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Jack’s Back to “Knock Your Socks Off”

James Buckingham
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Jack’s Back to “Knock Your Socks Off”

2010 saw the end of one of the best TV series of recent years – 24. With Kiefer Sutherland moving on to star in Touch, we thought hope was lost – however Fox have confirmed that 24 is coming back in May 2014.

24's Jack Bauer

Fox, doing something right for a change instead of cancelling a series (no, I’ve not forgiven them for Firefly, and neither should you), confirmed this yesterday – their programming chief Kevin Reilly said that the creators have been contemplating a feature film, but were talked around to doing a miniseries; “They always had this idea of maybe someday doing a feature film,” he said. “I think they all agreed 24 being compressed into two hours is not 24.”

To that end, the series’ return will be limited to 12 2-hour episodes instead of the usual 24 – I’m not sure if these will be weekly or what, being as they’ll prettymuch be like sitting down to watch a movie.

[pullquote_right]Make no mistake, my goal is to knock your socks off.” – Kiefer Sutherland[/pullquote_right]Kiefer Sutherland was asked about how he felt about the news, and returning to the role:

“The response to ‘24’ is unlike anything I have ever experienced as an actor before. To have the chance to reunite with the character, Jack Bauer, is like finding a lost friend. The story ideas from [producer] Howard Gordon are exciting and fresh, and will not disappoint… Make no mistake, my goal is to knock your socks off.”

The official 24 Facebook page updated with the following image not long afterwards:

24

Are you excited, or do you think the exploits of CTU’s finest should stay cancelled? I must admit I’m worried that they’ll revisit the character and balls it up, but stranger things have happened!

It’s the final countdown! – Arrested Development Trailer has arrived

Becca Harper
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It’s the final countdown! – Arrested Development Trailer has arrived

It is back and boy am I super duper excited, you can tell how excited I am because I just used the term super duper which means the excitement is clouding my ability to write. Yes my all time favourite comedy, Arrested Development is back courtesy of Netflix. After years of rumours about a movie that never came to fruition, I had just about accepted that the three series were all we were getting so soothed my pain with the knowledge that I can still watch them over and over again and laugh every time.  

Then BAM! Netflix announce they are making 15 episodes. But the best thing about this is the return of the original cast. I will hold my hands up and say that I thought Micheal Cera would pass, you know with him becoming the big movie star with Scott Pilgrim and Juno and…err… some other films I can’t bring to mind or be bothered googling, but thankfully I was wrong, he is back with everyone else and they are looking as good as ever. Apart from Micheal’s hair, it needs to be longer.

So here it is, the trailer that made me chicken dance around the room with excitement. Bask in the awesomeness that is the Bluths, feel joy for the return of some long standing running jokes and gawp at how grown up Maeby suddenly looks (I’ve also included some character posters further down because why wouldn’t I?)

Arrested Development comes to Netflix on 26th May with 15 episodes ready to stream and remember folks, there is always money in the banana stand...

 

 

Quest For Excel-ibur: Merlin Knights In London Comic Con Adventure – Press release

Matt Geary
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Quest For Excel-ibur: Merlin Knights In London Comic Con Adventure – Press release
mcm_london_comic_con_21Straight from my in box, it seems that, Eoin Macken, Tom Hopper and Alexander Vlahos (Merlin)  will be attending MCM London this May.  
More of the press release below 
MCM LONDON COMIC CON – EXCEL LONDON – 24-26 MAY

Quest For Excel-ibur: Merlin Knights In London Comic Con Adventure

Raise your swords and unfurl your banners: Eoin Macken, Tom Hopper and Alexander Vlahos, stars of hit BBC fantasy series Merlin, are the latest special guests to be announced for this month’s MCM London Comic Con. The noble trio of knights – who play Sir Gwain, Sir Percival and Mordred, respectively – are set to attend Europe’s biggest comic con on the Sunday of the show.

Despite first meeting Merlin and Arthur in a drunken tavern brawl, Eoin Macken’s Sir Gwain rises to become a prominent member of the Round Table. Eoin himself recently ventured even further back in British history, playing opposite Michael Fassbender in Roman war epic Centurion.

Tom Hopper plays gentle giant Sir Percival, whose bravery prompts Arthur to make him a knight of Camelot despite his lack of noble birth. As well as appearing in Doctor Who, Tom starred in British horror-comedy Tormented and will play Billy Bones in upcoming pirate drama Black Sails.

Alexander Vlahos (Doctors, Privates) took over the role of Mordred from the younger Asa Butterfield so he could be shown as a teenager. Originally a druid, Mordred becomes a knight of Camelot …but one who is fated to one day betray and kill King Arthur.

Eoin, Tom and Alexander join a host of special guests at May’s MCM London Comic Con, including cast and crew from Once Upon a Time, Teen Wolf, NCIS: Los Angeles and Steven Spielberg’s Fallen Skies, anime director Shinichiro Watanabe, Lara Croft star Camilla Luddington and Mass Effect voice actor Mark Meer. Meanwhile, games publishers confirmed include Capcom, Nintendo, Activision, Square Enix, NIS America, Tecmo Koei and Koch Media.

Tickets for MCM London Comic Con are available at: www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/tickets

Website: www.mcmcomiccon.com/london
Twitter: @MCMExpo
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcmexpo
YouTube at www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review – 8 GPPs

Phil_Matthews
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Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review – 8 GPPs

If you’re a fan of 80s action movies, then Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is the game you need. A downloadable, stand alone, single player, which uses the Far Cry 3 engine and pays homage to films of the 80s. 

The year is 2007; it is the future (from an 80’s perspective anyway), and Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution; a powerful bio-weapon on a distant island. 

You take the role of  Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt ,voiced by 80’s action star Michael Biehn, who is best known for his roles in the Terminator and Aliens films. Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on.

 

Sadly, the cut-scenes don’t involve cartoon footage as shown in the trailer; it appears that was just for promotional purposes (shame). Instead, the story cut-scenes have been done in a 16-bit era style but with audio over them, instead of text, which cart-based games of the time were limited to; still pretty cool.

FarCry3BD1

If you’re expecting this game to be like Far Cry 3, then you may be disappointed (Matt Walklate’s FC3 review can be viewed here if you want to know more details on that one); It’s mainly the theme and story which have changed.

It’s still set on an island but it’s always dark with bright neon lighting on almost everything. It’s still free-roaming, with garrisons to liberate,  hunting and hostage missions, which are scattered around the map. The vehicles are identical to Far Cry 3, as are many of the weapons, but the latter can be upgraded to use lasers as well as other enhancements and cyber/mutated versions of the same animals are also there.

FarCry3BD3

There are few new touches, like when you silently takedown an enemy, you have the ability throw a shuriken instead of a knife at another enemy if they’re nearby. It’s pretty cool, but you have to be really quick in order to pull it off.  In-between some missions, there are some on-rails shooting galleries, most commonly involving using a mini-gun from a helicopter and generally, everyone’s favourite cliché , the exploding barrel; this makes for a great action film-esque experience.

The best addition though is the blood dragons. Their design may not be what you would usually associate with a dragon, looking more like dinosaurs with neon markings, but it’s more about what they add to the game-play. Like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, they react to movement and in order to survive herds of them, you will need to crouch while moving and hope their makings don’t change colour.

These hulking beasts can, though,  be used to your advantage when you assault enemy posts; if you can manage turn off the force field barriers first that is. You can throw cyber hearts collected from dead enemies and lure them into the base, where they’ll kill your enemies for you; or at least take the heat off a bit. Later in the game, some will be wearing a device called a brain cage, which means that they will attack you but not the enemy, unless you can destroy the cage first. 

FarCry3BD2

As with Far Cry 3, there are quite a few different ways to liberate a post, and adding the dragons means that doing this several times during the game doesn’t get too repetitive.

As you might expect from a downloadable title, some areas have been stripped down to meet the asking price; the island is much smaller than that of Far Cry 3, which I was happy about as I found the free roaming part far too repetitive. There’s also no crafting, but, there are weapon upgrades instead, and skills cannot be chosen, you just gain extra abilities as you level up; all of which means you get a far simpler game with stronger focus on the action.

FarCry3BD6

There are also archive files, CRT TV sets and VHS tapes to collect, not that they matter much, though. The VHS tapes do have some mildly amusing made up titles, complete with a film description; the files add a bit to the story and I think collecting all of the TV sets is supposed to unlock something ? Collecting all of these gives you more of a reason to explore; if you buy maps with the credits you find you can see the locations of any collectibles in those areas, but some require finding a cave entrance or ledges in order to get to them.

If you complete all of the side missions, collect all objects and liberate all of the posts, in addition to the story missions, you should get about 7-8 hours out of it, and seeing as the game will only cost you £12/$15, it’s not a bad size and you get a fair amount of  bang for your buck.

FarCry3BD5

As well as being a homage to 80s action films, it is also a parody and there’s a strong focus on humour throughout the game. During the tutorial your character will make fun of it being so patronising and intrusive, as if retro games are commenting on modern ones. Also, as you would expect of anything based on films of this genre and era, there are plenty of cheesy one liners, even though not that many of them are very funny. Some reference well known songs; when you level-up, you may hear “I’ve got the touch, I’ve got the power!” and getting an explosive multi-kill may result in the line “It’s raining men!”  and for cartoon fans, there’s a side mission where you need to kill four turtles and surprise, surprise…they’re all wearing coloured bandanas.

My favourite thing is probably the music, with many tracks using a lot of synth and a heavy bassline and others with a soft rock style. Most of them sound very familiar; one in particular sounds like it’s been lifted directly from The Terminator. All of them really give the game an authentic 80s feel.

FarCry3BD4

Conclusion

This game is mainly focused on nostalgic references rather than giving you a completely new experience. Although it can be a little repetitive in places, it’s great fun for the most part, and for a few quid, it’s definitely worth getting. This is one of the best download-only titles to be released, especially for consoles. Go get it!

Play Diary; Don’t Starve, Part 2

Matt_Walklate
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Play Diary; Don’t Starve, Part 2

starve1

This being the continuation of the Adventures of Wilson Percival Higgsbury, the Gentleman Scientist, in the world of Don’t Starve. For part 1, click here.

Day 2

Ahaha, I’ve done it! I survived the night! Take that, scary shadow monsters with your stupid glow in the dark eyes. Right, I’ve got a full (mostly) stomach and a whole day to explore, so let’s get to it. First; I need some gold. No, not because I’m a style guru, but because last night while perusing my toolbar…that is, *science books*, I discovered that with a few hunks of gold I can make a Science Machine. I mean, what else do I need to know? I’m a Gentleman Scientist with a highly questionable hairstyle; NOTHING SHALL STOP ME! Setting off, I decide to find me some rocks.

Firstly I head north, but I soon take a detour to collect some firewood and carrots for later. Suddenly, I stumble upon a strange instrument stuck in the ground. Weirdly, it looks like an eyeball stuck on top of a bone. Investigating further reveals it’s called an “Eye Bone”. Well, what can you say; mystery solved.  I go and grab it, curiosity knowing full well that as soon as I touch it some form of giant, demonic Zebra will probably erupt from the trees. While I’m wondering what it is, I hear a strange bouncing sound coming my way. I just have time to get my axe out when what looks like a large pumpkin with horns and a lolloping tongue bounces into view. Well, Wilson is not going to be eaten/stung/killed this time!

I charge forward, but before I can plant my axe in its stupid veggie head, the creature stops and opens its mouth, its tongue lolling cheerfully. I pause. We stare at each other. I wonder why I’m having a staring competition with a pumpkin. Wary, I edge closer and discover the creature is called Chester. Wait a minute; Chester? Is this some sort of mobile container? I quickly discover that the creature puts up no argument when I try and store things inside it. I try to move on and sure enough, my new pet bounces merrily along behind me! Hah, Chester. Puns are funny. Moving on, the terrain gives way to a rocky landscape. Perfect! I quickly make a basic pickaxe and start mining a few boulders. Finally, as I reduce another boulder to dust, I decide to head home, with Chester practically carrying his own weight in gold. Now, if only I could find a Cash 4 Gold shop….

starve10

While I’m daydreaming about where I’d get a cardboard box big enough for a demon pumpkin, the sun begins to set once again. As Chester curls up, I quickly pitch up myself, and make a fire before the darkness arrives.

 

Day 3

As the sun rises, I realise I’m 3 days in, and beginning to feel at home. However, as my stomach rumbles, I realise there’s a problem; in my quest for science I’ve completely forgotten my quest for food! I’ve been surviving on berries and carrots so far but they won’t keep me going much longer; I need meat. I make myself a couple of animal traps and head off to the grass-covered fields nearby. Setting them down near some rabbit holes, I wander off to finally do what I’ve been meaning to do since I arrived here; set up a permanent camp.

Scouting the area I finally decide on a place and make myself a base camp, complete with a more efficient stone fire pit, and of course my long awaited Science Machine, which I instantly use to refine some wood and make myself a handy chest. Huzzah, Camp Wilson is finally up and running! You know, minus walls. Or a ceiling. STILL! Now I can start making more advanced goodies! Firstly, I see if I can find a way to make a farm of some sorts, but alas I need manure, apparently. OK then, next on the list; make some manure. Or, I don’t know, find a cow or something. For now I content myself with building a spear and some wooden armour. After all, I decided to settle near Piggleton, and I fear the Pig-Man residents might not appreciate a man as dashing as myself setting up camp so close. It might make them extremely jealous. That, and I wholly intend to rob them of all their food in the near future, so protection is a must. 

Before dark I head off to collect my rabbit traps. But when I get there, I find the creatures have completely ignored my traps, and I’ve managed to catch nothing all day! This is a disaster! Sneaky little blighters, wait till I get my hands round your smug little necks. I trudge back to my camp and toast myself some berries and cook some suspicious looking red mushrooms too. They help heal me, but do precious little to feed my hunger. Looks like it’s going to be a long night…

 

Day 4

Dawn arrives and I shoot off in desperate search of food. I ate every last thing I had last night, and I have utterly nothing left. As I search, inevitably, the screen turns red, and my health begins to decrease. I’m literally dying of starvation. All other ambitions forgotten, I dash through the landscape, scrambling for anything. I cram seeds to stave off the hunger for a few minutes more until I can find something; anything more substantial. Frantically I check the rabbit traps and mercifully I see that both have caught rabbits. I hurry back, light the fire and cook up both at once. However, it’s still not enough. These rabbits were an improvement, but haven’t sated my hunger nearly enough as I thought they would. I build two more traps and set them up on the field with the others. I also try to build some bird traps, but lacking the necessary spider silk there’s little I can do.

Becoming increasingly grumpy, I stomp off to the nearby forest to stock up on firewood. Chopping away, thoughts consumed with what I’m going to do for my next meal, I barely notice a rustle in the forest. Almost without warning a tall tree uproots itself. With a mighty roar and sprouting arms, the Ent begins to crash after me, clearly angry I’d been chopping down his family. Luckily, I’m prepared. I put some distance between myself and the Ent and equip my Log Armour and attack with my spear. I hold my own, but soon I realise that my lack of combat experience and tiny spear is clearly doing very little damage. Meanwhile, my log armour is all but destroyed, and I’m quickly losing health.

starve9

I attempt to flee; but as far as I run, he won’t stop chasing me! I run to my camp, hoping the Ent will shy away from my roaring fire, but for some reason, showing him the burning remains of his family after I’ve effectively danced around in their skins doesn’t dissuade him, and he chases me further. Finally, before even realising, I stumble right into Piggleton. Then, with a flash of inspiration, I realise how to beat him! I watch expectantly as the Ent crashes into the village. And thankfully, just as I’d hoped, the Pig Men instantly take up arms. Roaring, they hurl themselves at the beast as I stand well out of the way of the fight. I watch with more than a slight sense of guilt as one by one the Pig Men fall. However, thankfully the lumbering tree finally crashes to the ground, and the lone survivor of The Piggleton Massacre returns to his life in the village, apparently unconcerned that I’ve actively contributed to the murder of his village. God damn it, pigs are stupid.

 

Then…a terrible, yet beautiful thing happens. With a grim realisation and a rumbling stomach, I look again at the corpses of the pig men around me, and suddenly see them for what they truly are. BACON. I guiltily mill around until the light of day begins to wane, and as the last Pig Man returns home I shamefacedly scamper around the village, cannibalizing the dead pigs around me for ham and pig skins. Beating a hasty retreat back to my camp I light a fire, and after a very brief yet agonizing moral debate, I throw a couple of hams onto it. Trying to imagine the Pig Men as just the stupid animals they are and not the noble intelligent creatures that had just saved my…*ahem* bacon, I contentedly tuck into some giant hams. Finally, with a full stomach once again I settle for the night, gazing longingly at my science machine, head full of possibilities…

 

What will happen next in the adventures of Wilson The Gentleman Scientist? What bold new devices will he create, now he has his infamous Science Machine? What strange new creature will he encounter next? Will our chivalrous hero ever see a giant, demonic Zebra? Find out in Part 3!

Episode 139 – Stories that don’t go anywhere or Arc hunter (snigger)

Andrew Corban
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Episode 139 – Stories that don’t go anywhere or Arc hunter (snigger)

New Gameovercast Podcast is online. Press the link below orrrrrr, as always, subscribe on I-Tunes to listen

[quote]

This week Radar, Gibson, Jay and Danny are joined by super awesome amazing special guest Jennifer Taylor from The GameJar!

In games we talk Defiance, Dishonoured, Contre Jour, War Thunder, SpecOps the line, Super Meatboy, Sonic all star racing transformed, Limbo and mucho mucho more!

We have some awesome emails from our awesome listeners, and we close with a brilliant subject of the week: Does the main character being a girl change things, do we care about Alex Vance and Elizabeth from Bioshock more due to the fact they are female?

Enjoy!

http://www.gameovercast.co.uk/index.php?id=news&db3=139

 

[/quote]

 

New S.H.I.E.L.D Character ID’s

Becca Harper
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New S.H.I.E.L.D Character ID’s

Yesterday I brought you the news that ABC had picked up S.H.I.E.L.D  and today I bring you the cast ID’s and brief, and I mean brief, character descriptions. The most interesting one is the character of Skye, simply because it hints at bad guys named The Rising Tide. Is this significant? Well probably, it is likely that they will be the villains for the first series, so it will be interesting to see how Skye goes from bad guys over to the good guys. 

Agent Phil Coulson played by Clark Gregg

[box_light]Agent Phil Coulson is the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the “everyman” in a universe full of superheroes. Every day he’s somewhere doing something for S.H.I.E.L.D. He knows how to stand his ground but doesn’t take life too seriously.[/box_light]

Agent Melinda May played by Ming Na

[box_light]Melinda May is a pilot, weapons expert and soldier who is “Soulful and slightly damaged by her combat experiences.” and is known for going beyond the call of duty. Also known as “The Calvary,” this hard-core soldier, she has crazy skills when it comes to weapons and being a pilot but her experiences have left her very quiet and a little damaged. (Character previously known as Althea Rice)[/box_light]

Agent Leo Fitz played by Iain De Caestecker

[box_light]Agent Leo Fitz is skilled in the technical side of weaponry. He’s a nerd and has a sibling like relationship with Jemma Simmons.[/box_light]

Agent Jemma Simmons played by Elizabeth Henstridge

[box_light]Agent Jemma Simmons deals with biology and chemistry, she’s a bit of a nerd and spends most of her time with Leo Fitz who she trained with.[/box_light]

Agent Grant Ward played by Brett Dalton

[box_light]Agent Grant Ward is a highly skilled “rising star” known for being deadly, precise and cool under fire but apparently not so good when it comes to dealing with people with a tendency to botch interpersonal relations. He’s a quiet one with a bit of a temper, but he’s the kind of guy that grows on you.[/box_light]

Skye played by Chloe Bennet

 [box_light]Skye is fun, smart, caring and confident with an ability to get the upper hand by using her wit and charm. She is slightly obsessed with superhero culture and the shadow organizations that exists within it. She’s edgy and can out-talk anyone with her unflappable nature.[/box_light]

Source [SHIELDtv]

Game of Thrones – Season 3 – Episode 6 – Chaos Delays the Climb

SeanPWallace
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Game of Thrones – Season 3 – Episode 6 – Chaos Delays the Climb

If you’ve been reading my regular reviews of Season 3’s episodes then you’ll have noticed they come out very, very close to the release date for each episode… and that this episode was delayed somewhat. This is because I prefer to watch the episodes at my leisure and forgot to tape this week’s, leaving me at the mercy of the internet. Which promptly failed me, as my provider decided to fail to live up to their role.

As I am so delayed, I’m not going to go through the scenes and discuss the underlying themes – such as duality, which was rife, frankly – and more concentrate on a wider element which this episode relied heavily on; the additional content and scenes of Game of Thrones.

In the books, very little of this episode happens; Loras and Cersei are not scheduled to be wed at all, Arya does not meet Melisandre, Sam does not sing to Gilly. We do not see Jojen having a fit during a prophetic vision. And some of it happens but is implied rather than actually shown, such as the continued torture of Theon and Joffrey’s first slaughter. In the books this works brilliantly, leaving subtle clues which I certainly didn’t pick up on during my first readthrough, and allows the reader to discover and delve and ponder at their leisure.

But, as I’ve talked about previously, an adaptation does not need to be and should not necessarily be a complete reproduction and Game of Thrones is displaying this brilliantly. Despite much of this episode not being in the source story, it is a well-produced and fascinating 53 minutes and an excellent mid-season finale, as it were.

The changes were necessary. It is fine in the books for Theon to just disappear for ages and suddenly, horrifically, come back. It is fine for Littlefinger to mention his ‘wealthy client’ and for the reader to be left to piece it together. This is because writing is a subtle and delicate medium and good writing thrives on making you search between the lines, find deeper meaning. As you have a world woven around you with little more than markings on a page, it is fine for you to prod the spell that is being cast and for the artist to expect this of their audience.

Television, though, is not an imagination-driven medium. It is visual, aural and visceral in both senses. Metaphors tend to be represented on screen, such as with Littlefinger sitting and staring at the Iron Throne, or Brienne leaning across to aid Jaime cutting meat. They are small moments which require reflection but weave in to a larger story, an immediate and explicit story being shown before you. It cannot be expected of a television audience that Theon’s disappearance and return would have the same impact because of the likely years in our world between the events. It is better, for fans of the books and those who only watch the series, to see Theon’s torture not only because this is a visual medium but because it makes for good telly.

I enjoy seeing what the producers, writers, actors and indeed GRRM are doing with the Song of Ice and Fire books. They are distilling and adding something more, making clear what was implied but also hinting strongly at what will happen in the books yet to come. Like the Queen of Thorns and Tywin Lannister, they are differing but equal and both should be thoroughly enjoyed for the individual but shared works that they are.

Also, HODOR!

Star Trek: Into Darkness – 9 GPPs

James Buckingham
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Star Trek: Into Darkness – 9 GPPs

When 2009’s Star Trek came out, I was in awe – I’ve never been a huge follower of Star Trek, but that movie converted me heart and soul. The plethora of series always seemed a little cheesy by comparison, but JJ. Abrams‘ take on the origin story gave me a totally different outlook. Plus with the movie being a little on the epic side, I was practically gripped by the balls.

Star Trek: Into Darkness Banner

Now 4 years later we have the much-anticipated sequel, with a full returning cast and a brand-spanking new villain in the form of Sherlock… I mean, Smaug… I mean… Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch.

Before I continue, I must point out that this review will be completely spoiler-free, so if you’ve not seen the movie yet don’t worry – I’m not going to ruin a damn thing about it.

The story centers around the crew of the USS Enterprise going on a manhunt for John Harrison (Cumberbatch), a top Starfleet agent that’s gone rogue and has his sights set on raining death and destruction down upon the organisation. With Starfleet’s Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller of Robocop fame) requesting Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) & co to go under the radar Kirk will have to utilise his particular brand of improvised rule-bending to get the job done.

Harrison submits to some blood testing
Harrison submits to some blood testing

Abrams has done stellar work – from the moment the movie starts you’re on the edge of your seat. You get dropped right into the action with Kirk, Bones (Karl Urban) & Spock all on an alien planet mid-mission. JJ’s directing and Orci, Kurtzman & Lindelof’s plot development means a near relentless onslaught of action & adventure.

The writing is such that the tempo of the movie is near perfect – there’s never a lull or dull moment, and with the several twists and turns interlaced through the story, you’re always teetering near the edge of nail-biting suspense.

Something I must mention though is that the trailer makes the movie out to be very sombre and foreboding – a lot of fans were worried that the film would be too dark. Thankfully the humour and camaraderie between the crew is all retained – in fact certain relationships exposed in the first movie are developed more in this sequel, and made me chuckle somewhat.

The action, be it space-orientated or on the surface of the many featured planets is beautifully shot, and the effects work is exemplary. Some of the choreographed fight scenes are really awesome stuff… particularly with Harrison taking out many many adversaries single-handed. Happily not all of the action sequences are left to Kirk and Spock – this time Zoe Saldana‘s Uhura gets her hands dirty and gets good use out of her phaser, and even Bones has to get a little out of breath for a change.

Unfortunately Mr Sulu (John Cho) and Mr Chekov (Anton Yelchin) don’t get as much screen time in this movie – I really enjoyed them in the first, especially Cho’s sword-fighting. However there are a couple of new additions to the bridge, one being what looks like a precursor to Next Generation‘s Data and science officer Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve).

Visually-speaking 2009’s Star Trek was amazing, and Into Darkness lives up to the benchmark and manages to push it further. Abrams’ almost patented lens flare is still present, but not nearly as much as the first movie – I think it’s much more appropriate, where as in 2009 he went a little overboard.

Spock has to be inside a volcano at one point
Spock has to be inside a volcano at one point

The scope of the movie helps to keep your jaw firmly stapled to the floor while you watch – Earth’s sprawling cityscapes are awesome, yet believable for the time period. Initially starting with 23rd century London, there’s a somewhat familiar feel with certain buildings looking like a more technologically-minded version of the existing ones.

[pullquote_right]John Harrison – he’s a total badass, he’s ridiculously smart… and that damn voice.[/pullquote_right]The space-sections are still awesome, with the always impressive panning shots of the Enterprise, and some great destruction when the inevitable battles ensue. Some of the alien worlds are also really awesome – the initial world has a bright red forest that looks great while Kirk and his crew are racing through it while being chased Raiders of the Lost Ark style.

When it comes down to the actors, everyone does a great job – Chris Pine is increasingly charismatic, and Zachary Quinto continues to prove why he was perfect for Spock. Simon Pegg is always awesome in my opinion, but his increased presence in Into Darkness is very welcome. However in my opinion, Benedict Cumberbatch steals the show as John Harrison – he’s a total badass, he’s ridiculously smart… and that damn voice. You can see why Peter Jackson wanted him for Smaug – his superior, snarling tone and line delivery is amazing. The line from the trailer where he says “I will walk over your cold corpses” is delivered with such malice and contempt you can’t help but believe he’s completely capable of slaughtering the entire Enterprise crew.

Kirk, Uhura & Spock mid-gunfight
Kirk, Uhura & Spock mid-gunfight

The other new cast members all do a great job – with Alice Eve looking like she’d initially be there just for eye candy, she’s actually a decent and likable character. Like is said before, the only thing about the movie that really disappointed me was that there needed to be more Sulu & Chekov.

To conclude, Star Trek: Into Darkness is well worth your time and hard-earned/scrounged cash. It improves on it’s 2009 predecessor, both in terms of story and scope. All the principal actors do a really good job, the movie is beautiful to watch and incites a plethora of emotions – you’ll be entertained, moved, saddened and thrilled all in the same 132 minute span that the film runs for.

Go and watch it. Now. I don’t care if you’re not a Trekkie – I’m not either, but both of Abrams’ movies are turning me into one.

In fact…. screw it. I’m going to go back to the cinema and watch it again. It’s definitely worth seeing once, and I’d even go as far to say it’s worth a second viewing. So far, this is my favourite movie of the year. It’s going to take something special to top this.

Trailer:

VIDEO: The Walking (And Talking) Dead

Becca Harper
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VIDEO: The Walking (And Talking) Dead

If you haven’t checked out the guys over at Bad Lip Reading why not? Their videos are funny as hell! Well to encourage you to pay them a visit and behold their genius work I am posting their latest – The Walking (and Talking) Dead, one of the best I’ve seen and I wish the series had this version of Andrea. Anyway, enjoy and I dare you not to laugh out loud in the first 11 seconds:

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