The 4400 Season 1

4400 people go missing throughout the last fifty years or so and all turn up at the same time. But why? The Wild Bore checks out whether this series should have gone missing instead or whether this cancelled show should be brought back itself.

It's a tough break for something originally pitched as an alien abduction piece that goes up at the same time as Spielberg's 'Taken'. In fact, the whole reason why I got it is because I mistook it for Taken. Instead this, which was a present for my girlfriend left lovingly still in it's clingfilm wrap thing beneath other DVD's, gets a fair outing while she's away in New York and giving me a break from The Shield (we HAVE to watch it together by punishment of death).

The original premise is great, people have been disappearing from all over America at different times and suddenly all turn up at once with no memory of what's been happening. The first was a little 8 year old girl taken in 1948 or something, making her the oldest child ever - and the freakiest - because the thing is, they've not come back alone! Bwahahaha! Instead, they've come back with certain powers. Sounds a bit like Heroes? Well, it is a little bit.

The main protagonist is the father of a son who is in a coma after seeing his cousin float away. Oh dear. While the partner he's been assigned with is a lonely scientist obsessed with work - luckily both work for Homeland Security. Their relationship doesn't really get a chance to properly bloom, but they keep the series engaging enough and become a good anchor point to the narrative.

Different interesting social themes come up during this series, racism, immigration, morality etc but the story is actually quite well written. I was engrossed throughout and the pace was fast enough, however it does feel a bit too much like an American soap or a copy off of different TV series' put together. Yes Heroes because of the powers, The X Files because of the male/female sci-fi partnership, but also traces of The OC and more. That's the problem. I feel like it could be so much more and at a meagre five episodes it must be less a season and more a mini-series.

There is quite a lot I like though, the idea of a resort for the 4400 to stay in (or keep an eye on to take advantage of later), the idea of meeting your daughter or old lover thirty years later is heartbreaking, the fact that there's so many of them means that storylines could be limitless and I randomly quite enjoy the title sequence, though I have no idea why.

You do find out why they are there by the end, which I thought would be stretched out a bit longer but it's quite exciting to see where it will go. As an opener, it works, but is in danger of tipping into either the crap area or the sublime cult area that tends to inspire more than succeed. I'm hoping for the latter, but after hearing it was axed after the fourth season on a cliffhanger, I'm guessing it's the former. For the moment, it'll do.

Rating: 6/10

She's Out Of My League

A rom-com for people who liked The Hangover, but is this a hard ten or a big fat zero? The Wild Bore checks if this is out of everyone's league.

There's something about this new breed of rom-com's for men that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. That's mostly because it covers up shit with clever 'guy jokes' where fraternity is key but true love for the girl wins all. This latest incarnation of such a formula comes with an unbeknowest British twist because not only is Alice Eve from London, but the director is also British having really only worked as a writer on Fur TV. How did he get this gig? Well, it certainly accounts for the poor editing and general uninspiring directing where luckily performance is key.

That's where She's Out Of My League comes into it's own. I enjoyed the performances of everyone involved and they all worked well and definitely made up for the simplistic nature of the film. Jay Baruchel is perfectly cast and Nate Torrence cracked me up but I really do wonder how much of this was the writing, and I'm guessing it's not as much as I would have liked. Both Sean Anders and John Morris have got Hot Tub Time Machine coming out and I think it will prove to see if they really are any good as they haven't got much of a history in Hollywood, or anywhere.

The story of a geeky nerd getting the hot girl isn't anything new either but it works for the twenty-somethings who have grown up with American Pie but want something more mature than the recent teen fodder, but not too old like the characters in The Hangover. There's the classic montage scene, the breaking up and the final 'we-belong-together' scene - let's be honest I'm not giving anything away here by announcing the tried and tested formula of a million films before it because if you think this might be something different, it's not.

There's not much else to say about this film, some of the jokes did make me laugh. The family and his mates are great and there are some good scenes, but I found the actual relationship rather boring. I didn't really care that much if they ended up together because I was too busy concentrating on everyone else, which makes it a McGuffin of sorts, which I'm guessing isn't what they wanted.

Overall, this film is a great no-brainer to take a date to but you can also go with your mates and not get embarrassed. You will enjoy it but I doubt the people who thought The Hangover was amazing (it wasn't) will go crazy for it just as much and get the DVD, probably best for them to wait for the sequel or keep watching Ed Helms in The Office. It's a nice little picture with a classic gross-out edge, but essentially it's the same old shit as before.

Rating: 6/10

The Shield Season Six

Having survived the wrath of Internal Affairs, can Mackey and his team seek revenge for a fallen comrade? 'Leave sleeping dogs lie' isn't exactly the Strike Team's motto ...

What with an annoyingly frustrating fifth season behind them, The Shield lets loose with all that pent up anger it's been holding back on for the last few episodes. What I didn't realise is that what was going to be one whole series instead got stretched out and turned into two, which looking back on the fifth series, is probably why it didn't quite work so well. If this had been cut down and originally stayed as one series, it would have been incredible, instead everything felt too long and so now, series 6 makes up for it.

It's as if the Strike Team has been completely pushed over the edge and we're watching them tumble down in a chaotic mess, and it's more of what I like. The series begins with Kavanaugh still banging about but is quickly put to one side as Vic and his team grieve over the loss of one of their members. Not only this, but Vic is being forced into retirement, his replacement is eager to jump in, there's a Mexican massacre to sort out, teenage runaways getting sodomised and tortured, Shane is about to have a breakdown and all the usual drama taking place in the Barn.

The general storyline is Mackey trying to find the culprit who killed his colleague and this leads him down a dark and destructive path, his new replacement is also quite 'hip' and 'cool' but is definitely no Vic Mackey, and realises he has some pretty big boots to fill. It's also, again, a power struggle, Vic doesn't like the idea that he won't be in charge anymore and Claudette is trying to reign him in as much as possible while keeping the station afloat. We also see the darker side of politics and how it can be a dirtier game than on the streets. But essentially, I feel this series, and pretty much all of The Shield, is an account of the downfall of Shane. Sure, Vic graces the covers and is the first thing people think of when they see anything to do with The Shield, but really it's about how he has corrupted Shane and created some kind of monster - and like Frankenstein's monster, he starts to stand up to his creator. Their relationship has it's ups and downs, but as Shane starts getting heavily involved with the Armenians, he realises he is in way over his head and has put everything at risk. His selfish behaviour is at odds with the compassion he feels towards the team and his own family and takes out this turmoil on himself in self-destructive ways. Yes, Mackey is the driving force of the series, but Shane is the result.

There's a good fair bit of action, though maybe not as much as the first few series and the show has definitely took an 'intelligent' turn in that it usually focuses now more on double crossings, staying ahead of the game and manipulating people rather than just catching bad guys - which is good and bad, as you can go through almost a whole episode of just talking heads when you'd rather see some smashing heads. The acting again is great and the storylines are more intriguing than ever, including the side stories of Dutch, Tina, Dani etc. but the problem is that firstly, this series seems too short (11 episodes but still...) and makes a nice change from season 5 but there still feels like a certain bad stigma has carried on through - including Antwon.

This series has definitely jumped forward in terms of quality, but alas not quantity and should it have been mixed with the fifth series as originally conceived it would have been amazing. Instead, there's no real huge event, it's rather all a reaction from the previous series' events so it almost feels like an add-on, or as the producers call it 'season 5.1'. I couldn't agree more.

I just can't wait for the seventh...

Rating: 7/10

Dante's Inferno

Visceral Games unleash Hell on Earth. But is it a piece of gaming heaven or should it be damned forever? The Wild Bore goes to Hell to find out.

Visceral Games, once called EA Redwood Shores, products are getting increasingly popular. Since starting out on the luke warm 007: Everything Or Nothing game on PS2, they suddenly burst out 3 years later with the highly anticipated Godfather game. It got mixed reviews but was generally well received as a parallel storyline to the first film and personally, I quite enjoyed it. After The Simpsons game (which wasn't too bad, but not great either) and an unsuccessful Godfather II game, Visceral got back on track with the release of the amazing Dead Space game. Since then, The Sims 3 (whatever) came out but their original content again made a mark, which is Dante's Inferno.

Loosely based on the first part of the Divine Comedy where Dante travels to Hell, Dante who is a Christian during the Crusades rather than an Italian poet, has sinned quite a bit while he's been fighting and his missus is paying the price for it as she is trapped in Hell with Satan. Basically, you go through the 9 Levels of Hell to get her back with a completely useless old blue ghost guy 'helping' you, or just annoying you.

One thing will come up immediately as you begin playing, it's completely ripped off God of War, which is probably why they were quick to get it in before God of War 3 was released a couple of weeks ago. Press buttons at the correct time to launch devastating moves, tap buttons to get doors open and so on and so forth. But the problem is when stealing a successful formula, you need to make it better and quite frankly this hasn't.

The gameplay is very smooth with upgradeable abilities, moves and what not, but it is very much of the same thing again ... and again. Which is fine if, like me, you like a bit of hack and slash, but near the end where you go through 9 different stages of just killing enemies with certain parameters (in the air, no magic etc.) you almost want to kill yourself with irritation. But the fighting is quite fun, so luckily it works. Other irritating things come up, such as puzzles that aren't quite 100% clear on what you have to do, and at one point it took me 15 minutes to find out that by jumping off a falling lift into a dark space, I'd survive rather than plummet to my death. Again. And again. Over and over. These minor irritations do add up.

You also don't really get the sense of Hell's geography, which might sound stupid, but I want to know how this is all laid out. You seem to wander through one level into the next and I'd feel more satisfied if it was thought about a lot more. There are some good points though, the graphics are pretty damn impressive. The CG cut-scenes look incredible, probably some of the best I've seen maybe, and the general concept art I thought was quite good, but seeing as it's Hell, it felt sometimes way too cartoony and obvious. Though trying to avoid being shat on in the Gluttony level was quite unique. Also taking advantage of the huge beasts is quite fun, but a little boring about the 4th time you do it, and when you're destroying a city it's so slow that you start pushing other buttons to see if you can hurry it up. You can't.

So graphics are pretty good, gameplay is good, the sound is great but what about the story? Seeing as it's based on what some people call the beginning of Italian literature as we know it, surely it cannot fail. Well, it kind of does. I enjoyed the story of seeing your sins, meeting your friends and parents trapped in Hell and the little anime sequences of his past (as if he cannot take his past mistakes as 'real') but I wanted something a bit darker and it still seemed a little like the inside of the cave in Disney's Aladdin rather than a true dark, sinister ugly Hell. It's what you would think a video game set in Hell would look like, so there's nothing that might really surprise you. The whole collecting souls and damning or saving them soon goes from a novelty to a chore and after a while you realise you're wasting time constantly doing it when you'd rather finish killing the enemies.

It's a good 7 or 8 hours worth of gameplay, so if you really wanted to you could bash it out in a day, or a weekend and there's enough to last but it won't be something you'll remember for ages. There's downloadable content, different difficulties etc. but you must have to have loved it if you want to come back to it. It worked as a good filler to quench the thirst of everyone who was waiting for God of War 3, well now that it's here, I'd say go do that instead and if you want a bit more, come see Dante in Hell. It won't rock your boat over, but it might cause some waves.

Rating: 6/10

Percy Jackson & The Olympians - The Lightning Thief

A fantasy film based on the popular children's book of the same name, we see a young man take a Harry Potter-esque plot through a modern Lord of the Rings world with everything based in Greek mythology. But is it more Zero than Zeus?

For some reason, I came into this film thinking that it would be quite good. I'm obsessed with mythology and a modern take on the old myths seemed right up my street, even if it is a kid's film. Alas, it is not so. Instead Percy, the son of Poseidon, thinks he's dyslexic with ADHD etc. when he knows he can read Latin. Doesn't that seem a bit weird to him? His idiotic friend, who is also his 'protector', is the joke-cracking sidekick, who, seeing as he's really the only black person in the whole thing, came across to me as a servant and it was borderline racism. The annoying girl that he fancies, who is supposed to be an alpha female is just completely lame. But what about Percy himself?

Well, the character is okay. The actor doesn't do too badly, but he hasn't really got that much to work with. But for me, it was about the sideline characters including a great Pierce Brosnan, a sexy Rosario Dawson and a Boromir-esque Sean Bean. But then some ruin it, Joe Pantoliano just glides by as Percy's stepdad, Catherine Keener (whom I usually adore) doesn't really fit as the mother figure and Steve Coogan is absolutely awful as Hades. When he first appears in fire as a huge devil, you almost expect him to go 'Ah haaaaaa!' and his human 'rocker' side made me want to hide behind the sofa in embarrassment rather than fear.

But does it hook you in? Well for something that would have a vast supply of material, that being the best stories in history, you'd think they can't go wrong, but they do. The general plot is somehow, someone has stolen Zeus' lightning bolt and he's not happy. General consensus is that Percy has taken it. Right from the off, there's the issue of how a kid, even a demi-God can steal the most powerful weapon of his from under his nose and why, seeing as there are so many who are aware they are demi-Gods when he isn't, they would think that it is him. Oh because he's powerful? Fair enough. But maybe you should be looking for someone with stealth rather than power? Just an idea. But okay, I'll live with it for now. War in a few days if it isn't found? Come on Zeus, taking it a bit far aren't we?

Cut to Percy at school and loving the water (drink your water kids!) and his crippled mate and wheelchair bound teacher are actually ... strong animal-like beings! Sent to protect him which is nice. But how the hell did they cover Brosnan's horse body in a wheelchair? Magic? Has he got two jobs at the same time if he's running this camp for demi-Gods then? But I'll let that pass. Percy's mother is going out with a complete arrogant slob, which you find out later is because he smells so bad, it covers up the smell of Percy's blood. Umm ... anyone heard of air freshener? I'm sure it would be just as pungent. He can't smell that bad unless covering himself in shit surely? But I'll buy it for the moment.

Once he arrives at the camp, he's lost his mum. Don't worry, it's fairly early on and clear that he hasn't really lost her. But to be honest, he doesn't seem that bothered that she's 'dead'. Instead he's having fun fighting where he's just amazing at everything. Quite lucky then because he's about to go to meet Hades, but to get there you need 3 pearls and visualise where you go so you can get back. Got it? Well fortunately for our 3 heroes, there are 3 pearls and all in the States! Lucky! You'd think maybe Greece? No. After 3 stupid encounters (why not take 2 and get the 2 strong ones to go if time is sparse?) they go and you find out who the Lightning Thief is etc. and then they must go to Olympus. Which is atop the Empire State Building by the way. There's a big battle. The end.

Pretty classic shit story stuff I'm sure you'd agree. But even for a children's fantasy film, it's complete nonsense and you can tell they have tried to make it slightly darker and edgy. Instead it feels bloated, boring with some okayish CG and a complete waste of time. I'm sure it would make great post-Sunday roast viewing when you just want to sit there, but for something with so much money thrown at it, with a popular book behind it, with the whole Greek mythology to keep it interesting and the Harry Potter trend still going strong, you'd think they could do better - and really, they should.

Rating: 4/10

Leaves Of Grass

A strange film by actor/writer/director Tim Blake Nelson, usually known for playing idiotic rednecks (even playing one again in this), he gets buddy Edward Norton to join him in a tale where the grass is always greener on the other side.

Edward Norton plays a set of twins in this weird drama about a man getting back to his roots. One brother is a top professor in the city while the other has stayed in his hometown of Oklahoma to grow drugs. Both of them are born from an intelligent, but now deceased, father who, like their mother, was a huge pot smoker. The hillbilly brother gets the other one down for an alibi as a drug meeting goes wrong. Whoops. They're both now embroiled in this tale where city boy tries to make amends with his family and, more importantly, himself.

If my little summary there made you think about going to see this. Don't. I couldn't stand it. It's awkward to the point where it almost seems like a parody. The CG of two Norton's in the same room is 90's technology at best sometimes, the whole story is complete nonsense (including a psychotic Jew struggling in debt as a side note) and the idea that he 'finds himself' is literally unfounded. Instead, you just feel like you're watching a stupid sequence of events, if this was anything but Norton (who seems to be doing a lot of shit recently) I just wouldn't have bothered at all. The love interest? Hardly touched upon. His relationship with his mother (Susan Sarandon) stalls before it begins and he doesn't seem to have learnt anything by the end, instead he's just a bit pissed off with it all.

This feels like someone liked the idea of twins, one being smart, the other being a criminal and getting some drama out of it. Even the good turn of Richard Dreyfuss and an appearance by Danny DeVito's daughter Lucy DeVito can't save it. It is bloody awful and Edward Norton, who after American History X and Fight Club was poised to be the next big thing, has instead showed that maybe, just maybe, he's not actually that good, or he just has a shit agent. I mean, come on, Norton as The Hulk was terrible - and he must have been the worst superhero on screen surely. Thoughts?

Overall, not enough drama to be a drama, not enough anything to be anything. At least with some shit action flick, you get some action. The film is as patronising as the Walt Whitman title it decided to have and the textbook pop-philosophy behind it. Leave alone.

Rating: 3/10

Gaming News

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo has released details on the 3DS set to be released before March 2011 in Japan - so a bit of a long wait I'm afraid. However, the amazing thing is that it will incorporate 3D technology without the need of 3D glasses! It will be fully backwards compatible so no need to throw those old games out either, especially when you can play them in 3D!

Playstation Move

If you haven't heard already, Sony will be launching a movement controlled remote (yes just like Wii or Xbox's new Project Natal) called Playstation Move. Apparently it is unbelievably accurate, uses the 3D space around you rather than just the controls and will blow the others out of the water. But after looking at the launch clip the games look, well, rather shoddy. It's supposed to have worked with Heavy Rain, (which would have probably been perfect) but still, a good peripheral to have, though no doubt will be expensive! I think it's something to wait for ... I doubt anything on release date will be any good. The fact that it also needs the PSEye to work will mean two things - you'll have to buy another peripheral and, unlike Wii's sensor, chances are there will be an ever-so-slight, yet crucial, lag time, though Sony deny it.
Apparently XBox's Project Natal is suffering from a lot of bugs and at the moment it's more of a rush to launch time, fix it later kind of response than a 'let's push the date back to iron out the creases' affair, especially now PS Move is coming. Xbox has become the best selling console again, not far ahead of PS3 but it looks like everyone who wanted a Wii has bought one already as sales dwindle and, what with these new motion releases, could mean Nintendo better hurry with that Wii 2.

Crackdown 2

Microsoft announced Crackdown 2 will be released July 9th for us Europeans, there will probably be more buzz after E3 in June.

Warner Bros / DC Comic Crossover

Warner Bros have opened a new game studio today since the success of the amazing Batman: Arkham Asylum but no titles announced as of yet but will be solely concentrating on DC characters.


Jack The Ripper Game Announced

Visceral Games (fast becoming my favourite production company with Dead Space and Dante's Inferno) are working with EA on a game based on 19th century serial killer Jack The Ripper simply entitled 'The Ripper'. Apparently it will be a download-only title available on both Xbox and PS3. For the moment, I'm looking forward to Dead Space 2 set to be released early 2011.

Mass Effect 2 Content

Bioware will release the Stolen Memory downloadable pack in April for what looks like 560 Microsoft points. Apparently you can access it at any point in the game and it will take about an hour and a half to complete. The Firewalker pack should keep people happy until then though.

Killzone 3

There will be a Killzone 3, but Sony looks set to unleash a huge torrent of stuff, including this, at this year's E3.

USB 360

Microsoft are working on an update that will allow you to store memory on a simple USB stick, much like the PS3. Catch up Xbox.

New Call of Duty

As most gamers realise, the Call of Duty franchise has splintered off under different production companies. The famous Modern Warfare ones are by Infinity Ward (though Infinity Ward will no longer be doing either, so yet to wait and see) and Treyarch (World At War guys). Though Modern Warfare prides itself on using all the jargon, equipment and so on, Treyarch like to think their games are more, well, personal. So their latest installment is set to take place in the Vietnam war, where, unlike MW, your soldiers aren't necessarily highly-trained machines, but human beings. They might not live up to Infinity Ward's hype, but they give it a good go.
In other CoD news, the Modern Warfare 'Stimulus Package' will be released on March 30th it looks like on Xbox LIVE and a bit later on the PS3, it will be around 1200 Microsoft points and have 5 maps, 2 of which annoyingly are already on the original Modern Warfare (Crash and Overgrown).

Final Fantasy XIII

...was the fastest selling game in the franchise after selling over one million units in Northern America in the first 5 days alone. The grand total for the series so far since Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 is a whopping 96 million.
Also even though FFXII (13) was just released FFXIV (14) has already been discussed as being another MMO (like World of Warcraft) - Square did this with Final Fantasy XI, but it didn't really work as well as they thought. Better luck this time?