Mark Barlow

Despite the negativity of now generations of critics, the postman is unapologetically its own film. Neither visionary nor innovative, Costner directs and stars in what critics panned as self-aggrandizing, over-long, and corny. But the world is changing, some might say for the better. With directors like Stephen Chow, Edgar Write, and Taika Waititi directing and acting in their own films, maybe there is room for Costner's albeit serious attempt at a semi-steam punk dystopia. Make no mistake, Costner is not these people, there is no self-aware humour to be found here, but maybe that's because it's a serious kind of story. Speaking of which and in case you don't know, the story champions a fake postman who rallies those that had given up hope of ever being free of their "illegal army" oppressors. A seemingly odd concept, unless we remember that "going postal" was once a turn of phrase in the US. I'll say one thing with certainty, there is charm to be found here. It can be found in the cinematography, the settings, the corny dialogue, the dramatic close ups. It can be found in the concept of traditional means of communication when a world lies broken. It can be found in the journey and character development. For the charm alone, it is worthy. Still not sure about the love story though, seems unnecessary. But it was the 90s and "sex sells" was still a key phrase for every producer. The cheese gets laid on pretty thick at the end, but if you can forgive that then it's a good film and worthy of your time. Not for everyone with that long run-time, but if you like Costner, cheese, and another dystopian America, then have a look.

After reading the copy-pasted review several times, you can really see that the homophobes have gone out of their way to attempt to ruin the score of this title. Last of Us 2 is not perfect. At times the pacing is off. The mechanics feel similar to the original, even if they have been improved a little. And I noticed a small plot-hole, namely that at the beginning they all assumed Joel's murder was payback - it was - and the adults in Ellie's life should really have stopped her then and there. But of course, we've got a game to make so let's let Ellie go down this road of revenge. Oh and guys, why, oh why does she have to fall out of ventilation shafts. I called it the first time and it was annoying at that point. "Do better." But that's where my negatives thoughts end, because the story is so unique and crosses so many lines that I'm surprised that it gets as much push-back as it does. It's the literal tale of an eye for an eye makes everyone blind. At times, as normal humans, we feel Ellie is justified in taking so many lives, but most of the time the bloodbath is truly uncomfortable and knowingly so. This game is designed to divide not only gamers, but their very own minds. On one side of the spectrum we have the bigoted homophobes who loved gruff-cowboy Joel and his standard original story of saving a girl child no matter what the cost. I know it was critically acclaimed, it was a good piece, but it was nothing that hasn't been done before (much better pacing though). This game goes down a track these cowboys should love - revenge at any cost. Justice dealt out to a whole people for the infractions of a few. You know, the way powerful old men do all over the world. But you know what these cowboys don't love? Lesbians. They hate them so much, that they don't realise they've missed out on their own perfect storyline. It has actually been quite horrifying watching them bag such complicated characters as "boring and unoriginal" as I literally can't think of any characters like Ellie and Abby in all my many thousands of hours of media consumption. On the other side we have the Rest of Us. See what I did there? Open minded people looking for a good story. And my god did the writers outdo themselves this time. This story delves into places the mainstream rarely goes. It picks you up and drags you, kicking and screaming, through the nightmare that is unbridled revenge. The writers go out of their way to empowers women, lgbtq and minorities and make genuine attempts to give each character a depth that is rarely seen in film, let alone video games. In all honesty, it was like watching Shakespeare for the first time (except actually understanding what they're saying). It is so rich in metaphor it gives me a headache playing with the sheer number of meanings that can be drawn from it. Now it's not perfect. Representation being the way it is, there's no perfect way to do it. But these writers, I feel, are trying to tell a story about something quite messy (thanks to the premis of revenge) and because of that, this representation can feel a bit messy and awkward too. But in saying that, I've never seen such a rich story and I doubt I will again for a long time. I said at the beginning that The Last Of Us 2 is not perfect, but to the Rest Of Us it damn well comes close. When you buy this and play it for the first time, be aware you are not just going to feel conflicted, you will have been forced to do terrible things and deal with their consequences. You will have walked down a path of self demise. And it's a long and painful one. Keep up the amazing work, Naughty Dog.