Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is based upon the book by Roald Dahl of the same name, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp.  Surprisingly, it stays very true to the events of the book until the ending, where it deviates for no reason, adding a subplot about the backstory of Willy Wonka.  The film has a strong beginning, showing how Charlie found his Golden Ticket, however, once Willy Wonka is introduced, it starts to become weird and eccentric.  You know Johnny Depp was aiming for something but his portrayal of Willy Wonka is weird and does not fit the character well.  The voice he puts on, as well as the mannerisms and attempts to make him eccentric backfires and ends up causing the character to just be downright creepy.  There are musicals throughout the film, some songs were catchy, others... not so much.  The film relies heavily on computer effects and this can be distracting in certain scenes due to the odd quality.  The actors put in strong performances though, especially the younger cast members.  An engaging enough film but doesn't go down as a classic due to some weird choices.

Book Review: Pandora Hearts Volume 4

Review:  #547
Title:  Pandora Hearts Volume 4
Series:  Pandora Hearts - 4th volume
Author:  Jun Mochizuki
Read Before:  no
Comments:  The volume starts off with a funny lighthearted chapter which quick turns into the next story arc.  Alice is kidnapped (effectively) and brought to another dimension to which she tries and regain her memories.  Oz and Gil traverse to save her and events become confusing very quickly.  While there was brief bits of ingenuity, on the whole, it doesn't grab you like it should.  What makes it worse is that there are occasionally frames where it is hard to tell what is happening or what the characters are doing.  Overall, fairly mediocre and the story still remains bland.

Rating:  5.5/10

Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)

Star Fox 64 3D is a Nintendo 3DS remake of the original Star Fox 64 from the Nintendo 64.  Star Fox 64 is a beloved game by many and this 3D version effectively keeps everything about the gameplay intact and tries to improve upon a few more things.  The main upgrade are the graphics in which it is not only leaps and bounds better than the original, but is also one of the prettiest and most stunning games available on the 3DS.  From the very first level where you fly through grasslands, mountains, lakes and a city, it looks so good.  Later on, you will fly through space, over the top of a star with plasma shooting up, it looks fantastic.  Furthermore, the game runs very smoothly, even where there are large numbers of enemies on screen.

The persistent fog of the original has disappeared and the draw distance has vastly improved.  The voice acting has been redone, however, they have kept the same voice actors.  The dialogue is a bit repetitive at times.  The music has been re-recorded but it doesn't stand out too much.  The story focuses upon Fox McCloud, in which he leads the Star Fox team.  He is engaged by General Pepper to head into the Lylat System and investigate.  The Star Fox team ends up travelling to a few planets, battling enemies in an effort to engage the mad scientist Andross.  The story is told via dialogue exchanges between characters and some very very brief cutscenes.  It is actually quite amusing with how Fox's talking animations are designed.  Anayway, the story is quite barebones you don't end up paying much attention to it in the end.

As you can probably tell, you take control of Fox McCloud's ship in the game, flying through planets and shooting at enemies.  Star Fox 64 3D is a rail shooter most of the time, this means you don't actually get to control where you want to go, the game automatically steers you, which kinda sucks.  Although this means that the game can present to you a faster paced game and some tense situations in which there are heaps of enemies onscreen and you're frantically trying to defeat them all.  The gameplay is exactly the same as the original, you aim and move your ship at the same time using the Circle Pad.  This means that it can sometimes get confusing and hard to manage when aiming, since your aiming reticule automatically returns to the front of the ship when you release the Circle Pad.

Mapping the movement of your ship onscreen and also the aiming of your guns means that you cannot dodge obstacles and shoot at specific enemies at the same time.  Precision aiming takes some getting used to since it is hard to pinpoint a specific spot when you're constantly moving forward, and the reticule keeps moving with your ship.  Your arsenal consists of lasers, which can be upgraded during a level to fire two lasers at the same time or become more powerful.  You can also charge the lasers which can lock onto enemies.  In each level, there are gold rings that you can collect, if you collect three, your health increases for the remainder of that level.  Silver rings will occasionally be dropped by enemies which heals you.

Lastly, you have access to bombs which have a big blast radius and is more powerful than a single laser shot, but you only have a limited supply of ammo.  You can perform maneuvers with your ship such as doing a barrel roll to deflect enemy attacks, perform a somersault to throw off enemies or perform a U-turn.  There is a gauge which allows you to boost and brake to avoid obstacles like falling rocks or closing gates.  In addition to the rail shooter element, there are also sections called All-Range Mode, where you are free to fly around in an enclosed arena.  This usually happens during special events or boss fights.  A level usually has a boss fight where you destroy parts of the boss to whittle down their health.

Certain levels allow you to control a tank or a submarine, just to add some variety to the gameplay.  The biggest downside of Star Fox 64 3D is that it is very much an arcade oriented game.  This means that your first playthrough will only take around an hour to 1.5 hours.  Yes, you've read that right, you play through seven levels in one session and you'll be viewing the end credits in approximately an hour.  Needless to say that it is quite shocking and disappointing.  Fear not though because the game is designed for endless replays.  You are not able to complete everything there is to the game in one playthrough because there are multiple pathways.  Doing a certain route or performing specific requirements in a level may unlock an alternative level, which in turn may change some key events in the story.

The game encourages you to replay levels to unlock new levels.  With that being said, since it doesn't hand you most of the levels in a silver platter, it can easily put off more than a few players.  Playing through multiple playthroughs to play all levels at least once will give you approximately 5 hours of game time which isn't too bad in the end.  Star Fox 64 3D has a multiplayer component but it is offline LAN only.  There is a Battle Mode which is like what you get in Mario Kart.  You can either face actual players (with the need of only one copy of the game between you all) or against CPU opponents.  You try and destory each other's ships before you get destroyed.

There are four maps available in Battle Mode, and the options to toggle on/off power ups, time limits, difficulty of AI and how much health you have.  Furthermore, there are two other modes (which are very similar) and they are based on obtaining the highest points which are gained from defeating other players.  Overall, Star Fox 64 3D is a nice game although feels too short for its own good.  Sure, you can replay the game to unlock levels but in the end, that'll be approximately 5 hours of gameplay before you are repeating levels again and again aiming for high scores and collecting medals.  For a new player who has never played the original Nintendo 64 version, it fell short of expectations.  For however many hours you play Star Fox 64 3D, whether it be four hours or 100 hours, it is solid gameplay and is worth a purchase.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Swindle

Review:  #292
Name:  Swindle
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release:  2015
Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 5)
Mold Status:  heavy remold of Combiner Wars Rook

COMIC:

Swindle comes with Robots in Disguise #10, an issue that came with the Wave 2 re-release of Dragstrip.  It begins with Megatron, to the brink of having his spark extinguished, returning to the city.  Bumblebee wants to finish him off but the crowd says otherwise.  Decepticons are starting to revolt, and Starscream cannot control them, as much as his wants to.  The ending appearance of Prowl is supposed to be badass and the art looks good.  A decent issue but the story remains complex and hard to follow.

VEHICLE MODE:

Swindle transforms into a heavily armored jeep, this is obviously a military vehicle.  The sculpting is insane, there are a crazy amount of detailing here, it is very impressive.

The back of the vehicle isn't as good due to the blockiness made from the robot mode shoulders.  The main play value in this mold is the rolling wheels (which is a standard nowadays).

A quick size comparison he is a decent size.  The only negative in this mode is the exposed hands in the driver compartment.  It is distracting and makes it less realistic.

Perhaps the most surprising feature of this is that Swindle is a remold of Rook.  A lot of people initially thought Brawl would be the remold of Rook.  Still, the designers have done a fantastic job here and Swindle looks like a completely different toy.

The robot gun attaches to the top of the vehicle and it is recommended in the instructions to be left on like this.

The combiner piece can also attach to the back ports as a sort of anti-aircraft cannon.

While he has his flaws, Swindle has a strong vehicle mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Swindle transforms exactly the same as Rook, his arms just fold out to the side, the top and the hood of the jeep is a panel which sits behind the robot's back.  The front splits into his legs.  It is simple and effective.

ROBOT MODE:

Swindle's robot mode is faithful to his original G1 incarnation, especially the chest area.

He carries part of the jeep on his back but it is light and sits close to his body that it does not create any problems at all.

The headsculpt is fantastic and one of the best in the Combiner Wars line.  The shade of purple used for his eyes are perfect.

A quick size comparison with another Deluxe, he is pretty much on par in terms of height but has the added benefit of looking stocky.

It is more obvious in robot mode how he is a remold of Rook.

Articulation is excellent, he has the plus of adjustable ankles.  The kibble on the underside of his forearms is passable.

The level of detailing remains impressive in robot mode, although the shin details are a little bit weird, especially since the hollow features doesn't suit the stockiness of the figure.

His first weapon is a three-barrel Gatling gun.  Surprisingly they left the handle unpainted (which is not an issue since the paint will only be scraped off with repeated use).

Swindle can hole the weapon in either hand and can pull off some good poses.

The shade used for this figure seems to be a little bit off, if it was a bit darker it would have looked better.

Swindle's other weapon is the combiner piece, which is a double barreled gun.

This means Swindle can be placed in some wicked dual-wielding poses.

You may also attach the combiner piece on his shoulder as a type of shield.

Swindle's robot mode is impressive, the poseability and sturdiness gives him a lot of play value.

OVERALL:

Despite behind a remold with extremely similar engineering as Rook, Swindle wins out as being the best and funnest figure of the Combaticons.  Both of his modes look amazing, with insane amounts of sculpted detailing.  He is fun to transform and pose, he looks fantastic and there are hardly any flaws.  Definitely highly recommended even if you don't intend to form Bruticus.

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For reviews of the rest of the Combaticons, have a look at this page.

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Being in the Combiner Wars line, naturally Swindle can combine with other bots.  His natural subgroup is the Combaticons who combine to form Bruticus.

Swindle usually forms the left leg and leg mode is pretty much the jeep with the front folded back.  It looks pretty good though.

The wideness of the leg mode means that the combiner piece acting as his foot can seem a little bit small but otherwise he looks fantastic.

Swindle's arm mode has a thick forearm and that's about the only negative here.

He looks pretty decent as an arm but only if you pair it up with another thick-ish arm.  That's it for now, stay turned for the actual Bruticus review!

Love Wrecked (2005)

Love Wrecked is a romantic comedy starring Amanda Bynes who, is stranded on an island with a rock star, and attempts to win him over.  It sounds like it could be good, right?  Well, the movie starts off fine, decent but not stellar, it does enough to keep you going.  Amanda plays the character Jenny, and her childhood friend (who is secretly in love with her) is introduced, they work on an island resort.  A famous rock star called Jason arrives, and after a storm, Jenny is shipwrecked on an island with Jason, and Jenny attempts to win him over.  You would have thought the island stranding would be the beginning of the good parts, however, it ends up becoming a boring drag with a distinct lack of humor.  While Amanda Bynes is the highlight of the movie, even she alone cannot hold the whole movie up.  The introduction of the "plot twist" and another secondary character further degrades the movie into a standard typical plot.  While it is not horrible, Love Wrecked can be a drag at some points.

Book Review: The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life)

Review:  #546
Title:  The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life)
Series:  Cedar B. Hartley (not official name) - 1st book
Author:  Martine Murray
Read Before:  yes
Comments:  A down to earth story about a 12 year old girl called Cedar, and the journey she takes to rediscover herself.  It is a kind of growing up story but perhaps the most surprising thing is that while it is Children's fiction, it actually had a lot of concepts that you would not have expected in one, such as sexual relationships.  The plot doesn't have peaks and troughs, rather you are experiencing each day of Cedar's life, like a diary.  The mysteries surrounding her father and her growing relationship with a boy named Kite is the focus for most of the way.  It introduces a few things which are not fully resolved such as her brother's running away or the wrongdoing he received.  The writing isn't too fantastical, it's very down-to-earth.  However, it portrays the naivety of Cedar well and makes her character believable.

Rating:  6/10

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Brawl

Review:  #291
Name:  Brawl
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release:  2015
Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 5)
Mold Status:  new

COMIC:

Brawl comes with Robots in Disguise #9, an issue that was originally supposed to come with Skydive.  Continuing on from the previous episode, Ironhide is running away from the Dinobots who are relentless hunting him and wanting to destroy him.  It ends up quite interesting actually as you're left wondering what has caused this to occur.  Something is happening, but it is still hidden from us.  The ending is a surprise with the appearance of a familiar bot and gives rise to implications that could happen in future episodes.

TANK MODE:

True to his G1 self, Brawl transforms into a tank and perhaps most surprisingly, Brawl is a completely new mold!  This is somewhat rare due to the prevalence of remolds in the latter waves of Combiner Wars.

New mold does not automatically mean an awesome mold though since Brawl feels just a tad bit too short.  The treads are molded in, there are small plastic wheels on the bottom to help him roll.

Brawl is compact but he feels nice in your hands.  There are heaps of sculpted detailing.

The combiner piece can be tabbed on top of the turret for a secondary turret.  This is one of the better integrations of the combiner piece we have seen.  Unfortunately, the turret cannot rotate.

While fairly static in nature, this is a detailed alternate mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Brawl's transformation reminds me a lot from PowerCore Combiners Heavytread.  Thankfully this also means he breaks away from the typical Combiner Wars transformation a little bit.  It is still a simple transformation of extending the back of the tank for his legs, and the front treads separating to form his arms.  The only tricky thing going from robot to vehicle is how to collapse his waist as it is not terribly intuitive.

ROBOT MODE:

Now it is time for Brawl's robot mode and he is... stocky and something just feels off about him.  His shoulders seem too big, forearms too short and chest too stout.

He carries the turret on his back which is to be expected really.  Otherwise, he is quite kibble free.

The headsculpt is very good and detailed.  It is only on a swivel joint though.

He is roughly the height of a standard Deluxe.  The bulky look lends well to the character.

Poseability is slightly better in some areas and slightly worse in others.  His shoulders, as you can suspect, is hindered thanks to the large shoulder pads.  There are joints inside the shoulders to help alleviate this weakness but on the whole, it's still hard to get him arms straight out.

The surprisingly area though is Brawl's feet which has a huge range of motion thanks to the side and back joints (mainly for combiner mode transformation).  This means he can stand flat in a huge variety of poses.

The first weapon for Brawl is the cannon which has been detached from the turret.  It's a thin piece and doesn't look terribly impressive.

He can hold it in either hand and it looks good enough.

The other option is pegging it onto the outside of his forearms which looks much better.

He lacks paint applications in this mode, instead relying on the green plastic with a few highlights here and there.

Brawl's other weapon is the combiner piece itself, which doubles up as a dual-barreled gun.

You can use the same place on the turret to store the weapon on his back.  One thing to note is that Brawl's waist doesn't click into place very securely so he'll most likely flop around when trying to pose him.

Naturally you can have him hold the weapon in his hands but due to the short forearms, it means he cannot bend his elbows to aim.

The other spot you can use the weapon is on the outside of his forearms

Apart from the odd proportions and the waist issue, this is a nice robot.

OVERALL:

Brawl is the excitement of Wave 5, just because he is a new mold.  However, Brawl has his own share of flaws which means the other Combiner Wars molds are better and more solidly built.  The waist issue really should have been solved during the testing phase.  Then again, no matter how bad the figure is, you will purchase it because he is an integral part of Bruticus.  Plus, he is not a horrible toy in the end and still quite fun.

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Brawl is a Combiner Wars figure, so he has two more modes to show off.  He forms a part of Bruticus along with his fellow Combaticons, here's a quick look at his two limb modes.

First up, and this is his normal configuration, is that he forms the leg.  The turret acting as a knee spike is really neat.

He forms a really solid leg with great proportions, although the same complaint of the line is that the feet looks small in proportion to the combined mode.

He other form is the arm.  He has a unique transformation into limb mode which made it more interesting than usual.

Due to the blocky nature of the figure, the arm is quite thick and big.  That's about it for the figure though, thanks for looking!