Search

Search only in certain items:

    The Courier-Mail Edition

    The Courier-Mail Edition

    News and Magazines & Newspapers

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Experience today's Edition of The Courier-Mail, including The Sunday Mail, like never before, with...

    FRAMED

    FRAMED

    Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    FRAMED is a multi-award winning noir-puzzle game where you re-arrange panels of an animated comic...

Uncharted (2022)
Uncharted (2022)
2022 | Action, Adventure
After numerous attempts which saw talent attached only to depart before filming began, “Uncharted” has finally arrived on the big screen.

The movie is based on the hit Playstation series of games by Naughty Dog and stars Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, a young man who is as adept at history as he is with pickpocketing which he uses to offset his income from Bartending.

Nathan’s brother fled the law years earlier and aside from Postcards has had no contact with him over the years. Things change when Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) arrives and recruits Nathan by showing him that he used to work with his brother. Despite misgivings and unresolved feelings; Nathan joins with Victor and finds himself in a daring caper to steal a valuable object that could unlock the key to a gold supply that has been lost for over five hundred years.

Naturally, there are others who want the money, and Nathan, Victory, and their dubious partner Chloe (Sophia Ali); as they rush around the world in one adventure after another to solve the ancient puzzles and stay one step ahead of some very deadly individuals.

The movie has elements of “National Treasure” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in terms of the quests to find ancient treasures mixed with action but keeps things in a simpler context. The focus is not on plot development, character development, or plausibility but considering the film is based on a video game, it does a good job with the source material.

There has been some controversy about the casting of Holland as Nathan is older in the game series, but he goes all-in with his performance even when the acrobatic action sequences does offer many reminders of his Spider-man role.

The action in the game is fun and over-the-top and more than once I thought I should be pushing my X and Square button to help him make the moves necessary to complete the task and survive.

The post-credit scenes offer some great possibilities for future adventures and those would be more than welcome for those looking for some no-brainer escapist entertainment.

3.5 stars out of 5.
  
The Calling (Endgame #1)
The Calling (Endgame #1)
James Frey | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
4
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

The result of collaboration between James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton is this first book in a dystopian series, <i>Endgame: The Calling</i>. Twelve teenage descendants of ancient cultures from across the world have been trained to represent humanity in a game that will determine the future of the world. The only way to win is to discover three keys and be the last player left alive. These young people are not just playing for their own lives for if they die their entire family line will be wiped out.

<i>Endgame: The Calling</i> focuses on discovering the first key, Earth Key. After meeting each other in China, each of the twelve is given a clue to solve that will help lead them in the right direction. Although there can only be one winner, a couple of the player decide to help each other out, but is there really anyone who can be trusted?

<i>Endgame</i> reminds me of <i>The Hunger Games</i> by Suzanne Collins but on a much larger scale, and also a more adult version. The entire planet is the games’ arena, which does not bode well for a lot of the world’s inhabitants. That is one of the things I disliked about this book, the unnecessary deaths of innocents. There was a lot of gruesome murder, which admittedly is the point of <i>Endgame</i>, but some of it was uncalled-for.

I did not particularly care for the writing style and formatting of the text. It was often confusing to work out who was saying or doing what. Another thing I did not like was that there was not an obvious protagonist. It is hard to know whether there is a particular character we should be rooting for or whether they should all be regarded as equal.

For a science fiction, dystopian novel <i>Endgame</i> is an interesting idea, fast paced and full of action. Unfortunately the events, names and puzzles leave the reader feeling bewildered, and the gruesome scenes rather disgusted.

Overall I think this book would appeal to an audience who loves a lot of brutal action and solving things. It requires the reader to be able to think rather than sit back and enjoy. Personally, I am not bothered about reading the next in the series.