Stubs – The Cabin in the Woods

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchinson, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford. Directed by Drew Goddard. Screenplay by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard. Produced by Joss Whedon. Run Time: 95. Color. USA. Horror, Comedy

Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Five college friends set out for a weekend in the country. They are hoping to explore all their prurient interests, but instead end up being set up for murder in the most horrible way possible. Let the slashing begin. And this is sort of what happens in The Cabin in the Woods, the next film in our survey of horror. But it is not all that happens either, and that twist is what for some makes the film worth watching.

While I believe The Avengers is one of the best movies of the year (2012), I would not say that I am a Joss Whedon fanboy. I never watched Buffy; I liked Firefly, but I know it’s flawed and I really enjoy the ingenious, underground musical treat that is Dr. Horrible. That’s just to set the bar. And while some think of this as a Joss Whedon film, he is only the co-writer and producer. The real director is Drew Goddard, who is previously best known as the writer of Cloverfield. (That film actually had a writer?)

The film has a fairly impressive cast for what’s usually a genre (horror) reserved for actors starting out or ending up their careers. I’m sure Kevin Bacon would like to forget his beginnings in Friday the 13^th and Johnny Depp isn’t probably bragging about his role in A Nightmare on Elm Street. But neither does this genre usually tout a writer and producer like Whedon. So instead of a bunch of no-names, you have the actor who played Thor, Chris Hemsworth as one of your male leads, Curt Vaughan, the athlete who is on a full academic scholarship. Jesse Williams is also recognizable from the TV medical soap, Gray’s Anatomy. There he plays Dr. Jackson Avery, here he is Holden McCrea. Curt’s girlfriend, Jules Louden (Anna Hutchinson); Jules’ roommate Dana Polk (Kristen Connolly) and the fifth wheel, Marty Milkalski (Fran Kranz) are all played by actors who’s previous work I am not familiar with.

And while there is comedy in the film, it doesn’t really revolve around these five. Instead a lot of humor comes from Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford) and Gary Sitterson (Richard Jenkins), two technicians who really seem to enjoy their work. They carry on behind the scenes and I don’t want to say too much about what they do as not to give away too much of the story. Enough to say, they’re in on what is happening to the five college students and even help move things along with a spray of pheromone fog or the opening of a door to the cellar of the cabin.You see, there is more to the savagery that the five students are being forced to endure; a higher good and that’s all I want to say about that, lest I say too much. This is one of those films that the less you know going in, the better.

And this is also one of those films where it is best not to think too hard about it. The filmmakers only give you enough to intrigue you, but they don’t give you any backstory as to how these five are selected and who the technicians are working for, other than The Director (Sigourney Weaver). The film does tell you the higher purpose, but it doesn’t really explain the whys and wherefores, so it’s better not to ask those kinds of questions, or else it falls apart.

The film can be viewed as a satire on the slasher/horror genre, but to get into that analogy too much might start to give away crucial plot points that you may not want to know prior to viewing. If not, please skip past this:

If our five college students/victims are the plot of the movie, then the technicians can be seen as the director/writers/producers of the movie. The technicians manipulate and play with the boundaries of the film, that is, kill our victims in order to 1) satisfy the standards of the genre, which this film sees as turning into torture porn. 2) The technicians are trying to appease the old gods, which can be seen as the fanboys, or the hardened entrenched fans of the genre. If the film does not satisfy the fanboys by adhering to the guidelines of the genre, in this case the order of the killings, then the fanboys will ravage the film or as the film states the old gods will destroy the earth.

Not being a fanboy of slasher/horror or even horror for that matter, I am relying on the film for what are the proper elements of this sub-genre. To be honest, it doesn’t make me want to view more slasher films to see if it got it right, so I will take the technician’s word that they did. I will give the filmmakers credit, while the film is gory, they don’t seem to overplay that angle. There is blood, lots and lots of blood, but until the end it is not over the top.

This is the right movie if you’re a Joss Whedon fan and eat up anything he serves up because you think he is the greatest creative mind of our time. His fans are a little like Aaron Sorkin fans and think the man can do no wrong. However, I am not a devoted fan of either.

Overall though, while the film is funny, and the humor gets very, very dark at times, it is not funny enough nor is the satire that apparent at first viewing. And if you’re like me and you’d rather not watch a blood bath or even the hint of a blood bath, then this may not be the film for you, even with Halloween just around the corner.

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit

The first time I heard of Arkedo Studios' Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit was through a trailer Sega released all the way back in March. From this alone I got excited for the title, my anticipation growing as the later announced September 25 release date approached. Over the last week I used whatever free time I could get in front of my PS3 to finish it on time. While I did enjoy my time in the depths of hell, I think it also could have been polished a bit more to make the experience even more fun.

Hell was once ruled with an iron claw under King Hare, but upon his death, his duties were passed down to his son, Prince Ash. Ash ruled over hell through tyranny, but also harbored a love for rubber duckies. A paparazzi found out about this and took pictures of him playing with Ducktator, Ash's favorite duck, in the bath. The photos were then posted onto the Hellternet, pissing Ash off as he sets out on a journey to recover the evidence and kill the 100 monsters that had seen the incriminating photos.

Beyond this premise, the story is pretty much paper thin. We barely see any character development from Ash, or anyone else for that matter, besides that he wants the photos and hates it when monsters say that he's naked. Plot threads are found few and far between, though every boss encounter hints at something bigger in store that keeps interest up enough to continue. I'll admit that I really didn't see the associated twist at the end at all, so kudos there.

Personally, I think the developers have a solid, though imperfect, grasp on level design. Each area of hell stands out really well in their aesthetic to create a balanced variety of settings while surprisingly averting the use of certain generic world types (ice, jungle, etc.), though a level containing lava is arguably justified since the game takes place in hell. It's actually quite interesting to see how the unique art style is used to create these areas, including the designs of the monsters that inhabit them. Some of these levels also contain gimmicks, including a slot machine to potentially gain more money and a level containing a gun that fires a liquid rainbow (no, I'm not kidding) that can be manipulated with the surroundings to hit enemies in tight spots to avoid instant death spikes. Navigation isn't that difficult, thanks in part to a radar to locate monsters and a (mostly) helpful map that can be brought up with a single button press. Know however that you may be forced to memorize the level layout to make your way through.

There are a couple of ways that Ash can engage in combat with the monsters of hell. Ash drives a wheel machine that can best be described as a jet pack/giant buzzsaw/drill combination helpful both for getting through levels, by way of drilling through some surfaces and ascending to higher spots, and attacking monsters. The more generic enemies can easily be squished by the drill, while the special monsters can sometimes have a force field, necessitating the use of the drilling function to damage them. This won't work on most monsters though, which is where the many guns come in handy. Among the guns you would expect, including a shotgun or flamethrower, there's also a holy water gun and a gun that I have described to my brother while playing as firing "rave lasers."

The guns of course deal different amounts of damage and have different ranges, makes them better in certain situations. However, I never found the need to use every gun, preferring to stick to a couple of favorites that fire in spread patterns. I'd also like to add that there's a helpful regenerating ammo meter, though sometimes I felt it drained a little too quickly. Switching between the guns can be done by pressing L1 or using the D-pad (a feature I discovered purely by accident), though either way can get a little tedious depending on how many weapons you have at your disposal. Since aiming is also dictated by the right stick, it can get a little difficult to move and aim simultaneously depending on your speed, resulting in wasted ammo especially if you can't see your target clearly.

Even after you deal enough damage to one of the 100 monsters by exploiting their weaknesses however, you will need to complete a mini-game to finally kill them with a finishing move. The mini-games are very diverse, which is a good thing, but it also creates an erratic difficulty curve, not helped at all by the fact that they get even more difficult to complete over time. A couple are very difficult anyway, including a sniper mini-game, and I felt annoyance when they came up. Some of the more involving ones are a lot more fun, like pressing buttons during a spinning kick or punch animation, and didn't feel like they disrupted the flow of the game as much. On top of this, some of the animations seemed pretty cheaply made, making me question at points how much thought was put into them.

The monsters themselves that Ash kills are all very original in design and are surprisingly memorable despite their numbers thanks to both their unique personality quirks and appearance. Each of them requires a different strategy to defeat, though some of them you can just shoot indiscriminately and I managed to figure out different strategy categories to approach the monsters, one of which I discovered purely by accident (zooming out to show the surrounding area, you're welcome). Until I stumbled across it, I thought that there must have been something I missed or some cryptic thing I overlooked. I didn't want the game to hold my hand in this situation, but I did want something to at least hint at using a feature I had long stopped using by that point.

Only a small batch of monsters, about two or three, are defeated through boss fights. Each of these fights span three stages, though the final boss has five, and have to be completed in their entirety from the beginning again upon your death. While I was able to anticipate certain patterns later, it gradually got more annoying that I had to cycle through every bit of dialogue and watch every animation again, which makes the replays more tedious than they ought to be.

In the in-game store, it is possible to buy not only new guns and upgrades with your money, but also many ways to customize both Ash's clothes and his wheel machine. In fact, these cosmetic upgrades take up most of the shop inventory and can get ridiculously expensive (up to 600 money). While I did stick with the default "naked" Ash with whatever wheel variant I was automatically given by the story, it's still good to know that people who like to customize their look will be busy with over 50 clothing varieties and several wheels.

One major complaint I have about the game is the health system. It's not that Ash doesn't have enough, he has plenty, but the fact that the ability to get it back is hard to come by. The only way to replenish your health is through a Fountaine location. There are two on each map and more often than not will be placed in areas that will require you to fight several enemies and avoid instant death traps just to get to them. What compounds this is that if you die after beating a monster, you'll respawn at a checkpoint with the health you had when the monster died. If it's really low, then your margin for error will be slim to none. I don't think I would mind the difficulty of the game then if health was more plentiful, such as being a random drop from enemies.

As far as replay value is concerned, there isn't a whole lot to draw you back in once you've beaten the game, though it could keep you busy for quite a while. Each area has at least three missions you can complete in isolated mission modes to earn extras for Ash to use, including clothes. There's also finding all of the hidden presents, which contain even more clothes he can wear. Otherwise, there's an element of monster management in a game mode known as The Island, where you can use the monsters you've killed as unpaid labor to grant you bonuses in the main game, ranging from money to health and even store items. I didn't get too much entertainment out of the exercise, but I did take advantage of the rewards that The Island offers.

So, in the end, is Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit a game worth playing? Well, I would say that if you're looking for a game with top notch gameplay and satisfying bosses, then I would tell you to deeply consider your options. On the other hand, if you want a game that's memorable, has a great sense of humor, a wicked soundtrack and a rather unique premise, then I would tell you to go for it. This is one of those titles where I actually want a sequel made so that the ideas presented can be improved upon to create an even better gaming experience.

Stubs – Nosferatu

NOSFERATU aka Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder. Directed by F.W. Murnau. Screenplay by Henrik Galeen. Inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Produced by Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau. Run time: 94. Color tinted black and white. Germany. Horror, Silent

With Halloween later this month, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some horror films, the most appropriate genre at this time of year. It might interest you to know that the horror film dates back to 1896 with Georges Melies’ Le Manoir du Diable (aka The Haunted Castle). While Melies made the film to amuse viewers, it is still considered to be the first horror film and the first vampire film to boot. What’s old is new again.

But while a French magician/filmmaker may have invented the genre, it may have taken German Expressionism to make them actually scary. While no one wants a film history lesson, it is important to know that German Expressionism had a major influence on not only horror films, but also film noir. The movement which had been around before World War I, reached its peak in the 1920’s. German Expressionism was part of a larger European expressionist movement in not only cinema, but also in architecture and painting.

Following Germany’s defeat in World War I, cinema began to explode in that country. However, with inflation on the rise in the Weimar Republic at an almost geometric rate, costs were of a great concern. To save on lighting, as an example, the sets featured exaggerated shadows painted in on the walls and floors. Like their sets, the films dealt with heavy and heady issues like madness, insanity and betrayal, as opposed to action and adventure or romantic films. Directors like Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau would bring this style of filmmaking with them to Hollywood, which saw an immigration of talent from Germany as Hitler came to power.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published in 1897 to good reviews, but was not considered to be a best seller when it was released. Still, in 1921, Albin Grau wanted to make a vampire movie, based in part on his own experience from World War I. In the winter of 1919, a Serbian farmer told him that his father was not only one of the undead, but also a vampire. When Grau and Enrico Dieckmann founded Prana Film, they couldn’t afford to buy rights to Stoker’s novel, so instead, they hired Henrik Galeen, an experienced screenwriter [The Student of Prague (1913) and The Golem (1920)] to write one inspired by the novel. Galeen changed character names, dropped the Van Helsing vampire hunter character and changed the setting to a fictional German seaport, Wisborg.

It is in Wisborg that Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) lives with his wife Ellen (Greta Schroder) and works for Knock (Alexander Granach), a real estate agent. Knock sends Hutter to visit a potential new client, Count Orlok to sell him the house that is right across from Thomas’. Before leaving for what promises to be a long business trip, Thomas puts Ellen in the care of his good friends Harding (Georg H. Schnell) and sister Annie.

After a journey of several months, Thomas arrives in a village near Orlok’s castle. At the village tavern, Thomas mentions his business with Orlok, which sends fear throughout the inn. Everyone warns him not to go. But Thomas does not heed their warnings. But a wolf has come down from the mountains and scared away Thomas’ horses, so he is forced to stay the night. The next morning he hires a coach, but the driver will only go as far as a bridge in a high mountain pass. As night is falling the driver refuses to go further. Getting out of the coach and walking across the bridge, Thomas is approached by an eerie looking black coach that moves surrealistically fast. In what is no doubt a cheap special effect, the journey on the coach is shown in reverse. Black is white and white is black as the coach races to Orlok’s castle.

Finally, Thomas meets Count Orlok (Max Schreck), a bat-like man with long fingers, pointy ears, sharp teeth, bugged out eyes and no hair. That night at dinner, Thomas accidentally cuts himself and Count Orlok tries to lick up Thomas’ “precious blood”. This, naturally, scares Thomas, but he spends the rest of the night talking to Orlok in front of the fireplace. After Thomas falls asleep, he wakes up with two small bite marks, which he blames on mosquitoes. The next night, Thomas finalizes his deal with Orlok, selling him the deserted house across from his own. Accidentally, Orlok sees a photograph of Thomas’ wife, Ellen, to which he comments about her “beautiful neck.”

From then on, Orlok starts to plague Ellen’s dreams. After that, Thomas wakes up to find he’s alone in the castle. He comes across the coffin in which Orlok is lying in state. Horrified, Thomas cowers in his room. He has been reading The Book of Vampires, a book he took from the tavern and is now convinced that Orlok is Nosferatu, the Bird of Death. He tries but there is no way to bar the door to his room. At midnight, the door opens by itself and Orlok enters the room and Thomas falls unconscious.

That evening, Thomas wakes up in time to see Orlok loading coffins into a carriage. Orlok crawls into the last one before the carriage starts away. Thomas tries to escape from the castle by climbing down a rope made of bed sheets, but falls and loses consciousness. He later wakes up in a hospital and immediately leaves for Wisborg, hoping to beat Orlok. Meanwhile, the coffins get loaded onto a ship, the Empusa. Orlok manages to kill off the crew except the Captain (Max Nemetz) and the First Mate (Wolfgang Heinz). When the First Mate goes below to destroy the coffins, Orlok frightens him into jumping into the ocean. The captain becomes the last victim after he lashes himself to the wheel to maintain course and dies there.

Ellen by now is under Orlok’s spell and is just waiting for him to arrive. When the boat lands in Wisborg, Orlok and some rats depart. Unobserved, Orlok carries the coffin to his new house. Thomas returns to Wisborg and heads for Ellen. She feels better now that her husband is back with her. Authorities board the ship and find the Captain’s dead body. They assume that the boat has brought the plague and people start dying in town.

Knock, who has been institutionalized for having gone insane, presumably because of his own connection to Orlok, escapes after killing the warden and is chased by townspeople. Orlok stares from his window at a sleeping Ellen. Against Thomas’ instructions, she had read the Book of Vampires, and knows the only way to defeat a vampire is for a woman who is pure in heart to distract the vampire with her beauty all through the night. She opens her window and invites Orlok to come over and then faints. Thomas tries to revive her and then heads out to get the town doctor (Gustav Botz). While he’s gone, Orlok comes into Ellen’s bedroom.

But Orlok is so engrossed by drinking Ellen’s blood that he doesn’t see that morning is coming. When the rooster crows, Orlok realizes it’s too late and he vanishes. At that moment, the great death that was plaguing Wisborg stops and as the film tells us “and the shadow of the vampire vanished as if overcame by the victorious rays of the living sun." Ellen lives only long enough to die in Thomas’ arms.

Nosferatu was the first film adaptation of Stoker’s Dracula and it wouldn’t be the last one. However, since it was made without permission, the Stoker estate sued Prana Film and won, leading to the company’s bankruptcy. A judge ordered the destruction of all the prints of the film, but one print had already been distributed around the world and other prints have been made from that. Otherwise, the film might have been lost forever.

For many, the definitive Dracula adaptation was made nine years later by Universal starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning. But while that film relied on Lugosi’s powerful personality, it is not even the scariest Dracula released by Universal in 1931. For those that have seen it, the Spanish language version, Drácula directed by George Melford and starring Carlos Villarìas as the Conde, made at night using the same sets of Lugosi’s Dracula, is scarier.

But I would say that Nosferatu is even scarier than that. To illustrate this opinion, let’s look at the main characters:

Count Orlok (Max Schreck) Nosferatu (1922)

Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) Dracula (1931)

Conde Drácula (Carlos Villarìas) Drácula (1931)

Of these three, I would say the one at the top is nightmare fuel. Count Orlok does not have the style or seductive powers of his American cousins. Rather he is more of a monster, his long sharp fingernails and sharp teeth (more than a couple of fangs). And Orlok is a serial killer, bringing with him the plague, killing hundreds. Dracula on the other hand probably has killed his fair share of victims, but he is not death incarnate the way Orlok is.

The special effects, which are dated, include using a negative image and sped up projection do give certain scenes an intended unrealistic look. And at the time, Nosferatu was considered so scary that it was banned in Sweden and Turkey. While I don’t think jaded modern audiences would be shocked by the film, Nosferatu is both a masterpiece and accessible example of German Expressionism.

This is also an example of director F.W. Murnau’s mastery of filmmaking. While Murnau’s career was short, lasting only twelve years from 1919 to 1931, he did leave behind four classic films: Nosferatu (1922); The Last Laugh (1924) with Emil Jannings; Faust (1926) and Sunrise (1927), made after he emigrated to Hollywood to work for Fox.

October is the time of the year to watch horror films and if you haven’t ever seen Nosferatu, you are surely missing out.

Mirror's Edge - Goes Everywhere and Nowhere

Since I am currently a college student, this blog will be updated with less frequency than before and there is less time now to play video games of any substantial length (although there are a couple of upcoming games that will be reviewed no matter what). With this in mind, I figured it would be best to focus on shorter video games and get more licensed video game comic reviews up; basically whatever takes less time. As soon as we agreed to this measure, I thought of finally playing Mirror's Edge, a game that I had in my library for a couple years but never really got around to playing past the first chapter. I was surprised to learn that this game has a cult following, which would explain the planned sequel, and while I now understand why it does, it definitely needed some work for its initial release.

The game takes place in an unnamed dystopian city that does its hardest to forget its violent past. While most people are happy and have even forgotten what the "bad" old days were like, people like Faith Connors have not. While her family was involved in a campaign to stop the city from succumbing to totalitarianism, a tragic turn of events forced her to run away and start a new life. Four years later, she has found freedom as a Runner, a special breed of courier that delivers packages containing sensitive information that would normally be snuffed if handled through legitimate channels. Now Faith runs along the mirror's edge, always one step from death, existing everywhere and nowhere and the one thing that makes her feel truly alive and above the city's rule. However, that's about to change, since she's gotten involved in a conspiracy that involves her sister being unjustly imprisoned.

As the story unfolds, I found that the developers were able to craft a pretty solid story with the right turns and properly develop the main character. The problem however lies in the explanation. By that, I mean that the story is never properly explained that well within the game itself. You get more of an explanation of the background from the manual, where most of the previous paragraph came from, than you do in the actual game. While I feel that some more world building could have been done, the plot still manages to do a good job of making Faith a strong female protagonist. I liked that she was willing to save her sister no matter what it took, yet realizes the costs of her reckless actions when they finally catch up with her; she's human and willing to accept and make up for her mistakes. Other characters are developed as needed to fill an archetype, such as Mercury being Faith's mentor, but I think I should mention that I found the main antagonist to be rather disappointing. He just comes off as cocky and the buildup to the reveal isn't fully developed, which makes the story seem a bit thin the more I think about it.

Then of course is the gameplay, which is divided between parkour-style platforming and combat. The platforming is executed brilliantly, with levels designed specifically to take full advantage of the many things the player can potentially do. Among the many times I've had to vault, wall run and other maneuvers, I felt a sense of freedom and flow that I haven't from other platformers. The acrobatics that can be performed, especially when you're quickly changing directions, are unique and the sections that utilize the easy-to-use game mechanics are easily my favorite part of the experience.

Combat, on the other hand, falls flat. There's a sort of secondary "fight or flight" mentality to enemy encounters, in which running away from enemies is actually a viable option. Sometimes that doesn't pan out however and you are forced to fight past the blues (cops) or security guards to get to the objective. Faith can defend herself pretty well thanks to her hand-to-hand combat training, but even knowing the proper timing to disarm some of the tougher enemies' guns won't get you very far if you're attempting to get a specific achievement/trophy. While I tried to get the trophy, the sheer difficulty of trying to knock out guards and get away from some swarms forced me to learn to use the guns for survival. As far as I'm concerned the guns work perfectly well and can serve to make the levels go by much quicker, but there's no safe way to tell how much ammo is remaining and the sniper rifle could be difficult to aim with at times. Either way, I didn't have fun fighting off groups of enemies and simply wanted to get back to the splendid parkour.

You may not get to enjoy these sections for very long however, considering that the game is pretty short. The levels go by surprisingly quickly and since there's only nine total levels, you'll find yourself searching for motivation to keep playing. Thankfully, you can squeeze out more play time with the Time Trial mode, which basically has you playing through different level sections minus the guards, so long as you meet the requirements to unlock the various courses. I had some fun here, but it's good to keep in mind that the routes they make you follow are specific to the story, so don't be surprised if you quit in frustration at least once.

Technically speaking, I absolutely loved the graphics. The bright colors help the player find their way through the levels and have enough variety to make the scenery great to look at, though the daytime portions show off the lighting to the point where it takes a moment to make the whites easy to see. Conversely, I thought the flash animated cutscenes were decent, though it did simplify some details like Faith's tattoos. The music in each level is done well enough to aid the player's emotions, but isn't really memorable outside of gameplay.

For an experimental idea, DICE managed to craft a solid game based around first-person platforming. While I can't say I would play it all the time, I am definitely interested in a sequel, as it could end up like Portal 2 where the next installment really stretches everyone's creativity. I would tell you to give this game a try, especially at a low price, but know that Mirror's Edge runs the same line as the Runners: everywhere and nowhere.

World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria (Comic)

Before I begin, I would like to say that I have absolutely no experience with any of the Warcraft games or books, nor do I wish to any time soon. That said, I first heard about the graphic novel World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria, likely made to tie into the Mists of Pandaria expansion coming soon to the MMO World of Warcraft (WoW), while reading a DC comic. What actually got me to buy it, admittedly, was that the art was done by Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, best known for his designs on the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon (which I have not seen). Having read this newly-released graphic novel with very little knowledge of the Warcraft universe, I believe that Pearl of Pandaria tells a story that holds up on its own.

The tale begins on the island turtle Shen-zin Su, where a young Pandaren named Li Li is reading letters from her Uncle Chen about his adventures in Azeroth. As a result, she desires to be adventurous herself, but her father Chon Po want her to stay on Shen-zin Su and continue Pandaren traditions. This leads to an argument between the two, after which Li Li decides to run away during the night in search of her Uncle Chen, but not without leaving a note for her father. After reading the note, Chon Po sends Li Li's trainer Bo to go after her, leading to a series of exploits as Bo and Li Li learn more about each other and the world of Azeroth.

While I am not familiar with the works of Mickey Neilson, I thought the writing of this book was fantastic. There's plenty of references to the MMO throughout, including, among the few things I was able to pick up on, the Lich King and a couple mentions of Azeroth, but they are thankfully not important to the story and serve as small nods to tie it in to WoW. Continuity aside (again, lack of experience), it is an amazing story with plenty of twists and epic moments to make the reader want to keep going. The characters of Bo and Li Li have their own character flaws that make them interesting to read about and through flashbacks you get to learn what kind of person Uncle Chen is like. The story itself isn't anything new, but the execution makes it work.

The art for Pearl of Pandaria, by Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, is simply stunning. His art style is very cartoonish, but with it he is able to express a wide range of action and emotion, especially during a truly epic clash at the end. The villains of the story look genuinely threatening, especially with the lighting placed in just the right way to enhance the effect. The backgrounds are also beautifully detailed, but are not distracting, though I can't say for myself how true they are to the WoW environments. In any case, the art fits perfectly with the narrative.

However, when I got to the end, I noticed a couple of major errors, both of which are related to the comic itself. Near the end when Li Li is speaking (I won't spoil context), her dialogue is misattributed to a character who happens to be standing right next to her (saying who would still spoil context). There is also an art error that slightly confuses the story; when Li Li is receiving an item in one panel (again, no context spoiler), she is seen with the same item in one or two panels preceding it. Aside from this, there are some other minor art errors (which I won't get into) in otherwise highly consistent visuals. Any other errors I may not have noted, however, stem from my lack of knowledge on Warcraft media.

World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria is an amazing graphic novel. The story is engaging and manages to work by itself, while the art displays the events in a visually appealing way. Anyone unfamiliar with the Warcraft series will enjoy it for what it is, and the WoW references don't really get in the way. I think anyone that has actually played World of Warcraft may like it, but then again I don't know if it conflicts with any continuity (nor do I wish to find out). In any case, this is a video game comic you do not want to pass up on. This book doesn't make me want to play the MMO it ties in to, but I'm sure someone out there would be more convinced to do so.

Stubs - Scoop

SCOOP (2006) Starring: Woody Allen, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ian McShane. Directed by Woody Allen. Screenplay by Woody Allen. Produced by Ryan Kavanaugh, Letty Aronson, John Davis, Gareth Wiley. Runtime: 96. Color. U.S.-U.K. Comedy, Mystery

Woody Allen’s career may have peaked in the 1970’s, but he continues to write and direct movies to this day. And while they are no longer guaranteed box office, he does occasionally still make acclaimed and successful films, such as Midnight in Paris (2011). Allen, noted as a New York filmmaker, has been forced to make movies abroad for the last seven years, and it seems to have genuinely breathed new life into his career.

His biggest success prior to Midnight in Paris was the movie Match Point (2005), his first film made in England. The next year, he returned to London and made Scoop, reuniting the director with Scarlett Johansson, a young actress he had worked with in Match Point. And while Scoop did not receive the same attention as Match Point, it is still a very good and very interesting film.

The story begins, oddly enough, at the memorial service for a British news reporter Joe Strombel (Ian McShane). Following the service, several of Strombel’s contemporaries gather at a local pub to hoist a drink to their now dead colleague.

Next we cut to Strombel on board a boat captained by Death crossing the Styx. There, Strombel starts up a conversation with Jane Cook (Fenella Woolgar), who tells him that she died of poisoning. She suspects it was due to the fact that she had evidence that her boss, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) was the notorious serial killer known in the tabloids as the Tarot Card Killer due to the fact a tarot card gets left at the murder scene of short haired brunette prostitutes. Strombel is so intrigued by the story that he escapes the death boat.

Meanwhile, Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson) is in London on vacation, but is also trying to get an interview with director Mike Tinsley (Kevin R. McNally). But instead of getting the story, she sleeps with Tinsley instead. She’s upset by her own lack of professionalism, but Vivian (Romola Garai), the daughter of the London family she’s staying with, talks her into attending a performance by a magician, the Great Splendini (Woody Allen), aka Sid Waterman. Sondra volunteers to participate in the finale of the show, wherein, Splendini puts the subject in a box and makes them disappear. But while Sondra’s in the box, she encounters Strombel’s ghost, who has momentarily escaped the Grim Reaper and is drawn to her because she is a journalist. He tells her that Peter Lyman is the Tarot Card killer and urges her to investigate the story.

Not sure what to make of what happened, Sondra returns to Splendini between shows and begs him to let her go into the chamber again. Splendini has little patience and practically pulls her out of the chamber, when the ghost of Strombel appears to the two of them. Convinced there is a story, Sondra decides to investigate and drags Sid along with her, pretending he is her father. On their first attempt to break the story, they end up following the wrong man, since there are no good photos of Lyman on the internet. But all is not lost. The family she’s staying with know Lyman and know some of his habits, such as a daily swim at a private club. But since the family are members they can get Sondra and Sid in as their guests.

Once there, Sid and Sondra work out a scheme to get Lyman’s attention. While Sid goes off to have tea, Sondra pretends to be drowning. Being the gentleman he is and the only other person in the pool, Lyman saves her. She introduces herself as Jade Spence, the daughter of a rich Floridian. Enchanted by her beauty, Lyman asks her to attend a party at his parent’s estate. Even though he’s supposed to be a rich businessman, Sid can’t help but do card tricks and bits of magic. But while Sondra tries to keep Lyman occupied by awkwardly talking about things like Tarot cards, Sid goes through the house looking for clues. He finds only one, a doodle on the back of an envelope Lyman made with the name Betty G.

But when they return from the estate, neither Sid nor Sondra is convinced Lyman is a murderer. Sid has been invited to play poker at the club and is doing very well before Lyman shows up late. The next morning, both Sid and Sondra are concerned when there has been a new Tarot Card murder. Sid surmises that Lyman would have had enough time to have killed the prostitute before showing up at the club. Sondra wants to dig deeper and get a look at his house. Which she does, after a date with Lyman.

He takes her down stairs of his townhouse to a climate controlled vault where he keeps rare and expensive instruments his family has collected. Down there, the two share a kiss and she spends the night. Meanwhile, Sid is doing his usual act, when Strombel appears to him, and apparently the entire audience. He tells Sid to remember three numbers 16, 21, 12, though he doesn’t tell him what they are for.

After sex, Sondra and Lyman make small talk. She compliments his aftershave and he tells her it’s Yardley, a fragrance he’s used since he was a teenager and has never stopped using. He wants her to stay for breakfast and while he’s getting some champagne to celebrate their togetherness, she goes through his bedroom for clues, coming across a photo of a short-haired brunette woman, whom Lyman identifies as his mother, beautiful but unfaithful. Sondra begs off breakfast and meets up with Sid, who tells her what Strombel’s ghost had told him. By now, Sid knows it’s a combination and Sondra remembers that the vault has a combination lock.

At a party at Lyman’s house, Sid manages to sneak down to the vault and rummages around the room, though he gets accidentally locked in there by one of the servants. He is saved, when Sondra gets worried and goes looking for him. He tells her the combination and she lets him out just in time so that Lyman doesn’t catch him in the vault. Sid by now is convinced that they are on a wild goose chase searching the vault. Lyman pulls Sondra aside and begs her to stay the night, which she does.

And while he’s sleeping, Sondra sneaks back down to the vault where she makes a casual search. Under the French horn she finds a stack of Tarot cards. (Incidentally, Sid had found the same French horn in the previous vault scene on its side. He even started to make a joke about a French horn player before putting it back.) But upstairs, Lyman wakes up and calls out for her. But she has already returned with an alibi glass of milk to help her sleep as an excuse for being up at 4 am. You can sense that she’s nervous being with him, but he asks her if she would consider staying in London after her vacation ends.

The next morning, Sondra and Sid discuss what she has found out. While he’s convinced it points to guilt, Sondra is skeptical. Owning Tarot cards and being late to a poker game aren’t the sign of anything. They discuss calling the police, but Sondra insists that she wants to get the story if there is one.

In the next scene, it is Sondra’s birthday. In a public park, Lyman gives her an expensive bracelet, but begs off celebrating it with her, saying that he has out of town business to take care of. Sid offers to take her out for her birthday for Indian food. She seems preoccupied. She thinks Lyman might be leading up to ask her to marry him.

Back at her friend’s London house, Sondra is once again visited by Strombel’s ghost. He sensed that Sondra was falling in love, so he escaped, again. While he agrees that there is not enough evidence to get Lyman arrested, he is convinced that there is too much circumstantial evidence for Lyman not to be guilty. He warns her not to act too hastily as Lyman would walk and her credibility would be shot. But as he’s fading he implores her not to let him down.

That night, in a storefront Indian restaurant, Sondra sees Lyman walk by across the street. She and Sid take chase, but lose him in the confusing streets of London. But they do find themselves near where a murder had just taken place. A woman comes out of an apartment house shouting that someone has just been killed and another resident confirms a Tarot Card was found next to the body.

The next morning, Sid and Sondra go through the newspaper stories about the murder. This time the victim is named, Elizabeth Gibson, another short-haired brunette. They debate about going to the cops, but decide instead to have a real newspaperman look at her story. Luckily, her host family knows one that works at the Observer.

While Mr. Malcolm (Charles Dance) believes the story is vivid he tells her that no newspaper would print it as it would be libelous to do so. All she has are theories that would only tarnish Lyman’s reputation without a single strand of substantial proof. Again the same arguments that Sid and Sondra have debated about are raised by Mr. Malcolm. And he doesn’t believe that Strombel was her original source for the story. When Sid says that she could have sold the story to a tabloid, Mr. Malcolm informs them that to have done so would have been a disaster for everyone involved, since the real Tarot Card killer, a handy man named Henry Banks, had just been arrested by the police and confessed to all the murders. Evidence had been found linking Banks to the crimes, as well as he having led them to two additional bodies.

Now that it appears Lyman is in the clear, Sondra is faced with another problem. She had lied to him over and over again about who she is and what she was doing. Finally though, she is alone with Peter on the estate and they both confess to each other their lies. Peter confesses that he lied when he said he was going out of town on business. The truth, according to Peter, is that a company his father owns is merging with a company in the Middle East and they didn’t want details leaked out to the press. Sondra confesses her lies to Peter, including her real name, her relationship to Sid and her suspicions that he was the Tarot Card murderer. Peter laughs about her thoughts that he could be the killer. She asks about the Tarot deck in his music room, but he tells her that it was a surprise for her, based on a previous conversation they’d had. Peter wants to move on with their lives.

But Sid is convinced now that Peter is a murderer and a liar. He comes back to the doodle Betty G and found that the woman who was murdered on her birthday was named Elizabeth Gibson. Betty is often a nickname for Elizabeth. Sid spells out the same clues and circumstantial evidence they had found and supposes that Peter folded in his murder of Betty G into the Tarot Card murder crime wave. He’s convinced that Betty was blackmailing Peter for something, though he doesn’t know exactly what.

Strombel appears again to Sid to find out how Sondra reacted. Strombel tells Sid to check the Tarot deck to see if a card is missing, right after he warns him that he will not be able to return again. Strombel has cheated death all the ways he could.

Determined to uncover the answer, Sid goes to Elizabeth Gibson’s apartment house to ask about her. He finally finds someone that knew her. She tells Sid that Elizabeth was known as Betty to everyone. She bemoans the fact that Betty had dyed her blond hair brown and cut it so short. She tells him that Betty did it to please a regular client, Peter Yardley.

Sid calls Sondra at Peter’s estate to tell her what he had found out about the last victim. But she doesn’t want to hear it. Peter listens in and hears Sid tell her that he’s convinced of Peter’s guilt and hears Sondra to stop being paranoid.

But Sid is not deterred. He goes to Peter’s house and tells the housekeeper that he’s there to pick up his daughter’s red cashmere sweater. While the woman goes upstairs to look, Sid heads for the vault. This time, under the French horn, he finds a key. He’s not sure what to make of it and almost puts it back, but at the last minute pockets it. However, he isn’t fast enough to avoid detection by the housekeeper, who catches him coming out of the vault. Sid says his usual gibberish as an excuse and flees the scene.

The housekeeper, though, calls Peter and tells him what’s happened. Peter now thinks his jig is almost up. Meanwhile, Sid goes back to the apartment house and tries the key in Elizabeth Gordon’s door and it opens it.

Back at the estate, Peter takes Sondra out to the middle of the lake. Sid meantime, driving a smart car, beelines it to the country. When they are all alone, Peter confesses to Sondra that he is going to have to drown her. When Sondra asks why, he confesses to the murder of Betty Gibson. She was blackmailing him and he couldn’t let it continue. He studied the Tarot Case and rehearsed his plan just the way Sid had supposed. Sondra warns that Sid will tell someone if Peter kills her. But Peter counters that he’ll take care of Sid that night.

Cut back to Sid driving recklessly through the narrow roads. Peter gets more menacing, finally picking up Sondra and throwing her out of the boat. He watches her drown and then rows back to shore. Sid in his haste careens off the road and we hear an accident off screen. Peter rows his boat back to the house and, sounding hysterical, calls the police about a drowning.

The police arrive and come to the house to tell Peter they think they’ve found the body. Peter tells him a story about her going out onto the lake to commune with nature. He tells him about saving her from drowning and that she was a weak swimmer. Just then Sondra steps out from one of the rooms, still soaking wet and tells Peter she was lying and that she had in fact been the captain of a swim team.

Her story now completed, Sondra once again shows it to Mr. Malcolm who is very enthusiastic about it. She tells him that she has to thank Strombel for being an inspiration and to the late Sidney, who helped out with the investigation.

The film ends with Sidney on a similar barge that Strombel was on earlier in the movie, as it crosses The Styx River. Sid tells his fellow passengers that if he had been driving in America, he would have arrived on time and been a hero. When one of them asks what he did for a living, he tells them he was a magician. He offers to show them a card trick if they have the time, to which one of them says, “I believe we have eternity.”

Scoop is not Woody Allen’s best film, but I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. The film explores many of the same themes that Allen has touched on in the past. In fact, some of the movie was reminiscent of his Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), another somewhat underrated effort. In that film, Allen and movie wife Diane Keaton, solve the murder of a neighbor.

In many ways, Scarlett Johansson is the stand in for Diane Keaton, though there is no love interest between them. As I believe I have opined before, in a Woody Allen film, even if he’s not in the movie, there is someone who is speaking for him. Someone is the Woody Allen character. In this case, Allen is in the film and we get sort of stereophonic Woody, as Johansson does her best female impersonation of Allen’s usual nebbish character. While I am a big fan of Ms. Johansson, in this film she is sometimes a bad carbon copy, especially when she’s sharing screen time with the original.

Johansson is a beautiful woman, but it is hard to see the attraction that Peter Lyman has for her Sondra. Peter is presented as a man of the world, while Sondra is a college journalist who wears glasses and is easily flustered. I’ll admit I didn’t see his attraction for her, especially when his type must attract all sorts of women. Jackman is surprisingly good as the evil, narcissistic playboy. He exudes self-confidence throughout the film, the same way a sociopath would.

Ian McShane as Strombel is good, but he’s a bit of a one note performance. Whatever we learn about him is expository through other characters. It is an important role, but perhaps one that any mature British actor could have portrayed.

Allen is also good in front of the camera, but I think his best work was behind it. The script, which features many of Allen’s own clichés, is very funny. Allen seems to write as though every town were his hometown, which is both good and bad. These are stories that could be told anywhere, which means he isn’t writing it just because it takes place in London. But at the same time, because they could take place anywhere they seem a little like transplants; change out the Met for Albert Hall, etc.

And there are holes in the script that take away from the strength of the mystery. The family Sondra is staying with in London seems to know just the right people and never ask any questions, as to why their young American houseguest is running around with a much older magician or seem worried that she is investigating a murder while using an assumed name.

And the clues are just a little too easy to find. Tarot Cards that were clearly not under the French horn in one scene appear there in the next. And why hide the key to the victim’s apartment in the exact same spot? And why not change the vault combination if you’re suspicious of prying eyes? And how fortunate that Sid would stumble across a neighbor, who knew so much information about Betty Gordon’s clientele and would willingly spill all the details to a reporter.

The film is very beautiful. I will give Allen credit that he treats every city he shoots in as if it were his beloved New York. Care is taken to show each location in its best light and the cinematography in this case done by Remi Adefarasin is the usual excellent that one finds in a Woody Allen film.

While I would recommend other Woody Allen films over this one for a first timer, Scoop is definitely worth watching if only to listen to the dialogue and not too closely to the plot.

Stubs – Raiders of the Lost Ark

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John-Rhys Davies, Denholm Elliott. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Music by John Williams. Produced by Frank Marshell, George Lucas and Howard Kazanjian. Run time: 115. Color. U.S. Action, Adventure, Romance.

I was recently invited to a screening of Raiders, which has been remastered and is currently enjoying a re-release in movie theaters and on Blu-ray this week. If you’re like me, you’ve already seen it once in a movie theater, but this version is supposed to be better than the original, without any of the objects digitally replaced (no cell phones for guns as was the case in ET, a few years back.)

This film was made back in the days when the top summer movie seemed to be traded back and forth between some film Spielberg directed and one that his best friend George Lucas produced. The summer was their bank and the two of them made millions in withdrawls. So it’s no surprise that the two of them who pair up to produce what would turn out to be the biggest film of 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Apparently, Lucas, who was awaiting the results from Star Wars at the time, told Spielberg his idea and Spielberg signed on immediately. At the screening, Spielberg made reference to the serials produced at Republic Pictures as the inspiration for the movie. However, earlier he had supposedly given some credit to Scrooge McDuck for inspiring the opening sequence of the film (See #4).

That said, the presentation was set up to praise Spielberg, so no one would question anything he said. For the most part, he was an engaged and witty guest, as was Harrison Ford, who showed up unannounced. I will admit Spielberg is a very successful director with a large following, but I don’t put him in the same list as say Alfred Hitchcock, as far as storytelling goes. Spielberg films are sometimes too cute for their own good (see the four Indy sequels if you need proof of that).

While Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a failed attempt to pass on the explorer torch to Shia LaBeouf, of all people, the story is what made the movie almost laughable in the wrong places. But that is a review for another day. The purpose of this review is to discuss the first of the films, and definitely the best of the four, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The movie opens in 1936 with Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), and that is apparently his real name, leading an expedition to an ancient temple in the jungles of South America. Armed with only his wit and bull whip, Indy enters the temple with the last member of his crew Satipo (Alfred Molina). While there are booby traps on the way in, things get even hairier after Indy switches out a golden idol for a bag of sand. The famous rolling boulder is unleashed and Indy is deserted by Satipo and left on his own to narrowly escape.

But Satipo isn’t so lucky and a booby trap gets him and Indy escapes with the idol in hand. But waiting for him is a rival archaeologist, Rene Bolloq (Paul Freeman). Bolloq has an army of Hovitos, the indigenous people of the jungle and Indy is forced to surrender his prize. But before Bolloq can have him killed, Indy flees into the jungle and toward the seaplane that will carry him to safety. One last thing we learn is that Indy hates snakes, since the pilot inexplicably keeps a snake as a pet on the plane.

Returning to his day job as a popular college archaeology professor, Indy is alerted by a friend, Dr. Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), that two government agents are waiting to see him. These men inform Indy that the Nazis are looking for his old mentor Abner Ravenwood, a leading expert in ancient Egypt and the city of Tanis in particular. The Nazis are on the hunt for occult items and Indy is convinced the Nazis are looking for the Ark of the Covenant, the biblical vessel built at instructions from God to hold the original stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments. With the Ark in their possession, the Nazi’s think their army would be unstoppable.

Per the movie, an Egyptian pharaoh’s army stole the Ark and took it to Tanis. However, the city was soon after wiped off the face of the earth by dust storms. (In reality, the Babylonians stole the Ark in 586 BC, but ancient Egypt makes for a better story and place.) According to Indy, the Ark was taken to the Well of Souls in the city of Tanis and the only way to find its exact location is with the headpiece from the staff of Ra. When the sun’s rays hit the map room in Tanis, the light passing through the headpiece will illuminate the location of the chamber. The army authorizes Indy to retrieve the Ark before the Nazis can.

First stop: Nepal. While that might seem like an odd way to go from the U.S. to Egypt, Indy is looking for Ravenwood, whom he knows has the headpiece. When he arrives at the bar Ravenwood’s daughter Marion (Karen Allen) runs, he find out Ravenwood is dead. Marion, who happens to be an embittered former lover of Indy’s, knows where the headpiece is (around her neck) and agrees to sell it to Indy for $3000.  However, she requires him to come back the next day. But as soon as he leaves, the bar is overrun by native thugs at the command of Major Arnold Toht (Ronald Lacey) who also wants the headpiece.

Indy, who apparently couldn’t find room at the Nepal Holiday Inn, returns to the bar and a firefight ensues, which leads to the tavern being burned to the ground. During the fighting, Toht sees the headpiece and makes a grab for it, but it is too hot to handle and sears the palm of his hand with one side of the image. But it is Marion and Indy who make it out with the actual headpiece. Marion informs Indy that she’s going with him until he can pay her for the headpiece.

Next stop: Cairo. There Indy and Marion are hosted by Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), whom Indy states is the best digger in Egypt. Sallah knows that the Nazis, with Belloq’s help, were trying to excavate Tanis and thought they had the headpiece based on the seared scar in Toht’s hand.

In a bazaar, Indy and Marion are beset by Nazis and their Egyptian allies chase the two through the streets. They are attempting to kidnap Marion. One of the more famous fight scenes in the movie takes place at this part of the film. When confronted by a sword wielding man, rather than fight him off with his whip, as he had done previously, he simply takes out his gun and rather nonchalantly shoots him. But despite his best efforts, Marion is kidnapped and apparently dies in a fiery explosion.

Marion’s death appears to hit Indy hard. (Notably, there are apparently no police in Cairo, since no one ever seems to investigate the noise of the explosion.) Indy is confronted by Balloq and as usual, a horde of thugs, but Sallah manages his escape by sending in children as a sort of protective shield and Indy once again escapes from the Nazis.

Sallah takes Indy to someone who can read the inscription on the headpiece. It turns out the Nazis only had one half of the puzzle and thus were using the wrong measurement for the staff. Armed with the right length of staff, Sallah smuggles Indy into the dig.

Using the light coming through the headpiece, Indy locates the Well of Souls. But the Nazis stumble across Sallah where he’s not supposed to be. But again, Indy escapes, coming across Marion in the process. She is tied up in a tent. Happy to see her alive, he starts to release her, but stops, not wanting to give himself away to the Nazis. Marion is not happy about being left behind.

Sallah, Indy and crew begin their own digging, even though they are surrounded by Nazis, no one notices. Even though they are digging on a hill, no one notices. Even though Indy puts on his iconic hat at sunset, no one notices.

Belloq comes in and tries to get Marion to talk ahead of her being left to Toht’s ways of getting her to talk. He has a fancy dress and wine. Marion tries to drink Belloq under the table, which we have seen her do to men before. But he seems to be more than a match for her. Marion is sober enough to try to escape, but she gets stopped when Toht and a couple of goons appear in the tent.

Sallah and Indy lower themselves down into the chamber which is beset with snakes which we know by now give Indy the willies. But with the help of gasoline, the two manage to make a path through the snakes and retrieve the Ark. By morning, they are pulling the Ark out and that’s when Belloq notices them. Before Indy can make it out, Belloq and the Nazis are at the top of the well. They have the Ark and are planning on taking it back to Berlin. Before sealing Indy in the well, they throw Marion down into the well. With their torches, they manage to keep the snakes at bay, but that’s only temporary. With their torches going out, Indy manages to figure a way out and the two manage to escape the well.

They make a beeline to the airplane, a flying wing, that is supposed to transport the Ark. Indy gets into a fight with a guard and subdues one, but then a giant Nazi mechanic gets involved. Marion gets onboard and subdues the pilot, but the plane starts to move in a circle. The trucks arrive with the Ark and Marion manages to fire on them, but she also manages to shot a fuel depot as well. Indy manages to maneuver the mechanic into the spinning blades of the plane and to get Marion off the plane before it inevitably explodes.

But the Nazis are anything if not adaptable and decide to truck the Ark out of the site instead. And Indy takes chase on horseback. As expected, Indy catches the convoy and takes control of the truck with the Ark. Not that it’s easy doings; Indy gets shot, gets thrown out of the truck and has to do his best Yakima Canutt impersonation, or rather the stuntman on Raiders imitates Canutt’s famous horse team stunt but with a transport truck. Indy drives the truck with Nazis in pursuit, to the next village down the road and straight into a welcoming garage. Before the Nazis pass by, villagers set up a bazaar in front of the garage door, so it looks as if Indy and the Ark have vanished into thin air. A little too convenient if you think about it too much.

Indy meets up with Sallah, who has arranged for transport of the Ark on a tramp steamer. In the captain’s quarters, Indy and Marion reconcile their feelings, but happiness is very short lived. A Nazi sub stops the steamer and relieves it of the Ark and Marion. Indy though manages to escape detection. The crew of the steamer is still looking for him, when he shows up on the outside of the sub.

Luckily for Indy, the sub does not submerge as it makes its way to a secret Nazi island. Instead of taking the Ark directly to Berlin, Belloq convinces his Nazi cohorts that they need to see what’s in the Ark and they take it to a special altar set up for the occasion. Indy tries to stop them, threatening to blow up the Ark with a grenade launcher. But Belloq calls his bluff, knowing Indy couldn’t destroy such a valuable artifact.

This leads to a set piece that reminded me of the alien meeting in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (all cuts). Indy ends up tied to a post with Marion, while Belloq performs a Jewish ritual to open the Ark. But what first appears to be nothing more than sand quickly turns into spirits which start to ravage the Nazis present. Aware of the danger of looking at the apparitions, Indy instructs Marion to close her eyes. And that simple action saves the two of them, while demonic creatures ravage the Nazis, exploding Belloq’s head and famously melting Toht’s face. With everyone dead, the Ark sends energy into the air before closing itself up.

With the Ark safely in U.S. possession, Indy and Brody want to examine it, but instead it is quietly crated up and put away in storage in the National Archives, surrounded by other like crates.

To begin any review, let’s talk about Steven Spielberg as director. I have always preferred Spielberg as a director over his BFF Lucas. Lucas is a sterile director by comparison. There is no sensuality in his movies, even slight. On the other hand when Karen Allen is standing in the wind in the dress Belloq picked out for her, you get the real feeling that she is naked underneath. It is a minor point, but you don’t get that feeling watching Princess Leia.

My complaint would be that the action is almost too paramount to the movie. We never get a real sense of the backstory between Indy and Marion; or Indy and Belloq. Stopping to give any backstory would just get in the way of the action. This is not a Republic Pictures serial, it is a major motion picture and expectations are set at a higher level.

Spielberg is also a director that uses special effects sometimes to excess. While there are special effects in this film, they are not overused. They add to the action of the movie. This is not his best effort, but it is definitely a sign that he is going to be, as he has been, a major director in Hollywood. Again, he may be the most successful ever dollar-wise. And he is someone who has made the most of his power in Hollywood. Any studio, even his own Dreamworks, would be happy to have a film directed by him.

The cast, especially the male and female leads, are very well cast. Harrison Ford, coming off his second film as Han Solo, is perfectly cast as the sexy, smart and quick thinking Indiana Jones. It is interesting to think that if Magnum P.I. hadn’t come up, Tom Selleck would have been Indiana Jones. Somehow, it would be a very different franchise if that bit of casting had held up. Ford brings a bit of swagger that Indy needs that I don’t know if Selleck possesses. Karen Allen is also a great choice for Marion. She is just the right mix of cute and tomboy for the role.

The writing is somewhat suspect. There are too many loopholes for me. Why don’t the Nazis see Indy’s crew digging? Where are the police in Cairo? How did Indy set up that garage and bazaar after stealing back the Ark? Why doesn’t the sub submerge? That’s a sign that things happen in the script because they need to happen in the script in order for the story to be told. Scripts should work within the world it sets up not manipulate it for the sake of the story. But this is not a story you’re supposed to really pay attention to. As the audience, you’re supposed to concentrate on the battle of good v. evil and be mesmerized by the action on the screen. Don’t look too closely or think too hard.

John Williams’ music is somewhat reminiscent of other John Williams scores. While the Indy theme is memorable, listening to just the music, as I had to do before the movie started, and you could imagine some of the music could fit easily into say The Empire Strikes Back. But he is part of the successful combination that Spielberg feels comfortable with, so the man is assured a job for life.

The real question of a review is would I recommend it. If you have never seen the movie before, the answer would be yes. It is a fun romp as long as you don’t think about it too much. If you have seen the movie before and loved it, then you should definitely see it again. This is one case that the movie has been remastered and has not been altered. Would I say buy it, and in some cases, again? That would depend on how much of a diehard fan you are. For me there are other films I’d rather spend my money on, since I already have the first three Indy films on disc.