have a thing for Silk Spectre II.
*Walter Kovacs/Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley): A masked vigilante who continues to be a vigilante long after vigilantes have been outlawed from the world. He narrates the whole story. This is the guy who looks like a cross between “Darkman” and Madonna’s Breathless from “Dick Tracy”.
*Dr. Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup): An omnipresent glowing blue superhero commissioned by the US government. He spends his time trying to solve scientific matters such as the energy crisis as well as trying to reunite with his ex-flame, Silk Spectre II. This is the guy who is kinda reminiscent of the villainous Apocalypse from the X-Men.
*Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode): Retired superhero turned millionaire whom has no problem making his identity public. This is the guy who looks like Chris O’Donnell aka Robin from “Batman & Robin”.
*Edward Blake/The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan): A vigilante commissioned by the US government. He likes to do things his own way. The whole plot is based around him as he is murdered in the opening scene, he is only seen through flashbacks after that (which sucks, by the way). This is the guy who looks like Robert Downey Jr.

Overall:
Wow, there is not one ounce of ADD present in any of this film’s camera shots, I am shocked about this, considering that 99.9% of all films today are usually diagnosed with those types of shots. Well, that’s one of the good points about “Watchmen”. That aside though, it’s a film with a unique and uncommercial approach that strives to stand out amongst most of the garbage you see out there nowadays, I have to give many props to director Zack Snyder for doing this, I would have never expected it.

The entire film is one oddly interesting visual extravaganza, it looks a lot like a graphic novel at times. Unfortunately, it’s let down by some things such as the fact that most of the movie is a flashback-esque story that’s set in the present, but 80% of the film is about the past. Snyder should have just did that story instead of the 1985 one; then, make the 1985 story as the basis for the sequel with the heroes retired and one of them murdered at the beginning, etc.

Also, some of these costumes are just plain out awkward. You’ve got a guy who dresses like “Batman”, a girl who dresses a bit like Storm from “X-Men”, a guy who looks like Chris O’ Donnell’s Robin from “Batman & Robin”, a guy who dresses like “Darkman”, and an omnipresent glowing blue man who often reminds me of one of the X-Men’s villains, Apocalypse. I’m not sure if the original comic creators intentionally did this as some kind of ode or symbolism to their identical counterparts or what. Hey, if that’s the case, I’ll just gather up Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface, and the Fly, make characters that look similar to them, and call it “Boogymen”.

“Watchmen” does have a fantastic unspoken message about how a movie should be shot, however, I will definitely give it that. But this film, overall, would have faired much better if it wasn’t a mostly flashback type of story. Nevertheless, thank you very much, Zack Snyder, for reminding the new era of Hollywood that it is possible to shoot an action sequence without an annoying shaky camera.

Rating: ***