Ben Rawles

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What a disappointment. First the positives - beautiful sets, costumes and locations. Now the negative. The core problem with this movie is it felt like a lazy attempt to represent a fascinating time in world history. Indecisive focus means it meanders from truncated battle sequences to drab and dull biographical scenes; between Josephine and Napoleon. There is no life or love or fear or pain in this movie. Joaquin Phoenix, normally so studied and real is drab and lifeless in his portrayal of Napoleon. The chemistry just isnt there and it lacks the reality, grit, life, debauchery and excess of the time. I feel the fault mainly lies with the directing. There are unforgivable truncated historical inaccuracies. These omissions are where you find napoleons true mystique and fascination. This movie is caught between two ambitions and therefore is left confusing and dull.

Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. My son and I watched this in 3d and atmos. It was funny and pumped full of so much action that it had a really high cool factor. The action was punchy and dramatic and minus any cheesy one liners. The only reason I am not giving it 5/5 is because of some cheesy moments. Jason mamoa is funny, charming and what really makes and carries the movie is the journey with his brother. Highly recommended for a fun night out.

I just played this game this year and comparing it to my Elden ring experience is perhaps unfair but what I have to work with. The action is repetitive and dull - the mechanics are sluggish and very slow to react. (I am running this off the console storage of my ps5) The graphics that may have looked good 7 years ago for me are not comparable to newer games. They look like early previous generation. The sound is good but a little overly dramatic considering the often repeatedly scenarios. What saves this game for me is the deep and considered narrative. While the dialogue options and extensive interactions can be too much, you have to respect how the story and characters are designed and clearly have been well thought out and crafted. The language and r-rated scenes feel unnecessary to me. While I am not a prude it doesn’t add enough to their story. The fact that you can be riding through the world and suddenly here an f-bomb dropped as you ride past some villagers is unnecessary. While I haven’t completed the game yet I would also compliment the boss design and monsters they are interesting, weird and gross! When this game was released it may have impressed but compared to modern games like this laden ring it feels too sluggish to me and the combat is a real let down.

There is the essence and premise of a good Show here, over shadowed by hammy acting and fractured story telling. I’m a big fan of the lead actor in moon knight I think he brings a touch of class and decorum to his roles (except this); reminiscent of actors from an earlier era. However, this performance which does get a little better as the limited series goes on is a big let down for me. With marvel vehicles, you can always expect a certain amount of ‘ham and cheese’ when it comes to acting…. I mean after all we are talking about superhero’s. (By the way I love superhero’s) The problem I have with this show can be summarised like this - if you watched this show in 5 or 10 years would it hold up? And the answer is a big no. Think about Star Trek TNG. While the whole concept is a little silly it is one of the best shows in terms of how it has aged. And that is because of the performances and writing. This show is let down by HORRIBLE English accents, a stretched out concept resulting in an over the top cgi finale. The acting is terrible from the lead… really awful. It’s so distracting that the ambitious show concept loses its grounding and is hard to take seriously. Swinging from very serious to absurd it is saved by its supporting cast as well as some nice scenery and effects. Compared to Mandolorian which does a fantastic job of using subtle performances as well as some really nice relationship storylines, moon knight is too obscure and the relationship building feels tacked on and weakly conceived. Why isn’t my rating lower? Because a lot of the shows foundations are solid: production ability, effects, supporting cast, music. Sorry marvel this is a miss for me.

I was a huge fan of the original horizon game. The concept was so original and well executed. The voice acting, weapons and core gameplay. If not for the lengthy dialogue scenes I would have given it a 9 or 10/10. Horizon Forbidden West feels like more of the same and that’s the problem for me. You can’t do originality twice it feels lazy! Yes - the visuals and sounds are stunning, although the Desert scenes go heavy on the orange and pinks to the point where it’s hard to differentiate between rock and creature. The addition of more weapon slots, weapon types and machines are interesting but feels like additions to an existing menu rather than any truly originally new ‘dishes’. Plus there are some other frustrating aspects: 1) there’s no incentive to try out the new weapons as there’s not a great deal of benefit to doing it. Some of them are fun sure, but the same 2 or 3 weapons often get the job done effectively through your bosses. 2) the new override system of having to collect additional parts to override some machines is annoying - why would I go out and do that when I’ve just completed a challenging cauldron? 3) skills tree - the biggest problem I have is this area - it’s over complicated and unnecessary. I stayed with the health regen surge power through the whole game and it served be well enough. As I was revisiting the horizon world again it felt less novel and I felt less inclined to venture further and explore every nook cranny. It still retains the same fun of the original in terms of taking down large machines and beating a tough rebel camp as well as flying machines through the gorgeous skies. However in the end it just felt a little like a rerun. I played this after Elden Ring which constantly amazed me at every turn, challenged me with every boss, and made me WANT to explore further, fight harder, and research deeper to get those all important spells. Horizon was not this… and it felt cheapened in its core gameplay the second time around. I don’t think I will play the third one which was teased at the end.

In some ways the best way to appreciate this game is not to be a hardcore gamer or reviewer. As more of a casual gamer this game has made me want to interact with these experiences more. After investing in demon souls (ps5) I was blown away by the visuals and frustrated by how hard it was - but that non pandering ultimately made me a bigger fan. Fast forward to Elden ring. I could write so much but put simply this game is a visual storytelling masterpiece. If you are a casual/hardcore gamer, a fantasy nerd (like me) an rpg action adventure nut this game really hooks you. Nothing takes away from the gaming, theres no non-skippable cut scenes, no boring lengthy lore, no elaborate ui overlays doing the hard work. It’s simply like wandering around the most violent, weird fantastical chambers of the authors minds. Boss design is incredible, scenery design and ambiance is both intimate and breath-taking. It’s over whelming, addictive. But most of all fun. The spells (incantations) are the coolest, the weapons are endless, the enemies relentless. The bosses dismissive. Be warned it’s hard - it’s not blood borne frustratingly hard. But it is hard. You have to level up in a very planned way. You have to understand scaling, be prepared for bosses, read messages. Talk to npc’s, they help. The cleverest aspect is FromSoftwares deliciously vicious sense of humour. Goblins make you bleed, crabs leap up from the buried ground. Knights reach super far… And a second later you’re dead! Buy this, it’s an important visual storytelling experience, really a piece of art in so many ways. It’s funny to think about where they go from here…

Tom Holland is riding a web inspired wave of popularity currently. But like Dwayne Johnson movie vehicles, his charisma is barely enough to carry off this National Treasure/Indiana Jones wannabe. The action sequences are fun and inventive in there show piece drama. But there’s something missing for me. Tom Holland seems flatter with barely any variant of expression and the supporting cast of mark wahlberg and pals don’t add a lot. For me if I want a silly action movie with no meaning just pure fun - then I want less talking and more silly fun. Also better comedy writing. Marvel, with its infinity saga did a good job of getting you to empathise with the characters as well as keep you entertained…. Sadly this movie barely does either.