Given that Leichhardt is at the heart of Sydney’s Italian dining experience, one would not necessarily expect to find a Brazillian restaurant located therein packed to the rafters. Nonetheless, Braza does a roaring trade — and with good reason.
Category: Reviews
Given that I hadn’t really enjoyed the first Transformers film, I was pretty sure I couldn’t be bothered shelling out any money to see the sequel. I’m not sure why, but I just couldn’t buy into it. Nonetheless, last night I found myself at the local opening of Revenge of the Fallen.
Perhaps I had lowered my expectations (this was not Transformers, this was Michael Bay), perhaps there was something intrinsically better about this film, perhaps it was just Megan Fox in minute after minute of slow-motion goodness, but I had a pretty good time.
I’m not going to waste anybody’s time explaining the plot because it’s a pretty simple Race to Mount Doom style scenario. Sufficie to say that there is much shooting, fighting, and references to energon.
The script is typically great Michael Bay. Full of one liners and witticisms that are delivered at a rapid fire pace to make sure that you don’t realise exactly how crass it all is. There was a lot of toilet humour — not that I mind, but not exactly what I remember from the cartoon I watched as a kid.
The robot-on-robot ninja action was awesome. Optimus Prime breaking out double swords and taking on a small army of Decepticons was nothing short of spectacular.
One thing that did bug me was the sound mix, and I guess it grated on me watching the first one as well. It’s so loud to the point that individual sounds are not discernible from each other. That makes a lot of dialogue unintelligible, and much of the traditional “transforming” sound becomes lost in monstrous but vague industrial machinery noise.
In the end, if you’re either a fan of the first Transformers film, or Michael Bay in general, you will have a great time with Revenge of the Fallen.
Categories
Phenomenon 2009
One of the main reasons I haven’t put out many updates in the last week or so was due to being in Canberra for Phenomenon. Overall, I had a good time. As usual, the con was held at Daramalan College, which was close to the amenities of Dickson shops and all the takeaway Asian you can stomach, and the classrooms with ceiling heaters that made some sessions seem as though they were set in ovens.
Click over for a review of the games we played.
Categories
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
So, Square Enix liked the first season of Fullmetal Alchemist so much that they gave the go-ahead for another round, called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I’ve watched the first three episodes, and figure that’s enough to give a bit of comment.
First of all, rather than follow on from the end of the original series (or the subsequent movie), the team has decided to start again. The first episode is set after Edward becoming a State Alchemist, but before they go to Lior (where the church of Leto is). The second is a flashback to the Elrics’ youth, attempt to resurrect their mother, and Edward’s State Alchemy Exam. The third is a rehash of the original Lior incident.
It’s readily apparent that instead of being suppemental to the original FMA, Brotherhood is a complete reset. Familiar incidents are given new, and sometimes contradictory details. There’s some implications (like Lust’s reference to the homunculi’s Father) that this is going to follow the manga much more closely.
I’ve got my reservations about how this will turn out, as the manga is a long story arc, and while the original anime series was different, it was entirely self-contained and strongly plotted. There are already intimations that Brotherhood may not be anywhere near as focused.
Categories
Vikings!
I’ve been casting about for something to fill the void since I completed Fallout 3, and so my brother’s timely gift of Viking: The Battle for Asgard has me wandering around hacking at anything in my path with a sword and an axe.
When I first found this game on the store shelf, I was actually picking up Conan, and the sales assistant told me that Viking was very much a similar game. That is very mucha simplistic comparison. Sure, they both involve muscle-bound protagonists in a third-person hack ‘n slash fest, but that’s about where the similarities end.