Saturday, January 23, 2010

Far Cry movie review



PostalFar Cry
Directed by Uwe Boll
Starring Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, and Michael Paré
Movie released: October 2, 2008
DVD released: Nov 24, 2009
A Canadian lumber mill takes the place of a South Pacific island, zombie mercenaries stand-in for hulking mutants and Jack Carver has a German accent, but enough connects the movie to the game to call Far Cry a fairly faithful videogame adaptation. Fans won’t be pleased, though, since notorious director Uwe Boll is at the helm.

Charter boat captain Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) takes journalist Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier) to an assignment on a remote island. Of course the island hides a secret lab where an evil scientist is creating an unstoppable army (X-Men comics warned us about Canada’s scientific villainy). Valerie is captured and Jack’s boat is blown up so Jack enters reluctant hero mode.

In a series of set pieces, Jack dodges explosions and kills mercenaries, while escaping capture and rescuing the girl. If you’ve seen Inglourious Basterds, you’ll remember Schweiger as the badass Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz. Schweiger is a credible action hero making Far Cry a credible action movie. Uwe Boll seems to be aiming for a 1980s action movie vibe – elevating Valerie to love interest and pairing Carver with a comedy relief providing sidekick (Boll regular Chris Coppola as the tagalong “Food-guy”).

While Boll is usually reviled for his directorial choices, most of Far Cry’s flaws stem from what looks like a Syfy level budget. The game was lauded for its stunning visuals; the movie, not so much. Jack Carver’s trademark Hawaiian shirt looks sorely out of place in Vancouver and it’s hard to be menaced by a villain that whose secret lair is a sawmill.



Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Game Couch: 2009 in Review



Blogging in a Twitter World
Overall my blogging was down, but my tweeting (@GameCouch) was up. I think this is part of a larger trend. If I’m looking for thoughtful conversation about games, I go to Twitter. It’s also my source for news and a great way to see a quick snapshot of the gaming world’s psyche. If you’re looking for community, Twitter’s the place to go. Some quick recommendations not found on my outdated People to follow on Twitter: bsangel, 8bithack, trixie360, and CorvusE.

The Biggest Story
The Rape Game, my take on the RapeLay/Amazon controversy, drew the most views, thanks largely to Leigh Alexander including it in RapeLay: The Response.

The Second Biggest Story
I understand why unique content gets a lot of traffic, but I was surprised that so many people came here looking for information about The Force Unleashed: Jedi Temple DLC. Doesn't IGN cover stuff like this?

The Story I Wish Had Been Bigger
When a friend spotted Game Couch in a psychology newsletter, I was hoping for another flood of traffic to my interview with Grand Theft Childhood co-author Dr. Cheryl K. Olson. Instead it was just an aftershock from the 2008 piece.

Cool People
Rebecca Mayes, Audio Gamer
Video game reviews in song? I was intrigued. Since then Rebecca has exploded and now Rebecca Mayes Muses is a major part of The Escapist.

Howard Sherman, Interactive Fiction Author
What do ebook readers mean for gaming? I asked Howard Sherman, the madman behind Malinche about Interactive Fiction on the Kindle.

Beth Gallaway, Information Goddess
Beth exists in the intersection between gaming and libraries. Buy her book: Game On!

We Are They
This lead came via Jamie Sanders (VNES). They’re a cool band and I still love the pirate song. Don’t know how the Wii contest ever turned out.



Friday, January 8, 2010

Far Cry movie review



PostalFar Cry
Directed by Uwe Boll
Starring Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, and Michael Paré
Movie released: October 2, 2008
DVD released: Nov 24, 2009
A Canadian lumber mill takes the place of a South Pacific island, zombie mercenaries stand-in for hulking mutants and Jack Carver has a German accent, but enough connects the movie to the game to call Far Cry a fairly faithful videogame adaptation. Fans won’t be pleased, though, since notorious director Uwe Boll is at the helm.

Charter boat captain Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) takes journalist Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier) to an assignment on a remote island. Of course the island hides a secret lab where an evil scientist is creating an unstoppable army (X-Men comics warned us about Canada’s scientific villainy). Valerie is captured and Jack’s boat is blown up so Jack enters reluctant hero mode.

In a series of set pieces, Jack dodges explosions and kills mercenaries, while escaping capture and rescuing the girl. If you’ve seen Inglourious Basterds, you’ll remember Schweiger as the badass Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz. Schweiger is a credible action hero making Far Cry a credible action movie. Uwe Boll seems to be aiming for a 1980s action movie vibe – elevating Valerie to love interest and pairing Carver with a comedy relief providing sidekick (Boll regular Chris Coppola as the tagalong “Food-guy”).

While Boll is usually reviled for his directorial choices, most of Far Cry’s flaws stem from what looks like a Syfy level budget. The game was lauded for its stunning visuals; the movie, not so much. Jack Carver’s trademark Hawaiian shirt looks sorely out of place in Vancouver and it’s hard to be menaced by a villain that whose secret lair is a sawmill.