FILM REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 2

Jack Black is back in the sequel to 2008's Kung Fu Panda, in Kung Fu Panda 2. KFP2 is considerably darker than the original in it's story, as Po finds out that he is adopted, and must defeat Lord Shen, the peacock who killed his Panda parents and wishes to conquer China. KFP2 has all of the same characters from the original that survived, and the action scenes are still awesome.

KFP2 has some of the same problems of the original- like having famous actors who don't have notable voices doing voice acting for it for really no reason. Also, the jokes in it are almost the exact same jokes from the first, and I didn't laugh once throughout the whole film. Still, in 3-D the film looks awesome, and while the story may be by-the book cliche, it is pretty strong and interesting throughout. The improved technology allows the action to be much more awesome than in the first, and the brilliant fight scenes overshadow the poor comedy.

The writers have clearly, by the film's ending, readied for a third film, although I hope that does not happen, knowing the outcome of making a 3rd Shrek film (a lot of jokes from Shrek in here, too). I hope they keep it to 2.

KFP2 is a strong film, in my opinion better than any other animated film this year, but the comedy has definitely been downgraded in the sequel. Still, awesome action scenes keep Po's adventures awesome.

TV SHOW REVIEW: Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife

Last week's next-time trailer for the Doctor's Wife got me very excited for this week's episode. I already knew that the episode was to be called "The Doctor's Wife", and the next-time clip revealed that a time lord would call The Doctor for help on a planet. Sadly, the story ended up scrapping the whole time lord idea- The Doctor's still the only one left. But, the real story of the episode is still strong, written well by author Neil Gaiman.

So, on to the story. The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors to find a glowing white cube hovering in space. He is ecstatic to find that a time lord, "one of the good ones", has sent him a message, and so follows the cube outside of the universe, to a living planet (voiced by Michael Sheen). On the planet, the Doctor and gang meet the strange Auntie and Uncle, who turn out to be made up of strange time lord parts. Also living there are nephew, a stranded ood with a broken communications device, and a crazy lady. When the Doctor finds out that the Time Lord message was just a lie sent by the planet to lure the Doctor in, he sends Amy and Rory back to the Tardis and locks them in. He finds out that the planet lives on TARDIS energy, and that to get that energy, the planet must transfer the energy into   a body, the Doctor's Wife. The planet then begins to eat the TARDIS, but Rory persuades the planet that it would be much more fun to kill Amy and Rory slowly. The scenes where the planet tortures Amy and Rory in the TARDIS are very well done with great suspense and editing. I won't spoil too much more of the story, but it is pretty strong of a storyline.

So, is "The Doctor's Wife" good? Well, I consider it so. While I think that having Rory die AGAIN and the TARDIS and the Doctor being separated AGAIN, this time both of those have been handled in the most creative way possible. Having the Doctor meet the real love of his life, the TARDIS, in human form, is the best thing ever for him. The scenes between the Doctor and the TARDIS are extremely strong and the episode as a whole is intense, well-written, and overall brilliant. Also, you have to bear in mind that, even though Rory dies in this one again, one- it's only a trick the planet plays on Amy, and two- Neil Gaiman wrote this episode for series one originally but it was put back due to budget issues. So, if it had been last season, it would have been Rory's first death anyway. Also, it's great to see the Ood make a return, but I think that a deeper part of the story for the Ood would have been better than just having an Ood there just so the BBC could make use for it's costume collection. I was dissapointed that there wasn't at least one returning timelord, but, with Amy's baby regenerating and River Song revealing all her secrets soon (cliffhanger for mid-season break?), an extra timelord would probably have made a lot of mess. Also, great to see the use of the David Tennant TARDIS interior for one of the rooms of the TARDIS Amy and Rory get trapped in.

The episode ends strongly and emotionally, with the Doctor having to put the TARDIS' soul back inside the machine. Next week's episode looks interesting, being about clones (Sontaran Stratagem?) and living skin (cassandra). It may not be the most original episode, but it will be the series cliffhanger so let's hope it's strong.


Pros:

• Strong story
• Great Acting
• Continuity of stuff from older series throughout adds awesomness
• Michael Sheen

Cons:

• Doctor cut off from TARDIS and Rory dies, again

FLASH GAME REVIEW: Pandemic 2

Hello, this is rocknrollrocksout with a review of the flash game pandemic 2, which can be played here- http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/fullscreen.php?game=pandemic-2.

Both a game and a meme, Pandemic 2 is a game based on creating your own disease and infecting and killing all of the world's population. Sequel to the similar Pandemic game, Pandemic 2 is a basic yet very addictive game that will have players hooked.

At the start of the game, you are given a menu screen and can choose to start a game or watch tutorials. There are dozens of tutorials, but the game is pretty simple. Basically, you must buy and sell the right traits in order for your disease to spread quickly and infect the population. The rest is just waiting.

When you start a game, you have the choice of playing either "Realistic" or "Relaxed" mode, whichever you fancy. Basically, in relaxed mode the game ends relatively quickly and your disease evolves quickly, while in realistic you have to wait a hell of a long time for the game to finish. Next, you name your disease and choose a disease type- from Virus, Bacteria, and Parasite. Viruses evolve quickly but are easy for the government to stop, while parasites evolve slowly but are hard to catch. Bacteria, in my opinion the best choice, is a perfect fit in between the other two. Now you are ready to infect the population!

In Pandemic 2, the world is split into 21 zones (regions & countries). The aim of the game is to infect all of these zones and kill the population of them all, making them "forsaken zones". The hardest zone to infect, as represented by the "Shut Down Everything" meme, is Madagascar. Island like Madagascar, Japan, Cuba, and New Zealand can prevent your disease by shutting down ports, so to capture them you need to act fast.

The only real gameplay, however, in Pandemic 2, is choosing which traits you purchase for your disease. You have to choose your disease's symptoms, which increase disease infectivity and lethality but also add to visibility, and can also buy disease resistance factors, which help prevent government vaccines which can be administered and helps to spread the disease. Also, you can buy forms of transmission, which makes the disease more "mainstream".

So, now that you get the gameplay, let's talk about presentation. Since it's a flash game, Pandemic 2 looks a lot like flash. It is very well programmed and runs pretty smoothly, even on my slow computer. The music is atmospheric but it can be turned off if you wish to play your own music. Since it's flash, I wont delve too much more into the looks of the game. The menus are simple to use and everything works fine, so all is good.

As one of the most important games, in my opinion, in flash history, Pandemic 2 survives on as an addictive and fun-to-play game that will be remembered for all eternity by the interwebs. Since it's free, it's really your choice, and,  if you think it'll be fun, give Pandemic 2 a try.

TV SHOW REVIEW: Doctor Who: Curse of the Black Spot

After a confusing and plot-hole ridden, yet exciting opening two-parter to the sixth season of the new Doctor Who series, the series has almost completely moved away from all of the story arcs introduced in the first episode, and episode 3- The Curse of the Black Spot, written by Stephen Thompson, is a good old-fashioned historic story with a pirate theme and an extra-terrestrial "villain".

The episode begins with some pirates sailing on a pirate ship, as expected. The pirates, led by Henry Avery, who is played by Hugh Bonneville, are forced to sit and wait as there is no wind to move their ship and a homicidal mermaid siren is hunting off any of them who get cut and bleed. She marks the ones who she is going to "kill" with the black spot. Of course, the Doctor and friends stow away on the ship and help to save the day.

For most of the episode, the Doctor and friends wait as each pirate is one by one killed off by the siren, played by supermodel Lily Cole. Another inside story is the fight between captain Avery and his son, who has stowed away on board. I, however, found it confusing that, after not seeing or knowing where his father was for 3 years, he can just magically appear on board his ship. It's never explained. The best part of the episode is definitely when Rory gets slashed with a sword and becomes very attracted to the Siren, angering Amy by saying she's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. (During adverts (or commercials for you Americans), in a Dctor Who insider, Stephen Moffat said "It's good that a Doctor Who has a scary monster, but this time's it's a big bonus that she's hot as well!"- adding 100% epicness to himself). There are many more of these siren attarction scenes, but Rory's is the best.

The Doctor eventually, with the help of Captain Avery, manages to figure out how and why the Siren has been taking the people. I won't spoil the ending, but I will tell you that it is explained in great Doctor Who sci-fi fashion, involving two overlapping parallel worlds. The pregnancy of Amy is touched upon at the end, and after saying goodbyes to the pirates, Doctor and crew get ready for their next adventure. The next time trailer is epic- the Doctor gets an invite from a timelord to have a meeting, the gang get trapped on a planet with a mysterious family , the ood are involved, and the episode is called "The Doctor's Wife", according to many Doctor Who news websites.

Pros:

• Many funny scenes, as Rory prefers the Siren to Amy and the Doctor and Avery fight for the role of Captain
• A great explanation to the Siren's purpose and where she's from
• Good piratey theme, gets us prepped for the upcoming pirates of the Caribbean 4. 
• Epic next time trailer
• Great cast (Lily Cole)

Cons:

• A couple plot holes- no explanation for how Avery's son got on board, some plot holes at the end that I don't want to spoil.
• Some continuity issues
• Repetitive story- similar things that have happened in previous episodes, just with a new  setting.