Writing Update: Games of August and Games Ignored At E3

Single Player Games in August
Here are five interesting entries into the early beginning of the Season of Too Many Games. There are so many in August in fact, that I had to name some more at the bottom.

Games Ignored at E3 That Shouldn't Have Been
What it sounds like: these are the titles that were showcased at E3 but still managed to slip under the radar. By no means an exhaustive list, there are plenty more where these came from.

Review: Warcraft

That's more like it!

Each year it's the same story: there are genre movies I like, genre movies I hate, and several that I thought I would enjoy but instead just end up being disappointed. And rather than the bad movies, the third category is the worst because articulating why something is disappointing to fans of a franchise is maddeningly difficult.

Movies like Days of Future Past, or the empty Oblivion, or even the recent Hobbit films, mostly enjoyed by my peers but relatively unimpressive are likely to make me question whether I really do enjoy movies, or if I'm just a grumpy, critical curmudgeon.

However, there is a fourth, much rarer type of movie that comes out every now and again that solves this problem. They can remind me why I love movies so much in the first place.

2016 has been unusually rich in this prize category: 10 Cloverfield Lane and April being two wonderful films, though entirely different. Now I can add Warcraft to that list.

Make no mistake: Warcraft is nowhere near to the level of quality that the movies above have reached. Like the similarly messy Prometheus, this is a franchise-starter that's filled to the brim with ideas but chopped up mercilessly to achieve an under-2-and-a-half-hours running time. By the end of the first hour, all of the little time-saving cuts add up, resulting in an unfortunate feeling of story whiplash.

If you can get over the pacing, Warcraft is creative, thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable, because, thankfully, the characters are nowhere near as doofy and lifeless as the cast of Prometheus. But before I dive into why Warcraft was so pleasing, let's take a look at the basic premise.

Based on the first game in the long running series, 1996 strategy title Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the film portrays first contact between (you guessed it) Orcs and Humans. I have never played the games, but I gather that the story was originally a fairly basic "good guys, bad guys" affair -- one that Duncan Jones has expanded and re-interpreted into something less black-and-white.

Echoing 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the true battle is against conflict itself, with the orc protagonist Durotan (Toby Kebbell, playing the inverse of his role in Apes) and human protagonist Lothar (Travis Fimmel, trying his hardest to be Viggo Mortensen) struggling to end the war before it begins. As you may have guessed, they might not be entirely successful in a series with "war" in the title.

So if you couldn't tell from my tone at the start, I really liked Warcraft and was willing to accept some of its flaws. There are a few that are unforgivable though: Lothar's son Callan is a characterless non-entity, robbing the human side's fatherhood story of any gravitas. Additionally, the greater cast is sorely lacking in age diversity: it seems like everyone on Azeroth was born within five years of one another (perhaps in an effort to represent the median age of World of Warcraft players?).

Still, while the human side has its complaints, it isn't enough to drag down the excellent orc story. The movie's high quality performance-capture animation brings to life creatures never before seen in "live-action" and, unusually for such depictions, I didn't immediately wish it was done with puppetry instead.

Toby Kebbell's Durotan is brilliantly portrayed: emotionally affecting and given some of the best dialogue in the film as he stands amid the sadly misled Orc Horde. The Horde is misled by the orc shaman Gul'dan, who has been twisted by evil "Fel Magic". As great a hero Durotan is, Gul'dan is a thoroughly terrifying villain, standing out in an otherwise brightly coloured fantasy film.

I have to mention the palette: even when it comes to the villains, it's much grander than your standard modern blockbuster, filled with glowing rings of magic and wide, unrealistic vistas (by which I mean fantastical, as they should be!). At times it made me wish I was watching an adaptation of any of the great fantasy novels of my adolescence, but even one step removed from them, the derivative world of Azeroth is like a breath of fresh air in a Hollywood dominated by superhero films.

The colours aren't the only visually interesting part, either. Duncan Jones has to be commended for his quietly audacious authorial voice: like George Lucas, his acting direction could use some work, but the creative ideas herein are presented unadulterated. Big special effects scenes, intimate character scenes, funny background events and well staged fights prove his talent. We would be privileged with a series of movies like this -- and the film's success in China particularly seems to suggest we will see at least the one sequel. Please, Legendary keep the same director at the helm!

Finally, I must restate the tragic evisceration of the theatrical cut of this film. By no means perfect, the original director's cut may not even be substantially better than this version, but at least it would have been complete. Even if Duncan Jones doesn't return for Warcraft 2, the least they can grant him is a release of his director's cut on home video.

Fresh, messy, colourful, impractical and layered, Warcraft gets 3.5 / 5 stars but with a strong recommendation to fantasy fans.

Writing Update: Games of July and Top Single Player Games

Single Player Games in July

I'm excited to get stuck into the games of this month because they aren't your usual big-budget action games. Here are five to keep an eye on.

Top Single Player Games of 2016 (So Far)

A few other OnlySP writers and I collaborated on this list of what we think are the best games of the year so far. Expect to see most of these in the discussion for Game Of The Year.

Review: Sicario

According to the start of "What I Want From Movies", readers probably won't be surprised that I tend to avoid these sorts of movies. It's mostly a combination of lacking the three elements that I like in movies, as well as the highly graphic violence.

Despite that, last year's Sicario is very notable to genre fans because -- shortly after its release, to critical success -- the film's director Denis Villeneuve was attached to the upcoming Blade Runner sequel. It isn't hard to see why he was picked for the latter movie, based on his skill with this one, but the films' tones are likely to be very different.

The Setup

During an FBI raid of a suspected cartel hideout, Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her team discover a horrifying cache of corpses in the walls of the house. After two of her fellow officers are killed by a booby-trap, her boss recommends her for a task force assembled by the DoD to implicate those responsible.

Kate quickly realises how ill-prepared she is for the border warfare that the DoD and CIA are involved in, with the team led by agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and the soft-spoken Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) immediately crossing into Juárez, Mexico in order to extradite one of the men high up in the cartel. It only gets worse from there.

Combining a disturbing original score, graphic content and mostly unlikable characters, this movie made me angry in a way that the film makers probably intended. The entire point of the film is to show the dirty work the CIA get into, and at the same time follows the growth of two characters whose motivations couldn't be more different.

"By the end, you will understand." -- Alejandro Gillick

Part way through Sicario, viewers begin to suspect the real meaning of Alejandro's words, and the movie transforms into something new. I won't spoil what, suffice it to say that the first half was better from a narrative perspective, but the second half makes the movie complete by satisfying the thematic perspective. These kinds of movies (ones with a particular thesis that they wish to convey) aren't the sort of story that one watches for narrative catharsis, so the switch in perspectives is understandable.

Creative, Terrible Horror

While juggling the movie's thesis with Kate's character development, and showing the brutal nature of the job, Sicario goes about telling smaller, intimate stories through various visual storytelling techniques, particularly inspired by comic books and anime.

Shots are happy to cross the line if it makes for a better effect, and ambiguity abounds in realistic scenes of underworld crime and violence. Much of the movie happens without dialogue, and tone is often established not by the score (which is generally, as stated above, at the same disturbing level throughout) but by the inserting of different ideas and tableaux. One recurring visual is that of a character washing their hands and looking in the mirror -- an on-the-nose idea, but used in the right quantity not to feel overdone. Another scene early on inter-splices images of the corpses with the discovery of the cartel's explosive booby-trap.

I eagerly await his new Blade Runner, because Villeneuve's directorial choices make for nail-biting tension scenes and creative metaphorical ideas. Combined with the learned eye of cinematography legend Roger Deakins, there is always something interesting happening in frame.

Unfortunately, despite an excellent command of visual language, the movie's colour palette is as suffocating and drab as the score -- again, like the tone these are intentional decisions, but a movie can be beautiful and disturbing at the same time (see my review of The Conjuring, coming soon). I won't take the opportunity to complain about colour timing in modern films, instead I will borrow the illustration a friend of mine used, that the film "looks like it was filmed through somebody's urine sample".

The Verdict

As a narrative hound there are certainly problems to be found in the story of Sicario -- especially after the half-way point -- but they aren't the rushed-script problems of the latest overwrought foreign-appeal-bait movies (Orci and Kurtzman really need more time to work on their scripts). Rather, they are the kind of deliberate decisions one makes when trying for a war story with this much verisimilitude. As such, I cannot fault the movie for being itself, just because I might not like a story with dark characters, gore and unsettling music.

Sicario has a lot to recommend it: it's a suspenseful thriller that tells a haunting story. However, it's not recommended if you like the kinds of movies that I enjoy. Yes, not every movie has to "entertain" or be "fun" -- some are made to move you emotionally -- but the truth about movie magic is that so much more can be done with the medium than simply try to depict realistic events, especially in such a gruesome way.

Sicario gets 3 / 5 stars. It's a very good film, but not for me.

Writing Update: The Quiet Month and E3 Links

Since I've been busy writing for the sites Goomba Stomp and OnlySP, I haven't had as much opportunity to write here on my blog this month.

More reviews are coming down the pike, but until then, here are this week's posts about E3 (I'll keep adding them as they are published):

JRPG Watch: E3 2016
These are the Japanese RPGs that are either confirmed or likely to get a look in at E3 this year. I love JRPGs, so the fact that it is a long and varied list is a big plus.

Titanfall 2: What Does the Single Player Trailer Say?
Some unnecessarily in-depth analysis of the recent trailer for the solo campaign in Titanfall 2.

Another Top 10 E3 Trailers
Because you can never have enough top 10 lists, this is my alternative list of best E3 trailers.

Why You Shouldn’t Be Worried About the Kingdom Come: Deliverance Delay
There have been plenty of delays recently, so here's why you shouldn't be worried.

Harmony of Heroes: Donkey Kong

You can download this massive album here. As it is fan work and therefore free, I have no problem recommending that you search the track names on YouTube if you can't download them.

Previous post: the Mario tracks

Continuing our dive into Nintendo fan music, the next section of Harmony of Heroes adapts the wonderful music of the Donkey Kong series -- mostly the Donkey Kong Country games -- with one glaring exception at the end.

12. Jungle Swing (Stephan Wells, featuring Camoshark)
If you know the Donkey Kong Country BGM at all, the opening to this track is filled with teasing anticipation. When the main theme finally hits, it feels fantastic.

A combination of live instruments (or at least a very convincing combination of live samples) and a broad assortment of sound effects make this an incredibly fun track, especially in the second half that includes a lot of free-styling guitar and brass.

13. Rhythm of the Kong (Sean Haeberman)
True to its title, this track is filled to bursting with percussion, mostly playing around with the Map theme (parts of which are also present in the previous track). Compared with Jungle Swing, there are a lot of deeper colours in the drums that give it a more masculine feel, despite the flighty melody.

14. A K.Rool Pub Crawl (Sebastian Mårtensson, featuring Christopher Woo)
Moving on to Donkey Kong Country 2, this is another program piece beginning with a pirate, probably K.Rool himself, walking into a bar (ouch!). The entertainment for the evening begins with a surprisingly warm rendition of Ship Deck 2.

I absolutely love folksy pirate songs so this one gets me pretty well. It even manages to make K.Rool's boss battle theme sound less menacing, and that's not a small task.

15. Rush of the Rainforest (Buoy)
Propulsive and adventurous, this track takes the hands-down best BGM from DKC2 (that would be Stickerbush Symphony) as its source. The track actually turns it into a sort of video game level of its own, complete with A B A structure, a little insert of the DKC theme when it hits it stride, and then some very welcome freestyling in the last third.

16. Kong Kollektive (Sebastian Mårtensson, featuring Harmony of Heroes)
...
Can't I just listen to some more of Rush of the Rainforest?
...
Oh, alright. This is a re-imagining of the DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64, and if I give them their dues, it could be a lot worse. The artists clearly love this track (honestly or ironically, it's up to you) so there's nothing that needs aggressive criticism. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to it again after this.


Well, the Donkey Kong tracks started wonderful and ended in a weird place. That's okay, because coming up next time is over an hour of The Legend of Zelda music. Yummy ...

The Great Cow Race Ch2: The Cave

Synopsis
After the encounter with the bee, Fone Bone discovers what Phoney has been up to all this time and chides him for his schemes. Fone is convinced that Phoney had something to do with the attack on the farm by the Rat Creatures, but Phoney promises that he is innocent, something that's rather hard to believe.

That night, Thorn has another dream, this time of a cave filled with dragons. She remembers that she drew the very map that led the Bones to The Valley in the first place, but decides not to share her concerns with Gran'ma, so that she doesn't throw off her game before the Great Cow Race.

Pros
This is an incredibly well written chapter, showcasing the personalities of all three Bones and diving into Thorn's (possibly imaginary, but that's pretty unbelievable) backstory in Deren Gard. The pages are divided equally into three scenes: the first with Fone and Phoney arguing about the latter's terrible get-rich-quick schemes, then a little bit later with Phoney as the "mystery cow".

The second scene then shows Thorn as a very young girl being led far away -- we soon find they're going to Deren Gard, the home of a motley assortment of multicoloured dragons.

Although Thorn is being kept safe in her dream, she wakes up and treats the memory with fear; telling Bone that she wished she could leave. She even drew the map so that it might lead someone to save her. This third scene is filled with great midnight lighting and a sense of something big and/or horrible on the horizon. When Thorn decides not to talk about it with Gran'ma, we can see the idea of dragons existing still weighs heavily on her, and she doesn't want the same concern affecting Gran.

Cons
None, really. Despite not having a lot of action, this is an exemplary chapter of Bone that conjures fun, seriousness, mystery and warmth all in equal measure.

This chapter's lesson
A small one but a good one: in the first scene of this chapter, Jeff Smith is using classic filmic blocking to separate and rejoin each of the three Bones in order to draw reader attention to different sides of the conversation and interpersonal conflict.

At first, Phoney is haggling with one of the farmers, reminding the reader of his plan to fix the Cow Race. When Fone arrives and is suspicious, Phoney leaves his betting stand and the "camera" moves to hold Fone and he in the frame as they argue. When Smiley as the mystery-cow comes into frame, Phoney then takes him aside, and the "camera" moves again, keeping him and Smiley as the two central figures and leaving Fone off in the background.

After the banter between the two about the cow suit, Fone re-enters the frame and our attention returns to Phoney and he having their argument about Phoney's schemes. At the end of the scene, Smiley then re-asserts himself with a message for Phoney, who then exits to the right.

Rather than make the reader focus on three characters for the entire duration of the scene, Smith figuratively juggles our attention with most of the dialogues happening between only two of the three characters. It's simple movie-making stuff, but it's really cool to see it used like this in a comic book.