Retawes Review: Movie Galore!

Movie Galore involves my reviews of "The Hunger Games", "Titanic in 3D" and "Wrath of the Titans"

Titanic 3D – 9.5/10

Unlike a majority of movie dwellers, I had never seen Titanic nor did the thought of viewing it ever cross my eyes. Until, the melodramatic classic was re-mastered in 3D for cinemas (due to the original Titanic’s 100^th anniversary).

Essentially, the story is still the same; Jack an adventurous young lout wins a gambling competition where the prize is a ticket on the Titanic. Over the course of 3 hours, he forms a relationship with wealthy passionate Rose from the high quarters of the boat however; Rose’s unwanted fiancé demands her hand in marriage. Eventually, the boat sinks, many people die, etc. however; the whole story is revolved around the life boat situation and this lustful love between Rose and Jack. Jack, Rose and several of the other characters’ actors are brilliant and still to this day, are remarkable even without the incredible over-use of special effects.

Incidentally, 3-D isn’t the only updated feature presented In this Hollywood masterpiece. Several of the lighting and special effects have been digitally re-done and look superb and utterly astonishing. Especially, when the Titanic is sinking (As morbid as it is) as you can truly feel what these poor people where going through. Speaking of which, this movie is very much an atmospheric film. When Jack and Rose are cold in the Atlantic Ocean, you feel cold (And not just because the cinema air conditioning is on!) and when they are dancing in an underground party, you feel vibrant with excitement and ‘dance fever’.

"Gee.. Maybe we should warn someone about that Iceberg heading in our general direction?" You think?

Overall, this movie was and still is a masterpiece. It will always have a place in my heart as one of the most depressing yet beautifully crafted movies in a very long time to come.

Wrath of the Titans – 4/10

Here’s a little suggestion before you read this review, “DON’T SEE THIS MOVIE, IF YOU CARE ABOUT ACTORS ACTUALLY ACTING!” That should summarise my attitude towards this atrocious film however, if you want to know more, read on…..

Aggresive Stance!

The plot of “Wrath of the Titans” sequel is very much irrelevant towards whatever is going on. Essentially, a bunch of Gods and Demi-Gods are having tantrums i.e. Hades is pissed off that Zeus and the other gods left him trapped in the Underworld. Zeus son, Ares god of war is envious of his father’s love for Perseus (Zeus second son). Ares and Hades plot to revive Cronos (Father of all Gods) by draining Zeus’ power. As of this, Perseus joins up with Poseidon’s navigating son Agenor and the brave warrior Andromeda. Characters such as Bill Nighy’s Hephaestus (God of Weaponry) and Danny Huston’s Poseidon (God of Water) make an appearance, yet these scenes are only brief and provide little to no attention to the overall plot.

As exciting as this story sounds, a few of the actors make this movie absolutely horrible by acting unprofessionally. I am talking about Sam Worthington who sounds like an Australian traddie (Worker/Builder, someone in the trade industry) and speaks in one tone every time he speaks. In fact, he is such of a bad actor that the action scenes in which all he is doing is running from imaginary creatures is the best he could do. It’s shocking though, that the man in the surreal Avatar and Terminator Salvation is this bad. I have also noticed that a majority of his films involve an over-use of special effects, which explains why he is such a poor actor.

Just Stop Sam....You're killing my interest!

However, Liam Neeson and several other cast members partially save this film from extinction. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes’ impersonations of the mighty Greek gods, Zeus and Hades are surprisingly excellent and Bill Nighy’s brief scenes are spontaneous and hilarious as he plays the ‘mad’ crazy character that has a wooden owl as his advisor. Although these characters create an average movie as Sam Worthington brings It down, I would of preferred some more cameos of the Greek gods and goddesses even though they referenced a few at times. For instance, when Hephaestus was examining Andromeda, he noticed that she resembled his wife, the god of wisdom.

To conclude, this movie is a complete disaster and the likes of Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy and Ralph Fiennes cannot save it from being what I call an endangered movie. It will be forgotten and classified as an under average Spartan rip off where the gods bicker about their problems and result in endangering the planet.

The Hunger Games – 8/10

Even though that I have read only the first in the series, I understand and can illustrate how the movie adaption of “The Hunger Games” would be like. My obvious approach to the movie was, “Oh this is when this happens….Oh is he doing it now?” however, the movie is very different from the film as it basically strips the story away for the overall satisfactory action sequences that are, the Hunger Games.

Katniss, the girl on fire!!!

Essentially, the story goes that after a great civil war, the Capital (Leaders of the country, basically) forced all 12 Districts (States) to contribute towards a competition in which one boy and girl from each district would be placed into an arena to fight the other 23 participants for the Capitol’s residents’ amusement. Within these 24 contestants, the story follows District 12’s Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mallark. Katniss is a hunter who scavenges and hunts to give her family, something to eat. On the day of the Reaping, (Sacrifice Day, where your tributes are selected) Katniss’ young sister Primrose Everdeen and baker’s son Peeta Mallark are picked for the Games however, Katniss volunteers in Primrose’s place. Then, the games begin……..

The acting in the movie is surprisingly amazing. I feel like each actor actually read the book and thought, “So, Katniss is very cautious and weary of strangers….” Or something about their character. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherman and Chris Hemsworth should be applauded for their excellent work creating Katniss, Peeta and Gale to life. I also forget who played Effie Trinket but she should be congratulated on becoming such a pretentious, loud mouth of a character that Effie is.

One of the best logos of a franchise..honestly!

However, without spoiling much, there isn’t anything else to say apart from the variety of action, dialogue and history that this series has. I hope that the sequel, Mocking Jay will be released soon (Here’s hoping January 2013) but regardless I will definitely purchase the DVD and invest my time in reading the final 2 books!

Big Topic: A Video Game Portrait of a Woman

Within many societies there is some foreshadowing or unwanted recognition of Sexism. Sexism is a biased view on what a specific sexuality or gender should be or can achieve in this case, woman. This social stigma is heavily portrayed in many of the gaming community. Although they may vary from their attitude, realism and offensive tone most video games have at least one character that portrays one of the two disrespectful and ignorant assumptions of a woman’s identity. The first is associated as the “Damsel in Distress” whilst the latter is known as “Sexual Items”.



The silky smooth priestess.......Yuna!

“Damsels in Distress” are pathetic, ‘head-over-heels’ over-feminine woman, that usually need to be rescued or saved by the normally male player which portrays their apparent insecurity and helpless nature that they are assumed to possess. For instance, Princess Peach of the Super Mario series dresses in frolicking pink outfits, has a ridiculous high pitched over-feminine voice and in each game, is kidnapped and rescued by Mario. Although, they usually hint towards a perverted context that many ‘impressionists’ (artists who re-create something/someone through painting, music, etc in their own way) like to explore with. For example, Yuna from the Final Fantasy series (X and X-2 specifically) is in many impressionists artwork however, they design her in a vulgar, obediently sexual matter that offends the creator, voice actor and woman in general.

The Infamous Sex Symbol....Lara Croft!

Furthermore, “Sexual Items” are essentially modelled, big breasted woman who have no unattractive features as they are solely there for male arousal. These ‘gals’ commonly appear in action and adventure games. For instance, Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series is heavily showcased as a sexual model. This is shown throughout all of her games, specifically the upcoming reboot where she is covered in scars/rips in her clothing. Though, not all of these models wear vulgar costumes or over-impressive outfits yet they portray a darker, ‘under-belly’ tale. For example, in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, when the main character travels to Hong Kong, he meets several prostitutes at a bar. These prostitutes are dancing with their ‘masters’ and being treated as of slave behaviour which is unpleasant and unsettling for many as it showcases that these woman are inferior and behave in a sluttish manner to get whatever they desire.

The famous woman in disguise....Samus!

However! There is a third portrait that is hardly ever showed in Video Game history, known as “Independent Woman”. These Independent Women are the courageous intelligent informative ones, that don’t have to be ‘drop-dead-gorgeous’, ‘heavenly kind’ or anything of the previous ‘identities’ as they have their own way of communicating and connecting with a female audience. Most Independent Woman are unknown until a specific scene in a game or they behave more masculine than over-feminine so players forget to notice their individualism. For instance, many didn’t believe that Samus of the Super Metroid series was in fact a girl. Players were shocked when they finished one of the Metroid titles in which Samus unveiled her helmet to reveal lush long blond hair that would only belong to a female. It was then that players started aspiring to play as a courageous, ‘independent woman’.

As you overlook these three different aspects of the portrayal of Woman in video games, I advise you to overthink, which identity do you see your mother, sister, daughter, girlfriend or best friend as?

Retawes Review: Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 - 18.5/20

We've ventured through space for several occasions, but can Bioware's Sci-Fi Action RPG/Third Person Shooter cope with the pressure of the finale of one of the most critically aclaimed "GOTY" nominationated space games ever, Mass Effect?


Story and Setting 9.5/10

The third game in the series once again, puts you in command of Commander Shepard as he enrolls not only squadmates, but mass armies and whole species in order to defeat the Reapers and Cerberus. Throughout the game, you meet several returning characters such as Garrus, Tali, etc. These characters felt like they were from my Mass Effect story as they had the varied conversations and views with my imported Shep compared to the 'speeches' they had with my newly created "Fem Shep".

~Tali and Fem Shep sitting in a tree~

Speaking of Shepard, I still find that "Fem Shep" (Female Shepard) is so much more emotional and courageous compared to the her mono-tone voiced, incompetent lump of muscle that is "Male Shep". This is most likely due to Fem Shep having a better voice andportrays more of a supportive and compassionate leadership role whilts still being sturn, confident and serious.

Incidentally, like fellow Mass Effect titles, ME3 has the "renigade/paradode" meter where you can alter the story simply by picking a different dialogue option.
The Mass Effect franchise can come across as a Star Trek/Star Wars influenced dramatic/romantic Science Fiction 'movie' due to the occasional sex scenes and multi-specied relationships, but it should really be remmebered for it's galatic politics, life-changing decisions, backstories and intiuging and unique characters.



I'm sorry sir, but I don't answer to no Cat-Prawn! (Turian)

These decisions alter diverse races and characters at your disposal that may or may not assist you based on your actions in the previous games/character customization options. SPOILER ALERT. For instance, when I had to recover a biotic specialising school, I met Jack and due to my ME2 relationship with her we started making out like little "love birds". Although these previous decisions can cause negative affects to the storyline. Due to Miranda's death in my ME2 suicide mission, (Along with Thane and Grunt!) the scenario involving Miranda's father played very differently and disconnected compared to when I played as my ME3 exclusive female protagonist, "Jem Shepard" where Miranda was alive yet Jack, Samara and Ashley were all deceased. SPOILER FINISHED.


Ooooh, Pretty Lights......Oh No Meteors, "lol jks" it's a Reaper, SHIT!

Futhermore, ME3's music is poetically a huge boost of adrenaline. Whether you're fighting against the Reapers on the Turian's moon or defending a Human base situated on Mars from Cerberus, there is always a "heart-pumping" aura that surrounds your environment that you play in.

Speaking of the environment, the areas that the Normandy (Shepard's ship) travels to is awingly varied and not to mention beautiful. These vary from the holy luminiscent temples of Asarian homeworld, Thessia, to the gloomy morbid "No-Man's Land" of the Reaper invaded Earth.

Graphics and Gameplay 9/10



Imported my ME2 character and within 2 hours I was lvl 30!

Mass Effect 3 contains all of what I adored from it's predescessor but slightly improved and tweaked for a broader audience. These include a vastly action oriented cover/shooting system, an engaging spaceship simulator that is astonishingly amazing and an assortive range of powers and skills classified by classes at your disposal. Although, the multiplayer is what I personally believe is a failure and complete dissapointment, even if it was an added bonus/apology for Dragon Age 2.

ME3 gives a huge "dump" onto most third person shooters (Specifically Gears of War 3) as it has a far more superior and sophisticated AI, span of weapons and loads of creative combinations in upgrading/modding your weapons. For instance, I modded a rifle which had about estimatively 60 damage per bullet and gave it 17.50% more damage and a scope to image the gun as a sniper. Slightly more so, the AI are properly structered and feel like real aliens as in obscure, smoothly animated unique creatures that a majority of their species provide fetch quests were you must "scan" a galaxy for an artefact, book, etc which will result in a larger army for the "Final Attack" on the Reapers. This "Final Attack" causes several completely different endings and gradually resolves or unravels historical events in the Mass Effect universe.

Speaking of the past Mass Effects, ME3 has the same class structure as the games prior to the big "Trio". There are six playable classes that are slightly related to another class. These include: The Biotic who can push/pull objects and create forcefields; the gadjet fixated tech specialist who can turn invisible/in possession of several grenades (Fire/Sticky); The "weapon specialist" who has can manipulate the ammo he/she uses for instance, armour splitting ammo and several other classes. Athough Shepard isn't the only person in the galaxy that uses this 'class system'. A majority of enemies (Excluding the Reapers) has a specific characteristic from a class and as you level up your squad, you will improve their class' capabilities.


*Retawes died from... LAG!*

However, the multiplayer of the game is poorly executed and disastrous. In theory, it's a co-operative 'survival' mode in which you defeat enemies, hack devices and other activities to progress into the mission. In practice I didn't enjoy the multi-player to the slightest due to the "regular" tremendous disconnection scenarios (Continous American hosts is dispicable. No offence America!) and the irrational requirement of leveling up excessively to use any other race that isn't human or to use more than 2 weapons or 3 skills. In the end though, I played about four matches (A match takes 15-20. You do the maths.) specifically for the single-player contribution which resulted in a pointless addition of 200 soldiers which is nothing compared to my already 5860 troops.


Overall - 18.5/20

To summarise my whole Mass Effect 3 playthrough, the game is sub par to many action rpgs/ space shooters and will be 'gossiped' for a few years (A 2012 GOTY nominee no doubt!) due to its immerse galaxies of diverse and creative environments, clever cover system, impressive AI and continuity with fans. However, many gamers will feel very frustrated and patriotic for their fanbase due to the 'DLC' issue, numerous un-climaxive endings and incredibly dull disinteresting multiplayer that many had "high hopes" for.