Throwback 10: The Incredible Hulk

Originally published on Set The Tape

It seems strange now, but I remember seeing the advertisements for The Incredible Hulk and being intrigued by it but not overly excited, something which seems bizarre now that every Marvel Studios movie creates massive hype and excitement. Thankfully, whilst I was on the fence about going to see the film I ended up watching Iron Man two months before and was so impressed that it made my mind up for me. And I was so happy that it had.

Whilst it seems that The Incredible Hulk is, for many people, the unwanted Marvel child, the film that people feel doesn’t quite fit with everything else, or blocked out by some, I thought that the film was the best version of the Hulk that we’d had until that point; and a brilliantly entertaining film.

With the first two Marvel Studios films gently easing the audience into the universe that would one day contain wizards, alien gods, and a talking tree, and as such The Incredible Hulk felt very grounded and real, despite being about an enormous green rage monster.

The opening scenes of the film, set in Rio de Janeiro, feel incredibly real, partly thanks to actually being filmed in some of the districts of the city, and lent the whole film a sense of autheticity from the very outset. It made the film stand out and gave audiences a location that is not that often used; and I still think the film stands out visually from many other Marvel Studios entries in part because of this opening section of the movie.

The whole film has a very real feel to it, with locations being used to great effect to make the film feel recognisable, even if it’s not places you’ve necessarily been to. The favelas are instantly recognisable and distinct; Culver University feels like many a small town in America, with quiet neighbourhoods and lush green spaces; and the final confrontation in New York has a very different feel from the versions of New York that we’ll go on to see in other Marvel movies, and feels a lot more like the New York we see in the Netflix shows such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones.

One of the most interesting parts of the film, for me, is the cast. Despite only one of the cast members of The Incredible Hulk appearing in more Marvel Studios projects, William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross, the rest of the cast work very well.

Edward Norton is good in the role of Bruce Banner, and plays the part of the terrified loner well. He’s believable as a Bruce Banner on the run, scared of what he is and what he can do. Whilst he would eventually go on to be replaced by Mark Ruffalo in subsequent films (who was actually director Louis Leterrier’s first choice for the role) I can’t help but feel he’s slightly better as this version of Bruce Banner. He’s easily believable as a man living under the radar, keeping to himself, afraid of every shadow; yes, Ruffalo would go on to be a better Banner, but I can’t help but think he’s too charming and stands out too much to be a Bruce on the run.

Betty Ross, Bruce’s iconic love interest is played by Liv Tyler, and whilst she and Norton worked well enough on screen together I don’t think that they were given enough screen time to be believable as a couple in love, rather feeling more like old friends than lovers. This isn’t any fault of the actors, but more the script, and I can’t help but feel it something of a shame that such an important character in the Hulk mythos was never given another chance, especially with the awful shoehorning of a love story between Banner and Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The stand out performance on the film has to be Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, the ageing commando desperate to recapture the skills of his youth. Whilst still being a competent soldier you can tell that he’s not at his peak, partly thanks to the good decision not to have him physically work out for the role. His motivations to become better, to try to compete against the raw power of the Hulk is believable and compelling.

The fight sequences between Blonsky and the Hulk are some of the best too, with the fight against the serum enhanced Blonsky striking me straight away on my first viewing as a test for how Captain America could fight and move in future films. Despite this sequence being great, it’s overshadowed by the climactic battle between Hulk and the Abomination.

The fight is paced out incredibly well, and shot in such a way that it feels heavy and real, with serious strength and weight behind the combat. It showed off how good the Hulk could be in a fight against another super powered individual (something the Ang Lee Hulk did incredibly poorly). Added into this the moment Hulk yells ‘Hulk Smash’, it becomes one of the better fight sequences in the MCU.

The Incredible Hulk is far from perfect, and thanks to cast changes and characters not being used again it feels almost left out of the MCU now, but it should still be recognised as a great film that helped to set the foundations for one of the biggest film franchises of all time, something that is often given over to Iron Man alone. The Incredible Hulk helped to establish the MCU and proved that the fantastical could fit into the universe.


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, Vol. 15 – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The all-ages action continues in “Dreamland!” In the future, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have become the Cyber Samurai Mutant Ninja Turtles. The brothers have new powers and new allies, and they’re going to need them to face some new enemies in this time-hopping story from the world of tomorrow!

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Dean Clarrian
Artist: Chris Allan
Pages: 140

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures was a comic series that ran from 1988 to 1995, and whilst it was separate from the original comic series and the popular 1987 television series, it took a lot of visual inspiration from the show. The comic even began by adapting the show in its initial issues, before moving in its own direction to feature unique stories, which often incorporated social themes such as environmental and animal rights issues.

The five issues collected together in Volume 15 of the graphic novel contain one of the stranger and more unique of these stories, having moved away from the regular continuity to tell a story of an alternate group of turtles in a distant future. Everything in this story is different, and unlike anything else in the comics. This is the story called ‘Dreamland’.

The world has been flooded due to the melting of the polar ice caps, caused by global warming, leaving a future version of New York City that is filled with water, with small artificial islands built around skyscrapers.

The turtles are vastly different from the sewer dwelling ninjas we’re used to: here Donatello is a tech genius company owner who has built advanced battle-suits for himself and his brothers (basically Tony Stark), and even has a time travel portal; Raphael and his wife Mezcaal, a mutant dog woman, own a bar; Leonardo owns a ninja dojo where he teaches a number of students, three of whom appear to be his adopted children who go out on crime fighting patrols with him; and Michelangelo is an artist who runs an orphanage.

Each of the turtles bears some resemblance to their regular counterparts, with a lot of personality traits being the same, but despite this they never feel like the turtles we all know and love. They’re more extreme versions of themselves, Leo is even more focused on ninja training, Donnie is obsessed with tech, and Raphael is more bloodthirsty.

Despite never having seen this version of the turtles before we’re dropped into the middle of this new world, with the turtles already having had a whole series of adventures with their own villains, Splinter having died, and many previous events being referenced with no explanation as to what they’re about.

Whilst this does give the impression of a fully formed universe for this five part story, it feels more like picking up an issue of a long established book, without any idea of who’s who or what has happened. It pulls you out of the story, it makes you feel like you’re missing things, and it just distracts more than it helps.

A prime example of things just happening with little to no explanation is the Time-Slip Generator, the time travel device mentioned earlier. At the start of the story Donnie is making repairs to it because of someone called Armaggon having broken it whilst breaking in (no explanation as to these events are given). By the end of the story they’ve travelled back to Nazi Germany in order to stop Hitler’s brain, which was in the lab in a robot for no apparent reason. I’m sure these things made sense to someone, but I struggled with a lot of these storylines and events that had no apparent reason for being there.

The suits that the turtles wear in this story are basically the old Cyber Samurai Turtles figures released in the 80’s toy line, which also featured in one episode of the show. Because they’re based on some terrible 80’s toys, that’s how they look: absolutely awful. They look nothing alike, covered in bizarre adornments and protrusions, they’re pretty terrible from a design point of view.

Mixed into these strange ‘what-if’ issues is a small back-up story at the end of each issue involving April O’Neil investigating what appears to be an angel appearing in New York. Being set in the regular turtles’ time and place this tiny story is much better than the Dreamland story, and it’s a shame that it didn’t have more of the book given over to it.

Overall, I found this volume of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures to be a bit of a disappointment. It wasn’t easy to get into, the story made little sense and had huge leaps in logic, and the designs were pretty awful. Thankfully, this is a single story, and not the entire run of the series.


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Quake Champions – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Despite Quake having been a franchise that’s been around for years it’s not a game I can really remember ever playing, despite having seen it many times and being passingly familiar with the franchise. As such, I was excited to learn more about the universe and their characters.

Instead of dropping the reader into a complex story set within the pre-established lore of Quake, Quake Champions takes the time to look at the characters in small, yet intimate backstories, tales that take the time to shed some light onto who the Quake competitors are and their motivations. This makes the book instantly accessible, as you can go into it knowing absolutely nothing.

Yes, there are some things that are only vaguely explained, such as the dimension that all of the characters are in, and the fact that they keep coming back to life after being killed in brutal combat, but these are things that don’t really matter for this book. Quake Champions is about characters before anything else.

There is a vague narrative to the book, however, as we move from one character to another as they work their way through the battleground killing each other. The handover of focus from character to character as one kills the other is a fun conceit, and you begin to actively look forward to how it will happen; especially when you find out that they can still come back from being killed so they’re not gone once they’re killed.

Between these moments of violence we get to see how these characters ended up in this strange dimension. Whilst not incredibly in-depth, it does give a good feel for each individual character, their motivations, and how varied they all are. The script helps with this backstory a lot, providing more narration boxes and insight into the characters thoughts than actual dialogue. These give each of the chapters a very different feel, as they’re essentially all told from a different point of view rather than one singular outside observer.

The art within the book by Alan Quah is gorgeous, and doesn’t feel like traditional comic book art, having traded in the harsh lines that some artists use, instead embracing a much softer art style. This art style works well, and the characters never feel too far removed from their environments, even when there’s nothing in the background of their panel. The tones used throughout make the universe feel more alive and natural, and creates some very stunning pages.

The artwork works wonderfully during the action sequences too, with gunfire, flames, and smoke all looking amazing. They give these sequences much more energy than you’d expect, and helps the panels feel like there’s real movement within them, rather than being static and rigid.

Whilst there’s not a whole lot of story within the pages of Quake Champions it’s a great jumping on point for people who may not know much about the franchise, as it gives some great insight into the universe; and I’m sure that it would appeal well to those who know the source material well too, giving those readers more depth into the inner workings of characters that they’ll be familiar with.

If this book is anything to go by more comics set within the Quake universe would work extremely well, and I look forward to seeing what could happen next.


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall and Rise – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The latest collection from IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles delivers a full year’s worth of the comic, collecting together issues #25 – #36 of the ongoing title. Picking up where the previous volume left off, it continues the exciting ‘City Fall’ story, that sees the villainous Shredder conquering the New York underworld, with the brainwashed Leonardo as his second in command.

The story presented in this book has the Turtles at one of their lowest and most desperate points. Their brother is working for the enemy, Shredder is amassing an army, and their ally Casey Jones has been hospitalised due to his injuries in their last fight with Shredder. Thankfully, we get to see the Turtles call on a number of friends and old enemies to help them out, bringing together their own special strike force in order to save Leonardo from Shredder’s clutches.

Over the course of the book we not only see the Turtles and their allies go to war, but view the fallout of these actions, as well as their subsequent plans to retaliate against Shredder and The Foot. It’s a lot of content, with huge amounts of action and a lot of down time for character development and even time given over to secondary characters such as Old Hob and Alopex. The book manages to juggle all of these stories and characters well, with very little feeling rushed or pushed to the side.

Every character gets their moments in the spotlight, the story ties back to past events, and manages to set up future story lines, all without anything feeling under-serviced. There aren’t many comics that I can think of with as many balls to juggle that can claim to be this good.

The book also has two very distinct art styles from Santolouco and Campbell. As with many ongoing books, I’m sure that this decision to have more than one artist on the title is to help them meet deadlines and get the books out on time, but whilst some comics have a single issue in the middle of a story suddenly change artist (something I’ve noticed a lot in the past with DC), here, all of the parts of the story set in New York are drawn by Santolouco, and the issues set on April’s parents farm being done by Campbell.

Not only does this help to separate out the story and makes clear distinctions between the locations, but Campbells lighter style, with the softer line work and more muted colours enhances the story, as this is the section where the Turtles are recovering from their ordeal. It feels like a gentler part of the story, and the art is a big part of this.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 3: Fall and Rise is a definite roller-coaster of a story, with intense action, slower character moments, and a conclusion that’s exciting and builds up for the story to come. An excellent read.


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Fred: The Godfather of British Crime – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Fred:  The Godfather of British Crime tells the true story of Fred ‘Freddie’ Foreman, a London born gangster, tried twice for murder and convicted for armed robbery and disposing of a body, in a story that features death, drugs, and famous gangsters.

One of the best parts of Fred: The Godfather of British Crime is the fact that it is told by Fred himself, the 85-year-old former gangster, having agreed to talk on camera about his crimes for the first time in close to 20 years.

Having Fred himself involved gives the documentary a level of depth that would otherwise be missing. There are recordings and photographs, interviews from people who knew him, but having Fred there means that we get to hear about the events of his life directly from him. We not only hear about what he did, but get a chance to understand why; and to see the effect some of his life’s decisions have had on him.

Fred, whilst fairly open for most of the film, will sometimes be difficult with the director, Paul Van Carter, when certain subjects are brought up. Subjects like murder. It’s interesting to see the older footage of Fred where he talks about having murdered people and hearing the extracts from his book where he does as well, to then see him try to work his way around the subject and not directly talk about those particular crimes.

Despite having left his life of crime behind him, Fred very much still seems to fear repercussions for his past deeds and is incredibly careful about what he says to make sure that he stays safe. One of the people interviewed described Fred talking to the documentary crew as like being interviewed by the police, editing what he says; and once you have that in mind you can really see how carefully he chooses his words and how his story can sometimes change.

But these insights into the mind of the man are some of the most interesting and set the film apart from biographical documentaries that don’t have direct involvement from the subject. We learn that Fred turned to a life of crime because he felt it was the only path open to him. We learn that crime didn’t bother him as much as the prospect of his family going without. Yes, he may have gone against the laws of society, but it’s clear that he lived by rules that he himself saw as more important; one of which was to provide for his wife and children no matter what.

Despite these reasons for his life of crime and his justifications for doing some truly terrible things, you have to bear in mind that Fred isn’t entirely innocent. That he has done bad things. I say this because even when talking to the camera, Fred is a very charming man and his age plays into this too. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Fred as a sweet old man.

Strangely enough, I came away from the film not sure what I felt about him. I wanted to dislike him for the life that he chose to lead, for the decisions that he made to be a criminal when he had opportunities to go straight; but when you see him living alone in a small flat, estranged from the family he claimed to always put first, with a few meagre possessions and his memories to keep him company, it’s hard not to feel bad for him. It’s a complex emotion, and one that speaks to how well put together the film is, being able to humanise a character that should be seen as evil.

Full of archive news footage, old photographs and family movies, and dozens of other contributors, Fred: The Godfather of British Crime delivers an in depth and detailed look into the life of an icon of British crime, one that goes beyond simple facts, to tell a very personal and at times emotional story.


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100 Years of the RAF – DVD Review

The RAF has been an incredibly important part of recent British history, having most notably played a vital role in the security of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, protecting it’s citizens. With the 100th anniversary of the RAF being celebrated this year there are sure to be a lot of documentaries about the organisation.

Whilst the RAF itself is a fascinating subject, and the history of flight even more so, there is sadly little information about the RAF itself within 100 Years of the RAF. Instead of looking at how the RAF was formed, the people who served in it, or even how it shaped British warfare, the documentary focuses on the aircraft.

The film quickly becomes a procession of one plane after another, yet with little information about how these technological or warfare advancements came about. If you’re someone who already knows a great deal about the RAF and the planes used by them then this will probably be fine for you, but as someone with little knowledge on the subject it felt very un-engaging and, at times, boring.

There are moments in the film that are more interesting, such as when they take the time to talk to servicemen and women. They speak to service people from the Second World War, including a female pilot who highlights the fact that many female pilots from that time are overlooked for their service. One of the most interesting interviews in the film is with Squadron Leader John Peters, who was shot down during the first Iraq war. This part of the film was fascinating, and I really wanted this to go into more detail; I’d even happily watch a documentary about his story.

Sadly, these moments were few and fleeting, and the majority of the 98 minute run time is spent moving from one description of a flying vehicle to another. I understand that the film is trying to give an overview of the last 100 years of the RAF, but it feels less like a history of the RAF and more an inventory list of everything they’ve flown. Unfortunately, this makes the film feel a lot longer than 98 minutes, and drags more than one.

The film feels very sterile and lacking any passion. It doesn’t feel like a documentary film made by someone who is passionate on the subject, and the narrator, well known news presenter Sir Martyn Lewis, seems to be going through the motions of reading the script.

The RAF should be a fascinating and exciting story, one filled with the deeds of heroes and innovators, a story of leading the way into a new form of warfare and conquering adversity. Instead it’s a chore to watch, which is a huge shame for those who gave their lives in the service of their country. The RAF has an amazing and storied history, but it won’t really be explored here, but, if you are passionate about aircraft it might just scratch an itch for you.


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Looking back at… Power Rangers Turbo

Originally published on Set The Tape

After the release of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie the television series made the transition from Power Rangers Zeo to Power Rangers Turbo. Despite the first Power Rangers movie not being in series canon, and the story being retold in the first few episodes of the season, Power Rangers Turbo follows on directly from the film; as such, those who may have not seen the film may feel a little out of their depth to begin with, though the show does give a quick breakdown of the films events in the first episode.

Despite having defeated the demon Maligore and the forces of Divatox (Hilary Shepard Turner & Carol Hoyt), the space pirate soon makes her way to Earth in order to get her revenge against the Rangers, spurring into action the events for the season.

Power Rangers Turbo is probably the season with the biggest change in the whole of what would become known as the Zordon-Era (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Power Rangers in Space). Despite the previous series being the first to completely alter the costumes and enemies, Power Rangers Turbo would be completely different by the last episode, with Alpha 5 (Richard Steven Horvitz) and Zordon (David Fielding) leaving Earth, and all of the Rangers from Power Rangers Zeo leaving the team.

The show had changed a number of Rangers over the years, and all of the original team have left by this point (I’m not including Tommy as original as he didn’t come into the show until episode 17), but this is the first time a brand new team would be taking over.

Because of these drastic changes Power Rangers Turbo stands out as very different from the seasons that came before. The Super Sentai series that was used for source material helps with this, with this being the first time that a series would use vehicles for their Zords instead of animals or creatures, and Gekisou Sentai Carranger was a comedy series, meaning that this season would take on a lighter tone than the previous years. This lighter tone works well for the season, and it feels a lot more lighthearted and easier to watch than Power Rangers Zeo was, which occasionally felt dull in both tone and visuals on occasion.

One of the reasons for this lighter tone was the inclusion of the new Blue Ranger Justin Stewart (Blake Foster), the first and to date only child Power Ranger. With a move clearly inspired by Shazam (or Captain Marvel to older readers) Justin undergoes a transformation when he morphs, changing him from a child into a fully grown adult, though his child voice still comes out of his helmet.

I understand that the producers of Power Rangers Turbo were trying to appeal more to kids than they were before, pushing the idea that ‘you too could fight alongside the Power Rangers as one of them’ concept, but it proved to be one of the weaker points of the season, and something that fans still complain about today. Sadly, for many, Justin will be one of their least favourite Rangers, one that many view as a low point of the franchise. Whilst I would agree that Justin is probably the weakest member of the team in this season, closely followed by Carlos (Roger Velasco), he’s not completely awful as some make out.

Justin is actually the only Ranger to make it through the entire season, with the Rangers from the Zeo team, Tommy (Jason David Frank), Adam (Johnny Yong Bosch), Tanya (Nakita Burrise), and Katherine (Catherine Sutherland), all leaving just over half way through, making room for T.J. (Selwyn Ward), Ashley (Tracy Lynn Cruz), Cassie (Patricia Ja Lee), and Carlos.

Whilst it is sad to lose some of these Rangers, particularly Adam, the new cast are a huge breath of fresh air, and bring a lot of new energy to the screen. Though knowing what I do about the behind the scenes work schedule and how much the old cast worked on the show it’s not a surprise that the new cast would have more energy than them.

Power Rangers Turbo stands out as the first time that a Power Rangers team would be led by an African America Red Ranger, something that wouldn’t happen again until Power Rangers S.P.D. eight years later, and only three times in the franchise history.

The series also stands out as being the only time that the Rangers are defeated by their enemy at the end of the season. That’s right, the Rangers lose. The final episodes see the Rangers mentor leave, their base attacked by an army of villains, and their powers destroyed. It’s a bold move, and the final two episodes are easily the best of the season, showcasing how big and dramatic the franchise can be.

The final episodes also sets up the beginning of the next series, Power Rangers in Space, as Dixatox leaves Earth and the Rangers behind to travel to another world to join a group of villains that have captured Zordon. This leaves the Rangers no other option than to travel into space after them in order to rescue Zordon before the whole galaxy falls into the clutches of evil.

Power Rangers Turbo is far from a perfect show, there’s a lot of story threads that are not fully explored, and some that are dropped all together, but it does manage to reinvigorate a franchise that had begun to flag a little, and to lay the ground work for an exciting and bold new direction for the franchise.


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The Grass Arena – DVD Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Grass Arena tells the true life story of John Healy (Mark Rylance), a man who hit rock bottom, but managed to turn his life around thanks to his love of chess. Based upon the autobiography of the same name, the 1990’s film has finally come to home release on DVD.

I’d never heard of John Healy before watching this film, and found the synopsis of the film to be very interesting, and was looking forward to learning more about him. Unfortunately, I felt fairly let down by the end.

My main issue with the film is that it packs a lot into it’s run time, but doesn’t really give any other the plot points or character development any real time. The film begins with John’s childhood, where we see the abuse that he suffered at home from his overbearing and abusive father.

Much of this abuse stems from the fact that John struggles to stand up straight, complaining about what he describes as a lump in his back. This feels like it should be something that’s addressed, especially after an X-ray discovers a shadow over one of his lungs, yet this is dropped without an explenation and never comes up again; leaving me wondering what John may have been wrong with John, and if this was something that plagued him throughout life.

Another aspect of his childhood that puts him at odds with his father is his lack of faith, but yet again this isn’t really gone into. It’s not clear if John had faith and lost it, or if he never believed in god to begin with. I couldn’t help but feel that for a plot point that was such a big part of John’s poor childhood, a sentence or two of dialogue giving more context would have helped a little.

Sadly, this is something that would give me issue throughout the film, as the film makes a number of jumps in time and story, yet never really goes into explanation as to what’s happening. For example, at one point John meets a woman in a cafe, the next he’s living with her and two other men in an abandoned factory until one of them dies. Who are these people? How did he start living with them? How long were they together? I haven’t a clue, because the film fails to explain this, and several other developments in John’s life.

Much of this feels like a product of time constraints. It felt like 90 minutes wasn’t enough time to fit in all of the information on a life as packed as John’s. Perhaps a mini-series would have been a better format as it would have allowed the filmmakers more time to explain and develop the events in a more cohesive way.

There are moments in the film that are good, however, such as when Fox (Bunny May) teaches him to play chess. Watching the development between the two of them is a genuinely sweet moment, especially when the two of them are playing the game in their bunk at night, all in their heads. The natural ability of John is astounding, and his chess skills are shocking, especially as it was what he needed to end the cycle of self destruction that he was on, giving him that new obsession he needed to stay sober.

The Grass Arena is far from a perfect film, but it achieves it’s goals of telling a story about an amazing and inspiring man. It shows that it’s never too late to turn your life around or to discover your true passions. If given more time to go into greater detail the film would have been even better, but as it is, it’s still a well made and competent movie.


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Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run by Greg Rucka - Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Released shortly after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and advertised as containing clues to the film, Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run focuses on the first mission that Han Solo and Chewbacca undertake for the Rebel Alliance.

Beginning just hours after the medal ceremony at the end of Star Wars: A New Hope, the book sees Princess Leia convincing the pair of smugglers to travel to the Outer Rim world of Cyrkon in order to rescue a Rebel agent on the run from the Empire.

It’s interesting to see Han and Chewie so quickly after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, where they are still trying to break away from their criminal past and wanting to become the freedom fighters we know that they will go on to be. Throughout the book we see Han and Chewie discussing their motivations for helping the Rebels.

We get to see the fight within Han in particular as he wants to be seen as a dashing rogue, capable of heroic actions, but is confronted by the reality that whilst people may like him, they don’t completely trust him. This helps to fill in some of the character development that we don’t get to see between episodes 4 and 5.

Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run also fills in some of Han Solo’s past, not only letting us meet some of his friends and former associates such as Delia and Curtis, whilst showing the reader some of the less savoury sides of Han’s time as a criminal as he comes up against a group of bounty hunters looking to cash in on Jabba the Hutt’s bounty.

When a vicious Imperial Security Bureau agent arrives on Cyrkon looking for the rebel that Han and Chewie are there to help, things get even more complicated, with multiple factions getting in the way of our heroes from achieving their goals.

The Imperial agent, Alecia Beck, is a surprisingly good antagonist considering the relatively short amount of time given over to her in the fairly short book. She’s cold and calculating, willing to hurt civilians, and to brutally punish the enemies of the Empire; coupled with her startling visual look of white uniform, facial scar, and cybernetic eye, she’s an impressive villain. It’s a shame that she has yet to be featured in any other Star Wars lore, as she would be perfect for more stories involving the Empire.

Beck is also joined in her actions by the older clone trooper Rainer, who acts as her second in command. Whilst he doesn’t have a great deal to do in the story, it’s a nice inclusion that ties the original trilogy more to the prequel era stories. Much like Star Wars Rebels and their inclusion of Star Wars Clone Wars characters, I’m happy to see the Star Wars stories merge together more into one cohesive whole.

Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run, like the other books in the ‘Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ book series, has a few illustrated pages at certain points in the book. Beautiful painted art by Phil Noto, who has worked on a number of the Marvel Star Wars comics, they look stunning in black and white, with brief splashes of red. It’s a shame that the book doesn’t have more pages like this.

Whilst Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run is a short read, and designed to be accessible to readers of a young age, it has enough content to it to have several action sequences, as well as character development. Being a part of the new official canon, Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run offers some great insight into everyone’s favourite smuggler and his Wookie companion.


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Ghost House – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Ghost House tells the story of Jim (James Landry Hebert) and Julie (Scout Taylor-Compton), a young couple on holiday in Thailand. Everything is going well for the young couple, they’ve got a likeable, if other enthusiastic tour-guide/driver who’s taking care of them, Julie is loving photographing their surroundings, and they’ve just gotten engaged. It should be a wonderful holiday, but, it would appear that the two of them don’t know some very simple rules.

Never go off the beaten track into strange places, never accept drinks from strangers, and don’t mess with ghost houses. Some of these are fairly simple and should really be common sense for most travellers (probably not the ghost house bit to be fair though), but Jim and Julie quickly fall under the obviously creepy influence of two British holidaymakers Robert (Russell Geoffrey Banks) and Billy (Rich Lee Gray).

Despite appearing to want to celebrate the new engagement, it’s clear that something else is going on, and when the two Brits lure the young couple out into the countryside to look as a ghost house graveyard Julie is soon tricked into disturbing one of the houses, letting her fall victim to the vengeful spirit residing within.

For those wondering what a ghost house is a small shrine made as a place for restless spirits to live. Found throughout several Southeast Asian countries, spirit houses as they are known in real life, can range in size and design, but are mostly like elaborate bird tables.

The ghost house graveyard, a place filled with old and decaying ghost houses, is a very creepy location, filled with fog, twisted sculptures, and hidden danger. In fact, every time you see a ghost house (even before they make it to the grave yard) the film does its best to put you on edge, focusing on the darkness within them, with shots that slowly zoom in, lasting longer than they probably should.

Once Julie has disturbed the ghost house, however, the tension never really goes away as we see the spirit slowly worm its way into her soul. The best way to describe it is like a form of possession, but Julie is never ‘taken over’ or becomes someone else. Instead, she’s slowly drawn deeper into the spirit world, the ghost appearing and disappearing, using jumps and a sense of dread as it stalks Julie for the course of the film.

The scenes with the ghost, played by Wen-Chu Yang, are well crafted enough, with the jump scares never feeling overly forced. The times when it works best, though, are when you know that she’s coming, but the scene draws itself out, with the faint sound of the ghost getting closer the only indication that she’s around.

Whilst Julie is plagued by these ghostly apparitions Jim has to find a way to save her, leading to an adventure through the back streets of Thailand, and deep into the countryside to seek help from a witch doctor. Some of the best scenes happen once the group leaves the familiar surroundings of the city and ventures into the forests. It’s an environment that’s not always seen, familiar yet alien, and it makes the characters feel more isolated and heightens the sense of danger.

There are many aspects of Ghost House that will feel familiar, especially if you’ve seen a few Asian horror films over the years, and whilst it might not win any awards for originality or innovation, it does execute its story well. The scenes are well shot, and there’s a lot of atmosphere, especially in the scenes in the haunted forests.

Ghost House achieves what it sets out to do, and delivers an engaging and enjoyable horror experience, and the faults that are present can easily be forgiven.


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