Superman Returns movie review

My review on this movie is overall negative and I have more than enough good reasons for it. This is not to say I disliked everything in the movie.
First off the worst part of this story is that is not a remake of the original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve, but rather a continuation of them.

This in my opinion was the worst part of the movie and the worst mistake of the producers.
Christopher Reeve's Superman was simply a classic, this is agreed by most Superman fans and non-fans alike. Christopher Reeve has everything required for a Superman. He had the handsome appearance, he had the build, he had the voice, he played the role with profession.

Reeve truly became the spirit of Superman and a spirit that was irreplaceable. Most people especially fans saw Superman and Christopher Reeve as one. He came into our minds when we tried to imagine what Superman looked like.

So when you loose the actor who becomes the spirit of the character, it's very rare that you can resurrect him artificially by getting another actor to play the same role.
This is exactly what happened with Superman. When Christopher Reeve departed from the world of the living, so did Superman.

This is why Superman Returns lacked the spirit of the rest of the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve.
Not only was Brandon Routh an artificial attempted replacement for Reeve (I don't even see much resemblance between the two), but he also lacked character and had nothing of Christopher Reeve's Superman in him.

Then there was of course the part of poor storyline. Just about every critic of this move mentions this and rightfully so. This storyline is one who can randomly pull out of just about any Superman comic book.
Nothing special or epic about it. And it is part of a never ending story. Lex Luthor tries something evil, Superman foils it. This goes on and on with no possible ending in sight.

Here are some of the good things. The special affects especially the flying sequences were obviously better, given that we live in a much later time era than Christopher Reeve's Superman quadrilogy releases. I also liked Brandon Routh's Superman suit which seemed to be made of thicker cloth and plastic than Christopher Reeve's thin suit. Having a thicker suit for Superman makes it look more realistic to it not being scratched or damaged when Superman is attacked.

Another final taste added to the dull theme of the movie was the producers giving Superman a son by Lois Lane.
Perhaps this is a sign of continuation of the story from the same cycle of Superman saving the day from another random plot.
Perhaps the story may continue with a "next generation Superman" with the son replacing the father.

I do not recommend people buying this movie on DVD, especially a new unopened copy. Those curious about the movie should rent the movie and if they like, buy a used copy which is cheaper.

Striking similarities between Mark Hamill and Christopher Reeve

Looking through their biographies and the most important characters they have played, I felt it's time for me to share what I see are striking similarities between these two gentlemen who are probably my favorite actors.





Both these actors were born exactly one year apart. Mark Hamill was born on September 25th, 1951 while Christopher Reeve was born on the exact same date on September 25th, 1952 (though Reeve looks like the older one to me).

Both men were born in the same country, except different parts. Mark in California and Chris in New York.
Both men suffered through accidents, except Christopher Reeve's accident was much more severe.

Both men had three children of the same gender ratio. Two sons and a daughter for both except that Christopher Reeve had his second son from his second wife.

Both actors were not famous and mostly unknown until they were cast into their two important roles.
Both their movies were released about a year apart. Star Wars: A New Hope was released in 1977 and Superman in 1978.

Both their famous movies had theme soundtracks directed by composer John Williams.
Christopher Reeve was trained in body building by David Prowse the man who became Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy and worked with Mark Hamill during the dual scenes.

Both men also starred together in Village of the Damned.

Characters:





Both Luke Skywalker and Superman also lead very similar lives. Both were orphans since infancy and were raised by foster guardians which they both lost at early adulthood.
Both characters were raised on farms and helped work on them until adulthood.

Both also reached heroism at early adulthood and left the places where they grew up.

While Luke Skywalker was guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi first in life then in spirit, Superman/Kal El was guided by his father's spirit.
Both turn out to be powerful heroes in their respective story lines.

Both suffered through temporary defeats, Superman at the hands of Lex Luthor and Luke Skywalker at the hands of Darth Vader. Both rise to victory soon after their temporary defeat.

Both the characters and their movies spanned fame on Earth in the same time era throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Anyone else noticed these similarities? Any other similarities that were missed? Leave your comments.

Most favorited cartoons of the 1980s in Pakistan and the rest of the world.

During the early 1980s up till the mid 90s, a sizable number of epic classic action cartoons were aired in America and the West.
Naturally, they were broadcast in many countries worldwide including Pakistan where access to Western media has been available ever since television was launched from the late forties and early fifties.

These cartoons were perhaps the more adored and admired than cartoons ever have been in history. As I today read and hear of how these cartoons soared in popularity in America, Pakistani channels simultaneously were hit with these same cartoons in the nineteen eighties and early nineties. Their popularity was so great that they even spread to the non-English speaking middle class.

With their soaring popularity in Pakistan, some of these cartoons had to be dubbed in Urdu. Even the opening theme of Ninja Turtles was dubbed. I was born in 1986, so I was pretty much a part of this time era. It was a truly extra-ordinary childhood.

At school in Karachi, my kindergarten classes were filled with chatter of these cartoons. Lunchtime/recess was dominated by the pretense of living in the worlds of the cartoons and playing the roles of the characters featured in them.
Various Pakistani franchises took advantage of the boom and marketed material from sweet wrappings to stickers, lunchboxes and other cheap products.

These cartoons reached their peaks from the mid nineteen eighties till the mid nineties. There were so many various cartoons such as SilverHawks, He-Man, Bionic Six, Turbo Teen, Ninja Turtles, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, The Transformers, Tiger Sharks, Mr T and my favorite one of all ThunderCats.

I believe ThunderCats was also probably the most popular of all cartoons as it was also dubbed into Urdu and aired on various Pakistani channels more times than I can count.
The video rental/sale stores were stacked with VCR tapes of ThunderCats and other cartoons of that time era.

Note that the above cartoons mentioned are only a handful of the cartoons that aired during the eighties and nineties and perhaps the most popular. There were several other animated shows that I was not exposed to until now and still those that I have yet to see or hear of.

My middle class friends in Pakistan knew some of these cartoons even better than I did. Even till today, I have yet to find anything in the media that can match these cartoons. Many people who grew up with them in the same time era as me agree on this.

Watching these cartoons today does not mean simply seeing the action all over again. It actually takes me to the days of my childhood in Karachi. A time where school and friends were amongst the most fun parts of life. A time when life lacked serious responsibilities and was full of happiness.
These cartoons also take me back to a certain familiarity that childhood brings you. Being in an environment in your first decade leaves strong feelings of familiarity in your heart and mind. These feelings will probably be with you throughout life.

The cartoons of the nineteen eighties and nineties were an important part of this "familiar environment."
When you watch these cartoons again as a young adult, you turn on one memory of the familiar environment which automatically turns on all the other memories/feelings of that time.

As already mentioned, watching these cartoons is not just about watching the action. Not then, not now. Because as a child my English was not as advanced as it is now, (Urdu is my native language) I was not able to grasp their themes properly. However as I grew older I began to understand the themes behind most of the ThunderCats episodes.

For instance a big game hunter who goes across the galaxy hunting and imprisoning his targets for fun. He seeks the ThunderCats as his new challenge and puts up quite a bullyish attitude until his defeat shows him to be a coward.

Another episode showed Lion-O the ThunderCats leader, prematurely attack an alien because of the alien's ghastly appearance. This resulted in a battle between him and the alien. Only at the end of the episode, did Lion-O realize his mistake, that judging an individual based on his/her appearance is wrong.
There was even one great episode where Snarf the weakest and powerless of all the ThunderCats managed to rescue all the other ThunderCats from enemy captivity.

The enemies underestimated him and so he managed to catch them off guard and save his friends. Even some of the other ThunderCats were also amazed how he was able to pull-off the rescue. The end scene of the episode left Snarf and Lion-O uttering Lion-O's saying "you never know what you can do until you try."

Just about every episode carried behind it a moral theme or lesson that children and adults could learn from or deeply think about.
Though I did not watch too many episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, that cartoon too carried themes of morality in it's episodes. Mr T followed along the same lines. At the end of his animated episodes, he would appear live in front of the camera and speak a few lines.

After one of his episodes, Mr T spoke of it's theme and his message "now listen up, this is serious! If you plan on doing something wrong, even if the reasons are good, think twice! Because you may get yourself and everybody else into a whole lot of trouble. Take it from me- Mr T."

SilverHawks was another popular cartoon but worked on slightly different lines. Instead of preaching morality, the cartoon covered scientific facts, particularly astronomy as it was set in outer space. So SilverHawks also had useful themes, except in a different area.

Another extremely positive thing these particular cartoons had in them is that they did not represent any country, at least most of them anyway. Because many of these cartoons took place in outer space or different planets, there was no representation of any single country in them, something that most Hollywood movies seem to lack.

Many Hollywood films are centered around America and have made action heroes such as Superman and Spiderman into American icons. Movies made on the characters often have scenes of the them holding an American flag, possibly to remind the audience which country they belong to and/or are loyal to weather Marvel or DC.

Superman even has had a traditional theme tagged behind him: truth, justice and the American way which is repeated in the cartoons and movies.

Most of the 1980s cartoons had no such themes. They either showed humans and other species working as a team to protect society from villains or simply humans working as a whole to defend the world or in the case of ThunderCats, humanoids fighting evil (ThunderCats appeared to be human with cat-like abilities and characteristics, both physical and mental).
The ThunderCats even had a theme behind them: Truth, justice, honor and loyalty.

Any sign of nationality in that? Various other 1980s cartoons such as Defenders of the Earth, The Centurions and others were simply of characters protecting the Earth outside the boundaries of nationality or ethnicity.

So even when these Western-produced cartoons were aired and dubbed in Pakistan during their peaks, a parent or even adult should not have had to worry about Pakistani youth watching them and having their religious, cultural or political beliefs being manipulated by them.

In fact, these cartoons with their themes would have very much the opposite affect of children upholding core human values of peace and justice that every human society and civilization has struggled to strive for.

These positive, educational, borderless themes combined with excellent quality animation, plots/adventures and dialogue is what made them so special. They were giving children basic knowledge, good values, positive for every nationality- all through the means of entertainment.
Sadly Bollywood and Hollywood have often done quite the opposite.

In North America I have noticed much of fictional materiel from cartoons, movies to video games is discarded within a few years of it's release. When I traveled to North America in the 90s, almost no one had heard of ThunderCats, SilverHawks or similar cartoons.

Even with the rise of newer 1990s cartoons such as Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the realm or X-Men, Spiderman, Batman & Superman (the animated series), the nineteen eighties cartoons still aired on Pakistani channels from their time, the eighties right up till the end of the nineteen nineties. Is it even a wonder why?

These cartoons were a very important and special part in the history of film and animation making and popular culture. Always in the future whether tens or hundreds of years from now when newer fictional material comes out, all film makers and people in Pakistan and around the world must always look back to these nineteen eighties cartoons to learn from.

They had extremely unique, special and important roles in the history of film and animation making as well as human society. Something we can all learn from, regardless of our culture, nationality, ethnicity or race. We must never forget them and their benefits.

People interested in the cartoons of their childhood or those interested in popular media of that generation should visit http://www.back-to-the-80s.com/index.html or other sites such as http://www.80scartoons.net/

There are many groups on social networking sites such as twitter which provide information about these 1980s cartoons as well as video sharing sites as myspace and YouTube which have clips or even some full episodes of these cartoons. If one is lucky some Urdu dubs can also be found.

Those strange terribly made independent movies.

Have readers ever rented movies from movie stores like Blockbuster with titles they've never seen or heard of? Have readers ever searched these "movies" on the Internet with little or no search results?
It has happened to me a few times. I've picked films from Blockbuster with titles I've never heard of and show almost no search results on the Internet.

And every single time, these movies such as Junior Pilot or Stranded are not only unheard of, but are so poor in quality. The worst part of all of this is that I am paying an estimate of the same price that I pay to rent regular movies.

Junior Pilot was so terribly made. A movie about a plane being hijacked by a pair of mad doctors with syringes pointed at anyone who came near them. The plane showed in the movie consisted of different shots of different airplane models. Models as in the type or airplane, not scale models. It's like shooting a video of a racing sports car and then shooting another shot of a regular car and depicting them to be the same car in the movie.

If that's not bad enough, then I don't know what is. Paying the same amount for cheap acting, poor storyline and dialog as a good movie with the opposite quality is simply a rip off.

Is it a wonder why corporate film makers such as Hollywood seem to dominate the film industry? Many defenders of these independent films claim that corporate filmmakers have a larger audience due to massive advertising. I totally disagree.

Corporate filmmakers or any filmmaker who properly invests in their films seems to get a huge audience and profit.
Take for example the first Star Wars movie (A new hope) released in 1977. It became a huge hit in America and the world, not due to the massive advertising, but the money it's makers put into it.

Even the most famous Star Wars fan film, Star Wars: Revelations catches up to the quality of the Star Wars franchise due to money being invested into it. This amount was only a few thousand, but it worked.

Until and unless, these independent filmmakers invest a reasonable amount in their movies, it's unfair for their productions to be sitting on Blockbuster shelves and costing the same approximate amount for rental as a heavily invested movie does.

I urge readers to search a movie on the Internet they see at their local video store if they never seen or heard of it's title before wasting their money on it.

Harry Potter seems to have copied so much from Star Wars.

There have been many striking similarities between Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker of Star Wars. Some of these comparisons are mentioned on this site.
But aside from those mentioned similarities, many things in Harry Potter seem to have been directly copied or plagiarized from Star Wars.

Lord Voldemort is a name so strikingly similar to Lord Vader. The dark lord is a name mentioned in Star Wars to describe Darth Vader and other Sith Lords.
"I'm not turning to the dark side" is a line by Harry Potter towards the end of the first novel. The dark side is a word first mentioned in Star Wars.

Also towards the end of the first novel, Voldemort tells Harry Potter "better save yourself and join me" this sounds strikingly similar to Darth Vader's line to Luke "Join me and together we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
The replies are more or less the same too. Harry Potter's reply: "NEVER!!!"
Luke Skywalker's reply: "I'll never join you!"

Professor Dumbledore seems to be a copy of Gandalf in appearance and Obi-Wan Kenobi in character.

Gandalf:

Dumbledore:

Peeve Riddles being Dumbledore's former student before changing into Voldemort is an almost exact duplicate of Anakin Skywalker being a Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi before turning into Darth Vader. I've even come across sources claiming JK Rowling stole the word "muggle" from another writer's story.

Darth Vader looked like an exactly normal human being as Anakin Skywalker before falling into the lava on the planet Mustaphar. Ever since he has been a monster behind his mask and suit.
The same parallel is that of Tom Riddle looking perfectly normal until he turns into Voldemort and becomes a hideous looking monster.

Some rumors were also spread before the release of the last Harry Potter book that Voldemort was Potter's father. These rumors were most likely a result of JK Rowling making her story so similar to Star Wars theme wise.

Even the marriages of Harry Potter, Ron Weasly and Hermione mirrors that of Luke not marrying the main heroine Leia, though for an entirely different reason.
People would have to read the novels of the Star Wars sequels where Return of the Jedi left off to know what I'm talking about regarding the marriages.

The only people who would disagree with me on these facts would be the die-hard Harry Potter fans.

Resident Evil one review

To give a full review of Resident Evil, I'll have to discuss each version of the game.

Resident Evil for PC/Playstation1:
The original Resident Evil game (pictured above) for PC/PS1 were more or less the same game as I recall.
The only difference there might have been were the prizes you earn after finishing the games. Finishing the PC version with Jill Valentine will give you an infinite sub machine gun.

Finishing the PC version with Chris Redfield gives you an infinite old-fashioned automatic rifle used in the early 1900s.

Other than those few differences, the are the same game pretty much. The background music and everything else stays the same. My personal views on this first release is that it missed alot of details and corrections that were released later in the Director's Cut version duel shock version.

The background music was poor and did not really match with the atmosphere. There were hardly any difficulties to choose from in the game. Finishing the game led to very limited prizes besides the rocket launcher, the machine guns depending on the characters and the "special key." The special key allows you to unlock a wardrobe and take out new clothes for your characters.

For this version of Resident Evil, I'd give two stars out of five. One extra star above the lowest rating for the special sub machine gun that you can obtain with Jill, not possible in the other versions of the game.

Resident Evil:Director's cut: This is the same game as the the Dual shock version, which I'm about to discuss except the background music is the same as the first version of the game.



This is the best version for Playstation out of all the Resident Evil issues. (only one version of RE was released on PC).
Excellent updated, [creepy] background music. It contains various difficulties, including the ultimate difficulty dubbed "arranged mode" which completely changes the the setting of the game. Items are in completely different places, characters have different outfits, new camera angles and additional new features.

The arranged mode can be a little frustrating with the difficulty that it's at. For example killing a regular monster can require more than one magnum round. For those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil series, the magnum gun is the ultimate gun, killing everything except for bosses in one shot.

To erase your frustration with the arrange mode's difficulties and completely conquer the game to win prizes, simply go to the difficulties menu at the beginning of the game, go down to arrange mode and hold the right direction button until the arranged mode turns green.

My rating is four stars out of five. Everything is excellent, save for the length of the game play and realism.

Resident Evil: Remake
This is the best version in the series. I haven't finished it yet or progressed much far, but so far it is everything Resident Evil was meant to be. So far I'd give it five out of five stars. I just wish the background sound tracks were the same as the Director's Cut duel shock version released on Playstation.
Otherwise the graphics are excellent, realism is at it's peak. The game play is almost entirely different from the PlayStation & PC versions with the puzzled re-arranged and completely enhanced making it more challenging than ever.

I give this a full five star rating. The video below speaks for the game:

Hitman Trilogy review for PlayStation 2

Hitman Two: Silent Assassin
I first played this game at a friend's house on his Xbox back in 2002-2003. Seeing the realism in it and it's similarity to James Bind games, I actually liked it and rented it for my PlayStation 2.

The things I really liked about it were the long number of missions, the realism, the various challenges.
One thing I really have to complain about is difficulty using the fiber wire in this particular game.
The character really takes a really long slow swing when trying to take out an enemy or a target. Slow enough that if you miss even the slightest bit, the victim is fully aware of the attacker and reacts fast.

Using the anesthetic to knock out a non-target is also another pain, I simply don't use it. It's the same difficulty as the fiber wire.

My way of scoring through the game is using the kitchen knife picked up in the first mission "anathema" and using that in place of the fiber wire & anesthetic to get a silent assassin rating.

Another negative I have to say about this game is certain missions can be extremely boring. The mission in Indian Punjab for example is extremely tough, requiring you to find an almost-impossible-to-find pathway to get you to the next end of the level. There are quite a few missions like this.

The saving options are also good. They give you a fair amount of time to think & strategize your mission and where exactly to save.
The harder level you choose for your game, the less saves you get; and I've read staying in stealth is also more difficult as you select higher difficulty.

To sum it up, I'd give this game a four out of five stars. One star less for the reasons I mentioned. Quite a fun game otherwise. If you're a fan of the James Bond games, then you're bound to love this game.

Hitman:Contracts
This was probably my least favorite game in the series. For one the number of missions are just to few compared to it's predecessor and successor around twelve or thirteen as a recall correctly.
Some of the missions are also incredibly boring & annoying. As an example, missions towards the end of the game take you into extremely dark places where you have to keep putting on your night vision goggles, which changes your views completely.

You're forced to switch back & forth between goggles and normal view several times to adjust to the area you're in the mission.
You also have to go deep into underground areas staying areas in stealth mode, which means no running.

On the positive side, you can use the fiber wire much, much more easily. Instead of an anesthetic bottle that you had to stick into a victim's face with such great difficulty, you know have a syringe and easily kill them with a jab. One is to knock out the victim the other to kill.

The key configuration is also somewhat improved. You have to place the game son PS2 to understand what I mean.

My overall rating would be a four out of five. One star less for the negative things I mentioned.

Hitman:Blood Money
In my opinion, this game is the best of the three. Similar key configuration to the second game. A large number of missions, better weapons.
It's more or less the mistakes of the second game removed and combined with the positives of the first game in the trilogy.

The game also offers various hints & clues as well is various killing tactics, like setting booby traps for the target(s).
But in return, there is a price to pay: you don't get to save your missions while exiting.
You have to finish the mission and can only save and restart where you left off without leaving the mission.

The game also has alot more extras, such as the amount of money needed to spend on staying undercover. You have to bribe civilians or the local police chief, but only if you were seen.

The incidents lead Agent 47s appearances to come in the papers. The game also has an in dept look at the story of Hitman and political climax around the whole story. You get to see everything unfold through cut scenes as you progress through the game. This makes the whole game alot more enjoyable.

The game also has a few surprises that I don't want to spoil for my reader.

My overall rating is five out of five. If you liked the previous Hitman games, you'll love this game. And if you play the other two Hitman games after this one, you may experience disappointment.

I hope my review will be useful to readers who are interested in this game trilogy.
A thing to note is that even if you play this game on Xbox it's no different than the PS2 version. I cannot comment on Blood Money for Xbox360 as I haven't played it on that counsel.
I played Hitman two on Xbox and PlayStation Two and I can tell you they're the same thing, even the key configurations are the same as I recall.

Resident Evil tricks

In Resident Evil one, move close to a Zombie with a shotgun and aim up and fire, this kills the zombie in one shot. If there are two in front of you, you can kill them in one shot the same way.

Picture puzzle- In the mansion room with the paintings, go from youngest to oldest.

1-New born baby

2-infant

3-lively boy

4-young man

5-Tired middle aged man

6-bold looking old man.

7-People mourning the dead.

In Resident Evil Code Veronica X to kill the bandersnatchers quick and fast, equip yourself with the M-100P, go right up to the bandersnatcher. make sure there is no distance between you and the creature and quickly fire at it without stopping and it will die in five rounds at the most.

In Resident Evil 2 use the flame rounds on the plants with Clair's scenario. They will die in one shot. Also in Clair's scenario, use the acid rounds on the lickers and they usually die in one shot. In Leon's scenario, use the flame thrower you find on the plants and they die in one shot. Use the magnum for boss fights.

To kill the tyrant monster in Leon and/or Clair's scenario, use the submachine gun and keep shooting non-stop till the tyrant goes down.