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Ragnarok Came For Thor, And It Was Glorious!

Thor finally got the movie he deserves.  It is big, loud and silly, and he got to bring his friend from work along for the ride.  That is not to say Thor: Ragnarok is a perfect movie, just that it is way better than Thor’s two previous films, and Taika Waititi proved that a director’s unique talent and style can add to a film not just take away from its marketability.

As far as timeline goes, Thor: Ragnarok takes place some time after Thor: The Dark World, but not much longer after Doctor Strange.  Thor apparently has been busy looking for Infinity Stones, but he was not having much luck, so he has decided to make sure that the prophesy about Ragnarok (the end of Asgard) never comes true.  Things were looking up until his long lost sister Hela comes to visit and throws a wrench in his plans.

Thor: Ragnarok is probably the funniest of the MCU films.  There are jokes and sight gags galore.  It is apparent that Taika Waititi set out to make this movie a comedy above all else, and the comedy is what works best.  Whether it be buddy moments between Banner/Hulk and Thor, or the brother versus brother one-upmanship of Thor and Loki.  It is all great, and it all works well.

What works less well are the action scenes.  It is almost like they were thrown in to remind us that this is a Marvel movie.  Like some suit reminded Waititi that Ragnarok sill needed its three or four major MCU action sequences.  They are not bad, but they are just not as good as the film’s lighter moments, and some of them feel a little obligatory.  What is worse is that all the money seemed to spent on The Hulk and the movie’s amazing sets, so the CG for all the fights and chases don’t look quite right.

The actors from all the previous films continue to be great, but the new additions really hold their own.  Obviously we all know that Cate Blanchett is extremely talented, and she was clearly enjoying herself as the over the top Hela, snarling with glee in all her scenes.  Tessa Thompson was also very good as the conflicted Valkyrie.  Not to mention this movie also throws Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum in to the mix, and those two almost always make any movie better.

Thor: Ragnarok is the movie that the MCU needed.  It is funny and unique and it reinvigorates Thor and Loki’s characters.  Before I was kind of done with them, but now I can’t wait to see what they get up to from here on out, and any extra time spent with Ruffalo’s Hulk, is time well spent.  So grab your tickets and your popcorn and go see Thor: Ragnarok.  It is a ton of fun.

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Shmee Has Gone Home!

Much like Oxenfree, I had heard that Gone Home was a good game, but I guess I was just waiting for Microsoft to give me a copy as part of the Games with Gold program.  It turns out that I probably shouldn’t have waited so long.  It is a fantastic tale, and it only takes a couple of hours to play.

In Gone Home you play as Katie who has just come home to Portland from a European tour.  You would expect your parents and sister to be home to welcome you, but they are nowhere to be found, so you have to rummage through the creepy house they moved in to while you were away trying to find clues as to their whereabouts.

When Gone Home came out on PC four years ago it was one of the premiere ‘Walking Simulators’.  In fact it was Polygon’s game of the year.  It only came out on console last year after an engine upgrade so that it would play better with controllers, and it holds up very well.  The game is super atmospheric, and early part of the game is very creepy.  It will have you digging through every drawer and hidey-hole trying to find out what happened.  As with all Walking Sims they live and die by their story, and the story in Game Home is fantastic.  I obviously will not spoil it, but trust me it is worth experiencing.

I shouldn’t have waited four years to play this game, but I did, and it is still worth playing.  It should be pretty cheap at this point, so there should be no financial reason not play it, so do yourself a favor and crank the volume or put on some headphones and play Gone Home.  You will be glad you did.  I know I was.

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Voltron Season 4 (AKA 3.5) Is Much Better Than 3!

Splitting the latest Voltron season in to two parts didn’t do it any favors.  It killed the momentum of the first half, but thankfully what they are calling season four delivers on goods promised in season three.  It is action packed, full of drama, and it is nice to see team Voltron making some headway.  There are also quite a few twists in this half of the season, so I can’t wait to see how those play out in seasons five and six, provided they split the show yet again.

However, I am hoping that this show has an end point planned out for the near future.  While I love watching it, I would hate for it to get full of filler and randomness just to keep it going.  There is nothing worse than a show just making stuff up as it goes along just because they don’t want to cancel it.  I am looking at you Naruto!  BELIEVE IT!

So while season four of Voltron only clocks in with six twenty-two minute episodes, they are all quite good, and I am ready for six (or thirteen) more whenever they want to drop them.  Sooner or later I will not be able to justify the price of Netflix, but thanks to shows like Voltron, this is not that day.

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Return To Hawkins For Stranger Things 2!

After the insanely popular first season of Stranger Things, people were wondering how and if the Duffer Brothers would be able to live up to their audiences’ lofty expectations for season two.  It turns out that they followed the mold of Alien versus Aliens.  Go bigger and keep the gas peddle down.  It mostly works.  It slows down in the middle, but it recovers, and sews seeds for the future.

Stranger Things 2 (what they called their second season) also deals with how children and self medicating alcoholic sheriffs handle trauma.  The question kind of answers itself, but in general they don’t handle it well.  However, watching the cast deal with what happened last season and overcome it to deal with season two’s new threats is excellent.

Stranger things still has one of the best casts out there, and they added Sean Astin to it, so in other words it got even better.  Though not all the new additions are great.  Not to give anything away, but there are some punks you will meet halfway through the season that are little more than 80’s stereotypes.  Whether it was they way there were written or the acting, it is hard to say, but they don’t come off well.

Still one bad episode compared to eight goods ones is kind of being picky.  Most shows wish they had that kind of ratio.  The question now becomes where Stranger Things goes after season two.  Season one’s ending gave us several questions that needed to be answered.  Season two’s remaining threads aren’t near as interesting, so the Duffer Brothers will have their work cut out for them, but after two great seasons you know I will be back for season three, and based on what I am seeing on Facebook and Twitter so will you.  I can’t wait to get back to Hawkins Indiana to hang out with everyone’s favorite middle-schoolers!

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Conan Feels The Same Way About Assassin’s Creed We All Do At This Point!

While Assassin’s Creed did take a year off to find itself, it is still hard to get excited about yet another entry in to the series.  Origins is the 10th game in the main series.  That is right 10th, and the first one came out only 10 years ago.  Its mythology is so convoluted that no one can or should try to follow it.  Which is why it makes sense for Conan to spend much more time focusing on Aaron Rodgers’ injury than playing this game.  I bet he and everyone else wished they were playing Wolfenstein 2 instead!