Review: Wreck It Ralph (2012) doesn't reinvent the wheel but merely reaffirms the Disney template.

Wreck It Ralph

2012
100 minutes
rated PG

by Scott Mendelson

It is perhaps slightly disappointing that Disney's latest animated feature is not so much an example of branching out so much as pouring the same drink into a new glass.  Just as Pixar's Brave (review) seemed like an attempt to fit alongside the standard Disney princess mold, so too does Wreck It Ralph  (trailer) exist as a Disney cartoon that would rather have a Pixar logo at the front.  But in the end Wreck It Ralph is a Disney cartoon through-and-through, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is vividly animated and generally entertaining, and it uses its video game settings as the basis for any number of clever jokes.  But truth be told the film is not really about video games, merely using the video game format as a colorful wrapping for a rather conventional story.  In hindsight its story is actually somewhat generic, not going as far off the reservation as Meet the Robinsons (review/essay) or even Bolt.  It's a witty and charming film, but it's slightly dispiriting how often it teases us only to skirt back to genre convention.

Trailer Analysis: Silent Hill: Revelation gets a spoiler trailer.

Not much to say about this one.  I saw the original film on opening weekend way back in Spring 2006 and damned if I can remember all that much about it.  I remember being quite impressed by the imagery and the acting while relatively unmoved by the narrative and rarely outright frightened.  However, if only by default, the original film remains one of the most ambitious video game adaptations ever made, so I suppose it was inevitable that a sequel would eventually come down the pike, especially with the explosion in foreign business for 3D genre sequels over the last few years.  As for the trailer, I'm genuinely surprised that Sean Bean came back, but annoyed that the trailer doesn't even try to play the 'did he die?' card.  Ironically, the first Silent Hill is stunningly similar to a 200 direct-to-DVD thriller with Maria Bello called The Dark.  Sean Bean plays a somewhat hapless husband in both, both films involve grieving mothers attempting to 'find' their daughter and both end in a surprisingly similar fashion.  Anyway, Silent Hill: Revelations 3D opens October 26th, with Open Road taking over for Sony.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson  

Not just the crime, but the cover-up. How the Tomb Raider game producers did more damage by 'explaining' Lara Croft's attempted rape and why it's all a big mess.

I really didn't want to comment on this, both because I'm no longer what you'd call 'a gamer' and because there's only so many ways I can point out that mainstream culture, especially geek culture, is sexist as all hell. But if you've been following video game news of late, you probably heard about and/or watched the extended trailer for Tomb Raider reboot.  Long-story short, it's an origin story of sorts and the new narrative turns her into a scared young woman who spends pretty much the entire trailer being menaced and assaulted by big scary men who want to do her harm, both physically and sexually.  The latter part is what has people in an uproar, although I'd argue the whole thing is pretty offensive in principle.  Since she's a female hero, of course her origin story must involve non-stop assaults, female friends being murdered, and an attempted rape, because that's how you concoct character development for female characters, right?

Watch/Discuss: Disney's Wreck It Ralph gets a charming trailer, with a shocking number of licensed video game characters along for the ride.

First and foremost, I am shocked that Disney was able to get the rights to so many classic video game characters.  At the very least I see characters and/or settings from Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart, Cuburt, Street Fighter II, House of the Dead, Halo, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, and Pac-Man.  One only hopes that the already acknowledged difference between older arcade games and hyper-intense newer titles leads to some kind of social commentary/satire, but this looks like a wonderfully creative little cartoon no matter how deep it ends up being.  The voice casting seems solid, and it appears that Disney even went and hired the original game vocalists when possible (for example, Gerald C. Rivers reprises his work as M. Bison). Offhand, I see at least three major female characters without a token love interest in sight, so that's icing on the cake.  Anyway, this looks like exactly the sort of 'off the beaten path' animated features that Disney should be making.  Wreck It Ralph opens on November 2nd, 2012.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes looks to be the perfect Father's Day gift. Especially if Allison plays too...

This may be among the last video games I buy as an adult until my kids are old enough to actively play them with me.  I bought Lego Pirates of the Caribbean a few months ago for $20 and have played it only a few times since then.  I'm possibly getting to that 'old man' stage where I am consciously aware of what a waste of time it is to play video games even when the time does present itself (I've been tempted to pick up Max Payne 3, but will probably wait until it's cheap).  Of course, once Allison and/or Ethan are old enough to play along (Allison should be within the next year), then I'll have an alibi.  And I can't imagine Allison won't get a huge kick out of this one if it's not too difficult, as she's a pretty big superhero fan, something I didn't exactly force upon her but have certainly not discouraged.  She quite enjoys The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Young Justice and the only reason I haven't agreed to take her to see The Avengers is because its 140 minutes long.  So yeah, this looks like an obscene amount of fun.  And yes, I'll probably ask for this one for a Father's Day gift.  Because even if I don't have the time to dive headfirst into such a video game, Allison will be able and willing soon enough.  And when she and I are kicking ass across Gotham City as Batman and Wonder Woman respectively (or whomever she wants to be), it won't be a waste of time at all, will it?

Scott Mendelson      

Pity on the working man: Why Batman: Arkham City is a better, more enjoyable game than Batman: Arkham Asylum.

So now you know why I haven't posted much in the last few days.  Last week, I retweeted my two-year old whine fest about Batman: Arkham Asylum, basically asking whether or not I should buy the sequel.  The general answer was a qualified 'no' or at least 'not until you have lots of free time to blow'.  Alas, a surprise Best Buy gift card and a more flexible work schedule proved a lethal combination, and I ended up purchasing Batman: Arkham City on Monday evening.  Since that time, I've played maybe 3-4 hours worth, sneaking in an hour here or twenty-minutes there as time allows.  To my relief and/or surprise, not only is it a pretty terrific game, it's actually far more enjoyable.  Its improvements in fact imply (falsely I'm sure) that the developers read my rant two years ago and took my concerns to heart.  Intentional or coincidentally, the game-play and narrative changes basically fixes nearly every annoyance I had with the first game.

Blu Ray Review: Mortal Kombat (1995)

Mortal Kombat
1995
101 minutes
rated PG-13
Available from Warner Home Video on April 19th.

by Scott Mendelson

Mortal Kombat is very much a product of its time and place. It remains a time capsule of the mid-90s era when pre-established properties were slowly becoming the big thing in the wake of the Batman series, but hadn't yet fully taken over as they would after 2001 (there's a LONG essay about that coming soon-ish). It is odd to refer to a violent kung-fu fantasy based on an ultraviolent video game as 'charming', but Mortal Kombat remains, nearly sixteen years later, an amusing and nostalgia-filled trip to our youth. It remains one of the more successful films ever based on a video game, both artistically (for whatever that's worth) and commercially (at $70 million in domestic grosses, it trails only the first animated Pokemon movie, Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time and Tomb Raider in the video game genre). It is not 'good' by most definitions, but by god it felt good to kick back and remember a time when a movie like this was just a B-movie genre entry in late summer, rather than a $200 million tentpole with an entire studio at peril. Like Street Fighter: the Movie, Mortal Kombat is a dumb, fun B-movie back when B-movies weren't being given A+ budgets and expectations.

Fool Me Once... Batman: Arkham City video game gets a terrific teaser

It's no secret that I wasn't crazy about Batman: Arkham Asylum when it came out in August of 2009. Sure, the game looked fantastic, sounded great and was an often dazzling gameplay experience. The problem? The game was just too darn hard and complicated. I'm a 30-year old father of one, with another coming on the way in June. I don't have time to play the kind of video games where you have to check the online strategy guide every two minutes to make sure you're wandering down the right random hallway. Still... good god does this thing look dynamite. And one of the problems I had with the first game, that it only involved wandering around Arkham, seems to be a moot point this time around. So, will I dare try this one again? Dunno, but those who have the time and patience to really dig into Batman: Arkham City are likely in for a treat this October.

Scott Mendelson

The Brothers Mario gets a funny fake trailer.

This thing is way too long, and the last two minutes drag a bit. But this is awfully clever and laugh-out-loud funny for the first two-and-a-half minutes or so. Great, cheeky fun.

Scott Mendelson

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time: the eternal debate over pizza.

I've said this before, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the most groundbreaking arcade game of our generation, outside of Street Fighter II. So this riff (based around the sequel, Turtles in Time) brings back all kinds of warm and fuzzy memories.

Scott Mendelson

Batman: Arkham City video game gets a trailer.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if everything we've been hearing about The Dark Knight Rises was actually information about this upcoming video game? That would be beyond precious...

Scott Mendelson

Irony of the day: Video game movies a safe haven for female action stars.

I'm not going to turn this into a long essay about gender roles in genre pictures, but I think it's worth pointing out an oddity. In an era where mainstream blockbusters often shunt women to the sidelines or give them poorly written roles awkwardly inserted into the narrative so that it won't be an all-boys club, there is one genre where women thrive: video game films. While the video game industry has been making inroads with female gamers over the last decade (as of 2009, 40% of gamers are female and 34% are women over 18), the fact remains that video games are inherently geared towards young males and their stereotypical interests. Yet, by accident or by design, quite a few notable video game adaptations, including three full-blown franchises, feature female action leads.

That's Outrageous! Batman: The Brave and the Bold video game gets a trailer.

This wonderful looking side-scroller is coming out for the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii on September 24th. Imagine, a Batman game that is actually fun to play, that doesn't require me to have an online strategy guide at my disposal at all times. Even cooler, imagine a Batman video game that my daughter (whose quickly becoming a fan of the new Super Friends storybooks) can actually play alongside me. To all those who complain that I'm impossible to buy gifts for (Endy-wa, Arcus-ma), take heed. Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Wii. Coming September 24th. That's a Friday.

Scott Mendelson