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The funny thing about Resident Evil 4 is that it reminded me of all the other survival horror video games I’ve played (Silent Hill in particular) except the Resident Evil series. I suppose it’s because the setting of the game is in rural Europe instead of an urban area, and your character does not fight zombies per se but zombie-like villagers infected with a certain virus. In Resident Evil 4, you play Leon Kennedy on a mission to rescue the US President’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by a religious cult. The story of the game basically revolves around that: rescue the girl and get the hell out of that country together in one piece.

I found Resident Evil 4 one of the most challenging video games I’ve ever played. If you’re expecting a lot of mindless, zombie shooty action, go find another game because RE4 doesn’t have any of that. You actually have to take the effort to aim at the targets with a laser if you want to kill them, which I personally found annoying because I end up wasting crucial seconds from trying to aim properly. There’s also a lot of dodging action, which took me a while to get used to because they just come out of nowhere and I have really slow reaction time. As for the weapons, you no longer find them lying around in various areas. In Resident Evil 4 there is a merchant who sells you everything from weapons to first aid sprays–everything, that is, except for bullets.

As I played the game, I couldn’t decide if I loved or hated Resident Evil 4. Every time I entered a new area, I felt my heart sink because that meant there would be a crowd of villagers, zealots, and soldiers waiting to overwhelm and kill me. Yet at the same time, I couldn’t tear myself away from the game. I finished Resident Evil 4 just a few hours ago and I must say that the difficulty I had getting past some areas and killing off some bosses made defeating the game all the more worthwhile. But wait–it doesn’t end there. The best part about Resident Evil 4 is that defeating the game doesn’t mean that the fun is over; after fighting the final boss, a bunch of other extra games appear, whose plots add to the main story. 4/5

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Sorry for the lack of updates, folks. Two days ago, I ended the most hellish semester of my entire schoalstic life. Let’s put it this way: everyday for two weeks, I had to down at least two cups of black coffee to keep me up and working on my papers or studying for oral exams. I have never been so relieved to see the beginning of sem break. A whole month of nothing to do! I’m still not used to the idea.

I’ve spent the last two days alternately feeding my soul to Diablo II and Kingdom of Loathing, going back to the gym (which I haven’t done in three weeks), and watching movies with Pat. It’s been a while since we went out (no thanks to school), so we decided to catch up on the latest in the American movie industry by seeing two movies yesterday.

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

There are two things about the story of Corpse Bride that made me love the movie. The first is its message about marriage; the second, the way the characters of Emily (the corpse bride) and Victoria (the living bride) were portrayed.

I feel really dirty for saying this, but I was actually able to apply something I learned from last semester’s Theology class (Marriage and Human Sexuality from a Catholic POV *shudder*): people place too much attention to the form of the marriage rather than on the meaning. The reason why Victor ended up marrying Emily was because technically, he said the wedding vows to her. But it takes more than a verbally-expressed vow to make a marriage work; you can’t make a commitment of this magnitude to someone you don’t love. Also, in the beginning of the movie when Victor and Victoria’s parents’ were making a fuss about how their wedding should be perfect–this shows how much people place a lot of emphasis on the ceremony. True, there is a point in making a wedding look beautiful because it is the celebration of the start of a couple’s life together. But then again, for whom is the ceremony really beautiful for? Is it for the bride and the groom, or are these preparations made for the sake of impressing the guests?

I was half expecting Emily upon finding out that Victor was already married, or start begging Victor to marry her and not Emily. But I like how she tried to find a way to help him instead of begging him to go leave Emily. Emily’s reaction was also impressive in that she didn’t really force Victor to stay when she learned that he didn’t really mean to marry her. It’s very refreshing to see this kind of maturity in an American movie; they’re usually filled with a lot of stupid.

Aside from the story, I think Corpse Bride (the movie itself) was amazing; very well-planned and creatively done. I particularly love the soundtrack–both the lovely instrumental piano music and the songs. It’s surprising because I always cringe or yawn every time characters in a children’s movie break into song and dance. However, the songs in Corpse Bride had amusing lyrics and upbeat melodies; I found myself bopping my head along with the music.

It was an excellent movie overall. Tomorrow, Pat and I shall be on the lookout for the (original) soundtrack. 5/5

Deuce Bigalow: The European Giggalo

*getting progressively lazier about writing a decent review*

TV shows or movies with offensive humor never fail to crack me up, and that’s why I had a great time watching Deuce Bigalow. I mean, come on. Why is it so wrong for us to poke fun at the handicapped or the obssessive-compulsive? It’s not our fault they’re born that way. Deuce Bigalow fearlessly made fun of everything society is so uptight about and this is why people should watch it. 4/5

Now if you’ll excuse me, Diablo II calls.

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This week marked the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in Japan. Thanks to the Internet, my friend Pam, and English subtitles, my friends and I were able to watch it at school yesterday - way before anyone else we knew saw it. It meant that everyone at the Table (those who were able to catch it, anyway) missed their noontime classes, but I think it was worth the cut. We all needed a break from schoolwork, anyhow.

Well. What can I say? I have mixed feelings about the movie. On the one hand, the FF7 fangirl in me is still jumping around like a giddy child and screaming that Advent Children was SO FUCKING AWESOME. The first ten minutes of the movie was spent alternately shrieking and trying to pick my jaw off the floor. To describe the animation as wonderful, impressive, detailed, and beautiful would just not be enough to let someone else know how fantastic it was–it is something that has to be experienced. From the wonderful animation, everything else I loved about the movie follows. The fight scenes - and there were a lot of them, much to the delight of the Igorot headhunter in me - were fast-paced, breathtaking, and literally left me hanging off the edge of my seat. So much explodey action! Although I must admit that some of the events were a tad unrealistic (Cloud gets shot point blank but he only gets a scratch - what the fuck was that?), those still have to be the best fight scenes I have ever seen.

(begin fangirl moment here)

Oh, and can I just say that everyone in the movie was SO FUCKING HOT!?!??!! All your favorite characters from the Final Fantasy 7 game are computer-generated into these gorgeous, almost-subhuman creatures. It made me want to weep, and potentially become a lesbian if I were single and girls in real life were as hot as Tifa and Aeris (and not at all bitchy and backstabbing). I mean, look.

Are they not the hottest girls you have ever laid your eyes on? Oh, and if you thought Vincent Valentine in the game was cool, check this out.

Even my male friends found him rapeable. (Okay fine, male friend who happens to be bisexual.)

(end fangirl moment here)

But delicious eye candy and explodey action aside, I got around to thinking about Advent Children and I realized that without the hot people and the fight scenes, I wouldn’t have liked it at all. I think that Advent Children was made to please the fans of FF7 who couldn’t get enough of the game; if you have not at least played the game, you won’t be able to appreciate the movie (unless you’re just watching it for the girls). The plot takes off two years after the game ends and really, the main point is that Cloud is still feeling a lot of wangst over Aeris’ death and the whole story is geared towards him trying to get over it. But while watching Advent Children, whatever plot goes flying out the window because you’re too busy drooling over the women and the cinematics to care. I mean, I didn’t even notice until way after the movie that story-wise, Advent Children is very lacking.

But because I had such a great time watching it, I will give the movie a rating of 4/5. I think that the animation more than makes up for the lack of any real plot. But this is coming from a fan who loves seeing things explode and was utterly delighted at seeing the game’s characters in perfect, computer-generated human form.

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