8A - Monday, December 6, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com "I 1 'Jam' getting stale "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya, You killed my father. Prepare to die!" 'Warrior' loses Ninjas descend upon Old West town, but it's not as exciting as you think By PHILIP CONKLIN Daily Arts Writer The first scene of "The Warrior's Way," from first-time writer and direc- tor Sngmoo Lee, sets up an action-packed modern martial-arts film. The dark cinema- tography and stylized, comic book-like ani- The mation create a capti- Wanior's vating atmosphere as black-robed swordsmen Way explode out of the mist At Quality16 to attack the hero, Yang (Jang Dong Gun, "The a Promise"), who coolly Rogue cuts them down with the deft precision of a practiced warrior. It's exciting, original and sets a high stan- dard. But as the film progresses, it feels like this opening belongs to another film. After his anonymous foes have been felled, Yang, who the audience learns is the best swordsman in the world, is con- fronted with a decision: Should he follow through with his orders and kill the last surviving member of a rival clan, who happens tobe a baby? Of course, our merciful hero refuses to commit such a base act, even after hav- ing murdered the baby's entire family. Instead, he absconds with the infant to a small town in the American West, his own clan in hot, vengeful pursuit. Unfor- tunately, it takes them almost the entire movie to find him, leaving the film's mid- dle third nearly devoid of action. The premise of the movie is thin and the plot even thinner, supported by life- less, cliched writing and caricatured roles. Kate Bosworth ("21") plays Lynne, the local circus's knife thrower with a troubled, bloody past - an outlaw named "The Colonel" (Danny Huston, "Robin Hood"), whose appearance provides the only action in the movie's middle third, killed her family when she was a girl. The relationship between Lynne and Yang is formulaic and entirely unconvincing, and their love story, which dominates half of the movie, lacks vitality. "The Warrior's Way" shines in the fight sequences. They are beautifully shot and intricately choreographed, often with ballet-like grace. These scenes move at a quick and energetic pace, and have a highly nuanced visual style, includ- ing tasteful use of slow motion and cre- ative effects, like an extreme close-up of a sword slicing through rain drops and strobe light-like stop motion. It's clear Lee is a talented director with a specific vision and an eye for action. Unfortunately, the movie fails on almost every other level. The acting, despite an impressive performance by what has to be the best baby actor in the world, is gener- ally laughable, with Bosworth's perfor- mance being particularly lackluster. Dong its way Gun's performance also lacks vigor, which is partly due to his character's stoicism; he rarely speaks, even during the emotional love scenes. Geoffrey Rush (the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series), who plays the town drunk, gives the movie's best perfor- mance, but his character is such a cliche that no level of acting can save it. "Warrior's Way" also ostensibly explores the similarities between Eastern samurai beliefs and the values of the old American West. However, the filmmaker handles these themes clumsily, just add- ing clutter to an already unfocused movie. The references to the two philosophies are too overt to be effective and don't fit with the movie's tone. The movie, like many fantasy films, takes place in a sort of alternate universe, where hordes of flying ninjas descend upon Old West towns and cowboys wield automatic machine guns. However absurd this seems at first blush, it works when the movie gives itself over entirely to its own absurdity. Even the non-fight scenes that are shot in this style are entrancing and fun to watch. But when- ever the film moves away from its fantasy sensibility, either to comedy or romance, it loses energy. The final battle scene is epic and intense, but not worth the hour-long build up. Watching Yang annihilate the droves of faceless warriors, one can't help but feel disappointed knowing that the whole movie could have been like this, rather than another tired entry in the annals of Hollywood action-romances. By TEDDY PAPES Daily Arts Writer "NBA Jam" brings back so many mem- ories. In 1993, when video gaming was much more casual and console hardware was more limiting, "NBA Jam" fit right in. Fast- forward 17 years and EA Canada is picking NBA Jam up where Midway went bankrupt in 2009 and PS3,Wii and attemptingto extend the Xbox 360 franchise - a similar EA Sports but not especially suc- cessful attempt was also made in 2003. It seems, though, that EA missed the ferry to contemporary gaming and produced this new "Jam" title from Midway's island in the past. The main selling point of the game is the retention of its roots. And while this evokes nostalgia, how much can a game be true to its originsbefore it becomes redun- dant? All the humorous announcements from the original are included ("Boom- shakalaka," etc.), but is this really what EA should focus on? This commentary is sure to inspire a good laugh for the first few games, but after a while it seems like the staff at EA was just too lazy to find new ideas. Humor, especially meta-humor, can be a great attribute of video games, but the jokes in "Jam" quickly dissolve into self- parody. Nostalgia will only get you so far. The graphics are also very unimpres- sive, furthering the self-deprecation of this title. Each basketball player has a digitally rendered 2-D cutout of the real' player's face, making each of them look like celebrities in "South Park," and yes, it gets old really fast. EA may again squeeze a few laughs out of gamers, but soon the realization that you have to look at these stupid faces every single game takes over and players feel duped. The more you have to look at these faces, the more they begin to resemble the programmers at EA who forced foolish gamers into staring at them. Big-head mode compounds those prob- lems, and the other extra additions to "Jam" don't do much to help the matter. "Break the backboard" mode is basically a normal game, except it requires a dunk to win, and the others are equally insignifi- cant. Thank goodness for the inclusion of online play, though, which is a necessity for the lonely gamers out there. The controls are easy to learn, and they only take a little while to master. Flick up on the control stick, and at the peak of the jump, flick down on the control stick. If it's timed right, it will swish. "Steal" is a flick to either the left or the right of the control stick, and a shove is performed with the same controls as a steal, but with turbo selected. The simplicity is nice, but after about an hour, the controls are mastered and there isn't much room for improve- ment. The throwback to simplicity isn't a problem in itself, but that doesn't mean EA should remake a Genesis game on the PS3 without opening it up a little bit. Resort- ing to some new controls and a couple new features does not meet the standards of a next-generation release. "NBA Jam" hardly brings anything new to the table and, though there are a few tasty morsels, the meat EA invites you to dine on is just 17-year-old gristle. This isn't "FIFA" and it does notdeserve the status of a fleshed-out sports game. "Sonic" and "Street Fighter" revamps have been released on the Playstation Network at affordable prices, but EA goes and puts its "Jam" remake on Blu-ray at full price. This could have been a good download- able title; a casual game here and there is a lot of fun, especially with a partner. But if you have a Genesis or a Nintendo 64, the old "Jams" will satisfy the desire for a little casual competition. And if you decide to buy this game, make sure you look up the codes to unlock the Democrats and Repub- licans. It'll make the experience that much more enjoyable. uss - Open 7 Days " Extended banking hours - FREE Online Banking ® FREE Bill Payment " FREE and Secure Online Statements " FREE TCF Check Card . FREE Direct Deposit and Automatic Payment services - FREE Coin Counting BANK se Since 1923 The Official Bank ( 2010 TCF National Bank. Member FDIC. 'Excludes campus branches. www.tfbank.comm 0 0 0 0