2018 Movie Preview: The New Mutants

Originally published on Set The Tape

Before audiences rejoin Professor Xavier and the rest of the X-Men in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix, audiences can return to the X-Men universe with the release of The New Mutants.

Directed by Josh Boone, The New Mutants stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/’Magik’, Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/’Wolfsbane’, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/’Cannonball’, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/ ‘Sunspot’, Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/’Mirage’, and Alicia Braga as Cecillia Reyes.

Set to be the eleventh film in the X-Men franchise, The New Mutants shifts its focus away from the Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters and the characters that we know, and will tell the story of a group of young mutants that are struggling to survive in a world that hates and fears mutants.

The New Mutants has promised to shift the tone of the X-Men universe, leaving behind the bright costumes and super heroics that the franchise is known for, instead choosing to embrace horror; an area of the X-Men universe that has been explored many times in print, but not yet on film.

Josh Boone and the cast are already a good indication of this change, with a director best known for the drama The Fault In Our Stars, and actors from The Witch, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones a sign that Fox are willing to embrace a different feel for the film. Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider has said that the film is less of a superhero piece and more of ‘a haunted house movie with a bunch of hormonal teenagers’, crediting both One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and The Shining as inspirations for the project.

The New Mutants were the first ever spin-off team based around the concept of additional mutant super teams at Marvel Comics, debuting in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 in December 1982, written by Chris Claremont. The team would go on to prove popular enough to merit their own ongoing title that would last for several years. Over the course of this initial run all of the characters that appear within the film made their appearances. The book has returned a number of times since this original run, with many of the characters going on to reappear.

The fact that Fox is taking advantage of these spin-off characters is a great source of comfort for X-Men fans, especially with the increasingly confusing continuity of the main series. With the X-Men films having become so bogged down in their own interweaving stories and conflicting chronology it will be a great relief to have an X-Men project that manages to stand on it’s own.

Yes, Deadpool existed as it’s own entity, but it acknowledged these inconsistencies and changes in the other films (though with a sly wink) that it reminded viewers that this was just another part of a larger, more confused whole.

With The New Mutants rumoured by the director to be the first part of a trilogy, hopefully it will manage to remain separate enough from the rest of the films not to be damaged by association. It’s entirely possible to include connections to the larger universe without interacting with it in any real way, just look at how Legion managed to be a part of the X-Men’s world whilst still being it’s own entity.

With a cast of some of the best up and coming young actors working in film and television at the moment, a director that has proven that they can deliver an effective film about teenagers in extraordinary circumstances, and a trailer that genuinely sent shivers down my spine, let’s hope that The New Mutants delivers on its promises and gives the X-Men franchise the jolt it surely needs.


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First Trailer For Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom Released

The first trailer for the sequel to Jurassic World, Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom, has been released.

'It's been four years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Islar Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungle.

'When the island's dormant volcano roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from the extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who's still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission.

'Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order no seen since prehistoric times.'

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stars Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing, Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, BD Wong as Dr Henry Wu, and Jeff Goldblum as Ian  Malcolm.

The film is set for release on June 22nd, 2018.

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and Tarkin, Lords of the Sith (written by Paul S. Kemp) focuses on Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine as they come under attack by rebels on the Twi’lek home world of Ryloth.

The book focuses on both the titular Sith Lords and the leaders of the Ryloth rebels, which includes Cham Syndulla, the father of Star Wars Rebels’ Hera. Splitting the action between these opposing sides, we get to see not just the inner workings of a rebel faction that we see in The Clone Wars and Rebels, but also the relationship between Vader and Palpatine, something that hasn’t been explored in film.

It’s these interpersonal relationships that make up the focus of the book, despite it also providing several spectacular action sequences. With the rebels Cham takes a secondary seat, despite being the leader, to share centre stage with Isval, one of his most trusted lieutenants.

Isval is possibly the most interesting character in the book, a woman who suffered at the hands of Imperial agents in the past, now taking out her pain on those who have enslaved her planet. It’s not just her position in the resistance that allows her to alleviate the ghosts of her past, taking time to sneak into Imperial controlled cities, she finds young Twi’lek women selling their bodies to Imperials to survive, and murders those men who would take advantage of them. Saving these young women from a fate like hers, stopping Imperials from using and abusing their bodies, providing these women with the means and money to get away and start a new life gives her some solace, but ultimately cannot save her.

In a lot of ways this is what Lords of the Sith is about, damaged people. Cham Syndulla, a man that’s been fighting to free his people for decades, has to keep repeating to himself ‘a freedom fighter, not a terrorist’ to try to convince himself that he’s not become a monster like those he fights against.

We also get to see a very young Vader, one that was recently Anakin Skywalker and is still dealing with the traumatic events of Revenge of the Sith. We see the old Anakin shine through as Vader pilots his fighter through swarms of Buzz Droids, he thinks about being a Jedi, and even finds himself having emotional flashbacks to his crippling on Mustafar.

He’s not the man we see in the original trilogy, he’s still finding his footing as a Sith Lord, and as such relies on his master in ways that we’ve not seen before. He looks to Palpatine for guidance, he gives him is loyalty and gives him any information without hesitation; all this despite wanting to turn on his master at times, the way all Sith must eventually do.

Despite the book humanising Vader in a lot of ways, when seen from the point of view of the resistance he’s a thing from nightmares. There’s one particular moment when Vader floats his way through open space to board a resistance ship, brutally killing everyone onboard whilst Cham and the others are forced to listen to their screams via an open com channel. The deaths of these resistance fighters aren’t see, we simply stay with Cham as he experiences these event from afar, yet it’s one of the most horrifying scenes in the book.

Palpatine is also well served through the events of Lords of the Sith, getting to once again show that he’s a powerful warrior as well as a master tactician. Forced to cross the savage surface of Ryloth, Palpatine is forced to engage with enemies, tearing through his foes with force powers and lightsaber alike. Whilst the films paint Vader as a villain, he always feels as if he’s following an agenda of some kind, even if that doesn’t align with those that are morally right. Palpatine, is not like this, he performs actions that border on pure evil, killing indiscriminately and for little reason. Even Vader finds his actions shocking at times.

Lords of the Sith is a grim book, and has a tragic end. It’s impossible to show how powerful and cruel the Empire is without innocents and those fighting for freedom suffering at their hands. Despite this, the book contains hope, it shows that heroes will have the will to fight on even in the face of unstoppable evil. Much like Rogue One, Lords of the Sith focuses on the darker side of the Star Wars universe to deliver a story of tragedy and bravery.


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School Defends Decision To Sack Gay Teacher

South Coast Baptist College in Western Australia has defended it's decision to terminate the employment of a teacher because they had come out as gay.

Craig Campbell revealed his sexuality to his employers (previously reported on here), but soon found himself without work when the school would not offer him any further shifts as a relief teacher, despite being a member of staff at the school for two years.

Following Craig's termination the head teacher of South Coast Baptist College Des Mitchell, pictured on the school website beside the motto 'rigorous minds, compassionate hearts', told media that Craig's sexuality was 'inconsistent' with being a teacher.

At the time Mr Mitchell said, 'I shared with him that at present there is an inconsistency with his beliefs on sexuality and the college's beliefs. At the time Craig requested to be a relief teacher at SCBC, he had a very clear knowledge of the college's Christian values and related beliefs. At present, for us, we chose not to employ someone who's openly gay.'

Unfortunately, as the school is a religious facility it is exempt from anti-discrimination laws. Western Australia's LGBTI Advocacy Group has called for these rules to be changed to protect LGBT+ employees.

The group spoke to ABC News on the issue, stating that 'That exemption is now out of date and out of step with community feeling. this is no longer a political issue. It's a human rights issue.'

Despite this, South Cost Baptist College have insisted that they made the correct choice, insisting that religious freedoms are important.


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Alien Resurrection 20 Years On

Originally published on Set The Tape

Alien 3 was a film that had a lot of audience expectation, the teaser trailer was released before the film had a script, and the film made promises of the Aliens reaching Earth. Whilst the film did not deliver on this initial promise, and was met with poor reviews at the time, it went on to become beloved by fans of the franchise. Alien Resurrection has not gone on to be beloved after a poor release.

After the death of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley at the end of the third film many people felt that it would be impossible to continue on the franchise without her. Whilst Fox did consider several films that would bring the aliens back but leave Ripley dead, ultimately they felt that the character had to return, and as a result Alien Resurrection was born.

With Ripley dead, Fox tasked an impressive young writer to pen her return, Joss Whedon. Whilst Whedon wrote several versions of the script, most of which included a finale taking place on Earth itself. However, thanks to studio interference and requests for changes Whedon left the project, resulting in the film becoming substantially different from what he originally intended.

It’s easy to see how a version of this film would have fallen more in line with what we’ve come to expect from Whedon, with the pirate crew of the Betty having a very watered down version of the stereotypical Whedon banter. Perhaps if Whedon had been able to perfect a script, or even have been given the directing job himself the film would have been better received. Instead, the directing fell to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a renowned French director for whom Alien Resurrection was his first American film. Jeunet brought his distinct style to the film, bringing along French special effects supervisor Pitof, and cinematographer Darius Khondji, to help him craft his own unique vision for the film.

Unfortunately, it was this mixture of new art style and a fractured script that led many people to feel that the film failed to live up to the previous instalments, which ultimately led to the poor critical reviews and low box office takings. The alteration in the design of the Alien is one of the poorer points of the film, with the dark biomechanical design making way for a brown insectoid look that felt too far removed from the original Geiger design. Plus, the bizarre human like creature that makes it’s appearance towards the end of the film is far too drastic an addition to the mythology to win people over. Thankfully, the human cast of the film offer some degree of entertainment, with particularly good performances from Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, and Ron Perlman.

Weaver plays her part interestingly enough, a clone version of the original Ripley that has become part alien herself. This is aparently a request that Weaver herself made in order to play a different version of the character. Whilst this new version of Ripley was interesting, the best scenes of her (where she remembers Newt and speaks about her to Winona Ryder’s Call) were cut from the theatrical release of the film, leading to a performance that never quite feels like the Ripley she should be.

Alien Resurrection falls short of it’s mark in all regards, from script, to characterisation, to visual effects. If it weren’t for the Alien Vs Predator films a number of years later Alien Resurrection would be the worst film in the Alien franchise, however, if you discount to cross-over movies, it’s still the worst.


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Star Wars Battlefront 2: 5 Unmissable Star Wars Games

Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Wars Battlefront 2 has recently been released, and marks one of the most exciting new Star Wars games in years, incorporating excellent gameplay and a story that fills in important pieces of the Star Wars canon.

With so many other Star Wars games already available to gamers, how do you know which games are a must play, and which need to be avoided like The Phantom Menace? Here’s a list of five unmissable Star Wars games.

Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005)

The prequel trilogy introduced a lot of new elements to the Star Wars universe, not all of them good. One thing that it did do, however, is to explore the Clone Wars, a conflict that was mentioned in passing in A New Hope and had been intriguing fans for decades. Whilst the Clone Wars television series would go on to look into this conflict in depth, Republic Commando was the first game to use this setting, and took a unique gameplay style for the series.

Instead of playing as an established hero, piloting an iconic vehicle, or being a Jedi, you were part of a four man Clone Trooper unit taking part in the initial battle of the Clone Wars. A squad based first person shooter set within the Star Wars universe, Republic Commando is still an enjoyable and unique experience.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (1997)

Following on from the hugely popular Doomlike Dark Forces, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 returned players to the role of heroic mercenary Kyle Katarn, though this time is added lightsabers and force powers to the first person shooter games.

With an expanded gameplay style, and a story that built upon the former expanded universe in new and interesting ways, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 became a guide for how to make a great Star Wars game for years to come, and helped to solidify Kyle Katarn as an all time fan favourite character, one that we’re still waiting to be brought back into the new extended canon.

Star Wars Battlefront (2015)

The first of the new Battlefront games, Star Wars Battlefront was an excellent example on how to make a Star Wars game that looked and felt like a part of the universe. With over a dozen online game modes to choose from, and a series of unlockable rewards to earn, Star Wars Battlefront has a lot of content in what is a fairly simple game.

Despite lacking a single player campaign, something that the sequel addresses, the game has enough content to keep gamers playing for hundreds of hours, and the very nature of online play means that even if you play the same match over and over again, you’re guaranteed to have a new experience every time.

Super Star Wars (1992)

The oldest game on this list, Super Star Wars is an excellent side scrolling run and gun adventure that puts players into the role of Luke Skywalker through the events of A New Hope; though the games does take a lot of liberties with the story.

Having Luke fight a giant Sarlaac Monster, pilot his Land Speeder around desert pirates, and jump and climb over moving platforms to get inside the Jawa’s Sandcrawler might seem like expanding the story of A New Hope too far, but they make for such fun and amazing gameplay experiences that you’ll find yourself not caring.

With the added fact that it has retro game sensibilities when it comes to difficulty curve and utilising ‘game over’ to punish struggling players, this is probably the most challenging game on the list.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)

Before they became well known for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, Bioware made a name for itself by producing what it still the best Star Wars gaming experience, one that not only throws you deep into the Star Wars universe, but explores one of the most interesting legends of the franchise.

An RPG game set some 10,000 years before the events of the films, Knights of the Old Republic tells a tale of intrigue, betrayal, and redemption as players explore a universe incredibly familiar, yet completely different to what they have seen from the franchise before.

It’s hard to talk about Knights of the Old Republic without giving away the story, and I really don’t want to do that as it’s an amazing story, but if you haven’t played this game and love Star Wars you’ve done yourself a disservice.


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Fundamentalists Launch Christmas Boycott Of Target For Transgender Policy

A Christian fundamentalist group, 2nd Vote, has renewed the boycott of Target this week, citing the companies policies of tolerance and acceptance of the transgender community.

A member of the group, Lance Wray, spoke to the Christian Post to say, 'Despite the impact to their bottom line, Target continues to champion the left's radical agenda. Not only does Target contribute financially to liberal activists, but its dangerous policy of allowing men into women's restrooms and bathroom facilities remain in place.

'Let's continue holding Target accountable for it's left-wing Activism! Our #AnywhereButTARGET campaign continues this Christmas shopping season and we need your help spreading the word.'

A video on the groups website has claimed that the boycott of Target has led to a loss of profits for the company of 43%, and the stock being down 30%.

However, financial and business experts have said that these difficulties have been down to competitors and online shopping.


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Katie Hopkins Leaves Daily Mail Days After Attending Far Right Hate Group

The controversial columnist and former radio presenter Katie Hopkins has left the tabloid The Daily Mail days after footage emerged of her giving an anti-Muslim speech at a far right meeting in Florida.

Hopkins has been no stranger to stirring up hate in the past, having been criticised for her stance on multiple subjects, including having recently called for a 'final solution' for the Muslim community.

After footage emerged of Hopkins speaking at an event organised by David Horowitz Freedom Centre, an American far right think-tank and anti-Muslim organisation.

During the speech Hopkins told the audience that it was 'our time', and encouraged those in attendance to arm themselves with 'the help of the NRA'. She also went on to tell them that she had been reported to the police for hate crimes and inciting violence, before going on to tell them that parts of the UK were run by 'Muslim mafia', and that there is 'institutionalised discrimination against whites' across Britain.

Today, a Daily Mail spokesperson said that Hopkins' employment with them had been 'ended by mutual consent'. This follows Hopkins losing her position at the radio station LBC in May for a tweet that called for Muslim deaths.

Interestingly, Hopkins also appears to have deleted all of her tweets on the social media site Twitter.


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Star Wars: Rebels ‘In The Name of The Rebellion Part 2’ Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second part of ‘In The Name of The Rebellion’, the story moves away from the collective Ghost crew to focus on Ezra (Taylor Gray) and Sabine (Tiya Sircar) as they learn more about the mysterious project the Empire is working on, as well as the true lengths that Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) is willing to go to.

Whilst the first part of this story lacked a great deal of bang, the second half of the story manages to pack in action, intrigue, and tension as it forces the youngest members of the Ghost crew to infiltrate an Imperial shipment containing a deadly cargo; a giant Kyber Crystal. I knew going into the second part of this story that we would be getting some connections to Rogue One, Saw’s presence guaranteed this, but I wasn’t expecting it to cram in Kyber Crystals, kidnapped scientists, Death Troopers, and the mention of Krennic (played in Rogue One by Ben Mendelson).

With the first part of the story focusing so closely on the inner workings of the Rebellion it was a genuine surprise that the second part didn’t follow the same course. Whilst it would have been possible for Ezra to see how dark a path Saw was travelling by having them perform any kind of mission against the Empire, connecting it back into Saw’s ongoing story was an inspired choice.

How far you’re willing to go to achieve your ends became an important question in this episode, with Ezra and Sabine trying to rescue the captured scientists, but Saw willing to let them all die to deliver a blow to the Empire. From here on out I don’t see Ezra really questioning the methods of the Rebellion again, or at least not in the same way he did in the first part of the story. He’s learned what the other side of the fight is willing to do, the lengths that people like Saw are prepared to go to, and it frightens and appals him.

The confines of the Imperial transport also makes for an interesting location for the action of the episode, with firefights in tight confines and dark hallways, and an especially creative sequence where the Rebels take down a squad of Death Troopers in the smoke. The inclusion of the Death Troopers, whilst welcome, led to one jarring moment. In Rogue One the Death Troopers spoke with a strange garbled language, impossible to understand, yet here they were speaking normally, with the squad leader actually developing a personality over the course of the story. Whilst this wasn’t a bad thing in any way, it did throw me out of the episode for a moment as it was so different from Death Troopers we’d seen in the past.

It also struck me this episode how much closer to his film look Saw had developed. He’s not got his breathing problem yet, and still has both legs, so there’s still plenty of room for the series to use him again and explore his descent into near madness. Hopefully he will appear again before the end of the series, especially as his relationship with Ezra will be very different going forward.

A vast improvement on the previous episode, and one that acts as a great second part, yet also manages to work well as a stand alone episode.


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Star Wars Battlefront II: 5 Moments From Star Wars That Would Make Great Games

Originally Published on Set The Tape

The Star Wars saga is filled with iconic moments, some on the big screen, some on television, and others buried deep within the lore and expanded universe. With so much to draw upon, what moments and events could be used for future Star Wars games?

The Siege of Mandalore

The Siege of Mandalore is one of the final battles of the Clone Wars conflict, and was planned as the final story arc of the Clone Wars television series before the show was cancelled.

With the ex-Sith Lord Darth Maul in control of Mandalore via a proxy leader and devoted following within the warrior caste, the Jedi High Council dispatched Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to take the rogue darksider down. Calling upon the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano for help, she was left to lead the fight against Maul alongside Captain Rex when Skywalker and Kenobi left to save Chancellor Palpatine (the events at the star of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith). Despite coming close to defeating Maul in an all out war between clone troopers and mandalorian soldiers, Ahsoka failed because Palpatine issued Order 66, whereby all of the clone troopers (except for Rex) turned against the former Jedi.

A game based upon The Siege of Mandalore would be able to take advantage of an era that fans are familiar with, but tell a story that still remains largely untold, able to include fan favourite characters like Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Darth Maul.

Lords of the Sith

Set between the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Rebels, Lords of the Sith tells the story of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader falling victim to a terrorist strike above the planet of Ryloth, forcing the two Sith Lords to fight for survival on the planet’s surface, fighting alien creatures and rebels.

One of the grittier of the new Star Wars canon novels, ‘Lords of the Sith’ gave the two Sith Lords a chance to shine, including Darth Vader destroying fighters in space with the force and his lightsaber, and Palpatine fighting vicious monsters with force lightning and his own rarely seen lightsabre.

A game adaptation of the book could focus on either side of this conflict, or mix the two together, allowing player to tear through opponents as powerful Sith, or fighting impossible odds as resistance fighters.

Twilight Company

Technically a tie in to the Star Wars Battlefront game, the story of Twilight Company is one of the grittiest war stories in the current Star Wars canon, telling the story of the front line fighters as they fight a desperate campaign to cripple the Imperial production across several planets, including a shipyard, a bio weapons facility, and factory worlds.

Because the original Star Wars Battlefront lacked a single player campaign there has been a sad lack of Star Wars first person shooters in recent years, and whilst Star Wars Battlefront 2 is rectifying this, a game that explores the exploits of Twilight Company would be very welcome.

Malachor

The planet of Malachor has appeared a number of time in Star Wars canon throughout the years, most recently in the epic season two finale of Star Wars Rebels. Much of what has occurred on Malachor is still a mystery, but what we do know from Star Wars Rebels is that the planet is a graveyard of Sith and Jedi bodies, and that it holds a massive Sith superweapon.

The lack of information on what actually happened on Malachor could prove to be a benefit for any game creators, allowing them to craft a story around the small pieces of information that we do have. Any game that would allow players to take part in a battle between thousands of force users is sure to be popular.

The Yuuzhan Vong War

The Yuuzahn Vong War is one of the most controversial aspects of the old expanded universe, with fans either loving it or hating it. Set years after the defeat of the Empire, the mysterious Yuuzahn Vong race appeared from beyond the edges of the Star Wars galaxy and invaded known space.

With living ships, vicious soldiers, and the ability to resist The Force, the Yuuzahn Vong tore through the New Republic and Imperial Remnant alike, enslaving and destroying whole world; and even killing beloved character Chewbacca. In the end, an alliance between the New Republic, the Imperial Remnant, and the new Jedi Order were able to defeat the Yuuzahn Vong.

A game set within the old expanded universe would be a brave choice for new properties, but the scope of the Yuuzahn Vong conflict opens a huge number of possibilities, anything from first-person shooter, action adventure, starship simulator, or even real-time strategy.


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