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David McK (3557 KP) rated Batman: Arkham Origins in Books

Jan 30, 2019  
BA
Batman: Arkham Origins
Adam Beechen | 2014
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hmmm … what to make of this?

I picked this up on a whim when I spotted it on sale in a local 'Works' (basically, bargain books) shop, with fond memories of playing the game on which it is based.

I thought it would be, basically, a comic/graphic novel retelling the plot of that game.

I was wrong.

A few pages into this, I realised it's actually a 'Choose-your-own-adventure' style of story, set (as the name suggest) back at the very start of Batman's career as a vigilante crime-fighter, with little-to-no links to that console game.

It was interesting for a diversion, however it did only take a couple of attempts to reach the 'good' ending (and even that was not that great), after a few dead-ends.

An interesting experiment, maybe, but nothing to set the world alight.
  
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David McK (3557 KP) rated Dune (2021) in Movies

Nov 17, 2021 (Updated Feb 25, 2024)  
Dune (2021)
Dune (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
6
8.6 (19 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
What. On. Arrakis.?!?
Part 1 of Dennis Villeneuve's take on the famous Frank Herbert sci-fi tome of the same (brazenly even called part 1 before part 2 was confirmed - it is now), with quite a wealth of talent on screen and with some gorgeous backdrops throughout.

Indeed, if you've seen Blade Runner 2049 by the same director, you can easily spot the similarities in the compositions of several of the shots.

I must admit that, while I know of the sand worms, spice and that the novel leans heavily into the politics of the distant future, I've never actually got round to reading the novel. As such, I don't really know all that much what to expect: a bit like when I went to see the first Lord of the Rings films at the turn of the current millennium.

However, where the Fellowship of the Ring has the advantage over this is that the latter is quite self contained: even if The Two Towers (or The Return of the King) had never been made, the film would have stood on its own. This movie, by contrast, just abruptly ends: I think the last line of dialogue might even be something along the lines of 'This is just the beginning'.

It's also very dense, with a surreal dream like quality over large swathes of it: I also found that it takes it time to actually get going!

Still, I've since heard that the first part of the book on which it is based is the slower (and denser) part, so maybe the sequel will also pick up.
  
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David McK (3557 KP) rated The Last Wish in Books

Aug 4, 2019  
The Last Wish
The Last Wish
Andrzej Sapkowski | 2008 | Fiction & Poetry
7
8.5 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
Recently, I heard that Netflix were producing a series based on these novels, starring (the current) Superman himself, Henry Cavill.

I was also aware of the held-in-great-esteem computer game of the same name (or, rather, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt), even though I'd never actually played it.

When I watched the Netflix teaser trailer, I decided to give the original tales a go.

Translated from Polish into English, this is actually a collection of short stories rather than a full-blown novel in its own right, introducing - or so I've heard - some of the key players in the later full-blown saga, aside from Geralt of Rivia himself.

I think I'll be working my way through more of these!
  
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Danny Mulligan (31 KP) rated Altered Carbon in TV

Apr 12, 2020  
Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon
2018 | Sci-Fi
8
8.0 (48 Ratings)
TV Show Rating Watch
Cast and storyline (0 more)
Its different
More than 300 years in the future, society has been transformed by new technology, leading to human bodies being interchangeable and death no longer being permanent. Takeshi Kovacs is the only surviving soldier of a group of elite interstellar warriors who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. His mind was imprisoned for centuries until impossibly wealthy businessman Laurens Bancroft offers him the chance to live again. Kovacs will have to do something for Bancroft, though, if he wants to be resurrected. Bancroft's request of Kovacs is to solve a murder -- Bancroft's. "Altered Carbon" is based on Richard K. Morgan's cyberpunk noir novel of the same name.