Lego Jurassic World Review (Nintnedo DS Version)

Hello, there! I hope everyone's enjoying their summer. I know it's been a while but here I am with a fresh review.

Hot on the heels of the T-Rex juggernaut that was Jurassic World, Lego released a game version of the hit movie on several gaming platforms.

I played the Nintendo 3DS version so I do not know how similar they compare to other versions.

But regardless, if you would prefer playing this game on the go rather than stuck in the house on the Xbox One then it definitely is worth your money.

The game allows players to relive all four films - although to begin with you will only be able to access the original and Jurassic World. 

As this is a Lego interpretation of the series, it takes some creative liberties with the plots and levels. While the stories are similar to the source material, the game does bypass some parts and focuses on the main points.

All the characters are also made of Lego, of course. The cut scenes are not bad but I don't understand why you can only watch a handful in 3D. It kind of defeats the purpose of being on the Nintendo 3DS.

Also the audio quality of the voices is awful. There are taken straight from the films but it sounds like they were recorded in a toilet.

The gameplay itself is pretty good. The controls are straight forward so anyone can play. While most puzzles again are straight forward some require you to look around and explore different areas before they can be solved.

However, if you have played previous Lego games Jurassic World will give you a sense of deja vu. There is nothing new in the game mechanics compared to previous games.

Lego Jurassic World gets 7/10.

Movie Review: Sharknado Two

Probably one of the silliest film franchises to hit our computer screens this last couple of years (yes, computer) is the Sharknado movies (see why I said computer?). 

If you’re not familiar with the films I will give you a rundown of what they are about: Sharks + tornado = Sharknado. That’s pretty much it. 

The first film was about a bar owner called Finn (subtle) trying to save his family after a sharknado hits his hometown and the raining sharks start to eat everyone. 

The second one delivers the same thing except this time in New York…because…I don’t know, Finn and his family are just there.

What can I really say about this film? The CGI sharks look like they’ve been designed with Windows 95, the acting is terribly, cheesy and over the top and there is no rhyme or reason to any of it. 

And while most modern movies like to replace real life rules with Hollywood movie rules from time to time, Sharknado Two likes to piss all over them. If I had a penny for every time this film did that I would be a millionaire.

But this is the thing, despite all of the above Sharknado isn’t actually a bad film. Why not? Because it knows it’s premise is ridiculous and it never takes itself seriously. 

The team behind the Sharknado films are the same people who brought us Z-Nation. Now while Z-Nation has far better acting and effects, it is still a guilty pleasure like the Sharnado franchise. 

Sticking with Z-Nation, there is nothing you have never seen in another zombie series or movies before but the series takes this in its stride. As a result it often has silly plot points and jokes all the way through. 

Sharknado is intentionally over-the-top for the sake of being so and that makes it hilarious. The original film was so popular that the production team managed to get a good number of cameos from famous fans. While it is really funny though, the bad acting did start getting on my nerves half way through. 

Sharnado: The Second One gets 6/10.

Movie Review: How to Train your Dragon 2

How to Train your Dragon was without a doubt one of the most popular movies of 2010. The animated flick was an adaptation of Cressida Cowell bestselling children’s book series of the same name. 

A lot of other reviewers have claimed the new film, How to Train your Dragon 2, is just as good - of not better - than the first. I’ll be the first to break cover here and say that I disagree. That said, it is still a good film and a lot of fun. The animation has stepped up in quality between this and the previous movie, there are a lot of jokes and the dragon fights are really good to watch. 

My problem with the film in my view is the first hour. Unlike the previous film not much happens. It is very dialogue heavy and I appreciate the writers were trying to build character development, but why? There was very little in the first film except for Hiccup and Astrid. So why would this film need it? 

Also for a few minutes the film seems to forget it’s a Dreamworks movie and pretends it’s a Disney one with an awkward musical number sung by Hiccup’s parents. There is no build up to it and there are no other songs in the rest of the movie. So again, why was it there? This movie is also riddled with cheesy lines and bad Holywood style hero speeches. There is one part of the film where it is justified but the rest of it is just cringe worthy. 

It gets 7/10.

Falling flat on your ass: Kick Ass 2 Review

The world’s favourite would-be-super-hero in a green wetsuit Kick Ass is back on cinema screens.

Kick-Ass 2 to set two years after the first film when a teenager called Dave decided to become a real life super hero. 

We find him still patrolling the streets on a nightly basis. But his stand-up and be counted attitude has spawned legions of other would-be-heroes. Dave joins a team of them but his actions draw the attention of Red Mist, the son of the crime boss he killed in the previous film. Dave turns to Mindy (Hit Girl) for help but she has given up the trade to focus on high school. 

While the story gets off to an energized and funny start it soon falls flat. The first twenty minutes are fun and the last half hour of the film delivers great action, great jokes and an impressive climax. But the material in between is just, well, boring. It’s not terrible, it just isn’t interesting. In a nutshell it focuses too much on whiney teenagers, like Mindy…actually it’s all about Mindy…whining. 

It’s hard to believe this was the same foul-mouthed, ass-kicking kid from the first film who thought nothing about killing someone. In this film she suddenly decides she cares what other people think about her, which isn’t believable given her previous character convictions. Also given the nature of the film I couldn’t take any of it seriously. I understand the film was trying to build character but this just went into overkill. It dragged on and was completely unnecessary. 

Parking that to one side, the action and fight scenes had me glued and were a lot of fun. Probably the best villain in the film was Mother Russia. When you see her in action you’ll know why. The only action sequence I didn’t like was the van chase scene near the end. The green screen was just horrible. I don’t know if this was done deliberately to create a comic book style feel to it, but either way it didn’t work. The characters looked like cardboard cut-outs flying down a motorway.

When the film did make a joke it was hilarious each time, although there were long pauses between them. This definitely wasn’t as funny as the first movie, which is a shame as it did have some really good moments.

Too much teenage angst and not enough jokes diminish what would have otherwise been a great film.

Kick Ass 2 gets 6/10.