Reviews

I'm sorry to say, I did not LOVE this season. To put it bluntly, I thought it was disappointing. I have no problem with Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, I actually have liked most of the movies, and I really can't wait to see what people do with this universe as the possibilities are endless. Unfortunately as time went on I began to feel as if they were afraid to take chances, like they just refuse to doing something different. They continue living in the shadow of things we "already know". Most of the films just seemed more interested in packing references and old characters than actually giving us something new. I thought S1 of Mando was that spark of hope that maybe Star Wars could be more than just "The Skywalker saga". A space western combined with samurai elements that inspired Lucas all those years ago, it was great! I was hooked. S2, started off like this excellently, I loved the first two episodes, and then it just slowly started crashing and burning for me. This show has tons of connections to Clone Wars, Rebels, and of course, both the OT and the Prequels. I'm so glad people like seeing their favorite characters appear from past media, but now it's come at the cost of the characters we were given in THIS show. I feel like we lost Mando's story in there and he became part of the background to give the spotlight to these fan favorites. Because that's what this show just is now, the fan service machine. I mean how small is this Galaxy that we have to have Luke Skywalker show for an action scene? How is this any different from Vader killing rebels in Rogue One? The de-aging thing has just gotten tired too, and it's a painful reminder that this company will not let the past go as they'll just keep resurrecting these actors long after they're gone. This season finale might've killed my feelings for The Mandalorian, and it just keeps reminding me that Star Wars becomes creatively bankrupt if you keep relying on nostalgia to make fans happy. Who knows maybe that's just what Star Wars will always be now. It's hard because this season has amazing direction, action, performances, but the writing just killed it for me. If this is what Star Wars is now, I've given up hope for the future. If you like it, that's cool, but I hope I can help illuminate some feelings you have if you were pretty mixed too.

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Clone Wars, I didn't grow up on it, I've seen the major arcs, but I'm not overly attached to it like I am with the original trilogy. This season of the Mandalorian seems to be a hit/miss with people so far. Most people thought the last week was a filler episode, but I personally liked that one? I didn't think it was great, but I liked that they use abandoned concepts from the movies to make fun little side quests. It really adds to the tv medium for me. This weeks though, I really wasn't feeling it, but that's just because I know for sure this one was made with the Clone Wars callbacks in mind. When you see it, you'll know what I mean. I think that speaks volumes about the variety of fans Star Wars has as a franchise. You have people like me who just love the older stuff, but you have the fans of the prequels and the Clone Wars show too, and I think The Mandalorian bridges that gap nicely. If you're a big fan of Clone Wars, I think you're gonna like this quite a bit. THIS is definitely my least favorite episode of the show so far but it proves to me once again, this show has something for ALL fans of Star Wars, and THAT'S worth celebrating.

For anyone that's really into Ralph McQuarrie and his concept arts for the original trilogy, you'll probably be amused but the fact that this episode contains Knobby white Spider's, a creature originally meant to appear in Empire. It's the little things that show how mega of a fan Favreau is of the original films and how attentive to detail his world building is with the Mandalorian. While this particular episode didn't advance much of the plot, it makes me appreciate how this show sticks to the medium it's made as, a weekly tv show. And for this being a Star Wars show, I love how it has little mini adventures every now and then to just let us have a little fun in this world. I know it might not be everyone's thing, but I dig this little filler episode!

It's been nearly 5 years since I've played the Last of Us and I kept asking myself, why? Why would it take me this long to return to something so good? Now I remember.

The Last of Us is an experience you savor with time. For me, I wanted it to always be sacred and unpredictable. I never wanted it to feel uninteresting because of how many times I've played it, so it's honestly only my 3rd, maybe 4th time playing this. This game isn't just about survival and zombies, it's about overcoming grief, trauma, understanding the weight of violence, and realizing what makes us human.

This playthrough was obviously in preparation for the sequel, but it was also the conclusion to my Naughty Dog marathon I've had since April with the Jak and Daxter trilogy, the Uncharted series this past May, and now this. It's been an insane ride to say the least. Naughty Dog has proven to me time and time again that they are possibly the greatest developer when it comes to single player experiences. They don't just make really engaging gameplay, but they go out of their way to craft some of the most cinematic experiences I've ever had in the history of gaming. They make games for people that love movies, so for me, THIS IS MY JAM.

The Last of Us has an outstanding presentation from start to finish. Everything mostly holds up 7 years later, and the graphics are still absolutely stunning. The environments are always interesting and full of depth, with plenty of places to explore and collectibles to find. There's always a story behind them like the notes or the letters, it shows the different scenarios people found themselves in within the apocalypse and they're always so haunting to read, especially if they're placed next to the dead or buried. The game has a unique approach to the look of the Apocalypse as it's much more green than your typical Zombie/Survivor film. Nature has grown without limit, and the world almost looks better because of it, at least when you look past what remains of society. It's like Earth hit the reset button and starts itself over, plants are growing better than ever. Algae grows on everything, and animals roam free, it's truly a unique look to a post apocalyptic world and I applaud Naughty Dog for trying something new with that. Gameplay seems to be a divisive part of this game as some say it's innovative and unique, while others say it's tedious and repetitive. I found myself more on the latter when I first played it only because I was so use to the fast paced, run and gun shooter style from Uncharted. Fast forward to this last week I took a leap of faith and decided to take on the biggest challenge for this game, grounded mode. Taking the survivor mode a few steps farther in the absolute hell of challenges. Supplies are next to non-existent. Listen mode is disabled. All enemies do triple damage. The HUD is disabled. On the remastered edition, the controller's light-bar no longer changes color to indicate Joel's health. Enemy AI is extremely sharp; more so than survivor. Multiple mid-combat and mid-stealth checkpoints are removed. Allies do not grant ammunition or health kits (except David during the infected gauntlet). The revolver, however, does instantly kill non-infected enemies without armor, which I guess isn't a perk that even the easiest difficulties have. I'd be willing to say it's on the level of a Dark Souls game only because you have to approach each section like a puzzle. It's a game of trial and error, you will die, A LOT. The lack of supplies and ammo made this game feel so much more real for me. Every choice I made, every move I took, felt like a life or death situation. Do I save my ammo? Do I fight enemies head on? Do I try and take them out one at a time? Or do I just make a run for it and hope the game lets me progress through the next section? These were all serious situations I found myself in playing the grounded mode, but it made me realize that this is the definitive way to play the Last of Us. The lack of hearing mode and the scarce supplies added to the realism of this world and Joel's predicament. Health kits are essentially useless as you could only take one hit or two bullets before you die. I had to adapt to every situation possible, the stakes FELT HIGH. The different enemy types really added layers to the combat here as well, some I could melee, and then others I had to strategically use ammo on. In some cases I was lucky to have at least one smoke bomb or a Molotov, but most of the time I just had next to nothing. It adds so much terror and tension to combat to an already intense game, it's nuts. It's stressful mode, and it perfectly matches the world of this story. Joel isn't Superman, he's just a guy using what he has, and that's what this forces you to do. The crafting and upgrade system felt so much more important and complex to me than it ever had before. It forces you to engage with the gameplay on a level where you must plan ahead and carefully choose what you improve and what you take with you. I dare anyone who says this game is repetitive and tedious to play this mode. It must be seen to be believed, and it has become one of the greatest achievements I've ever had in the history of gaming.

Gameplay is well and good but we all know why we love this game, the story. THIS STUFF IS GUD! The critical element of the Last of Us in what makes the story so perfect is how Naughty Dog essentially creates empathy in the player. Every scenario we find a character in, we feel. The opening scene shows us the fallout and the start of the aplocalypse through the eyes of Joel's daughter Sarah. She wakes up alone in their house, getting messages from her uncle Tommy, seeing a horrifying news broadcast on the tv. Only for Joel to pop in and an infected "runner" to follow. This entire prologue is chaotic, terrifying, and an absolute nightmare to play. To see people running, buildings on fire, people dying left and right, it's truly a horror masterpiece in the genre. What solidifies it even more is the insane hook of seeing Sarah get shot by a US military personnel. There are very few movies I can think of where a kid get shot in the opening, and seeing it here along with Troy Baker's performance as Joel, is truly disturbing and haunting. It's a scene we can never forget because of how much empathy we feel for Joel in this situation.

Fast forward 20 years later we find Joel in a post pandemic world. The pandemic was started by a fungus that spread and infected the brains of humans, turning them into monstrosities that plague the earth. America is divided. There's the quarantine zones for everyday folk run by what's left of the old system, there's hunters and survival groups, and there's the Fireflies, a group that seek to restore order to the world once again. Everything here we find through exposition and what Naughty Dog gets right is delivering it via the world as you explore it with Joel. It allows the world itself to deliver you the information you need to figure out what's happening, who and why, and you get the jist of it real quickly without it feeling the need to over explain things. Joel at the start of the game is shut off from everything. After Sarah's death, he's lost all sense of hope and humanity. He shut his brother Tommy out, he lives with a fellow survivor, but he doesn't have any drive to do anything beyond serving himself. This obviously changes when we meet:

Ellie, this character is the heart of the Last of Us. Played by the brilliant Ashley Johnson, Ellie is a teen who is the key to saving humanity as her blood somehow became immune to the virus. As Joel becomes wrapped up in her situation, he finds himself tasked with the job of getting Ellie to the Fireflies. The truth is revealed and the road trip across America begins. They meet other survivors, fight hunters, infected, and trek across the dangers of the American wilderness if they are to get to the fireflies and find the cure. Every chapter of this game has weight to it, there's so much that happens, and it all of it works because of the relationship/chemistry between Joel and Ellie.

The performances of Baker and Johnson bring these characters to life magically and I think Naughty Dog knew this game couldn't work if we didn't believe in these two characters. This relationship holds the foundation together, it's what gives the game a human experience. Joel teaches Ellie about the ways of the world that she's too young to remember, and how to survive in the new one, but Ellie teaches him what it means to be human again. With her humor and her voice, he learns to bring people back into his life again. Consequentially he becomes attached to her as a surrogate for his daughter, and she becomes desensitized to violence. They both teach each other, but they also ruin each other. They both have their own fears and traumas, but they both overcome them in their own way. It's a really interesting dynamic that I don't think has ever been explored in a game before and I understand why it has received the praise that it has.

I gotta give it to the supporting cast too for making an impression. I really liked every character in this game. They all had some level of depth and development, and I remember all of them which is honestly a really hard thing to do when you have to focus on your main characters like 100% of the time. Whether if it was Tess, Bill, Henry and Sam, Tommy, or David, they all made an impact, along with some wonderful performances. I couldn't believe Nolan North was David I literally just realized it after this playthrough I mean ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? What a different but also really interesting character for him, and he did such an amazing job!

This game for better or worse, is an experience that stays with you. Even after all these years it just blows me away. I have no idea if Part II could live up to this legacy, but I have faith in Naughty Dog. 10/10

I don't like sounding like a whiny review but I hate this movie, I HATE Terminator Dark Fate. Like a lot of you I'm such a huge fan of the first two films, and the first movie was even my first R Rated movie I watched when I was 6 years old, so I indeed have some nostalgic ties to these films. I've seen 3, Salvation, and Genisys, and while those aren't great I still had some sort of enjoyment from those movies for what they are. Dark Fate I thought was going to be the true return to form, they got Linda Hamilton back, James Cameron was involved, it's rated R! I really thought this was going to be the true sequel to T2, and this is what the movie proudly marketed itself as. I WAS BETRAYED, BE-TRAYED. This movie completely destroys the Terminator mythology in just 5 minutes which is astounding. If you love Terminator 2 as much as I do, if you love the idea of John Connor and seeing him as leader of the human resistance in the future, you're gonna hate this film. They take the story in a certain direction that completely reboots the entire timeline post T2. And I'm sure you know what it is, John Connor gets killed by another T-800 and is basically replaced by a new character so the franchise can be PC moving forward. The movie never bounces back from this terrible story decision and I found it really hard to enjoy knowing that John would not be a main character going forward. I'm totally fine with changing the formula in these franchises if you need a reason to keep going, but they don't even have the audacity to tell a new story here. It repeats the plot of Terminator 1 while also carrying elements of T2. And who knows they could make the timeline a bigger mess by having John and Kyle Reese travel from a different timeline but do we really need to see anymore of this? Please avoid this movie at all costs, save your hard earned money or use it to buy a new copy of the first two films. Please don't support this, don't give them the hope of continuing this franchise, just terminate it now!!

The director claims monkeys don't talk in the real world, so therefore Boots can't either. Come on you had one job!! If you're gonna do a Dora movie, why do it like this?? Swiper is pretty identical to the cartoon so what's the excuse? The film makes a point about Boots not being able to speak outside Dora's imagination and I find that just heartbreaking.