Air (2023) and Circle (2015)

Two movies with simple titles.

Air (2023)

With the impending closure of its basketball shoe division, its up to Nike's talent scout Sonny (played by Matt Damon) to find a new spokesperson for their shoes and he decides to go against the rest of the board and bet everything on a young player named Michael Jordan. While it is a bit odd that Michael Jordan is mostly a placeholder character who you only see the back off or see in basketball clips the rest of the cast do a great job with the script with what is basically an underdog story. Excellent movie and while its a bit different from my usual viewing taste, it's one I can easily recommend.  

Circle (2015)

A large group of people awaken in a circular room, standing on circles that if they step off - they die (via cheap CGI lightning bolt). Soon they learn that every two minutes said lightning bolt will kill someone anyway, BUT they can vote who where majority vote wins (death) and ties result in revotes or multi-kills. Definitely a low budget movie and one my wife didn't like at all. I found it fascinating to watch people's reasoning to kill others, most of the time backfiring on them, and the ending was just very cool. That said, I'm guessing this one will only suit a particular audience (those like me) so if my other movie reviews have misled you so far, which means our tastes are different, then it's probably best to stay away.

The Great Wall

It's to keep the rabbits aliens demons out.

On a quest for black powder, a dwindling team of foreigners (led by Matt Damon) go into China where they stumble upon The Great Wall manned by The Nameless Order - a color coded army of crazies who have devoted their lives to defending it against swarms of monsters. This is obviously a Chinese production, where there are lots of people, lots of nice props, and fair bit of wire work. There's a good deal of Chinese spoken too, but it's cleverly done in that you get most translated (for Matt Damon's sake).

Suicide squad go!

While the opening CGI is worryingly weak, it is really neat in the movie proper. I thought the monsters of this fantasy action film were also quite well done and well thought out apart from one bit right at the end. The story is a bit crazy but it's entertaining, and I quite liked the female lead played by Jing Tian.All up I rather enjoyed this one and would certainly watch it again. If you are looking for a "turn off your brain" action flick this is not a bad choice. I give it 2.5 magnetic rocks out of 5.

Dragon's Dogma: Safe as China

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Back in the city we recruit the sorceress Yennefer (taking a break from adventuring with Geralt I guess?) who has an awesome lightning whip spell and are also joined by the Pawn Guild manager Barnaby on our next outing since he wants to take a more active role in ending the dragon threat. Too bad he is an idiot as demonstrated on our first outing to the Northern hill where harpies manage to keep putting him to sleep with their singing.

We save him from that and from many the big white dire wolves in the region, managing to meet an old guy called the Dragonforged who supposedly once faced the dragon too. He's not very forthcoming with information at this point but does give me some cool stuff to help in my quest. We also explore the dead woods where Sara died previously and take out a few chimeras. At the very center of it is an Abbey of nuns, because apparently that's a "safe" place? Lol.

Tell that to all the prowling chimeras!

We continue up the mountain, fighting past a clan of female bandits who become less hostile as we get closer to their mountain top fort. Once there they let us pass with no hassle into a dark marsh inhabited by a lich. He is no match for the team, but is also not as strong as the Bich on Bitterblack Isle. Eventually we reach China - because we reach a massive fortress called the Great Wall, which also is keeping monsters at bay. I wonder if Matt Damon is around?

The Martian

Where it feels good to be isolated on an alien planet.

The premise of this movie is so simple: An astronaut (Matt Damon) is trapped on Mars. How can he survive and/or escape? After a strong opening that set the scene right away, he combats the despair of being abandoned and the incredibly high probabilty of various horrible deaths with... humor. It's awesome. There's no weepy Tom Hanks Cast Away here!

It's good to be him. :P

This movie kept me very entertained and definitely wide awake and for a plot about a guy stuck on Mars there are certainly a lot of characters in this, each one with memorable enough quirks which actually strengthens it. I don't think there's any particular "bad guy" in this movie, just bad luck, which is awesome and adds to the whole feel good thing it has going. I mean, at least you've got disco music right? :P

Definitely a good watch and one I wouldn't mind seeing again! I give it four potatoes out of five.

Elysium

Future Magic!
In the future, Earth is where all the oppressed, poor, and otherwise unsavory masses live while the rich and well to do reside on the nearby orbiting man-made satellite which gives the name to the movie: Elysium. Looking at it as a straight action film, Matt Damon makes a decent, unwilling protagonist who moves the again mostly predictable plot forward. The fights are pretty cool, especially the slow mo pieces where things just get torn up with futuristic high caliber rounds. The special FX are again top notch, though I must point out it is a lot easier to render mechanical stuff (like robots and space ships) over living tissue (like, furry dire wolves).

My main issue comes from the staggering amount of plot holes which seem to be just as many as if shot by those exploding rounds in the film. Basically ALL the future magic pushes the envelope of WTF too much for me. Shoulder mounted missiles that can fly out into space and can still hit targets in orbit? Check. Flight from Earth to space station, 19 minutes in a vehicle that seems to negate all G-force. Check. Pills that eliminate all effects of radiation poisoning (apart from death), check. Go'auld Sarcophagi that don't seem to need power that can heal anyone of anything except death? Check.

That last item is the main reason the "poor" people try to get up to Elysium, because the "rich" are so snooty they don't just send ships with said devices to go cure them. That everyone up there is that much of a douche bag is just as unbelievable as the device itself, though I suppose if they did that though there would be no movie because... peace is boring you know. :P

I give Elysium 2.5 out of 5.

Sacred: Khorad-Nur

[Part of the Sacred Journey.]

With D'Cay defeated I was let into the orc city (which they call "Khorad-Nur") as promised and was surprised to find a whole bunch of friendly orcs within. Alas the "warriors" outside would still attack me but at least there was an exception to the rule. Not only did they also have a way gate to help speed my travel but they had some really nice gear which I purchased, upgrading the pieces from their local smithy to super high quality, and buying out all the healing potions I could.

I eagerly went to help the locals too, doing tasks like retrieving the scroll of Matt Damon(?) from a lich infested ruin, chasing down some murderous, thieving and rebellious ex-slave goblins, and bringing one orc lady's dog (her husband) back alive from a distant sister city to the South - that one was overrun by undead. I also found a burning ruin with lesser fire demons and Sakkara cultists hacking up a dying seraphim. Didn't take any chances there and BFG'ed the lot of them back to hell.

Even orcs like this guy!

My efforts were well rewarded as I returned to Khorad-Nur at level 20, with a "magic saber of light" as loot in my pack (yes, straight from Star Wars complete with the "vrunk" SFX, poor damage though), and best of all - a painted (or undead) fast riding horse that I found near some mines. After being on foot for so long, this speed boost was very welcome and nothing in the region had any hope of catching me while I was mounted atop it. Alas, it was finally time to resume my mission so I stepped through the local way gate back to Porto Vallum and began the ride to Wyvern Pass.