Virtual Tourist - Tales of Berseria 4/7/19

Morning!

Mini Movie Review

Shazam - I will admit, though I love Zachary Levi, I wasn't too sure how this film was going to turn out. Luckily, it more than met expectations. The kids were fantastic! Plus the film had other elements they did not touch in the previews, which made for some unexpected surprises. The movie has a lot of levity, but it also shows there's darkness. Evil doesn't just come from monsters. Rating: 3.75 out of 5. (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)

Tales of Berseria

This is a Japanese console game that has been converted for PC. You have the option of both English and Japanese for the voice-overs, which is nice. Unlike some games out there that have been brought to PC, they did an excellent revamp on this one.
I've not played this type of game before, where you have multiple characters that fight in a group, and you switch and maintain all of them. But the learning curve hasn't been too bad. :P

This is Velvet. The start screen goes through a small sequence, and she walks towards you as the game loads.

There is a demon blight that has spread across the land. One that turns people into monsters. Monsters that attack everyone around them.

This is Velvet's village. She lives here with her brother-in-law and her younger brother.

This is the forest just outside her village. The graphics are lovely. The little figure on the lower right means there's a dialogue sequence you can start by pressing 'T.'

A set of ruins past the forest. They sit atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. It is here that bad things will happen and alter Velvet forever.

Velvet's home at the village. Places you can enter have the blue dotted ring at the entrance.

Inside Velvet's home. That's her younger brother, Laphiset. He's a little sickly, but very bright. Velvet is rather overprotective of him.

Lovely view, no? Laphiset wants to see the world! Velvet just wants him safe.

A touching moment with her brother.

That night, however, is when everything changed...

Have an awesome week!

Movie Review - Men In Black 3

(Well, this is super late due to computer issues. Eventually gave up and decided to post it while I was off at A-kon. Wheee!)

Men In Black 3

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mike Colter, Nicole Scherzinger, Michael Chernus, Alice Eve, and many more.

Premise: An alien criminal that Agent K captured forty years before escapes from prison and is looking to change the past to a better outcome. When K won't tell J the details of the case, their partnership is put in jeopardy. But then K suddenly disappears and so does everyone else's memories of him except for J's. J must now take a leap into the past to rescue K and the Earth's future. (Rated PG-13)

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld  Based On The Malibu Comics by: Lowell Cunningham Written by: Etan Cohen Original Music by: Danny Elfman Cinematography by: Bill Pope

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin all had great chemistry. Josh Brolin did an awesome job as Young Agent K. Not only did he bring a lot of the mannerism of the familiar older Agent K, but he also made the younger agent a different man on several levels, the better to contrast with the events which made Agent K the somber, seemingly withdrawn man he is today.

In a fun turn of events, I loved watching Agent J dealing with his altered future's younger partner, switching J and K's usual roles, and making J look at his own partnership in a slightly different light. Too cute! Tommy Lee Jones also imparted a lot of emotion and subliminal information once he realized his old nemesis Boris had escaped. Great job!

Not all of the old friends from the original MIB film are back, but those not present are definitely represented. Loved how they sneaked Frank into the film though his character was not involved. It was very creative and cute. But don't worry, the worms are there, throwing out their usual fun one liners.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects team did a wonderful job. Boris is in many ways as disgusting, if not more so, than Edgar was in the original Men In Black film. Boris may look human, but as the movie progresses we are shown more and more that it is but a veneer of a strangely symbiotic creature. Totally fascinating!

The weapons, vehicles, ships and more were outstanding. The same look and feel as the modern tech used by MIB, but in a more developmental phase.

The time traveling itself was not in your usual way and incredibly impressive. The fact they were even able to throw in some dark humor into the whole process made it even better. The unexpected visitors right before J goes back in time were all in the background yet spoke volumes in presentation. Nicely done!

The scene with the baseball park was marvelously done.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The story works with serious issues served up with lots of great one liners and comedic bits. A lot of foreshadowing, which is in itself a 'red herring', the outcome not the one you'd expect.

The story did have some fun with J being sent back to the 60's on several levels. But also didn't overdo it and even twisted one cliche around for a funny moment.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: With a ton of action comes a ton of stunts and they were all excellent. From attacking aliens, to prison escapes, to the street chases, they were all very visual and smoothly carried out.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Several gorgeous views of the New York landscape from multiple times. The Cape Canaveral shots integrated with original footage and recreations were great.

It was also fun seeing the differences between the MIB headquarters then and now.

6) Costuming/Make-up - Total Thumbs Up: Great work on this category as well. Lots of attention paid to 1969 to make it look and feel as it would have back then. Also between the make-up department and Josh Brolin's acting acumen , you never doubted the actor was a younger K.

Conclusion: MIB 3 is a fun, fast paced film which brings back all we loved from the original MIB film and more!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price To See Again)