HIMYM Review: Unpause

How I Met Your Mother

 'Unpause' Review

After last weeks truly outlandish entry, which unfortunately was also was accused of racism over the last week, How I Met Your Mother returned with a slightly more grounded episode. 
Although there were some silly plot devices in order to get the story going, the tales which developed around them were very well done. 
Interestingly this episode almost felt somewhat of an homage to the first season, with so many references made back to it, particularly that "nothing good happens after 2am." 

Fans of the show have been waiting for the inevitable feud between Marshall and Lily and it finally arrived, but it wasn't without delay.

During the mid-season finale the couple "paused" on the argument. Considering the size of this argument and fearing the worst, Marshall was trying his best for it to remain that way until after the wedding.

This amounted to him attempting to get the group to stay at the bar and intoxicate themselves, but it only ended up being the case for Barney as Lily refused to join in and went to her room.

The next setup with Marshall's plan to give his wife the ultimate satisfaction whilst trying to go for as long as possible to kill more time was somewhat funny but a little bit strange,. This was particularly the case with a scene of him imagining things that would not make him aroused during the process.

But after his supposed "success" his accidental awakening of Lily caused the situation to become unpaused.
This was by far the more interesting part as they both argued about each others selfishness. It was hard to side with Lily as she almost created an ultimatum that they were going to Italy, no questions asked. But it was great that Marshall brought up the situation of San Francisco back into the plot. His theory of what could have been was definitely a great insight into the unknown and definitely a sound reason for Marshall to have taken the judgeship.

As for Ted, Robin and Barney, they were left with a plot that was rather silly at first, as previously mentioned, with Barney being so drunk that he began to tell the truth about everything. 
The initial series of questions weren't all that interesting, nor added much to Barney's character But it was when Ted finally asked the question everyone has been waiting for; "what does Barney Stinson do for a living?", which opened the gates to a more cohesive understanding of Barney's suited up lifestyle.
It was a nice touch at first to find out that all along he had told the group his job, simply saying 'Please' which they only assumed to be a non answer when in fact it was actually an acronym for his job title. 
What was more interesting though was the motive he had created himself to work for GNB. It was great how the story traveled all the way back in time to the moment Barney stopped being a hippy after his break up with Shannon with the audience ultimately finding out that it was a massive revenge play against the manager who stole Shannon away from him.
A small debate between Ted and Robin about their wealth came into play, and how Ted felt cheated by this, but it did not amount to anything. Unless in the unlikely event it somehow develops into a form of sexual tension between Ted and Robin later on, this tiny side element felt incredibly pointless.

Overall 'Unpaused' returned the show to better form. The exciting intro and ending with Ted and the mother was a fantastic flash-forward into their lives. A nice little flip on Ted's "nothing good happens after 2am" theory.
Barney and Robin were left with a cheesy moment with him revealing that there will be in fact a ring "bearer", not a bear (although the final clip at the end begged to differ). This was followed by a fairly touching moment with Barney telling Ted that he is completely ready to marry Robin, which you would hope so with only 15 hours left to go!
A little surprisingly, the argument between Marshall and Lily was in no way resolved, finishing with Lily leaving the Farhampton Inn with someone (let's presume it was Ranjit) driving her to someplace unknown.  
Gladly the show has brought back a lot of the excitement, culminating in a series of questions.
What's going to happen between Marshall and Lily? Will we see more future flashes of Ted and the mother? Is there actually going to be a bear at the ceremony? 
It's nice to finally be looking forward to the next episode.        

8/10

PS3 Review: Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus

Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus 

Review

The Ratchet & Clank series, created by Insomniac Games, has spanned two home console and handheld generations, providing fans of the series with fantastic single player stories about the adventures of a furry Lombax and his trusty robot companion Clank. 

Over the last few years the series has somewhat wavered with the development teams attempt to add some spice with co-operative play in All-4-One and tower defense in Full Frontal Assault. Unfortunately this led to a bitter taste for most veterans of the series, but thankfully Insomniac went back to their roots and came up with Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. 

Story: 7/10 

Into the Nexus acts as an epilogue to the Future trilogy (Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty and A Crack in Time) on PS3. 

Ratchet is tasked to escort criminal Vendra Prog to the Vartax Detention Centre for her crimes committed against the galaxy. 

Unfortunately once awakening her from cryo-sleep, she, with the help of her brother Neftin, wreak havoc and destroy the ship, leading to Ratchet and Clank ending up landing on Planet Yerek of the haunted sector at the edge of the galaxy. Ultimately they attempt to recapture Vendra and Neftin.

The story as a whole was slightly different to its predecessors. Even though it housed a few jokes here and there, the overall tone was far more serious and much darker. The antagonist Vendra was much more cunning than the other villains, but she was far more human as well. Her actions were somewhat justifiable, mirroring that of what could have been for Ratchet if he wanted to take the leap. 

The main issue with the story is that it is too short lived. Into the Nexus feels like it begins somewhere in the middle of a story: The original classic R&C games built up the villain and then unleashed their fury. This dives straight into the action, feeling a bit rushed. 

Another minor issue is that the sidekicks such as Talwyn and Captain Qwark have near enough non existent roles. But seeing as this story was more focused on Ratchet and Vendra themselves it isn't too much of an issue.

Gameplay: 9/10     

Into the Nexus makes a well received return to form with its classic action platforming gameplay with additional extras that definitely boost the experience.

+Classic Ratchet gameplay is back

Once again Ratchet is back to his crate breaking, heli-pack hovering, platforming ways. It certainly plays by the rule "If it isn't broken, don't fix it". It is fantastic as it brings in a whole culmination of platforming ideas that have appeared in each installment. 

The upgradable weapons through leveling up, first showcased in R&C2: Going Commando still remains, with its Raritanium upgrading system from Tools of Destruction getting expanded even more. 

Even the hover boots from A Crack in Time eventually return, allowing for more fast paced action platforming.

+Weapons 

The crazy weapons are still as strong as ever with some great new ideas including the Winterizer which turns your enemies into snowmen whilst playing Christmas tunes and the Netherbeast which shoots out the haunted creatures to attack the enemy.

Admittedly the sense of imagination is wavering a little bit with the weapons with a few returns of older weapons and some that are carbon copies of previous entries with a cosmetic overhaul and name change, but it is understandable considering how many Ratchet & Clank games have been made. My favourite by far was the return of Mr Zurkon. The final upgrade is absolutely fantastic. 

Onto the new elements, yhese include: The Grav-Tether, Jet Pack and Clanks side missions.

+Grav Tether 

This device opens specific pink portals located within the different planets, dragging Ratchet to previously unreachable areas. It is great as it acts as a small form of puzzle solving to reach certain checkpoints. It is on the easy side with little room for expanding into more complex puzzles to reach collectibles such as gold bolts. 

+Jet Pack

Although it has been a prominent feature in the previous entries, the jet-pack was used best here out of all of the series. In select areas and one entire planet the player can use the jet-pack to fly across the entire map, creating new ways to attack the enemy with a new sense of verticality. It is also beneficial for finding hidden items. 

Planet Thram was the best example of this as Ratchet can flying across the entire world. It was fantastic as it emphasised the sense of scale of the worlds created. It also provided a great sense of exploration. It would make welcome return to the series if it ever happens to appear on the PS4.   

+Clank in the Netherworld

The third new addition is Clank's side missions. Thanks to an upgrade to Ratchet's torchlight it can detect rifts in the walls, leading to the netherworld. Here Clank enters the world in a gravity based mini game using four directions to alter the force of gravity to find a netherbeast and lure him back to the rift and destroy the obstruction. It is fairly simple, with the puzzles being the likewise too.   

-/+ Control Layout

A personal gripe of mine, being so used to the button layout of the original PS2 games and the initial "Future" trilogy, the new layout took a bit of getting used to. For example having the trigger button mapped out onto R1 instead of "O" was a bit confusing. But eventually after the small learning curve I realised that it was for the better as it was more precise.

Graphics: 7.5/10

Again Ratchet & Clank is a stunning game, with the flair of Disney/Pixar animation. The locations are absolutely gorgeous, filled with amazing detail and and impressive draw distance.

But there is an issue which is a bit of a problem. Oddly the framerate is lower and not as stable. Running at 30fps rather than 60fps like R&C: A Crack in Time, it was immediately noticeable, having compared the two side by side. 

Additionally the game seems to have drops quite heavily when enemies appear on screen. It is not always the case but still is an annoyance, especially considering that this is a shorter entry in the series so you would assume there would not be as much processing pressure.

Sound: 8/10

As per usual the voice acting is still great with the majority of voice actors reprising their roles. Ratchet was still filled with his usual sarcasm. Vendra Prog actually felt like a ruthless villain but with a nice humane touch to her. It was also nice to see Talwyn make a small return after making no appearance in A Crack in Time. She too had some good lines, although one or two emotional set pieces did not work entirely well.

The music was very subtle in this entry, but still had provided a sense of grand adventure when it began to build up.

The sound effects themselves were great with noises culminating from near enough anything from the crates that shatter and the chime when collecting bolts, the simple atmospheric sounds of creatures squawking, to the the torrential downpour of rain.

Conclusion: 

Overall Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is a fantastic new entry into the saga. Yes the story was incredibly short, clocking in at around 6-7 hours including all my scavenging for every collectible and upgrade during the first play-through, but thankfully there's the trusty challenge mode once you complete the game to double its length. 

The narrative itself was good and surprisingly I would prefer the darker tone to continue if the series moves on to the Playstation 4. The story was more sincere and with the open ended nature of its conclusion it would make a whole lot of sense considering the path it could potentially take.

Insomniac Games have made the right move, reverting back to its original action platforming ways. That is how the R&C universe works best. So fingers crossed that they unveil a PS4 follow up on a much grander scale which could even potentially tie in with the movie releasing next summer.

8/10

  

HIMYM Review: Slapsgiving 3 Slapointment in Slapmarra

How I Met Your Mother 

'Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra' 
Review

(Warning! The word "slap" will be used heavily in this review) 

How I Met Your Mother has finally returned to finish up the second half of its final season. After ending the mid-season with a clip of Marshall ready to slap the bejesus out of Barney there was much anticipation about what was to come. The slap bet countdown website even made a reappearance.

In all honesty, although the hype was good fun, I expected this episode to be fairly mediocre and unfortunately it was just that.

The episode began with the continuation of Marshall about to slap Barney in gloriously detailed slow motion. But of course Ted interjects with a story about how this all came about. Ultimately it results in a flashback of the group at McLaren's with Marshall playfully recounting the tale about how he came to acquire the power of the "slap of a million exploding suns." There Marshall learns the three key components for the ultimate slap.

Each teaching was fairly funny, clearly spoofing martial arts films including Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. 

There was clever little wordplay's with Marshall's interactions with supposed legendary slap masters. Red Bird (Robin), White Flower (Lily) and The Calligrapher (Ted). 

Each lesson was somewhat funny but it was bordering more on the slapstick rather than any proper smart humour. The lessons taught by Red Bird and White Flower were also a little repetitious with their jokes. 

There was a nice little moment within White Flowers lesson with a series a minute guest appearances from Barney's conquests, including Nora and even season one's Shannon, but it was a shame that it was so short lived.

Teds teachings of accuracy to Marshall was the most humorous out of the three. This was purely because Ted's snobbish, almost obsessive compulsive behaviour still remained. Ted's final moments as the Calligrapher was possibly the funniest part of the episode (although it's not saying a lot in it's favour)

Eventually we are brought back to the present day with a little bit of a surprise at first, but then taken to a final scenario which was peculiar and nonsensical at best. There really should have been a more understandable link for this penultimate slap. 

The last moments with Boyz II Men singing about this momentous event at the end was undeniably random, but at least fun. 

Overall Slapsgiving 3 was just a bit odd. Fair enough to make a flashy episode with actual use of CGI and the likes, but it really shows that it is simply trying to hide the lack of good story concepts left in the writing room. 

It would have been nice to have at least seen a quick flashback at the end perhaps to the real life situation of Marshall's teachings from his three friends to bring about a sense of plausibility.

Perhaps it's the case that I watched Season One again before reviewing this episode, but the first series' storytelling was so brilliant with amazingly grounded, believable and relatable tales that I instantly took a dislike to the absurdity of this one. 

But HIMYM really does need to tone it down with the theatricals in order for fans and the wider audience to actually give the show some respect, particularly with its send off edging ever closer on March 31st.

5.2/10

HIMYM Review: Bass Player Wanted

How I Met Your Mother 

'Bass Player Wanted' Review

After a weeks break, HIMYM has returned for its mid season finale. Much hype was made on social networks by the shows creators about the fact that this episode would predominantly focus on the mother. Although it did not fully live up to its exceedingly high expectations, the episode was definitely one of the better showings this season.

This weeks episode did not seem to have an easily classified main story and sub plot as each character had an equal amount of screen time and it was all interwoven into one another.

The story begins with Marshall and Marvin's final five mile walk to the Farhampton Inn. Instantly I feared that , much like 'Bedtime Stories', this episode was going to focus solely on this journey, providing the audience with another filler episode. Once more the cheesy western style music for Marshall and Marvin's journey began, but thankfully it was short lived as the one and only mother picked them up and happily took the two onward to Farhampton. 

This was a far better move by the writers as the audience was able to witness the chemistry between herself and Marshall. It was great how she initially messed with his head, pretending to be a psychic, knowing everything about him, with us the audience knowing full well that Lily had divulged all the information to her on the train ride in the season premiere.

Furthermore, it was great to see the similarities between the two, as both are undeniably polite, avoiding confrontation at all costs, yet ahead of them were some hefty situations which needed to be resolved.

The mothers fear about the looming possible confrontation weaved into Ted, Barney, Robin and Lily's stories as a mysterious man named Darren (Andrew Rannells) became involved with their issues. 

His first encounter with Lily and Robin was rather humourous with their initial confusion whether or not he was a relative of Robins furthered by the two girls telepathic conversation about a possible menage-a-trois with this stranger. Eventually we learn that behind all the niceties, he is in fact a "firestarter", causing rifts between friendships. This led to Lily finding out that Robin was siding with Marshall about the judgeship vs Rome debate, whilst Robin was less than enthusiastic that her thunder was somewhat stolen by Lily's issue. They were not the most serious of issues, somewhat feeling that they were brought to the table simply for the sake of the plot device, but at least they were addressed in some manner. 

Darren's second encounter with Ted and Barney was far more substantial as Barney found out that Ted was moving to Chicago. This eventually had to be found out by someone else within the group and it was best that it was by Barney. What worked so well was that, although he did initially attempt to persuade Ted out of moving, Barney completely understood that the move was not just for the job for Ted, but more so to ease the pain of losing Robin, and he respected that. 

Ted's little escapade to retrieve yet another bottle of Glen McKenna Scotch, resulting in larceny, was also a nice little touch to emphasise to Barney that he would do anything for his best friend. It almost acted as a thank you for Barneys acceptance of Teds future plans.    

Eventually the whole group were back together again with Marshall finally walking through the doors of the Farhampton Inn, to his horror of finding an aggressive Lily, which thankfully for the time being she "paused" on (There will definitely be an episode dedicated to this argument). 

And again there was a nice little tie in between Ted and the mother: Firstly in terms of their behaviour with the mother's monologue commenting about karma, echoing ever so obviously the way in which Ted thinks; secondly with Teds physical actions unknowingly removing the subject of her confrontation. 

Overall Bass Player Wanted was not exactly what I was anticipating. Hoping that this would be the occasion for the mother and Ted to physically meet one another I admit  that I was a little disappointed. But it made complete sense to tie in the mother with Marshall seeing as she has already met Lily and Barney. No doubt there will be an episode of Robin meeting her too. 

The issue of Chicago was also played out well, with no crazy melodramatics, and the tension between Lily and Marshall is now at an all time high.

It is great that everyone is now at the Farhampton Inn, primarily the mother, as the show can now bring a steady stream of excitable intrigue about the moments up until that fateful moment for Ted.     

7.9/10

HIMYM Review: The Rehearsal Dinner

How I Met Your Mother 

'The Rehearsal Dinner' Review 

Last weeks HIMYM decided to move towards a more experimental approach with an episode entirely dedicated to a nursery rhyme motif. 

Despite the bold move, it ultimately remained a little stale, notably because it was one of the most obvious filler episodes to date. 

This week however the show returned back to form, providing a decent episode which was somewhat bogged down by a sense of deja vu.

The main premise began with Barney handcuffed in a laser tag security office seemingly assured that Robin had set up the rehearsal dinner at this venue rather than at the Farhampton hotel itself. Much to Robins annoyance and displeasure Barney recounts the series of events leading up to that moment. From there on, numerous flashbacks ensued. 

The scene at McLarens pub, with Robin asking for the wedding to be held in Canada, was fairly well executed with the whole crew making silly jokes about her country. Teds interjection that the jokes continued for what seemed a lifetime was a nice little touch as a few extras in the background had their entire lives playing out during that scene.

The secondary flashback of Barney retaliation at Robin's bachelor party prank was also particularly funny with Barney's childish behaviour with the puppies whilst Robin remained rather serious about his sadistic prank on her. Her rule to be more like Marshall and Lily, with no surprises in their relationship was crucial for the overall arc of the story.

What worked best with this plot line was that Barney's obsessive behaviour was so typical of him that it was hard to see the bigger picture, which ended up being a really nice surprise. But at the same time, as nice a surprise it was, it was far too reminiscent of his play "The Robin" in terms of its structure and how the events unfolded.  

Additionally there were some curiosities about the practicalities of the final moments and how Robin quite literally did not see this.

As for Ted and Lily they were left on the sidelines with some mediocre gags. 

The reminder of Lily's inability to keep a secret was rather dull, particularly as we have seen this used multiple times before during previous seasons. It was an interesting reminder though that she had still kept the secret of Teds move to Chicago under wraps. The whole secret issue loosely seeped into Lily telling Ted and Robin about Marshall's judgeship and the possibility of the move to Italy being put on hold, but it seemed a weak way for the rest of the gang to find out. 

Ted was once more a caricature of his usual self, with flashbacks of himself attempting to play the piano whilst dressed up like Liberace as a present for Robin and Barney. There was little to care about with this subplot, although his statement during the initial flashback that he was the best at giving wedding presents with Marshall and Lily's instant looks of disgust was a nice little remembrance of their feud in The Poker Game.    

Apart from a few small appearances in the flashbacks, Marshall was not involved in the proceedings of the present events. There wasn't much indication of how far into his five mile walk to the hotel he was in or whether or not this all occurred during his bus travel. 

Regardless of the sub-par side stories, Barney and Robin's main arc was a nice lighthearted tale which goes to show that they will never be the conventional couple, but instead will constantly amaze and surprise one another to illustrate their love. The final moments were a little too familiar but certainly no excuse to complain about it. 

As nice as it was, the show really needs to place Ted back on the forefront, particularly as the series is edging ever so close to its conclusion.

7/10

HIMYM Review: Bedtime Stories

How I Met Your Mother 

'Bedtime Stories' Review

How I Met Your Mother has been somewhat experimental with a handful of its episodes, but Bedtime Stories takes the cake with an episode completely dedicated to rhyming throughout the entire 22 minute run through. But was enjoyable, or simply grating? For the most part it did a decent job but it didn't save it from the obvious fact that the story itself was pure filler.

The episode begins with Marshall desperately attempting to get his son Marvin to sleep on the bus journey back to Farhampton. Realising that he forgot the nursery rhymes book, Marshall decides to tell tales based on his three friends.

The first tale "Mosby at the Bat" recalls Ted making acquaintance with another college professor, Lisa by which he agrees to go out to a restaurant, but is unsure whether to call it a date or not. 

This little subplot was very much akin to the classic HIMYM style with Barney creating clues by which Ted could determine if he was on a date or not. Barneys use of a globe painted over with Date and Not a Date was very reminiscent of his hot/crazy scale which was a nice touch.  

Additionally there was a rather humorous moment at the end of that tale when the passenger commented about how crass Marshall's story was, which then jumped to future Ted apologizing to his kids.  

We then move onto the weaker tale of the three, Robin eating a whole wedding cake. It was good use of a flashback of Robin when times were hard, i'm guessing this occasion was when she broke up with Don as she let herself go, and the guest appearance by James Van Der Beek was a nice little surprise. But apart from that, the remainder of it was rather stupid. The only funny part in this segment was Marshall's fellow bus passenger doing a rap to aid Marshall who couldn't find a word to rhyme with Canada.

Finally on to Barney, his "Player King of New York City" was as equally silly with his mafia meeting with other players of the New York, all played by himself of course. But this sheer craziness is easily associated with Barney so it was a little more acceptable, although there was distinct lack of humour unfortunately. It was also nice that his and Ted's story both linked in with one another ever so loosely. 

As a whole the episode was generally OK, the whole episode rhyming actually worked fairly well as they used pretty simple rhyming verse. Some of the rhyming did falter in places, particularly with Lily during Robin's story, but the rest of the gang did it well.

Although rather silly, each little tale that Marshall told lighthearted and watchable. But the main issue was that this was the biggest filler episode. There was nothing linked to the wedding itself. Hopefully the next episode will reflect on what went on with the rest of the gang in Farhampton during Marshall's journey.

5.8/10

Movie Review: The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring

 Review

Here in the 21st Century young western society seems to aspire to the socialite lifestyles, attempting to emulate the constant impression that we are all having a party hard way of life and that it is better than anyone else's. 

With The Bling Ring, this film hones down on this ideal with a group of teenagers committing multiple burglaries across LA in the homes of the rich and famous in order to recreate that same type of lifestyle for themselves. 

Although the film says that it is based on true events, caution is slightly needed as the film itself is based on the Vanity Fair article " The Suspects wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales.

The Bling Ring starts off fairly well, introducing the male lead Marc (Israel Broussard), a boy who is constantly paranoid about the way he looks and that he is not good enough to be considered "A-list" material. 

On his first day at school he swiftly meets Rebecca (Katie Chang) and their friendship seems to flourish rather quickly from there on. 

All too easily we begin to realise she's a rebel and that theft is almost a drug for her, with the adrenaline fueling her to keep on wanting to do more, each time the more extravagant. And thus her friends Nicki (Emma Watson), Chloe (Claire Julien) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga) get dragged in for the ride. But they all take great pleasure in their criminal offences.

The whole insight into what American adolescents aspire to be is completely understandable for those watching who are also young adults.

The emphasis on the pressures of your social media persona on the likes of Facebook were all very close to home. The scenes of the girls constantly taking photos of themselves, attempting each time to look provocative and sexual, instantly uploading them onto Facebook for recognition and approval was a great illustration of the pressures for girls in western society. 

Additionally the obsession with "news" about celebrities, with their DUI's and the whereabouts of their partying were was also nice little mockery of teens fixated with people who are only famous for their notoriety and not their actual achievements.

The main issue with the film is that the characters were not overly developed. Although perhaps that was Sofia Coppola's aim so that we don't create potential idols of these convicts, there was a definite lack of interest in them. 

This lack of character was particularly the case for all the female leads. They were a collective persona: all rather bitchy and manipulative in order to get what they wanted. There was also no sense of guilt or remorse between them all, but simply reveling in their own notoriety. 

Apart from minor elements such as Nicki's "religious beliefs" based on the book The Secret, the lack of differentiation between the female cast made it rather dull. 

Marc was slightly better in that he provided a more diverse range of emotions, but even then his character was rather bland. 

Additionally the film itself did get quite repetitive and slow with the almost rehashed footage of the group relaxing, playing around and then robbing the houses. 

Overall The Bling Ring is a pretty standard film which ultimately is more interesting for the teenagers and young adults of this generation. The film was playful and the soundtrack was really great, creating the mood of the party hard way of life. 

Two moments towards the end of the movie though put it much higher in my books. 

Marc's comment that we live in a world with a "sick fascination of the Bonnie and Clyde kind of thing" is incredibly true, particularly when he further noted that he received 800 friend requests on Facebook for his criminal offences which he acknowledged that if his actions were for a charitable cause, that wouldn't have been the case. Secondly the final moments with Emma Watson's Nicki was a sly, well placed twist of events. These two moments highlight what a warped, confused society we live in and it was used to great effect.      

6.7/10