Reviews!

YAY ya'll and welcome to *MisterIngo's Review page! Here I will post my views on any good books, films, DVD-collections and so on and so forth.

With regards to the scoring, I'll grade the books and films on a score from zero stars to six stars. Zero being the worst grade possible, which you should try to avoid. Six being the best. Six stars doesn't mean that the book or film is perfect, but it's the overall experience, life-enhancement, or -endangering that the book or film has caused.

All entries will either have a hyperlink to either Wikipedia.org should you like to find out more about the book, author or film.





:.:.Games.:.:

.:The Legend of Zelda:.Twilight Princess:.
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy/RPG
[TP @ Wikipedia.org]<<<:!:SPOILERS:!:

There are several widely accepted Truths out in the world: What goes up must come down, E = MC² and Zelda never disappoints. I'm happy to say that the latest installment of Zelda strengthens this Truth, and ever more than any of the games before it.

As I'm sure most of you have an inkling regarding the story, and I don't want to spoil anything, I hope you don't mind me neglecting telling you about it. Suffice to say, the plot is thick and lives up to expectations.

Others have critisized the game regarding the "poor texture" and it not being as "beautiful" as any Xbox360 game... I can honestly say that this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Sure, you can't count the sweatbeads on Link's forehead as you can in Sam Fisher's latest. I shrug my shoulders and say proudly: So? It's a GameCube port for the Wii, and for being a GameCube-game this is very impressive!

With this game Nintendo have perfected the Zelda-universe. It's seldom to see such artistic brilliance, and so much of it. You hardly ever see such artistic beauty in games these days, if ever. If you ask me, this is the true Hyrule - a perfect blend of the artistic visions behind Ocarina, Majora and Wind Waker

The most important aspect of a game, however, is the way it plays, and Twilight Princess doesn't disappoint. The gameplay is superb. It's a perfect mix! And the controls? They work! One will have a hard time going back to the likes of Wind Waker after savouring the glory which is the Wiimote.

My only critique is... believe it or not: the fact that there is no voiceacting!

Being somewhat of a Zelda veteran myself I mocked the reviewers for critisizing the game for this aspect: It's Zelda! They've never had voiceacting, text only! Voice-actors would ruin it! The thing is this: This game is so epic and the cutscenes so grandly cinematic (they're actually called "Cinema Scenes" in the credits!), the characters so strongly felt for that not hearing them is like Mona Lisa without the smile, the Rabbids without their scream, the Eiffel... well, you catch my drift.

In short, you should pick up this game. Mine gaves me a good 45 hours of entertainment, and that's without doing most of the miniadventures! Want a fresh experience like playing Ocarina for the first time? Then you know what to do...

6/6


:.:.Books.:.:




.:Howl's Moving Castle:.
by Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Fantasy
[HMC @ Wikipedia.org]

Nota bene! This is a review of the book, not the motion picture!

Witches, Wizards with a hearty appetite, Fire-Demons and a scarecrow with a special personality are only a few things that 90 year old Sophie Hatter (18 a few days earlier!) encounter as she sets out to break the curse that lies upon her.

To give it to you straight and in all honesty, this book isn't great.

If you have, as I have, seen the film you might want to stay away from the book unless it takes a special interest. The film is actually better than the book, a phenonomen that we seldomly encounter today.

While the storyline isn't too bad, it is somewhat confusing, the characters, whilst a lot more complex than their movie-counterparts, are hurriedly introduced. The magic, especially the curse, is almost not described at all. One does get the feeling that the authoress is making up the story as she goes along, which in my opinion isn't good.

All being said, it is a charming book, and if you can comes to terms with that it's not as brilliant and very different from the film, you'll actually enjoy it quite a bit. The chapters have some very charming subtitles like: "Chapter 1: In which there is a lot of magic". If you've seen the movie and want the original story, go ahead. It does acutally give you a better idea of what is only hinted in the movie.

3/6


.:Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell:.
by Susanna Clarke
Genre: Fantasy/Historical novel
[JSaMrN @ Wikipedia.org]

It's the early 1800s. Napoleon is at war with the rest of the world and English magic (or magic as we know it) is non-existent. But won't be for long.

Two Magicians will arise. They will revive English magic and the world will never be the same...

"Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" is a brilliant novel, and you should most definately pick up a copy if you like magic, magicians, english history or just a well written book. It's a book filled with the sarcastic remarks one has learnt to expect from any selfrespecting son or daughter of Britain, great characters and character development, and it offers a pleasingly different view upon magic and all related subjects.

This, I think, it the books strongest selling point: It's refreshingly different! It's not like any Pratchett-, Rowling-, Tolkien-, Lewis-, or Gaiman-book you've ever read before!

However, despite a great story, the book is a little bit slow at start, and feels a little bit sort of "grey" in the first five to eight chapters or so (I sense colours from what I read... Weird, huh?), but this resolves itself, as the plot thickens and more characters are introduced. The only thing that I really would critique is the books ending.

It's too abrupt. After building up the story throughout 700 pages only to conclude it in a matter of 50, is somewhat disappointing for me as a reader.

All in all, a good read, and well worth spending a few dollars or pounds on. You'll never regret it. Neil Gaiman has stated: 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years.

^{Then again, he's a friend of the authoress, so he might be a little bit biased...}

5/6


.:Mort:.
by Terry Pratchett'
Genre: Fantasy/Fiction
[Mort @ Wikipedia]

Death comes to us all... When he came to Mort he offered him a job. How's that for an interesting plot?

Mort, simply put, is one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Plotwise, it's vert simple... well at first glance. I won't reveal much; if you're very interested you can click on of the links above (though it might spoil the fun!). But the plot is brilliant. Suffice to saythe plot thickens, as plots do, as Mort gradually becomes more endorsed in the world of DEATH. There are a few unexpected turns and twist and of course there are also the few twist that one expects, but hope the characters don't succumb to. It's not less than stunningly pulled of.

It's a well written, easy-to-read book which will give you quite a different view on life and DEATH as you know it. Thinking of taking on Pratchett? Then this is a brilliant one to start with!

6/6


.:The Princess Bride:.
by William Goldman
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy/"Historical"
[TPB @ Wikipedia.org]

A beautiful girl, a farmboy, a fencer, a giant, a genius, a Count, a Countess, a Prince, a King, a Queen... Thow in some poison, swordfighting, honour, pirates, death, true love and you've got "The Princess Bride"!

Plainly put, whether or not you've seen the film and loved it, "The Princess Bride" you should not be without for long. This book is brilliant. With it's down-to-earth narrative, involving and charming characters, great semi-"historical" / fairytale-like story, unexpected twists, the book is very pleasent to read.

In all honesty though, it's not completely without it's faults. The book's ending is sudden and not very rewarding. The 25th anniversary edition that I read covers the begining of the sequal that gives a more fitting "end" to the story that just ended. If you're patient and/or don't develop mental issues over being without the book for too long you should pick up the 30th anniversary edition that will be out in 2008. It's been strongly hinted that this edition will cover the entire sequal as well.

Interestingly enough, the narrative is a little bit similar to that of Terry Pratchett. It's simple, not confusing, humourous, and generally has a "light tone" to it. So, if you like a good adventure, fairy-tale like stories, great characters, great humour... If you like any of these you'll like this!

5/6


:.Films.:

.:Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children:.
Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
[FFVII:AC @ Wikipedia.org]


I have a confession to make... I've never played Final Fantasy VII. But that still didn't stop me from enjoying this film.

Two years after the incidents concerning Sephiroth, three grey-haired young men, with evil intentions appear. Will Cloud be able to stop them?

Plotwise, this film is brilliant. It simply has it all. Twists, turns, mindchurning conspiracies, tons of geeky-information... It's brilliant, so I won't say anything more than that you should really see this movie.

My only recommendation is that you either read a summary of the game, or watch the film with someone who's played the game. You'll understand a whole lot more if you do. But you'll enjoy it even if you don't...

If you don't like anything about Final Fantasy, I still think you should see the movie. The animation alone, betters the one one finds by American contemporaries like Pixar. The fightscenes are fast, furious, confusing and spinechillingly awesome. The characters, for all being CGI are strangely humane and a lot more believable than, say, the characters of the lates Appleseed.

In short, you MUST see this film...

6/6

*MisterIngo



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