"I'm Gonna Wreck It!"

Well...it's been a while. About 3 months, in fact. Long story why...but it's not important. I'm here to talk about the movie Wreck-It Ralph. Why? BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD VIDEO GAME MOVIE! And it's Disney! Disney owns Marvel and Star Wars, they can do no wrong!

So a little background...well, Wreck-It Ralph is a movie about video games with video game characters. That's about it for background. Oh yeah, and I did NOT see it in 3D, sorry. But I did see it in this awesome theater that looked like a pyramid...

Spoiler free plot! Well, Wreck-It Ralph is a villain in a classic arcade video game, but after thirty years of being a villain he wants to be a hero, and sets off to find a medal to prove he can do more than wreck things. Along the way, though, Ralph discovers a deep conspiracy that could shut down the arcade! ...though that part's kinda glossed over. But there will be drama!

Well...time for some positives! First off, this movie is GREAT if you like video games. All the different references will be leaving your inner fanboy drooling and laughing until the final Disney logo is played after the  credits! But you know what? This movie is great if you're NOT a gamer, too! Even with the references throughout, the movie doesn't rely on them. They added them there for gamers to smile, not to sell the movie.   The writing, the acting, the twists, and especially the story...ALL are top notch Disney. And the music...well, the music is great! ...and not just because I'm an Owl City fan! Oh, and the animation is gorgeous! I kept forgetting it wasn't a Pixar film, that's how beautiful the animation was!

Time for negatives...well, there are a few jokes that are pretty childish, but it isn't distracting. Another negative is the fact that while the movie was advertised as containing tons of famous game characters, they aren't as important as you would think after watching the ads. All of them are cameos. Good cameos (Not counting Zanghief...SERIOUSLY! He isn't a bad guy!), but pretty short. One big exception is Qbert, who deserved the big extended cameo. I mean...I don't even know anyone who's played the poor guy's game! But seriously, besides these very minor things, there isn't much to complain about.

All in all, Wreck-It Ralph is a very good movie, and I think any gamer should see it. Even if you're not a gamer, you should see it!

Word of Warning: No swear words...some kinda violent moments (Remember though, they're game characters.)...References to game death...a couple minor tiolet humor jokes...and that's it. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Final Verdict: 9.5/10 (Wow...better score than Brave!)

I am the R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!

"IT'S NO USE!"

...those who have read my title today, and have played Sonic 06 before, have just wet themselves in fear. That's right, people, today I'm reviewing Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) for PS3! ...why is everyone running in fear?

Ok, first off, the obvious question: Why am I reviewing it NOW?! It's six years old! Well, I just got my PS3 two weeks ago, so this is the first time to REALLY play it. Also, as everyone knows, this game is LOATHED by most of the Sonic community, and in fact, the entire gaming community, too! So did I like it? ...let's talk about it...and WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

First let's talk about the story. In a nutshell it's: Eggman has kidnapped the Princess! Save her, Mar-I mean, Sonic... Oh, and we're throwing in the destruction of time and sun gods, too. However, there IS a lot more to the story. Really, the main theme of the story is living in the present. Confused? Let me explain further by looking at each of the episodes.

First episode we'll look at is Silver's. Silver is from the future, and an apocalyptic one at that. All his life he's been fighting the flames and wishing he could go back and stop the apocalypse from happening. Suddenly, a being called Mephiles appears and offers Silver the chance to go back and kill the one "responsible". This will, according to Mephiles, prevent the apocalypse from happening. So Silver agrees and tries to find the "Ibliss Trigger" so he can kill him. Silver finally finds Sonic, the "Ibliss Trigger", and attacks him. However, Amy stops Silver from finishing off Sonic. Silver is confused, and starts questioning whether it's right to kill off someone who's innocent in the past that will one day grow up to be guilty. (The "Would you kill baby Hitler" question, in a sense.) Shadow shows Silver the past, revealing Mephiles to be a liar, and helps Silver see that he needs to not worry about the past. Be mindful and learn from your mistakes, but don't fixate on it. Silver than returns to the future and figures out a way to stop Ibliss THEN. Silver's story is about not dwelling on the past, and concentrating on what you can do NOW to help the world.

Next we'll discuss Shadow's episode. Shadow has a shorter episode, but he just had his own GAME before this, so that's ok. Shadow, who comes from the past remember, starts off working with GUN, having learned what Silver did in the previous game. Due to some slippery fingers, Shadow and Rouge release Mepphiles, who takes the form of Shadow. Mephiles shows them the future, and reveals that eventually the people will blame Shadow for what happened to the future and imprison him as punishment. In a WONDERFUL nod to continuity, Shadow doesn't even think about Mephiles' offer to have Shadow help him rule the world. Shadow just tells him he's crazy and fights. Eventually, though, Shadow finds out that one of his closest friends, Omega, will ultimately be the one who will betray him and imprison Shadow. Shadow seems conflicted, but is reminded that there will always be people standing beside him. At the very end, Mephiles surrounds Team Shadow, and tells Shadow that it's pointless, that humans will eventually turn against him, and asks him why he keeps fighting for people that he knows will turn against him. Shadow simply answers "If the world chooses to become my enemy...I will fight like I always have!" and fights Mephiles. Now this phrase is kinda hard to interpret. It COULD mean that Shadow is a loner, and that hell fight anyone that fights him. But I think it means that he doesn't care what will happen in the future, that he won't worry about it. If the world turns against him that he'll STILL fight to defend it. Sure, he may fight off those that attack him, but he'll never turn his back on the world. And, n fact, this draws an excellent close to Shadow's story arc! In Sonic Adventure 2 he's trying to destroy the world because of what happened in the past, and is enjoying it. However, he's reminded that Maria didn't want him to destroy the world, and decides to save the world...only because Maria wanted him to. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he's lost his memories of Maria (Minus the one where she DIES.), and has to find out whether he's really good or evil. Also, he has to learn to let go of the past, and to live in the present. In Sonic 06, he learns that he can't worry about the future, he needs to do what he thinks is right.

Sonic's Episode now...he doesn't learn anything, really. Sonic's episode is really about Elise coming to terms with her own dark past and future. Sonic is the anchor firmly in the present. When he's thrown into the past or future, he just worries about what's going on in the present. Sonic doesn't need to grow, though. He's an observer...

The final episode...oh boy...the finale...well, there is some great Drama, and you can really see how far Shadow, Silver, and Elise have come...then the kiss happens. I'm sorry, but I did NOT like the kiss. It had no point, really. However, the ending is possibly worse...and possibly great. From a Sonic and Elise perspective...WOW! The world is even better! From my perspective..."Wait, so now all the growth Silver and Shadow did...NEVER HAPPENED?!" It has that Mario 2 (USA) ending vibe...

Ok, then. Let's discuss the gameplay. It is VERY Sonic Adventure like! Honestly, this game WAS Sonic Adventure 3, but more on that later. Shadow's gameplay, though, was weak. They try to find a balance between Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the hedgehog...but it falls flat, in my opinion. Silver's gameplay was fun...but a bit slow. Honestly, though, the worst gameplay was either Sonic's speed up stages or the snow boarding. The speed up stages were annoying, and the fact that they were at the end of the levels did not help...the snowboarding was just badly designed...REALLY badly designed. The other characters you play as sometimes were odd...Blaze wasn't bad, Tails and Rouge were annoying to attack, Amy was weak, Knuckles got stuck a lot for some reason, and Omega wasn't as much fun as in other games with him.

Put the REAL problem with this game lies in glitches and loadtimes. For almost EVERYTHING you have a minut and a half load time. It's especially annoying during town challenges. You will tell them you want to try the challenge, it loads, he gives a sentence of instructions, load, about a 30 second challenge, load screen, he congratulates you, loading, and THEN you are back in town! It's like that with bosses, too! And the glitches...oh man, this thing needed a few more months of testing! Seriously!

And now...the writing and acting...this game has some TERRIBLE acting! Honestly, some of the worst! The writing isn't that good, either, even i the story is good. Yes, there ARE some good lines, but the acting and other writing don't work that well...though that might have been intentional...I'll explain later.

Now the music and graphics...AWESOME! Despite some questionable choices for character models (That Eggman model will haunt my nightmares...), the graphics are EXCELLENT for 2006! Even now, they don't look bad at all! And the music...I love this game's sound track! His World is one of my FAVORITE songs of all time! All Hail Shadow is always great, of course! The remix for sweet dreams was a nice touch, too. Dreams of Absolution is...not my favorite, but has some great parts. Elise's theme...is a love song. Sorry, not really my taste... And the level music is great too!

Now it's later...time to talk about this game's connections to the Sonic Adventure series, and why I think this game IS Sonic Adventure 3! First off, this game has three stories. The first Adventure game had 1 story (With five sides to it.), Sonic Adventure 2 had two stories, so this has the natural progression of 3 stories! Also, the main theme in the Sonic Adventure series is human error causing the wrath of gods. Adventure had Knuckles tribe in the past anger Chaos, Adventure 2 had Gerald Robotnik get revenge from beyond the grave using his prototype Ultimate Lifeform (AKA god...which had Chaos DNA, by the way), and this game has Solaris, which was both already existing, but enhanced too much by the Duke. Not only that, but the natural progression of stakes is also at hand. Adventure had an angry neutral god destroying a city, 2 had a god programmed to do one evil thing about to destroy the earth, and this game has a truly evil god of destruction trying to wipe out ALL TIME AND REALITY! Also, this game has an adventure field like the first game, and the hokey acting and writing from the other 2 Adventure games returns here (Neat nod to the first two or laziness? You decide!). Some other neat references to the Adventure series includes Shadow getting his OWN Shadow in the form of Mephiles, Mephiles' eyes looking like Chaos', and my personal favorite: Wave Ocean having the whale from Adventure and Crisis City starting off on a board like City Escape. Really, this game WAS Sonic Adventure 3!

So in conclusion, this game is incredibly flawed. It has some broken controls, features talked about in game that they don't include, bad acting, bad writing, glitches up the wall, LONG load times, and worse yet: THE STORY DIDN'T EVEN HAPPEN! And yet...in the end...I had fun. Is it a good game? No, it sadly isn't. But I see the gem the team was TRYING to reveal for us, and I see how good it could have been. And honestly, it is STILL a Sonic game. So I say that if you LOVE the Adventure series, camp and all, try this game out. It's like 15 bucks at Gamestop, and is actually sorta fun if you look past the flaws. This game is not my favorite Sonic game, but it isn't my least favorite either. It's just sorta mediocre, and I think that's one of the main problems people had with it initially. It was the 15th anniversary, and this game was going to be the greatest love letter to Sonic ans EVER! ...but due to time restraints they had to rush out a mediocre game. It's sad, but it happened. And like this game tells us, we need to stop dwelling in the past, don't worry about the future, and live and enjoy the present that we're in today. So I PROUDLY give this game a 8/10.

I am the R2 Dude, and this IS The R2 View!

Summer of ZOMBIES!: Finale

Ok, sorry for the delay. Here is a quick look at the last three things for the Summer of ZOMBIES! Next year will probably go better, and will be a DIFFERENT subject!
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REVIEW 1: RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE

For a quick review...this movie is a LOT better than Extinction. A LOT better. Acting is better, Alice isn't as bad, writing is better, effects are actually worse, and story wise it's better. They still mess with the canon characters, though not as bad. In fact, Claire ALMOST kills a monster on her own! ...almost...all in all, better than Extinction, not as good as the first two. 6/10.

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REVIEW 2: RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION

This movie IS canon, and is a lot of fun! The CGI is great, the writing and acting is fantastic...BUT...the movie is a bit dull. It really has no effect on the main stories of the game, and only has a couple of good action set pieces. Most of the movie is boring dialogue, but when the action starts it's good! 8/10

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REVIEW: RESIDENT EVIL 4

Honestly, I haven't beaten this game. It is HARD! But it's fun, too! This is the first game in the series I've played, and I got scared a few times. I can't rate it because I haven't finished it, but it IS a good game! Go try it!

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I am the R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!

Simply...AMAZING!

The Amazing Spider-Man. Oh man...Go watch this movie! Seriously! Ok, you need more here...this will be another mini-review...but this time it's for a GOOD reason!

Background: Spider-Man. Seriously, need I say more?

Plot: Peter Parker is bit by a spider, his Uncle dies, he learns that with great power comes great responsibility...AND FIGHTS THE LIZARD!

Pros: The characters are great, the story is great, the chemistry between Peter and Gwen is great, the villain is great, the changes they made to the classic mythos is great, the pacing is great (Maybe a little TOO fast), the set up for the sequel is great...this movie is GREAT! My personal favorite thing that this movie does better than the Sam Rami trilogy is Spider-Man. In the Rami films Spider-Man doesn't quip. Confused? Well, in the comics one of Spider-man's most defining traits is the way he quips as he fights: Making fun of the villains, cracking jokes, breaking the fourth wall, ect. Well, this movie has them again, and I couldn't be happier!

Cons: Not much...it DOES leave you wanting more, but that could be good, AS LONG AS THEY MAKE THE SEQUELS! (They have announced they are...but they better follow through!) Another minor thing is that Peter is shown more than Spider-Man, but it makes sense, since this is an origin story. Uh...grasping here, but I also thought the First Person shots of Spider-Man swinging were kinda stupid (Minus the first one).

Final Word: This movie is AMAZING! (Pun intended.) Seriously, this and Avengers are so far (For me) this year's two MUST SEE movies. It is a thousand times better than the Sam Rami ones, and I loved the Sam Rami ones! Go see it!

Word of Warning: A few minor swear words are in here, violence of course, and surprisingly some blood and gore (The most disgusting is a Lizard mouse devouring a normal mouse...egh...). YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Final Verdict: 10/10 (My MUST GO SEE THIS FILM IMMEDIATELY! award.)

I am The R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!

Summer of ZOMBIES!: Resident Evil: Extinction

I am going to make this quick...because this movie doesn't DESERVE a long review. Heck, it doesn't even deserve a review at all! But here's my QUICK review of Resident Evil: Extinction, the movie that taught me how to hate.

Pros...the effects are better. Also, some of the dialogue is written competently.

Negatives...man, are there a LOT of things here. For one, this movie takes Alice's "Mary Sue"ness one step farther...in this movie she is officially the messiah. Seriously, her blood holds the only cure for the Zombie Apocalypse! And yes...Zombie Apocalypse. And no, you don't get to see it happen, you just are told "Oh yeah..the Zombie Apocalypse happened in-between this movie and the last one." I think we skipped a movie in-between...Some more bad things: Butchering of classic characters, butchering the source material, butchering  the senses of the viewers...this is a BAD movie. Honestly, this is one of the few movies I've watched that I felt DUMBER watching. It is not redeemable WHATSOEVER. I mean, Apocalypse was stupid, but a lot of the Raccoon City action was really fun. This movie, though, is garbage. You may have noticed that I don't have pictures or anything up for this review. Why? Because if the movie doesn't put forth effort...why should I? Unless you want to either torture yourselves, or you are a movie completionist like me, stay FAR away from this sequel. The first one I thought was good; the second one was stupid, but fun; but THIS movie is a slap in the face for fans of the games and movies ALIKE.

Word of...oh forget it. Look, this movie is garbage regardless. But yeah, swearing, violence, gore...all here. You're warned and stuff...

Final Verdict: 3/10 (My GARBAGE! Award. Congrats, Extinction...)

Also, in order to keep myself SANE...a review of The Amazing Spider-Man will be up today!

The Brave Little Pixar

Ah, Pixar...I love Pixar. Ever since they made Toy Story they have been some of my favorite film makers of all time. Ever since 2008 (Wall-E) me and my little brother have made it a tradition to go see every Pixar movie in theaters. So obviously, we went to go see Brave today. So how was it? Well, you're here to find out, right? What's that? ...you want to know where my Zombie movie review is? ...WAIT FOR IT!!! Sheesh...Soon I SHOULD have the review of Extinction up. I would have had it up earlier this week but...well...uh...it sorta scared me so bad that I needed time for it to sink in that something like that exists...in the meantime, here's Brave!

Background...well, Pixar makes family movies that are good. This is their newest. Ok, I should put something here...For one, my favorite Pixar movie is Toy Story 3. What does that have to do with Brave? Nothing. Second, I should say that we did NOT see this in 3D, so I won't be evaluating that. And finally, I want to say that the title Brave is stupid. Honestly, it gets shoehorned into dialogue later and doesn't make sense. The original title was The Bear and the Bow...and that made a LOT more sense. Oh well, just something odd.

A quick recap of the movie...spoiler free, don't worry...: There's a young princess in the Scottish Highlands that is being pressured by her mother to act like a proper princess. Fed up with it all, the princess runs away and finds a witch, making a deal for a spell that could help her with her mother...what could possibly go wrong?!

Ok, positive time! Firstly, this movie is BEAUTIFUL! The Scottish Highlands feel ALIVE in this movie. The detail is great, the modeling is wonderful, and beauty can be seen everywhere. Also, the characters are REALLY fun, and I didn't hate a single one (I do kinda hate those two kids that were sitting behind me in the theater...but that has nothing to do with the movie...). The script was well written, the voice acting is pretty good, and the exciting parts are tense. The plot twists are also unexpected and exciting. The relationship between the mother and daughter is very believable, and the princess is not the typical Disney princess. Also, I love the score.

Negatives...well, honestly my main problem here is that the whole story seems rushed. Don't get me wrong, this is a relatively long movie (Almost 2 hours, I think), but they spend a lot of time introducing us, then some gags, and finally we have about 1/4 of the movie to fit in the conflict. It's still a great movie, and it doesn't drag at all, but either a longer run time or less time for the intro could have helped the conflict out a lot. Also, some people may complain about how butchered Scottish life is in the movie. Honestly, I don't mind at all, and think they did a great job adapting Scottish life for a kids film, but some purists may be upset. Also, the resolution feels a tad bit underplayed...don't get me wrong, it's a great emotional ending...but I feel like the resolution really happened before this part.

All in all, this is a fun movie, and it is a great addition to the Pixar library. I highly recommend you go see it. ...don't worry, next is Resident Evil: Extinction. Sheesh.

Word of Warning: Well, this movie has no swear words...but there IS a bit of violence, including hunting and nearly-deadly bear attacks. There is no blood, and no gore, though. Also, there is some scary/intense moments, and there are a couple more sexual jokes. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Final Verdict: 8.5/10

I am the R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!

Summer of ZOMBIES!: Resident Evil: Apocalypse

And now for the second review for Summer of ZOMBIES! Today's movie is the sequel to the first Resident Evil movie...that's right, today we're reviewing Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

I don't really need much background here. If you haven't read my review of Resident Evil read that first, I'll wait...done yet? No...well hurry! ...NOW?! SERIOUSLY?! Ugh...Ok, that's it. If you haven't read it yet TOO BAD! Ok, there is a couple things I need to say...first thing is this. Remember how I mentioned that Anderson was the director/writer/producer of the series? Well, even though he didn't direct this or the next movie, he still wrote and produced them. Anyways, he met Milla Jovovich (Alice) for the first time making the first Resident Evil movie. However...Anderson fell in love with her during production. No, seriously. He even proposed to her in 2003...the same time he was writing the script for Apocalypse...hmm...you know, that explains a LOT! Secondly, despite what I said in the first review (HA! Told you to read it...), from here on out there is NO continuity between game and film. It didn't take me long to figure out, either...

And for a quick plot analysis...the T virus has gotten into the water supply of Raccoon City, causing a HUGE Zombie outbreak. Alice and a group of survivors try to save a young girl and get out alive. Wow...that was quick.

Ok, Positives. Well, I do like the scale for this movie. The first movie had a small facility, and everything was contained. This movie improves things by having all of Raccoon City be infested. The action in the movie is very good, too. A lot of the characters are likable, and a good amount of them live this time. I also like how they tried to incorporate more of the game's elements into the movie. And more of the monsters make an appearance, which is awesome. Lastly...the ending. Seriously, the endings that Anderson has just makes you want to watch the next movie! It's cliffhangers to the extreme...

Negatives...where do I start...well, first off, the CGI still is bad...it's improved, but not much at all. Also, they sorta butcher the story of the third game. I appreciate that they tried...but bad decisions still made it bad...And now for the REAL problem with this movie. This movie turned Alice into a Mary Sue. Seriously. This is the first movie to include main characters from the games, and they become pretty much non-existent once Alice is around. For example, early in the movie you see Jill Valentine break into a police station and kill a bunch of Zombies single handily. It was a very cool moment and the first time we see zombies die. (Early in the movie this time, thankfully.) However, once Alice shows up Jill becomes Princess Peach. She stands in awe of Alice and actually runs away from danger when Alice tells her to. I honestly feel like Anderson swept the story aside in order to write a movie praising Jovovich...just so she would like him. I mean, in this movie Alice returns from the dead twice, stares unblinkingly at Nemesis, has Nemesis AT HER MERCY, and single handily fights off a huge hoard of Zombies...WITH KARATE! Honestly, this is my biggest complaint with this movie. The first movie had Alice as a memory loss victim with a dark past that returns to haunt her. She eventually over comes that in order to save the last couple of survivors, even when it puts her into danger. She fights, yes, but not much. And even when she does it makes sense. This movie, however, makes her the greatest thing since sliced bread. We are forced to think that Alice is the most powerful and greatest person in this universe, and aren't given much choice on the matter.

I'll be honest here, I was really enjoying the movie...but the constant Alice/Jovovich worship was really irritating and distracting. Look...I think she's a good actress, and I am not complaining she was in this movie...but this really felt more like a Mary Sue fanfiction for Resident Evil 3 than a Resident Evil Movie.

Word of Warning: Again, not a movie for kids. At all. This time the R rating feels more natural. There is more blood and gore (Still pretty tame, though.), and more violent deaths. There is still swearing, but there are less F words (Still a few, though.). And again...Zombies, people. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Final Verdict: 6/10

I am The R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!