The next E3 2011 Edition of the “Song of the Day” is the intro and main theme to the follow-up game to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This song is called “Reign of the Septims” and it sets the epicness of what was, and is, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
“Reign of the Septims” actually sounds similar in certain areas to the Morrowind intro of “Nerevar Rising”. Where this intro differs is how it’s less about hope (a term and emotion that Lisa Marie mentioned she felt listening to the previous song) but about rising up to take one’s destiny and become the leader the game’s storyline requires of the player. There’s a certain martial aspect to the song which could be heard in the brass section and strings working in concert right in the beginning and throughout most of the song until they begin to fade to give “Reign of the Septims” a simpler and more mellow ending.
I really can’t imagine any future games in this series having its soundtrack being composed by anyone other than Jeremy Soule. It’s a good thing that he will be on hand for the next game, Skyrim, and from what I’ve heard of the initial theme to that game it’s a nice progression from the intro for both Morrowind and Oblivion.
One of the titles which I look forward to losing several hundreds of hours playing is the fifth entry in Bethesda Game Studios The Elder Scrolls role-playing game franchise: Skyrim.
I’m proud to say that the previous game in the series I had spent nearly a total of 1500+ hours playing using several created characters over a span of 6 years. I would say that 3/5 of that total time was played within 6 months of buying Oblivion. The developers of Skyrim are promising fans of the series no less than 300+ hours of gameplay (though they didn’t specify if that means just the main storyline or also includes side quests and such) so that’s a comfort to hear.
This role-playing game series has always been known for it’s very expansive and complex world which allows it’s player to roam it’s confines however they want. It’s this open-world gameplay dynamic which makes this game and the series, in general, such a favorite with gamers worldwide.
Lead designer for Bethesda, Todd Howard, gave G4TV an in-depth look at Skyrim. The videos you’re about to watch has Howard showing the extreme and beautiful detail rendered by the game’s new graphics engine in the Creation Engine. He also shows just how some of the changes in combat, skill leveling and the type of creatures the player will end up fighting makes this latest entry in The Elder Scrolls series the best to date.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a set release date of November 11, 2011.
HBO was kind enough to allow people who registered for their HBOGO.COM service to watch this seventh episode of Game of Thrones a full week before it aired. I wasn’t planning on watching it ahead of time, but since I already was signed up I decided to just go ahead and watch it. I must say that this latest episode continues to build on what has been a very strong first season for the tv adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s popular and critically-acclaimed medieval fantasy novel series of “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
The last episode was a major turning point for some of the characters in this series. “A Golden Crown” saw Daenerys Targaryen finally become her own woman in the face of her older siblings buffonery and childish tantrums. Behavior which finally got him the “golden crown” he deserved from Khal Drogo (and one which Daenerys seems to approve of). Tyrion Lannister using his wit and cunning mind to get himself extricated from the craziness that was Lysa Arryn and her court in the Eyrie of the Vale. The episode also brings together all the clues and evidence Ned Stark had been gathering about the death of the previous Hand of the King.
One would think that nothing could top all the pivotal events of episode six’s “A Golden Crown”, but this seventh episode surely tops that one with some building on the revelations of the previous episode. It’s really a major testament to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss at how they’re able to not just stay true to the source material but also condense some of the minor threads of subplots and backstory into an hour episode that’s thrilling, engaging and not pandering to it’s audience.
This episode was aptly titled, “You Win Or You Die” as the fight for the throne of the Seven Kingdoms finally begins. We see the introduction of the Lannister patriarch who has loomed over the series as some unseen Sword of Damocles who holds King Robert’s tenuous hold on his kingdom. It was a treat to see veteran British actor Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister and see him playing the character as a no-nonsense, pragmatic but ruthless leader of his House. His brief time in this episode told us all we needed to know about Tywin. He’s so unlike his three children and this fact has become such a burden to him that he’s willing to take whatever virtue from the one child he sees as his most capable heir in Jamie that he’s willing to forgo all the faults. The scene of him butchering and dressing the stag while talking down (and propping up) Jamie for his foolishness with challenging Ned in episode five was very prophetic.
The episode also sees the return of Jon Snow and his part of the series’ story as he finally gets formally inducted into the Night’s Watch with Sam and the rest of the new recruits. What should’ve been a momentous occasion has been tempered by the sudden news of his uncle Benjen’s disappearance north of the Wall. It also shows Jon at his most petulant. What he saw as punishment from the Night’s Watch trainer and resident asshole in Ser Allister when he gets assigned as the Commander’s squire and steward was seen by his friend Sam as Jon being groomed for future command. For those who have been quite tough on chubby and cowardly Samwell should really have second thoughts about just how useless he is. He is surely becoming the voice of reason and logic to Jon’s more impetuous and “act now, think later” mentality. We also see the return of one of the direwolves as Jon’s (aptly named Ghost) brings him a gruesome gift once he has taken his vows.
The third major event in this episode before we get to it’s climactic finish brings us back to Vaes Dothrak and to Daenerys and Khal Drogo. With Viserys now out of the picture we see Daenerys begin to assert herself on Khal Drogo. While her brother’s dreams of becoming the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms have been dashed with a golden, metallic clang her own ambitions have not. She now sees herself as the true Dragon and still wishes to have the Iron Throne for her unborn son, Rhaego. While Khal Drogo still doesn’t see such things as important for him and his people an event in a marketplace which puts his khaleesi and son in danger finally convinces him of the danger the Seven Kingdoms poses.
This all leads us to the beginning of the “game of thrones”. Ned now fully knows why his predecessor was killed as the secret of Joffrey “Bieber” Baratheon’s lineage becomes quite clear. While more crafty and politically adept individuals would keep the secret from Cersei this is Ned Stark we’re talking about and he confronts his Queen with the news. To say that Cersei wasn’t flustered would be an understatement. This episode showed Lena Headey in full control of the Cersei character as we see her play the role with more iron and spine than what was shown in the novel.
“You Win Or You Die” finally sees an ignominious end to King Robert and his whoring and drinking. What was suppose to be a boar-hunt to help alleviate the stress he has been getting from both the Lannisters and the Starks finally gets him gored by the very boar he’s trying to hunt (though there’s suspicion that his inattentiveness during the hunt may have had some help). Mark Addy does a great job as Robert on his deathbed as he confesses his failings not just as a ruler but as a husband and as a father to the Seven Kingdoms, Cersei and Joffrey respectively. He appoints Ned to become the Regent of the Kingdoms until Joffrey is of age and does so officially with a sealed document.
One would think this final and dying declaration from a dying ruler would be enough to give Ned the power he requires to put the kingdom into order from the coming chaos but that would be selling all the characters with something to gain short. Robert’s not even cold when his younger brother Renly approaches Ned about plans to seize the throne from Cersei, but Ned being the honorable type refuses. Whatever ally he might’ve had to help him leaves the city as he confronts Cersei and Joffrey about the plans of succession. This is where the episode finally explodes into the conflict that’s been building since the very episode.
Some might say that this episode seems quite full of subplots and story threads and might not devote enough time for each. In fact, I was surprised at how much the writers were able to cram into this episode and still make each storyline have the time to make their events important to the series as a whole. While the episode ends with the the “game of thrones” in full swing in King’s Landing, the episode could also mean that things in the Wall and north of it has finally sunk into Jon and his fellow recruits as being truly serious. He and his new brothers must win or die. It’s as simple as that. Even Daenerys’ situation across the Narrow Sea fits the episode title well. With her now the bearer of the Targaryen line and her husband the leader of a powerful army she must also win or die.
Everyone in this episode seems to know the rules of the game their playing except the one person who seemed to be the one who had the most to win or lose. This episode showed Ned at his most intractable and honorable self, but it also showed just how much ill-prepared he is to fight in a battlefield where he doesn’t know who to trust and the very people who he shouldn’t trust might be his only allies. The final scene of the episode really highlight’s this dilemma for Ned and was such a great cliffhanger for the final three episodes to come before the series end’s it’s first season.
For fans of the books this episode shouldn’t disappoint and for new fans it should excite and really pull them in deeper into the world of Martin’s creation. Next week should continue the events we’re left to process as this latest episode ended. Will war finally break out between the two major houses of Lannister and Stark? Will Drogo finally bring his Dothraki horde into the Seven Kingdoms to gift his wife the Iron Throne she covets? What agenda does Littlefinger have and will it be the downfall of one of the houses?
There’s so much to be answered but seeing how this series just seems to get better with each successive episode I don’t doubt that episode eight will drop the ball and disappoint us with the answer (or will more questions arise) to those very questions.
Conan:“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!”
1982 premiered what has to be one of my favorite films ever. It was a film that was year’s in the making and had as one of it’s producers the eccentric and powerful Hollywood icon, Dino De Laurentiis. It also starred who was then a very much unknown Austrian bodybuilder-turned-actor in Arnold Schwarzenneger. To round out this unusual cast of characters producing this film would be the maverick screenwriter-director John Milius not to mention a young writer still fresh from Vietnam, Oliver Stone. During it’s production there were conflicts between producer and director as to the tone of the film right up to who should actually play the lead character. It’s a good thing that Milius was the ringmaster of this group of characters as his personality was able to steer things to what finally ended up as the film legions of fans have known and seen throughout the decades since it’s release. Conan the Barbarian was, and still is, a fantasy film of quality which still remains as action-packed and full of flights of fancy in the beginning of 2011 as it did when it premiered in 11982.
Milius and Stone adapted the stories of Robert E. Howard while adding their own flourishes to the iconic Cimmerian character. While many Howard purists were aghast at how these two writers had turned a character who was muscular but also athletic and lean into the hulking muscle-bound one Schwarzenneger inhabited the final result would silence most of these critics. The film kept the more outlandish backstory of Howard’s writing, but left enough to allow the film’s story and background to remain something out of Earth’s past prehistory. It was a film which was part origin tale for the title character, part coming of age film and part revenge story.
The film begins with a sequence narrated by iconic Asian-actor Mako as he tells of the beginnings of his liege and master Conan and the high adventures which would soon follow. Conan the Barbarian actually has little dialogue in the very beginning outside of that narration and a brief interlude between a young Conan and his father about the meaning of the “riddle of steel”. Most of the film’s beginning is quite silent in terms of dialogue. This didn’t matter as film composer Basil Poledouris’ symphonic score lent an air of the operatic to the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film. It’s here we’re introduced to James Earl Jones’ Atlantean-survivor and warlord in Thulsa Doom whose barband scours the land trying to find the meaning to the “riddle of steel”. The destruction of Conan’s village and people is the impetus which would drive the young Conan to stay alive through years of slavery, pit-fighting and banditry. He would have his revenge on Thulsa Doom and along the way he meets up and befriends two other thieves in Subotai (Gerry Lopez) and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman whose presence almost matches Schwarzenneger’s in intensity and confidence).
The rest of the film sees these three having the very tales of high adventures mentioned of in the film’s beginning narration and how an unfortunate, albeit succcesful robbery of a cult temple, leads Conan to the very thing he desires most and that’s to find Thulsa Doom. It’s here we get veteran actor Max Von Sydow as King Osric in a great scene as he tasks Conan and his companions to find and rescue his bewitched daughter from the clutches of Doom. In King Osric we see a character who may or may not be a glimpse into Conan’s future, but as Conan’s chronicler says later in the film that would be a tale told at another time.
Conan the Barbarian is a film that was able to balance both storytelling and action setpieces quite well that one never really gets distracted by the dialogue that at times came off clunky. Plus, what action setpieces they were to behold. From the initial raid by Doom and his men on Conan’s village right up to the final and climactic “Battle of the Mounds” where Doom and his men square off against Conan and his outnumbered friends in an ancient battlefield full of graveyard mounds. The film is quite bloody, but never truly in a gratuitous manner. Blood almost flows like what one would see in comic books. Conan is shown as an almost primal force of nature in his violence. In the end it’s what made the film such a success when it first premiered and decades since. It was Howard’s character (though changed somewhat in the adaptation) through and through and audiences young and old, male and female, would end up loving the film upon watching it.
This film would generate a sequel that had even more action and piled one even more of the fantastical elements of the Howard creation, but fans of the first film consider it of lesser quality though still somewhat entertaining. The film would become the breakout role for Arnold Schwarzenneger and catapult him into action-hero status that would make him one of the best-known and highest paid actor’s in Hollywood for two decades. It would also catapult him to such popularity that some would say it was one of the stepping stones which would earn him seven years as California’s governor at the turn of the new millenium.
In the end, Conan the Barbarian succeeds in giving it’s audience the very tales of myths and high adventures spoken of by Conan’s chronicler. It’s a testament to the work by Milius and Schwarzenneger couple with one of the most beloved and iconic film scores in film history by Basil Poledouris that Conan the Barbarian continues and remains one of the best films of it’s genre and one which helped spawn off not just a sequel but countless of grindhouse and exploitation copies and imitation both good and bad. The film also is a great in that it helped bring audiences to want to learn more about the character of Conan and as a lover of the written word the impact this film had on Howard’s legacy is the best compliment I can give about this film.
Cavatica didn’t know where I borrowed and changed the chant in the beginning of my ThunderCats post previous to this one so I decided what better way to answer his question than using one of Lisa Marie’s favorite past features in the blog. I always did enjoy her “Scenes I Love” posts since it showed that even a bad film could have a redeeming quality with that one perfect scene that redeems the rest. Or it could be a scene that just reinforces just how great the rest of the film truly is.
So, my first attempt at “Scenes I Love” happens to be from the final battle in John Mctiernan’s epic tale of an Arab chronicler becoming sword-brothers with a band of Viking warriors and their king, Buliwfy. I love this scene for the reciting of the Viking Death Prayer by the few defenders left at the end of the film. Buliwfy, the Viking king, begins the prayer to be followed by the rest then finished by Ahmed Ibn Fadlan (Antonio Banderas) just in time to stand fast against a charge of the inhuman “Eaters of the Dead” (really just a remnant tribe of neanderthals).
That prayer is very powerful and with Jerry Goldsmith’s rousing music providing a proper background it’s definitely hard for one not to pick up a sword or axe and stand fast against the incoming horde.
The original Viking Death Prayer
Lo, there do I see my Father.. Lo, there do I see my Mother And my Sisters and my Brothers.. Lo, there do I see the line Of my people back to the beginning.. Thay do bid me to take my place among them.. In the Halls of Valhalla, Where the Brave may live forever.
It’s been awhile since I attended San Francisco’s WonderCon (it used to be held in Oakland until 2001) and on Saturday, April 2, 2011, I was finally able to check it out once again even if just for a day. This trip into The City to attend WonderCon was actually a last minute deal. I actually bought my One-Day Pass from the WonderCon online site just the day before. I usually like to plan these con excursions in advance so I know which panels to visit and how much to bring to spend. Being a last minute decision I didn’t really plan on spending any amount past what I wanted to eat and panels ended up just being the ones WonderCon had lined-up for upcoming films.
I took BART into the city around 9:30AM and arrived at the Moscone Center South building around 10:20 or so to pick-up my badge. Unlike my experience at Anime Boston 2008 and Anime Expo 2010, getting my badge (even just a one-day one) was pretty painless. Despite a crowd that was already numbering around 10000-plus strong (in my visual estimation and with unofficial total attendance looking to be as high as 40000+) I got through to the pre-register line in less than 10 minutes just in time for me to begin my walk of the Exhibit’s Hall where the dealer tables and exihbitor’s booth were set-up.
For the next hour or so I just walked around the Exhibit Hall just looking at the items for sale and the many comic book related stuff that I used to collect religiously (the thousands upon thousands of bagged and boarded comic books in my house would attest to zealotry). I was surprised to see a lot more indepedent comic book tables. I was also very surprised to notice that the Marvel and DC booths were smaller than I had anticipated. Maybe the bigger booths for these two giants were being saved for San Diego Comic-Con, but with WonderCon getting bigger and bigger each year I thought they’d at least make an effort.
I was very surprised to notice that at least a quarter of the dealer’s tables were dedicated to anime and manga related items. One dealer’s table (more like a booth actually) was all about Gundam and other mecha kits). If I had actually planned ahead for this convention I definitely would’ve dropped at least a couple hundred dollars on several model kits I saw which had me drooling. Below are just a few of the kits that I wouldn’t have minded buying.
Once my time walking around the Exhibit’s Hall was done I knew I needed to get in line for the start of the first film panel that was going to be held at the Esplanade Ballroom. I ended up being in the middle pack of the line despite the line already having wound it’s way outside the Center. The Ballroom looked to have enough space and seats to seat 5000-plus attendees. The line was actually organized very well (I think this is where anime cons could take a lesson from the WonderCon and SDCC organizers). No one was complaining as the volunteers manning the line knew how to keep things organized and actually had the info on whether there was enough room in the Ballroom to accomodate everyone.
The first panel was the upcoming Jon Favreau western and sci-fi mash-up, Cowboys & Aliens, which started around 1pm. There was none of the cast on-stage, but writer-proder Robert Orci and the director himself, Jon Favreau were in attendance. One thing which Favreau said to start off the panel which I (and probably some of the many veteran con attendees) agree on was how WonderCon was beginning to become a major stopover for film studios wanting to promote their big tentpole, genre films.Once the initial talk was over and done with Favreau announced to the crowd that we would be seeing a WonderCon-exclusive 9-minute footage that will never be shown elsewhere with scene that will only be seen once the film was out. This got a huge positive response from the crowd and the footgae didn’t disappoint. It had the right amount of seriousness to the scenes with enough comedy from how these Western-period characters were reacting to a sudden invasion of cosmic proportions.
The rest of the film panels I was able to see were the one’s for the upcoming films Hanna and Immortals. The former had director Joe Wright and the film’s titular star, Saoirse Ronan (who was quite the charming Scottish lass and decided to wear a Wonder Woman tee for her very first comic book convention) on-stage talking about the film. This panel was actually quite good in that several clips from the film were shown to highlight some of the ideas and themes Wright was going for. One thing which got a loud response (positive it seems) was how Wright and Ronan wanted Hanna to showcase the idea of girl empowerment through their use of their minds instead of falling back on Hollywood’s idea of hypersexuality as the one and only way to empower females. To say that Joe Wright didn’t agree with Zack Snyder’s attempt at girl empowerment would be an understatement. I don’t agree with his entire explanation, but then again I don’t think he’s seen Sucker Punch so he’s basing it on the promotional materials.
Tarsem Singh’s Immortals would be the last panel I would see and the film definitely looks to have a 300 vibe to it, but even more fantastical with Greek pantheon getting involved in the matter. A huge response from the female audience roared when the film’s star in Henry Cavill appeared onstage. I like him in Showtime’s The Tudors and still remember him being the young teen in The Count of Monte Cristo, but seeing him onstage made me see what Snyder saw in Cavill. My apprehension in him becoming the next Superman has been tempered now and I hope he does very well in the part.
Well, that final panel ended my day at WonderCon 2011. There were several things I observed which made me hopeful that future WonderCon’s will be something I plan for instead of just trying out. The crowd in attendance by mid-day was bigger than Anime Boston and was almost as large, if not bigger, than Anime Expo 2010. For some the crowd might not have looked that big, but the spacious Moscone Center South building looked as if it could accomodate even more people. The spaciousness of the building allowed for people not to be packed in too tightly while walking around. It is no wonder that Hollywood studios are now seeing WonderCon as an alternate destination, or at least a complementary one, to San Diego Comic-Con to promote their films.
San Diego Comic-Con will always be the big destination but with that event becoming so huge the last half decade other venues became places that could accomodate the studios. One thing I heard people (especially bloggers and entertainment reporters) about San Diego Comic-Con was how many films were being promoted and how those attending looking to write about it could never get to see all of them. This wasn’t the case with WonderCon. Everyone who got into the Esplanade Ballroom could see all the film panels and some never left their chairs once the room opened up.
While a One-Day Pass may seem enough to see all that WonderCon had to offer I think the next time I attend I shall plan ahead and get a 3-Day Pass instead to get the full experience. I will say that this day was a good practice for when I attend Anime Boston 2011 in less than 3 weeks. Here’s to hoping that the organizers of Anime Boston continue to get better with their logistics. As much as I prefer anime and manga to comic books nowadays, the anime/manga convention organizers still have much to learn from the comic book ones in the logistical department. All in all, it was a good time to spend a warm, sunny Saturday.
Oh, while I was walking the Hall I did take a picture of something that I thought Lisa Marie probably would’ve found too cute, but since I decided on not spending any cash at the Hall I didn’t get her an example of Uglydoll:
There have always been films through the years which will garner extreme reactions from its audiences. These reactions will always take two sides on the film. People who see these films will either love them or they will hate them. There is to be little to no middle ground reaction when it comes to these films. In 2009, we had James Cameron’s epic scifi Avatar which had two sets of fans. Those who loved it to the point that it transcended simple fandom into something these people thought as important. Then there were the vocal minority who absolutely hated the film. Whether both fans were right in their opinions was (and continues) to be irrelevent. All that mattered to these people was that they’re right and the other side was wrong.
2011 is entering it’s second season and a film finally arrived which seem to have elicited the same sort of reaction from people who have seen it. Sure, there’s some who saw it merely as entertainment and left it at that, but there’s a growing rift between those who loved the film and those who hated it. The film which seem to have caused this is the action-fantasy film Sucker Punch.
To say that Zack Snyder’s latest visual extravaganza would create discussion amongst filmgoers would be an undertstatement. Sucker Punch has arrived to much genre fandom fanfare. This was a film that seemed to take genres from all corners like scifi, fantasy, anime and manga and mashed them all up into something new and serving it up to the legion of fans who love those very things. Zack Snyder has made his reputation as a filmmaker as a visual artist. His entire filmography from the Dawn of the Dead remake all the way up to his adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen have all been very strong visually. His grasp of narrative structure continues to grow and improve but it’s always been his handling of dialogue which has tripped him up.
Sucker Punch is a tale within a tale about a young woman we come to know as Baby Doll (played with an almost angelic quality by Emily Browning). The film opens up with the curtain rising on a theater stage and we soon become witness to a dialogue-free opening sequence of the events which transpired to bring Baby Doll to the Lennox House mental institution. This entire opening sequence is a great example of Snyder as a master of creating a montage of striking visuals sans dialogue with only music to break the silence. It helped that the music chosen to accompany this scene was a haunting rendition by Emily Browning herself of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)”. Just like in Watchmen‘s own intro title sequence, Snyder was able to convey the beginnings of the story without the need for dialogue and do it so well that we as an audience understand fully all that’s transpiring on the screen.
Once this prologue ends we move onto the main setting of the film where Baby Doll gets put into the care of the Lennox House’s resident boogeyman in the form of Blue as played with slimy charm and panache by one Oscar Isaac (last scene chewing up the English countryside in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood). The audience sees what Baby Doll sees as Blue gives her the tour of the facilities which finally ends at the “Theater” where all the female patients act out their problems and fears through the guidance and help of Doctor Gorski (played by the lovely and return Snyder performer, Carla Gugino).
The first 15 minutes of this film was pretty much a basic set-up of what Snyder will use as his blueprint for the rest of the film. All the different levels of fantasy Baby Doll will imagine and inhabit throughout the film is rooted deeply in this initial sequence of events which begins the film. The clues as to who the story is truely about could be found in this intro if one was paying attention to the film instead of being distracted and mesmerized by the visuals Snyder crafts to start the film. While it won’t become apparent until the reveal at the climactic events of the film. Once all are the cards were revealed, so to speak, the beginning of the film begins to make sense. From the curtain rising, the silent film-like scene to begin and the narration to open things up, all those give a hint to what the answer to the question the film’s narrative really asks: “Is what we’re seeing truly real or is it all just fantasy?”
Sucker Punch becomes a sort of a trip down the rabbit hole a la Alice In Wonderland once the film establishes Baby Doll’s predicament upon arriving at the Lennox House (she’s to be lobotomized in 5 days). The film moves from the gray and depressing confines of the Lennox House to the fantasy world centered on a burlesque establishment where Baby Doll is an orphan sold by a decadent priest (the form her stepfather takes in this fantasy) to Blue, the proprietor of this house of ill repute where orphaned young women become burlesque dancers and worst to the clientele. It is in this place we meet the rest of the gang Baby Doll will befriend to help her try to escape the place and thus avoif the “High Roller” who will come to collect her in 5 days.
The film shares something similar with Christopher Nolan’s Inception in that both films deal with different levels of reality or fantasy (depends on how one sees the different worlds shown in both films). Where Nolan’s ideas seem more rooted in what he would consider as more grounded to reality as much as possible Snyder goes the other way and takes the leashes off of Baby Doll’s imagination. This third level Baby Doll goes to as she begins her dance to distract the men of the burlesque house is her mind unfettered and where she’s not helpless but has power not just to protect herself but do so better than the men who inhabit this fantasy world of steampunk zombie soldiers, orcs, dragons, alien robot machines and many other scifi and fantasy tropes which define geek culture through the decades.
If there’s one reason to watch this film it would be just to bear witness to Snyder letting his imagination as a visual filmmaker take over. Some people may not like this and want a strong, structured narrative to balance out the visuals. I, too, would’ve liked to have seen something stronger in terms of story and plot, but there are just instances when the visuals are so striking and wildly imaginative that one just marvels at the scenes unfolding on the screen. If any, Snyder as a visual artist helps prop up the weakness in the story. Snyder would’ve served this film better if he went even further and turned Sucker Punch into an avant-garde silent film of the digital age. That beginning in the film just unfolded so strongly despite no dialogue that the rest of the film could’ve been done in the same manner and be the better for it.
Which brings me to what was the film’s near fatal flaw. A flaw that many of the film’s detractors have taken as the rallying cry to denounce the film as horrible and Snyder as a hack. The interesting thing is that these same people were also the ones who had been praising of Snyder prior to this film. Even those who begrudgingly gave Snyder his props for having some semblance of talent because of the very handling of the visuals that he has now have become much more vocal about how they always knew Snyder was never that good.
I would say that Snyder is not the second coming of Ridley Scott as some of his supporters have anointed him or is he a hack filmmaker who is all flash and no substance. I think he’s somewhere in the middle and still finding his true voice as a filmmaker. I’ve always seen Snyder as being weak when it comes to handling the slower scenes of dialogue and most visual filmmakers tend to be the same when starting out. The dialogue seem to get in the way of what they really want to do and tell the story through striking visual sequences. They’re like painters who don’t need words to convey the emotions they wish to convey. Sucker Punch I believe suffered from Snyder trying to combine his strength on the visual side of the equation with his handling of story through the dialogue which he still hasn’t mastered. If someone else had written, or at the very least, fixed and strengthened the script, I do believe that the film wouldn’t be getting so ripped and trounced by those who had been so excited to seeing one of Snyder’s personal projects.
The performances by the cast ranged from good to just being there. There really wasn’t anyone in particular who performed badly. Everyone from Emily Browning to Oscar Isaac all the way to Abbie Cornish did well enough with the material they were given. Oscar Isaac as both Blue in the insane asylum and as the pimp in the burlesque house did particularly well playing up the fun role of the villain in Baby Doll’s different levels of reality/fantasy. Of the ladies in the film I must point out the performance of Jena Malone and Abbie Cornish as sisters in the second level. While we only get a glimpse of Cornish’s Sweet Pea character in the Lennox House, once in the burlesque setting she becomes the anchor by which the rest of the women in the cast held onto. Jena Malone as the younger sister Rocket who still dreamed hopes of escape was a nice complement to Sweet Pea.
So, we have a film in Sucker Punch which seem to have strength on one side of the filmmaking equation and a major weakness on another. This is the kind of film that I would, in the past, have dismissed as another attempt by Hollywood to pander to the geek crowd with its mash-up of different scifi and fantasy imagery. But this time around I actually enjoyed the film both in a visual sense and how Snyder was able to play with the audience’s personal observations about the themes his film is trying to explore. It’s these very themes which have split audiences into two camps. While the gender politics and stereotypes people have brought up in discussing this film have made for some lively debate I refrain from adding my views on it in this review. I think I’m not well-qualified to debate such discussions.
For me, Sucker Punch succeeds more than it fails because Snyder didn’t play it safe with how he wanted to make his film. He was able to tell the film’s story through the different visual styles for each world the cast played in and did it quite well. While most of the time I wouldn’t give a film a pass for a weak narrative and average dialogue with this film I felt like the experience one gets from experiencing the visual canvas Snyder continued to paint with from beginning to end was enough to balance out the negative. It’s really a film that one must experience for themselves and make their decision on that experience instead of listening to other’s opinions (both good and bad) about the film. One may end up hating the film like some, but then again they may end up like me and forgive Snyder for trying to reach for the sun and failing to do so, but at least tried to with panache instead of playing it safe.
The latest pick for “song of the day” happens to come from a game I just completed playing a first playthrough. The game is BioWare’s latest and the first sequel to their critically-acclaimed fantasy rpg game, Dragon Age: Origins. This time the song is what I would call the “Lelianna’s Song” of Dragon Age 2.
“Rogue Heart” is the song which begins playing once the end credits for Dragon Age 2 begins. The song is once again composed by the same composer who did the music for the first game, Inon Zur. Inon Zur brings back singer Aubrey Ashburn to handle the song. If there was ever a song which I say truly encompassed the relationship of the character I created and played through in the game, Lisamarie Hawke, it would be this song. It’s not just typified the character but the relationship she had with one of the party members that was recruited. The pirate rogue Isabela (the character artwork in the video is Isabela) would be Lisamarie’s companion the moment the two met and would see the game right through to its climactic and ominous ending.
It’s only appropriate that both Lisamarie Hawke and Isabela were rogues thus this song fit them like bodyhugging gear. The game was better than I thought and I would say the same to its accompanying soundtrack and “Rogue Heart” is another example why rpg soundtracks always typified the best of any game soundtracks.
If there’s one thing that BioWare seems to be doing quite well the last couple years it’s been how to hype up their rpg franchises whenever a new game is set for a release.
In early 2010 they premiered what I could only call a very cinematic launch trailer for Mass Effect 2 and during the Super Bowl halftime. This year we have another launch trailer but this time for Dragon Age II. This is a sequel to the very popular and acclaimed fantasy-rpg, Dragon Age: Origins, from BioWare and EA.
I’ve been playing the game now for the past three days and I will say that the trailer captures the game’s action quite well. The look of the game itself is only a step away from looking like the trailer animation. Maybe the third game will finally look like it’s own launch trailer in every way imaginable.
This launch trailer is the sort of marketing blitz which definitely has a chance to interest those not into such games. I know that if I had seen it and known nothing of the game itself I would be quite tempted to buy it and play it.
My latest “Song of the Day” was chosen because this week also saw the release of one of the g ames which shall be ruling my life for the forseeable future: Dragon Age II. The song I chose is from the first game in the series, Dragon Age: Origins, and was sung in the game by one of the characters in the game once a certain relationship level has been reached between the main character and the bard who sings the song, Leliana.
The soundtrack to this game was composed by Israeli-born composer Inon Zur and his work on the score captures the fantasy-theme of the game. In the soundtrack the song is called “Lelianna’s Song” (a misprint by the soundtrack publisher) but in the game the song is properly titled, “In Uthenera” and is sung by the singer, Aubrey Ashburn. I chose this song because of all the tracks in the soundtrack this is the one that stuck with me the most.
The thing about role-playing game soundtracks, especially those set in a fantasy setting, is that the music goes a long way in creating the world of the game. The game could be great but if the music sucks it ruins much of the game’s enjoyment. Luckily, Inon Zur didn’t fail in his task thus he made Dragon Age: Origins such a joy to play despite its flaws.
“Lelianna’s Song” just sounds so ethereal. I can hear late-medieval and early-Rennaisance bard influences in the music not to mention Irish ballad in how the lyrics were sung. This song I could listen to over and over. Below, right before the lyrics is the video of the scene in the game where Leliana sings the song to the group at rest in their camp.
Lelianna’s Song
Elven:
Hahren na melana sahlin
Emma ir abelas
Souver’inan isala hamin
Vhenan him dor’felas
In Uthenera na revas
Vir sulahn’nehn
Vir dirthera
Vir samahl la numin
Vir lath sa’vunin
Translation:
Elder your time is come
Now I am filled with sorrow
Weary eyes need resting
Heart has become grey and slow
In waking sleep is freedom
We sing, rejoice
We tell the tales
We laugh and cry
We love one more day
Through the Shattered Lens 