REVIEW: Looper (2012)

Described as this year's ‘The Matrix’, Looper is a sci-fi epic about time-travel, gangsters and some awfully messy paradoxes. A monologue from Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) opens the film explaining how time-travel has yet to be invented, but thirty years from now, it exists. However, time-travel is illegal and is used by gangsters who wish to have their ‘hits’ disposed off.

So enters Joe, a hitman who leads a fairly simple life: wait for the hit to appear, take care of the hit, receive payment for the hit and so forth. Life is easy. That is, until his future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back to “close the loop”. And so the films events are set into motion.

Looper has an all-star cast which fit the bill brilliantly. JGL delivers on his leading role particularly as a younger version of Willis, although he is criminally underused in the second half of the picture. Willis is as good as ever, and he makes it easy to sympathise with his the older Joe. Emily Blunt plays a major role in the title and while she doesn’t stand out amongst her male counterparts, her performance is strong and believable as a desperate mother who unconditionally loves her troubled son.

Although sparse, the action scenes are extremely tense and will keep you on the edge of your seat. One particular scene at a diner sees the predictable young Joe up against the more experienced old Joe. Some might say that a few of the scenes are a little too cold-blooded (an escapee hit whose limbs disappear right before his eyes is quite disturbing) but due to the low frequency of such scenes, it never feels like it’s overdone.

There are, however, some major concerns with the plot. Time-travel is a subject that has to be handled carefully, otherwise it’ll leave itself right open to many plot-holes and paradoxes. Looper doesn’t handle it as well as it should do, and unless you’re willing to look past these issues then you shouldn’t have a problem with this.

However if you’re like me, then it could be an issue. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but it left me scratching my head. I understood the plot, but I was left wondering about the ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ that should have happened. The plot is pushed along at a nice enough pace that you may forget the inconsistencies, but once the picture has finished, your thoughts will end up coming back to them.

Verdict: overall, a well-acted and thought-provoking film. Some major inconsistencies that will leave you questioning the film long after the credits roll.

Score: 8.0/10

A return to blogging. 'Welcome Home' - a C&C review round-up.

Hello there folks, I'm finally bringing this blog back out of the dark. I failed on my notion to bring a bunch of new content and I do feel terribly guilty about it all. But I don't want to bring down this post with any further pessimism so let me get ahead with some of the changes I'll be bringing and some of the new promises I'll be trying to keep.

First and foremost, I'll be aiming to reduce the broad area of media that I tried to cover before and specify the topics that I find most interesting. As a result, gone with the random reviews (though they'll feature from time to time as specials - largely videogame reviews [Assassins Creed 3 will be getting the treatment as soon as I finish it]) and instead I'll focus on updating my blog on a more regular and scheduled basis.

Continuing from this, I'll focus the majority of my attention to music and film. I'll be putting together batches of content based on these two forms (if I have the content to do so) and try to keep to a theme with each post (limited as I am in regards to accessibility, I can't keep a promise on these exact terms). I'm excited to get to work on this and I'll try to update at the end of the week (so if you're interested, there will hopefully be a new post either on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday of each week).

'Welcome Home' - Coheed & Cambria review round-up

Back in October, prog rock enthusiasts C&C released their sixth record, 'The Afterman: Ascension', the first of a two part album ('Descension' is due to be released in February 2013) exploring the namesake of the series their previous records take place in, Sirius Amory. To get into the story of 'The Amory Wars' and explain to you the concept behind each one of the albums would take me an extremely long time and I have little motivation or desire to do so.

So here is a couple of links that may help you:

• The Amory Wars wiki
• Cobalt & Calcium - A C&C fan site

To celebrate the release of 'Ascension' and to look forwards to 'Descension', I'll be looking at their released records, offering a slight insight and reviewing them all. So let's get to it.

The Second Stage Turbine Blade

Released back in 2005, TSSTB took the music world by surprise, offering a highly conceptualised prog rock album in the form of the second (yes, second. I'll get to this later) part of a five part story. TSSTB tells the story of Coheed and Cambria, the genetically engineered heroes of the story as they fight to oppose the villainous Ryan Wilhelm, the Tri- Mage who dictates over Heavens Fence (the universe the story is set in) as he seeks to topple the Keyframe (a chain of deceased souls which keeps the universe stable and connects the various planets within the system).

Combining exciting riffs and solos with window-shattering vocals, front man and guitarist Claudio Sanchez manages to bring forwards a unique approach to the performances and song writing (he's the creator of The Amory Wars, after all) in his vision. 'Time Consumer', the first song after the title track opener is the first case of this, as the song shifts from propelling verses into a chorus that feels as if it has been written for live performances. 'Everything Evil' continues this, combining the previous qualities and ending with a chant that raises hairs and will leave you wanting more after it's quite abrupt ending. There is a slight issue here though, as there doesn't seem to be a great deal of stand-out singles. 'Hearshot Kid Disaster' and 'God Send Conspirator' provide some of the more invigorating moments but due to their length and nature don't offer themselves as single-material. However, TSST seems to benefit from this, particularly as it allows the album to fit together perfectly, offering a comfortable balance amongst the tracks, rather than becoming a collection of 'killer' and 'filler'.

Verdict: a fitting debut, full of potential and great riffage. 8.0/10

Give a listen: Time Consumer, Everything Evil, Hearshot Kid Disaster

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

Following the death of Coheed & Cambria Kilgannon (the characters, not the band), Claudio Kilgannon (again, the character, not the bands vocalist) must continue the battle against his parents enemies in hope of saving Heavens Fence.

After TSSTB, KSSE is somewhat of a disappointment. The album lacks the strength of their debut as a whole and the majority of the tracks are overshadowed by some of the stronger titles. But whilst this album isn't as strong overall, tracks such as 'A Favor House Atlantic' and 'The Light and the Glass' keep this album afloat with the bands back catalogue. Starting strong with the album’s title track, an eight minute epic detailing the battle between Claudio's uncle, Jesse and the enemy forces, C&C showcases one their finest moments, not just on the album, but in their collection as an whole and to this day it keeps up as a live track. After this though, the albums starts to lack any real strength for the most part up until the halfway point with single 'Blood Red Summer'. Despite being a potential re-boot for the album to follow, KSSE continues onwards onwards with The Camper Velourium series: three songs which start off the bands fascination with collective tracks. Whilst not the worst tracks on the album they do little to keep the record afloat. Followed by this is the albums strongest track, 'A Favor House Atlantic' which features Claudio's vocals at their finest. The album then plays out with 'The Light and the Glass' and '2113', each a nine minute stint which in themselves alone starts to make up for the first half of the album.

Verdict: Certainly the weakest C&C effort, KSSE isn't without faults but is saved by several tracks which portray what the band has to offer in the future. 6.0/10

Give a listen: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth, Blood Red Summer, A Favor House Atlantic

Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness

The first volume of the finale, FFTEM picks up from the strengths of KSSE and delivers them in a way which has seen C&C become better and better with each record. The album comes from the perspective of The Writing Writer ('Apollo I:The Writing Writer') whom alongside his talking bicycle ('Ten Speed: Of God's Blood and Burial') tells the story of how they are writing out Claudio's destiny. Intro 'Keeping the Blade' is an instrumental featuring the bands signature melody - a track which features throughout the bands tracks and continues here. Acoustic number 'Always & Never' is followed by one of the bands biggest hits - 'Welcome Home'. The six minute epic features a solo battle between Claudio and fellow guitarist Travis Stever and an epic, hair-raising finisher. 'Welcome Home' serves as one of the bands finest tracks to date. Single, 'The Suffering' offers the strongest moment of the record, adding piano chords to the sing-a-long chorus and ecstatic guitars. The final four tracks, 'The Willing Well' series do little except to weaken the overall approach and while it does serve to benefit the story, the tracks fail to live up to the standard that has been produced before it.

Verdict: a much stronger approach than its predecessor, FFTEM offers an exciting first half to the anticipated finale. 7.0/10

Give a listen: Welcome Home, Wake Up, The Suffering

Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume II: No World for Tomorrow

Continuing the flow of the story, NWfT is the bands best attempt since their debut. The first half of the record shows the band at their finest: ‘Feathers’ and ‘The Running Free’ are fierce tracks, offering a mixture of tight, upbeat guitars and massive sing-a-long moments while acoustic hit ‘Mother Superior’ helps to cement the band, particularly Claudio as a master of their craft. After ‘Gravemakers & Gunslingers’ the record seems to drop off slightly (there’s been a massive trend of this so far...) but never falters. Radio Bye Bye reigns the album back up to the brilliance of ‘Feathers’ and the eight minute opus that is‘The End Complete’ stands above the rest of the following tracks.

Verdict: the best record since TSSTB, C&C have finally started to reach the dizzying heights their earlier effort had promised. 7.5

Give a listen: Feathers, The Running Free, Radio Bye Bye

Year of the Black Rainbow

‘Year of the Black Rainbow’ is the long awaited prequel (or part one of five) to the story so far. Certainly a different beast to their previous efforts, gone with the epic guitar solos and in with a higher production value, YBR does not come across as a typical C&C album, but you shouldn’t let this put you off.  By changing their sound, C&C have come up with their biggest record yet. Single ‘The Broken’ pulls you in from the start and never lets you go. The technicality of ‘Guns of Summer’ drums offers the most distinct sound from the band to date. Album highlight ‘Here We are Juggernaut’ is the most intense moment, with its early chorus that continues the ferocity up until following track ‘Far’. Slowing things down, ‘Far’ continues the technicality of YBR but opts for a slow burner rather than the intensity stirred ups so far and gives itself to a solo. ‘This Shattered Symphony’ and ‘World of Lines’ re-build the pace but then the album launches into acoustic track ‘Pearl of the Stars’ which might possibly be the most defining acoustic track from the band, in ever. The final quarter doesn’t quite match the efforts of the rest of the album but it still proves itself to potentially be the best C&C record to date.

Verdict: despite its differences, C&C have proven that they can make a brilliant record even after making changes to their sound. Come into this one open minded and you’ll not be disappointed. 8.5/10

Give a listen: Here We are Juggernaut, World of Lines, Pearl of the Stars

The Afterman: Ascension

The most recent release, ‘Ascension’ is a fitting culmination of everything C&C from their debut release ten years ago. Although the shortest album, it is a brilliant mixture of the of their earlier sound (‘Mothers of Men’ and ‘Goodnight, Fair Lady’) and the more technical and somewhat industrial sound of ‘No World for Tomorrow’ and ‘Year of the Black Rainbow’ (‘The Afterman’ and ‘KEE II: Holly Wood the Cracked’). TA:A tells the story of the series namesake, Sirius Amory as he explores the Keywork and so forth.

Following subtle intro ‘The Hollow’, lead single ‘KEE I: Domino the Destitute’ shows just how far the band have come in the past ten years, combining nerve-shredding guitars with vocals that fit the live performance perfectly. Highlight ‘The Afterman’ and album finisher ‘Subtraction’ provide the less intense moments on the record and serve to benefit the collection of tracks brilliant due to their differing styles (‘Subtraction’ is acoustic, ‘The Afterman’ is not) and space in between one another. ‘KEE III: Vic the Butcher’ proves itself to be the records highlight, providing the most perfect combination of the various styles C&C have proved to be masters of that leads out with the potential of being a great live performance.

                                        

Verdict: the best C&C to date, ‘Ascension’ sets itself up perfectly for next Februarys release in the form of Descension. The next few months cannot go by quick enough. 9.0/10

Give a listen: The Afterman, KeyEntity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked, Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher

So that’s it. Well at least for a while. Until I put up the ‘Looper’ review. This will be as soon as I’ve published this post. So yeah... until then, adios!