TV: The Walking Dead Season 3

The Walking Dead Season 3

Did Season 3 Sink its Teeth Deep Enough this Time?

***** ! CONTAINS SPOILERS ! *****

 

AT Season 2’s finale last year, the Walking Dead concluded with not a bang, but rather the priming of another round in anticipation of what was next for Rick Grimes and his group of survivors. Ending with an equally fiery as memorable walker barn fire, character deaths, pivotal plot reveal, introduction of comic book favourite Michonne, and the establishing of what fans termed ‘The Ricktatorship’, expectations were set excitingly high. So, in hindsight of season three, how did the series fare in comparison to its predecessors?

If you were to trawl the internet for fan reactions, you’d probably discover the general opinion is that the first half was in every way better than the second. Episode 1 started in top gear, our heroes bursting through a door into a house filled with walkers, and somehow maintained such a drive right up until the mid-season finale (minus, perhaps, the Woodbury- only episode 3). But, in much the same fashion as season 2, 3 had as many highs as it did lows. Highlight episodes included the likes of 1 (Seed), 2 (Sick), 4, (Killer Within), 12 (Clear) and 15 (This Sorrowful Life). Whereas season two stumbled like its undead inhabitants, three does so too, albeit in its latter stages. In short, the first half was killer, and the second, much to viewers’ disappointment, filler.

This is mostly due to some shaky writing that makes the show feel diluted in order to stretch to the 16- episode mark. But with Scott Gimple taking over as showrunner for the now- announced season four (he wrote the stronger parts this season), things may be looking up. This is consequential of Glen Mazzara’s leaving due to ‘creative differences’ with AMC, the details of which we may never know. Many fans, though, point to Mazzara’s writing as the reason for TWD’s drier spells – something season 4 will now undoubtedly reveal.

It’s worth taking a little time to reflect on the characters, since many have gone through notable and life- altering changes this season. The likes of Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus reprise their roles as the zombie killing badasses with backbone, but sees other characters forcibly adapt to the new world in order to survive – no longer are the walkers feared on every sighting. Rather, season three presents them as obstacles to be removed as opposed to a looming threat. Take for instance, the first episode, ‘Clear’, in which Rick states they are going to ‘take’ the prison by ‘going in, hand to hand’. Contrast this with the frailty of the group at Hershel’s farm in season two, when a walker was left to the tougher types to dispatch. Instead, every character watches their own back, sometimes even enjoying the bloodshed (Maggie asks “Did you see that?!” when driving a machete through a walker’s head). All this makes for stronger, more respectable, and most importantly, less annoying character qualities.

It goes without saying that Rick and Daryl are the standouts, but season three has given rise to other characters stealing the spotlight: namely, Danai Guirira’s Michonne, Michael Rooker’s Merle, Melissa McBride’s Carol, and David Morrissey’s the Governor (or Philip, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, in fairness). Michonne started out a little two dimensional, (through no fault of Guirira’s, but the writers’) but managed by the end to emerge as a likeable and humanistic character. Kudos is also overly due to McBride in her portrayal of Carol, a regular sufferer of misfortune, who shows that she can handle just about anything the script throws at her, and Michael Rooker, who provided Merle with a rollercoaster ride of emotional investment from viewers. Sometimes we hated him (beating and torturing Glenn, almost handing over Michonne to the Guv’na) but by the end of his story, we couldn’t help but feel the show had lost something great in Rooker’s departure. In Merle’s death we also saw Daryl’s raw, inner self, a world away from his temperamental origins in the series. And with it, Reedus proved to us he wasn’t just the cool, tough as nails Legolas equivalent, but a fine actor too. Season 3 also introduced comic book favourite Tyreese – but to mixed reception.

There’s always a risk in separating main characters and trailing them off into individual paths, and it showed – Woodbury’s story segments weren’t half as interesting as what was going on in the prison (ever), even though a handful of characters were devoted to it. Two episodes that exclusively dealt with Woodbury antics were in essence, boring, and made viewers well aware that they would be going two weeks without seeing the prison gang. Some more refined writing would have seen this fixed, in which one could imagine seeing the drama cut neatly between the two areas, therefore eliminating any wasted time and dialogue. The biggest victim this season was Andrea, however, whose character was so badly drawn out that her death in the finale was beyond predictable and into desirable for some. It didn’t help that the finale rested its weight on her death either, a big mistake when considering that in harsh reality it was difficult to feel sympathy for such a flawed character. (Why did she stay at Woodbury after learning that the Governor was a psychopath? Why would she trust him over Michonne, who she’s known for longer and owes her life to?) This is not to say that the finale fell short because it put all its chips on drama over action, just that it sacrificed a seemingly inevitable and hotly anticipated collision of forces for an un-affecting character send-off. There was much more impact in episode 4, ‘The Killer Within’, at the demise of T-Dog and Lori, whose death in particular had repercussions on the integrity of Rick, and subsequently the whole group.

This season also marked the return of Morgan, (Ep.12) albeit short lived, but allowed Lennie James to once again depict humanity when dealt a bad hand. In fact, more was felt for Morgan in 45 minutes than for Andrea in 16 hours. In fairness, the character flaws in TWD are due to nothing other than faults in writing, which a few times demonstrate a lack of conviction to plotlines or willing to go anywhere near as extreme as its comic book source material. Don’t get me wrong – David Morrissey’s Governor is a fantastic presence on screen, but is an alternate persona to Robert Kirkman’s original sadistic and vile tyrant completely. 

Where The Walking Dead is consistently strong is in the special effects department, headed by Greg Nicotero, veteran SFX head smasher, bone snapper, and blood splatterer, who also directs a few episodes this season. Major credits are due to the people who orchestrate the show’s famous kills, much to the pleasure of the slightly sadistic crowds (no judgement, I’m guilty) i.e. the make- up and costume departments who have provided many a memorable slaughtering (see a link at the bottom of this article for highlights, in GIFs). What The Walking Dead Season 3 leaves us with then, is the strongest material yet, which even with its flaws is one of the most watchable shows on TV. Whereas Season 2 left us with the promise of something intense to come, Season 3 leaves people questioning. AMC will have to step up its game to deliver a season more enthralling than 3’s greatest moments, and with Season 4 in capable hands, its quite possible that things are only going to get better.

VERDICT: Daring and debaucherous in equal measure, The Walking Dead reaches heights in its time previously untapped, even if it does suffer from the occasional dragging ankle. Indulging characters and thrilling action make up for past grievances to deliver bold and edgy television. ★★★★

Best Zombie kills, in GIFs: http://www.tv.com/news/looking-back-on-the-walking-dead-season-3-somewhere-between-alive-and-dead-plus-the-best-zombie-kills-in-gifs-136543933537/

Film Review: The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

Cianfrance shows off his ability to handle the bigger stuff

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan

Plot: Stunt and circus motorcyclist Luke (Gosling) returns to a town in which he had a fling with a local, Romina (Mendes) to discover he has a son. He soon turns to bank robbery in an effort to provide for them, which entwines his fate with police officer Avery (Cooper).

DEREK Cianfrance showed us with 2010’s Blue Valentine that he was a master hand in the subtlety of character- weighted relationship dramas, and now demonstrates his adeptness with bigger budgeted, powerful stories of misfortune and fate with The Place Beyond the Pines. Whereas Cianfrance allowed little room or emotional distance from the troubled relationship in the former, the latter deals with wide, fleeting camera shots that close in on characters only when dramatically necessary.

It tells the story of circus stunt motorcyclist Luke, played explosively by Gosling, who meets a local mechanic with a history of robbing banks. In the wake of the discovery of a son he never knew he had, he begins to rob banks in order to provide for his family. This leads him into conflict with beat copper Avery Cross – Bradley Cooper. Eva Mendes joins the mix as Romina, mother of Luke’s child after a one- night stand a little while back. On an performance par with Gosling, she pulls the emotional weight of the story and its developments momentarily aside (in a good way!) and reflects humanity in beleaguered circumstances. The story itself plays out well, at least for a while.

But it’s not the film’s strongest aspect. Gosling’s scene stealing and dominating presence is. Part himself in Drive, part so from Blue Valentine, his tattooed- torso appearance first frame in draws the audience along through an Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men)/Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas) /Joe Wright (Atonement)- style uncut shot ending at Luke’s stunt bike, before rolling the titles to deliver one of the more memorable cinematic openings this year. Cianfrance hits all the directorial criteria, but whether it was his or his fellow writers’ mistakes late on in story development is a wonder. Around the 40-minute mark, the narrative takes an unexpected turn, and again towards the end in what becomes a risky relay- type handing over of the spotlight. The first time, it pays off, maintaining a good pace through an alternative viewpoint, but the second similar switchover drags the story to slow crawl. Fumbled together, the sequences involving Luke and Avery’s sons 15 years after their chapters grind the narrative into something that feels as though it isn’t completely sure of where it’s headed. In fact, it almost feels like a dodgy sequel in comparison to a wholly invigorating initial segment.

Some inventive visuals are accompanied by a great soundtrack, too – the trailer’s melancholy piano- lead ballad rings out effectively, and the credits see the return of Bon Iver’s The Wolves (Act I and II), having made its cinematic debut in last year’s Rust and Bone (also in the credits). Some fine camerawork also constitutes a spectacular bike chase, which takes place from only two long uncut viewpoints, both from behind police windscreens. It looks like highly stylized footage from an episode of World’s Wildest Police Chases, the cheesy uber- American narration traded in for radio chatter and shot on handheld camera. The chase leads through a graveyard and ends with the meeting of the two leads, Luke and Avery. From an aesthetic and filmmaking viewpoint, the whole film is a delight. It’s just a disappointment that the fundamental element – the story – withers in the final act.  

VERDICT: It’s a stunning visual piece with a mostly solid script and perfectly cast roles, but its duller moments overshadow an otherwise and potentially great film. ★★★

Film review: Oblivion (2013)

Oblivion (2013)

The Future’s White

Release Date: 10^th April 2013

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Cast: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman.

Plot: After an alien race renders the Earth inhabitable, the human race migrates to Saturn’s moon, Titan. Left on Earth to maintain energy production for the moon, Jack Harper (Cruise) and Victoria (Riseborough) are the last two people on the planet. Or so they think.

VISIONARY director Joseph Kosinsky takes another stab at creating a futuristic sci-fi with Oblivion, based on a graphic novel he wrote but supposedly never published. His last work was his directorial debut, Tron Legacy – which was an ambitious flop haunted by stunted characters and an awkward script. Unfortunately, Oblivion follows suit.

Tom Cruise stars as Tom Cruise, playing another Jack, again struggling to fit into a role that hides his fame. The Jack is question is Jack Harper, a maintenance man situated on an apocalyptic Earth in charge of repairing and monitoring drones designed to guard tidal energy- processing machines that somehow send said energy to Saturn’s moon Titan, where the rest of humanity has retreated. After an alien invasion that was preluded with the destruction of the moon (thus upsetting the planet’s gravity causing earthquakes and tsunamis), humans nuked the place to rid the Earth of the. Them, the invaders, called ‘Scavengers’ by man, live underground, bent on sabotaging the energy operations that keep mankind alive in distant space. The story itself has some plot holes and jogs ahead of the audience at times, as well as being predictable and quite obviously inspired by similar films, (Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, even WALL-E) but is decent enough.

In fact, the first 25 minutes or so are the most enjoyable, in which Harper embodies a futuristic Will Smith of I Am Legend, drifting around the nuclear wasteland repairing drones and reminiscing ‘classic’ football games circa pre-apocalypse. These things take place in either very barren, dry exteriors or very clean, shiny, and rather white interiors. If there’s anything we’ve learned about the future from sci-fi, it’s that it’s very white. A lot of effort goes into Oblivion’s visuals, including a pretty cool fragmented moon, but not enough in characters or their dialogue. Jack’s partner, Victoria, played by Andrea Riseborough, brings a more human dynamic to the film, even with some dodgy dialogue. Oblivion looks quite promising up until it starts to creak under the story’s weight, its tangled and half-baked details slowly drifting from viewers’ attention, who by the third act, become aware of its uncertain direction and running time.

Eventually Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko make their entrances, but fail to add anything other than story propulsion to the mix. Oblivion could be described as an empty shell – it’s a fairly decent narrative, but lacks subtlety, message (which could be the irresponsibility, vulnerability, or subordination of humanity), and character exploration, using its exterior qualities as a driving force. Riseborough, Kurylenko and Cruise do well considering the film’s two-dimensionality, but see Oblivion for extended immersive and indulgent visuals that caught your attention in the trailer.

VERDICT: Kosinski handles the scale of his tale well, but the acute details of his characters aren’t touched upon. That said, it turns out alright, despite a shaky script and a messy finale. ★★★

Game Review: Bioshock Infinite (2013)

BIOSHOCK INFINITE 

Bioshock Aims For The Sky

Developer: Irrational Games

Publisher: 2K Games

Genre: FPS

Platform tested: Xbox 360

AT Bioshock Infinite’s announcement, gamers familiar with the franchise had much to be sceptical about. After a relatively disappointing second instalment (no coincidence that creator Ken Levine happened to sit that one out), there was little confidence that anything would clear the bar set by the original BioShock. It looked like a port and re-skin of Rapture, the underwater dystopia that was home to the first two games in the series. Make no mistake, though – it may be the strongest in the series to date.

STORYLINE

Perhaps the best place to start is with Bioshock Infinite’s storyline. A game promises a lot when it relies solely on a single player campaign; such is the prevalence of the online gaming market today. But boy, does it deliver. The player assumes the role of veteran Booker DeWitt, a man given a chance to ‘clear the debt’ by bringing a girl to New York to an unidentified party. Of course in true Bioshock fashion, he is not simply a pair of eyes behind a gun. He is much more than a contextual tool, as is Infinite’s whole ensemble of characters.

We, as the audience, are thrust into the narrative at a point where events are already set in motion, and it is not long before the player is thrown into the splendour that is ‘Columbia’, the city in the sky. A Self- proclaimed utopia: in reality, an ultra-nationalist, racist, oppressive dictatorship run by the egotistical ‘Father’ Zachary Comstock, who assigns himself the status of ‘Prophet’. The ‘girl’ in question is Elizabeth, who is seemingly imbued with a special ability to open ‘tears’ in space, and guarded by a giant mechanical creature dubbed ‘Songbird’.

 The equilibrium phase is integral to the setting of the events to come – and a second play-through demonstrates just fine a balancing act the developers have struck in order to tell a story. Essentially, you are enticed, without knowing too much. Nonetheless, something is amiss about the whole place, as is quickly learned. Eventually Infinite leads us to an unpredictable, revelational conclusion that few will see coming, and possibly the best narrative twist since the original’s ‘Would you kindly?’ turnaround, if not the greatest plotline in gaming history.

GAMEPLAY

So all this talk about an impeccable narrative is great, but what of the gameplay? Nothing particularly new here – which isn’t a bad thing, of course – left hand uses ‘Vigors’ rather than Plasmids, right is for old- timey guns, and upgrades come in the form of various clothing (gear) that when equipped allow certain perks and abilities. We are also given choices that affect the story slightly, allowing for more replay value. The Vigors themselves are what make the series different from your average shoot-‘em-up, and aid in various ways during battle with Columbia’s forces. Personal favourites include Bucking Bronco (which propels enemies into a state of low gravity for easy pickings), Charge (essentially a re-skinned Big Daddy drill attack), and Return to Sender (a shield which directs enemy attacks back at the enemy). Most have secondary functions, but are rarely necessary. As for the enemies, there are various archetypes equipped with alternates to your Vigors, which helps to even the odds. They will also make use of the Skylines that accommodate Columbia, which are primarily used for Booker’s transport needs, also contributing to some fantastic cinematic sequences. The most memorable enemies are by far the Big Daddy substitutes, the Patriots. Part intimidating, part satirical, these mechanical giants manifest in the form of the founding fathers, which quote their historical counterparts while riddling Booker with bullets. Strangely, they can’t help but serve as irritatingly entertaining.

Thankfully, you have something else on your side – Elizabeth. In fact, she is such a significant element of Infinite that she deserves as much focus as any of the game’s key aspects. For the first time in history, gamers actually prefer the sections in which she accompanies you. Think of the past annoyances of friendly AI – notably recent Resident Evil instalments – and just how annoying, obstructive and useless they were. Elizabeth is nothing of the sort. In fact, she is a delight in every way. She will toss you ammo, salts (to power your Vigors) or health packs when you most desperately need them. Which you will. She also contributes to some helpful, well-scripted dialogue with Booker, which ranges from humourous to story- enriching (in hindsight of the conclusive events, of course), thus enlightening the quieter moments. In addition to all this, she will use her special abilities to open tears, therefore providing a wealth of battle tactics. Unlike Resident Evil 5’s Sheva, she is integral to both story and gameplay, easily taking the mantle of the greatest AI partner a gamer could wish for. Keen observation will also pick up on a sort of Big Daddy/Little Sister mirroring between her and yourself as a player, though she is never under any threat, as the game will tell you with a notification; ‘Elizabeth will look after herself’. Well, thank God for that.

Bioshock Infinite retains the mechanics of previous instalments while fine-tuning the smaller stuff. There’s still a selection wheel for Vigors, but Infinite trades in the weapon cycling system for a Call of Duty style two-gun at a time feature, which will have you constantly debating what to swap for what. There are often at least three guns you may want to carry, but are subjected to being left to guesswork about what might come in handy in the next encounter. The player will also benefit from venturing into Columbia’s dark corners – often a rewarding experience for the kleptomaniacs among us.

A few minor hitches, though: Battles, once or twice, can seem overwhelming, and mis-spending of upgrades can result in a challenge which is just the wrong side of good sport. Put frankly, the enemies can be altogether downright irritating. Patriots are faster, stronger, and better equipped than Booker ever is, and his virtuous Vigors just don’t cut it often enough. Other criticisms of the game have said that Infinite’s objectives seem to continually divert, resulting in the player forgetting why they are doing what they are – but heck, it’s not proclaiming to be anything other than loyal to the Bioshock series, which has had players doing this since 2007.

The graphics are decent enough in the Xbox 360 version, but screenshots of PS3 and PC in particular demonstrate that Infinite is running Xbox 360’s graphics card to exhaustion. The odd loading icon appears in the corner of the screen when passing through areas, and the occasional texture pop haunts the system’s creaky hardware. The sound is, well, sound, however: a great soundtrack accompanies the player as they journey through Infinite’s story, which, as you guessed it, again serves as a vessel of narrative elements. The game also sees the return of voice recordings in the form of Voxophones, which are highly collectable and – yep – narratively beneficial.

VERDICT: Worthy of all the awards and praise, Bioshock Infinite keeps players occupied, and leaves them satisfied. The developers clearly ran a tight ship, with every detail meticulously thought over and implemented with masterful precision. Play through it once to have your mind blown. Play through again, and appreciate the inner workings that went into doing so. Only parting thought is where the series is headed next – but that is a definitively exciting one. Bar = set.

RATING: 9/10