Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

If I didn't know any better, I would think that Iron Man 3 was intended to be a satire on the hypocrisy of US foreign policy, or, possibly, a propaganda piece. Examining the protagonists and antagonists reveals many interesting similarities, as does comparing the actual US government to that in the film.

Let us consider Aldrich Killian (played by Guy Pearce), who is portrayed as the "bad guy" because he seeks to influence the vice president by offering a cure to his daughter's disabilities (as well as assassinate the president in order to put the vice president in a more powerful position). Why? He wants the US government to be involved in more conflicts so that he can make money as a military contractor. This is, indeed, evil, but how different does that make him than Tony Stark/Ironman? Stark is a rich playboy who made his billions as a...military contractor. Both Killian and Stark make money by selling weapons and other war materiel to governments that kill hundreds of thousands of people. Is there really anything that morally separates them? If there is, it seems that the film would have you believe it is the fact that Stark saves the president of the United States. I'm not sure why it is the case, but it seems that Hollywood would have us believe that the lives of government officials, above all the president, are much more important than those of the rest of us.   

Also interesting is the movie's apparent commentary on the US government. Similar to reality, the fictional government engages in various forms of euphemisms, changing the name of Col. Rhodes' armored suit from "War Machine" to "Iron Patriot" since the latter is considered better for public relations. This is all part of making war, one of the most destructive and death-inducing activities of mankind, more acceptable to the public. Likewise, the US government prefers the term "collateral damage" when the US military causes the deaths of civilians, and "enhanced interrogation techniques" for actions that used to be known as "torture."

Currently, the US government intervenes in the affairs of many countries with very little protest from Americans, even though nearly all Americans wouldn't stand for a foreign government doing something similar here. Does Iron Man 3 condone this hypocrisy? In the film, Iron Patriot breaks into the homes of foreigners, threatening them with guns. This scene is portrayed in a comedic manner as if the rights of foreigners are of no consequence. Or, when he breaks into a garment factory, the women working in it express their gratitude as if he is their great liberator, rather than a foreign invader. It almost seems like something out of a recruitment commercial, that whatever the military is, it is above all  a "global force for good."

Ultimately, though, I don't think the creators of Iron Man 3 had any intention of making any political commentary; they simply regurgitated common ideas: foreign intervention is virtuous, the military-industrial complex is an acceptable way to become rich, and the president's life being threatened creates instant drama, even if we have no other reason to care about him besides the fact that he is the president. The goal here, rather, is to milk as much money as possible from the Avengers franchise, nothing more. They will likely continue to churn out superhero movies as long as their revenues are greater than expenditures. And that's ok; not every film has to be an Oscar winner. But one would hope that movies would have at least some consciousness of the world in which they are being created and not simply acquiesce in being apologists for US foreign policy.

PS1 Review: Spider-Man (2000)

Here's another entry in our unofficial"Classic Games We Never Got Around to Reviewing" series. You may recall earlier parts of the series, including reviews of TimeSplitters 2 and NBA Street Vol. 2, two classics we never reviewed because we were lazy teenagers. But Thrasher is back at it again, taking a look at Spider-Man for PS1.

The 2D era was not kind to the wall-crawler, and at the time it probably couldn't be otherwise. To me, Spider-Man for the PS1 proved that the franchise belonged in all three polygonal, blocky dimensions. There's many commendable elements at work in this one, but first and foremost is the presentation. Though the story is a kind of comic book "greatest hits", structured as more or less a slew of cameos from villains and heroes of the Marvel Universe, it's culled together nicely as a narrative, in fact quite similar to the ways in which the recent Arkham Asylum and Arkham City have managed their respective rogues galleries. In Spider-Man, Peter Parker witnesses an impostor Spider-Man stealing one of Doc Ock's experiments: not only is Spidey framed for the theft and hunted by the police, but he must also fend off the challenges of villains such as Venom, Rhino, Scorpion, Mysterio and Carnage. It's a somewhat episodic approach that keeps the game from becoming repetitive. However, what's really worth recommending here is the superb voice-over work, particularly the voices for Spider-Man, Venom and J. Jonah Jameson. The writing is strong as well, effectively capturing the comic book's balance between humor and seriousness.

Faithful also is the translation of Spidey's powers from comic panel to Dual Shock. Playstation web-swinging was in its very infancy here, only to find a kind of perfection a few years later in Spider-Man 2 for the PS2, but the foundation built with this this game is a solid one. Unfortunately, it's not as tight as it could be: though you can manually aim when swinging from building to building, too often your web-shooters will be unresponsive when leaping out impulsively. Same goes for wall-crawling, as the controls occasionally go a bit haywire when changing direction, particularly on ceilings. Part of the problem is unquestionably the camera angles chosen by the game. You have limited control over what you see around Spider-Man, which can compromise your ability to engage in combat by obscuring your enemies with obtrusive angles. In terms of controls, Spider-Man is clearly a first try as there's quite a few kinks and glitches to work around, but there's also more than enough novelty here to keep things amusing. Also, the game is a bit short, but I suspect that's almost always the case when a game is this much fun to play. There's a shocking amount of replay value on this disc too, provided you don't just enter in the cheat codes:  vintage comic book covers collected throughout the game, unlockable costumes (each with unique abilities and enhancements), training simulators and a "What If?" mode that makes playing through the game a second time highly entertaining. Nowadays it may seem a bit crude and basic in comparison with current generation superheroes like Arkham City, or even in comparison with later games in the Spider-Man franchise, but Spider-Man for the PS1 is still a fantastic game in its own right, well worth taking out for another spin on your backwards-compatible PS3.

PS3 Review: 007 Legends (2012)

This one's a bit late. I had originally planned to review 007 Legends in tandem with my review of Skyfall last fall, but you know, things happen. Better late than never, I guess. Keep your eyes peeled for more 007 coverage from your fellow spy enthusiasts at Code Redd Net.

I liked the first Die Another Day game I played better. You know, Nightfire.

I had been hoping for a game like 007 Legends for a long time. It seems like an easy project: to collect the best action set-pieces from the best James Bond films in one game and to serve it up in a competent shooter with a few multiplayer options. From Russia With Love had the right idea, successfully converting the classic '60s spy film for PS2 in the Everything or Nothing model. It was a solid Bond game that captured the look and feel of the film while simultaneously bringing it up to speed with the more stunt-heavy recent Bond films. 007 Legends also has the right idea, as it incorporates the most spectacular scenes from five Bond films and ties them into the plot of Skyfall: those films being Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day and Moonraker. This is an excellent idea well suited for today's generation of games, but 007 Legends falters somewhat in execution.

The game has a real flimsy narrative excuse to revisit all these old missions. It begins with a cinematic adapted from the pre-credits sequence in Skyfall, where Bond is shot by another agent while fighting an adversary on the roof of a speeding train. As Bond hits the water, he is reminded of his previous encounters with Goldfinger, Blofeld, Jaws and others. The game proper begins with a scene from Goldfinger in which Bond finds that girl dead, covered in gold paint. What makes this recreation of Goldfinger odd is that you play as Daniel Craig instead of Sean Connery, and you have access to a smartphone device and other contemporary technology/weaponry.  This is in contrast to the architecture, as well as the design of the surrounding characters, virtually all of whom retain their 1960s clothing. It's an odd inconsistency in art direction spread throughout the entire game, and it never feels quite right. I would've liked to have seen a total commitment to each era, all the way down to its rudimentary gadgets, or a total process of bringing-up-to-date rather than the hybrid nostalgic-contemporary setting provided instead. That's not to say, however, that the structure of 007 Legends is without benefit: those five Bond films, bounded together, make room for considerable variety in setting and gameplay mechanics. Throughout the game, you switch between several styles of gameplay, including the straightforward shooting portions, stealth segments, sleuthing, vehicle combat, and fisticuffs. Unfortunately, these styles are highly organized and segregated in your missions. In other words, a bit of hand-to-hand combat is always bracketed by a cinematic that cues up the switch to this style, and stealth often becomes mandatory to mission completion upon entering a particular room rather than being simply a strategic choice with consequences. Nonetheless, each mission draws on particularly strong action scenes from its respective film to keep the game moving at a commendable pace.

I was also impressed by other improvements over the previous GoldenEye: Reloaded, particularly a dramatic increase in replay value. Whereas more recent Bond games have suffered from a weak single-player experience that did not invite multiple playthroughs, 007 Legends has a strong set of weapon upgrades and unlockables for multiplayer, based on finding objects and overall mission scores. Furthermore, I was impressed by Legends' customization options. Like most modern first-person shooters, on the default option health regenerates after a few seconds: thankfully, though, Legends gives you the option of switching to an old school system in which health does not regenerate and you must rely on body armor spread throughout the level. This is a nice addition that makes the game considerably more challenging, in many instances artificially so as body armor is unevenly distributed in these missions. Multiplayer support is fairly strong, though the lack of AI bots hurts this feature substantially, as online multiplayer is sparsely populated.

Overall, 007 Legends is only a fair-to-middling entry in the franchise, one that does a decent enough job with a promising idea but nothing more. It's much better than the other Bonds released in the last few years, yet nowhere near the level of PS2-era shooters like Nightfire, Everything or Nothing, or From Russia With Love. Fans of the super spy should give it a spin with a weekend rental, but this is probably not one you will want to own.

The Winback Diaries: CANCELLED

I was really looking forward to writing up this diary: unfortunately, my PS2 is getting real old, and as a result it has started to refuse those blue PS2 discs. Winback is one of them. I can get to the menu, the options, and the mutliplayer modes just fine, but my PS2 will not load up a new single-player campaign. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I must cancel The Winback Diaries. This is a sad day, as my PS2 of 10+ years has failed me for the first time. I was looking forward to the opportunity to give you a detailed account of the lasers, the gratuitous boxes, the dialogue and the fashion dos and don't of our favorite counter-terrorist unit, S.C.A.T. and their adversaries, the Crying Lions. The only solace I take is that in my research prior to starting the diary, I was able to find this image of our favorite boss character in Winback, the always colorful Leon. It's not much, but it's still a fantastic image.

And hey, you can always take another look at our retro review of Winback if you want to know what our adolescent minds loved about it back in the day.

#Sarocozia

What You Want in The World is Not Enough N64

We love TWINE for the N64, as you know, and more than that we love games with replay value. TWINE has some fairly challenging time cheats you can beat to unlock additonal characters, weapons, maps and modes for multiplayer (w/ bots or without, though we prefer with). I have managed to get through most of them, though there are still a few that have eluded my grasp. If you take a look at GameFAQs portal for TWINE, you'll find a bevvy of tasks that seem nearly impossible to complete. If you want to prioritze them, I suggest tackling the following challenges, all of which will add fantastic maps and a nice weapon set to spice up your multiplayer options:

Unlike Renard here, who obviously feels no pain, beating
 these time cheats requires a high threshold for pain (at least
for emotional pain).

• The Air Raid multiplayer map. This is by far my favorite map in TWINE. A bit small, but totally worth beating the "Masquerade" level on Agent in under 3:05. If you need help in doing this, here's a video to help out:

• There's also the "Wildfire" weapon set, which you earn by beating "City of Walkways II" on Agent in under 3:00. Now, at least this one is on Agent: had it been on double-o, that helicopter at the end would have prevented even the most seasoned agents from earning this unlockable. Take a look at this if you need a spot of help:

• Finally, you can play the excellent Forest multiplayer map by beating "Night Watch on 00 Agent in under 2:20. I know this sounds insane, and for the longest time I believed it to be impossible, but watch this video and it will, at least, seem somewhat possible. I got it eventually, but you have to keep trying because Gabor appears in random places, and usually at the most inappropriate moments. This level is one of the best for Capture the Flag matches, so it's a must-have: