Star Wars: Threat of Peace

            Whenever I tell someone that I’m not much of a fan of comic books they always give me a funny look; like it was the last thing they were expecting to hear from me.  And honestly, I can’t blame them because I do look and sound like someone who keeps stacks of comic books in his closet.  But in truth, I haven’t read that many in my lifetime.  I recall reading some kind of Hulk/Dr. Doom/Silver Surfer book when I was about seven, skimming through The Death of Superman while in Middle School, reading the Sin City book The Hard Goodbye in High School, and getting about of a third of the way through Watchmen later on.  That’s about it.  With that in mind it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I haven’t reviewed a single comic book throughout my time on this blog.  But I think I’ve finally found one that I want to give my thoughts on.   This is the Illusive One’s Review of the webcomic series, Star Wars: Threat of Peace.

           

            The series had three acts with each act containing nine issues and reached its conclusion on March, 2010.  It takes place before the events of the upcoming MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic and takes place about three hundred years after the events of the Knights of the Old Republic games.  The plot, more or less, revolves around various events that threaten to shatter a recent peace treaty between the Republic and the Sith Empire and a number of characters who will either preserve or shatter the peace.

            On the positive side I was pleasantly surprised by the plot.  It was a well thought out story of political intrigue and espionage and the pacing of events leading towards the climax was well done.  There were also a few twists towards the end that I really enjoyed and didn’t see coming.   It also had a really good collection of characters that ranged from Jedi Knights, to Sith Lords, to infantry soldiers, to bounty hunters and all were interesting and diverse and I honestly would like to see their stories expanded on.

            On the negative side, the written dialog was not that great.  It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t top notch either.  I also didn’t care for the drawing style used in this comic series and the action panels weren’t particularly well done.  Granted I have seen a lot worse, but from what I know, the average comic’s drawing style is a lot better than this.  Even though I loved the characters in this comic, some of the interactions between them just didn’t seem right.  If you’ve read this series you’ll know exactly what I mean by that.  The final criticism I had with these comics is that at times it seemed rushed.  Some of the events in the series, such as the battle on Coruscant or the peace negotiations between the Jedi and Sith were omitted completely, despite the fact that half of the events of the series revolve around them.  It was something I found not only disappointing, but confusing as well as half the time you weren’t sure what was going on.        

           

            All around, I would only recommend reading this web comic series if you’re going to play Star Wars: The Old Republic because all it really does is serve as a direct prequel to it.  It doesn’t explain when this Sith Empire came from, how it gained so much power, nor does it explain what became of Revan or the Jedi Exile and I found that a bit disappointing.  But still, it’s good for what it is.  If you like Star Wars then you’ll definitely like this but don’t expect anything mind blowing.  If not, then don’t bother with it.  So until next time, this is The Illusive One and don’t expect too many more comic reviews.

The Bourne Identity V.S. Casino Royal

V.S.

            James Bond or Jason Bourne?  MI6 of CIA?  S.P.E.C.T.E.R./Quantum or Treadstone?  A set of questions that has always been a matter of debate between a friend of mine and me, (although not as heated as our Star Wars/LOTR debate), so for my next edition of Franchise V.S. Franchise I decided to put The Bourne Identity against Casino Royal.  I know it wasn't on my initial list, but this one just popped into my head and I had recently re-watched both films so I decided to go with this one.  As with my previous post, I hope you don't get too pissed off at me for choosing one film over the other and I hope you enjoy it.  This is The Bourne Identity V.S. Casino Royal.

The Protagonist

V.S.

           
            James Bond or Jason Bourne?  Now if I was comparing Bourne to Bond, I'd have to go back to every actor who ever played Bond so I'll just stick to Daniel Craig's performance as Bond against Matt Damon's Bourne for these two films. So which is the superior?

            Well, I have to say, Craig’s Bond was one badass mother fucker.  He never thought twice about killing his enemies, he always had this look in his eye that told people to back off or I'll break your neck but at the same time he still had all of Bond's charms and is my personal favorite Bond.  Unfortunately, he seems to take just as much, if not more, inspiration from Jack Bauer from 24 as previous Bonds.  For as much as I liked Daniel Craig's Bond, he always struck me as just being mean, sociopathic, obvious as a spy, and seemed like the kind of guy who stole milk money from other kids as a kid.      

            Then you have Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin who loses his memory after an assignment goes wrong.  Whereas Craig’s Bond seemed obvious Damon's Bourne struck me as an everyman; a guy who could actually pass off as a civilian and was very believable as a guy who had lost his memory and can't understand why he knows how to do the things he does.  At the same time, he was kind of a wimpy looking character; one who probably had his milk money stolen as a kid. 

            In these two films, I have to say that Bourne is the superior protagonist but only in the context of these films, (I'm not saying that Jason Bourne is a better character then Bond).  In this film, I just found him more believable as a CIA assassin then Craig as an MI6 agent.  Not to mention I always found Bourne to be the more interesting character.  I don't mean to say that Bond is boring but you knew exactly what you were getting when you saw him and there weren't any surprises with him.  With Bourne, on the other hand, you weren't really sure what you were going to get.  One moment he could be a nice guy and the next he could snap a man’s neck.  It made him more unpredictable and the more interesting character of the two.
          Is he one of the Expendables?  No.  He's a CIA agent and you're not supposed to be able to pick them out of a crowd.  Craig just seemed like the obvious choice; a guy who if you saw you'd instantly know something was fishy about him and the point of CIA/MI6 agents is that they're not suppose to be obvious.  Point goes to The Bourne Identity.

The Antagonists

V.S.

          
            Treadstone or Quantum?  Which is superior?  Well, let’s examine the villains of both films and find out.  First off, you have Le Chiffre.  Unlike a lot of other James Bond villains, he's not a criminal mastermind, he's not a trillionaire bent on world domination and he's not some badass assassin.  He's a business man; an investment broker to be more precise who makes money for various terrorist organizations, mainly Quantum, (although they never call the organization that in the film).  When he finally meets Bond, he goes after him with stealth and intelligence rather than power, poisoning him and playing mind games with him during the card games.  Then there is the torture scene at the end of the film.  All I have to say is that you've got to be one cruel mother fucker to do that.

            And then there my personal favorite villain of the James Bond series: Mr. White.  To me, he's the character who justifies the saying less is more.  He has very little screen time, but whenever he's on you know he's planning something and always has a “don't fuck with me” kind of look on him.  When La Chiffre ultimately fails and reveals he could turn at any moment, Mr. White doesn’t hesitate to kill him and all of his men quickly, coldly, and efficiently.

            The villains in The Bourne Identity always struck me as being...well a bit of a mess.  Various Treadstone agents go to kill Bourne, even though they're all part of the same organization.  They just assume Bourne has gone rouge and that's the only thing driving them.  While you want to see Bourne beat these guys they were neither compelling nor interesting.  So this one is kind of obvious.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

The Supporting Protagonists

V.S.

           

            This one I'll keep brief because in The Bourne Identity, there really weren't any except for Marie and even her involvement and romance with Bourne seemed flat out random.  With Casino Royal however you had Judi Dench as M, who's the usual bureaucratic yet supporting bitch and Jeffrey Wright as the best incarnation of Felix Lighter ever.  Even though she wasn't my favorite Bond Girl by any means, I felt that Eva Green was good as Vesper.  She was a good, fickle character and a welcome member of the cast along with a number of other great supporting characters, (although they left out Moneypenny and Q and I found this a little disappointing).  So in this regard it's easy.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

The Music

V.S.

            In this regard, it comes down to two songs: You Know my Name by Chris Cornell and Extreme Ways by Moby and I have to say You Know my Name was probably the best song I've ever heard in any James Bond film.  Unfortunately, James Bond's trademark theme song was also used and by this point I had already grown sick of it.  With The Bourne Identity they I found Extreme Ways to be very catchy and enjoyable but was diluted due to the symphasizer sound it had and I found this irritating.  I enjoyed both songs but I'm going with You Know my Name because I felt it was the better song.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

Action Scenes

V.S.

            Both films contained action scenes that were both gritty and intense and kept you on the edge of your seat but in this matter, it’s still Bond who was the better.  Why you may ask?  Casualties for one thing.  The action scenes in Casino Royal had higher body counts.  In the first half of The Bourne Identity, all Bourne seemed to do was disarm cops and security personal.  In fact he didn't kill too many people at all throughout this film.  Maybe that was supposed to make him more sympathetic but I always felt cheated in this department.  The one on one fights were great, especially in the way they used every potential weapon in the area like kitchen knives, lamp wires, and even a ballpoint pen at one point.  But even these weren't enough to lift the action scenes.  With Casino Royal, however, the scale was always tipped against Bond and made for more intense and epic fights.  Point goes to Casino Royal. 

Plot/Concept

V.S.

            To be fair, both of these films seemed like they were made just to introduce audiences to the characters and plots of the series.  The new James Bond films are really just re-imaginings, reboots, or remakes, (take you pick over which is the right word), of the original films as they contain grittier concepts, more realistic plots, and are all around darker than the other Bond films.  In Casino Royal, Bond is trying to stop a terrorist organization from funding their projects and you don't get much more realistic then that.  Granted the whole card game thing seemed a little stupid at first glance but it was executed in such a great way that it made it tangible. 

            The Bourne Identity, however, didn't have as much hanging over it.  The whole concept behind it was that a man loses his memory and quickly finds that he has insane combat skills and can think up, do, and notice things that most people can't while assassins are trying to kill him.  While this is a good concept, it wasn't executed very well at all. 

            The whole plot in Casino Royal revolving around a secret terrorist organization and its backers it was, on the whole, far more compelling and better executed.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

Climax

V.S.

            I honestly don't have much to say about the climaxes of either film.  With The Bourne Identity, you got a bit of a lackluster gun fight down a flight of stairs that didn't last two minutes and Jason remembering his last mission.  Not much more to it than that.  With Casino Royal, you had a great end twist and a gun fight within a crumbling building floating in Venice.  Not the best climax I've ever seen and the one in Quantum of Solace is a lot better but was still better than the one in The Bourne Identity.  In fact, the scene where La Chiffre is torturing Bond actually feels more like the climax then the actual climax and, in that, it makes it an infuriating false climax.  But either one you pick is still better then the Climax in The Bourne Identity.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

 

Ending

V.S.

            With Casino Royal, you got an ending that was unexpected and full of twists.  You had a false climax, the actual climax and ended on a bittersweet note with Vesper's betrayal and death.  But then, to make the audience feel good and to get them pumped for the sequel, they show Bond capture Mr. White.  Fuck yea!  With The Bourne Identity, you had an ending that was actually satisfying.  The main villain, (or the closest thing this film has to one), dies, Treadstone gets shut down, and Bourne reunites with his girlfriend.  A typical feel good situation that is bound to be ruined in the sequel.

              All around, however, I found the ending to Casino Royal to be the better.  It was full of twists, found a way to get you hyped for the sequel and ended on a bittersweet note.  Sometimes I like bittersweet endings and other times I prefer feel good ending and in this case I preferred the bittersweet ending.  Point goes to Casino Royal.

The Superior

V.S.

            Do I honestly need to tell you which is the superior film?  Well, I did find Jason Bourne to be the more compelling protagonist of the two but that's all this film had going for it.  Casino Royal had the better villains, the better supporting cast, the better music, the better action, the better plot, the better climax and the better ending and is all around the superior film.

            And that's it for The Bourne Identity V.S. Casino Royal.  I will admit that this one was considerably shorter then my other Franchise V.S. Franchise posts, but there wasn't much to talk about on this one as it was only one film against the other.  I also have to say, putting these films against one another was kind of unfair as it was just a slaughter for Casino.  And that's all I have to say on this matter.  Until next time this is The Illusive One and to you Bourne fans who are pissed at me for this post, take Solace in the fact that the next battle between Bourne and Bond for Supremacy will be a much tougher one.

My Thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer

Very rarely do I get caught up in the hype of anything, be it video games, books or films as such things always lead to disappointments.  But every now and then, I'll find a teaser trailer or gameplay footage that puts the hook in me the instant I see it.  And earlier today, I saw a teaser trailer that put the hook in me the instant it finished playing.  In this I am referring to the teaser trailer for the upcoming film, The Dark Knight Rises.

            When it comes to the Christopher Nolan Batman Films, I have mixed feelings.  Batman Begins always struck me as being a little overrated and underwhelming, like most origin stories.  The Dark Knight, on the other hand, struck me as being just as good as everyone said and better.  Today, I can honestly say that I consider it not only the best Batman film, but the greatest Super Hero film of all time.  However, unlike everyone else, I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted to see a sequel to this film as the end of The Dark Knight more or less concluded the story.  Batman was now a reject, the Mob was going down and the Joker was in prison.  It was a bittersweet ending but it was one that I could have lived with and I would have been happy if they had never made another Batman film.

            However, this didn’t stop me from speculating on what the sequel would be like. Most people believed that the next villain would either be the Joker again, (despite Heath Ledger’s death), the Riddler, or maybe the Penguin.  My thoughts on it were a little different and I swear by everything I hold dear, to God, and on my soul that is what I thought whenever the subject came up.  I speculated that after the end of The Dark Knight much of the mob would go down but a good chunk of it would remain.  Realizing that the Joker was too much of a loose cannon, what's left of the mob decide to bring in Bane from God knows where to take Batman down.  At the same time I thought there would a bit of focus on Gordon hunting Batman and they would somehow bring Catwoman into the mix.  The latter two areas were obvious so I wasn’t surprised when it turned out when I was right.  However, you cannot begin to imagine my shock when I found out who the villain for this film was going to be.

            So now that I have ranted about the films for three paragraphs, what about the trailer itself?  Well, I first saw the trailer on IMDB.com and wasn't really sure what I was going to see.  The first thirty eight seconds of it was just stock footage from the previous films and I thought it was going to blow.  But then I saw something that caught my interest.  Commissioner Gordon lying in a hospital bed talking to Bruce Wayne?  Not Batman?  Bruce Wayne?  WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM!?  HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?!  HOW DID HE FIND OUT WHO BATMAN WAS?!  Then Gordon goes on to tell Wayne that Gotham needs Batman now more than ever, saying that a new evil has risen that he must fight.  However, Wayne says that he is no longer sure if Batman even exists within him anymore and Gordon pleads that he must.  That alone caught my attention and renewed my interest in the psychology and personal dilemmas of the character that the Dark Knight films are famous for.

            Then we got the best part of the trailer; little pieces of footage of Bane.  While he's never shown in full light for more than a second, what you do see of him makes your eyes pop out of your skull and you know that this guy is going to be a problem for the Dark Knight.  The final piece of footage we see is Batman about to go one on one with this juggernaut, followed by the trailer saying that this is the end of the Dark Knight Trilogy. 

            What else can I say?  I was sold the instant the trailer ended.  It started off bad but got better as time went on and showed just enough of the film to get audiences hyped but little enough to keep speculation alive.  And I for one can’t wait to see this film.  Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot stand teaser trailers so for this one to leave such an impact is a big thing for me.  If you haven’t already seen the trailer, check it out below.

            As I said, I can't wait to see it.

            So until next time, this is The Illusive One hoping to God that the film proves to be as good as the teaser trailer.



Dead Space 2

            As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the horror genera is one that has gone drastically downhill and even the survival-horror genera of video games has grown a bit stale.  However, I also mentioned in my Dead Space review that this game had a chance of reviving the genera.  As a result, my expectations for Dead Space 2 were through the roof and I was honestly expecting it to be better than the first.  Unfortunately, it took me a long time to get around to playing this game as other games seemed more important and it never struck me as being a game worth sixty bucks.  But at long last, I have finally beaten this game and am ready to write my review on it.  This is The Illusive One's Review of Dead Space 2.

The Plot

            The game takes place about three years after the end of the first game and Isaac has been locked in an insane asylum in a city called the Titan Station on Saturn's largest moon.  After being in a state of a near drug induced coma, Isaac completely regains his senses when the station is attacked by necromorphs and Isaac once again finds himself in a fight for survival.

            On the positive side, the plot was as much about what was going on in Isaac’s head as much as it was about his survival.  Apparently he is suffering from a deadly form dementia due to his exposes to the Marker in the first game.  This makes him see a hallucination of his dead girlfriend Nicole who constantly tries to make him kill himself and spews vague lines.  I felt it was a great element to add to the plot and was the best thing about it. 

            However, that's where the novelty of the plot ends.  When you take out the physiological battle it's just another survival horror game.  The goal of this game is just to destroy the Marker that has been built on Titan Station and thereby destroying the Necromorphs.  Even though the plot of the first game was beyond clichéd, it had a novelty to it that sequels can rarely match and they failed to in this one.  Not to mention, the story in the first game was a lot more driven.  You were constantly reacting to events in order to survive while this game never had the same sense of rush to it.

            What else can I say?  It had a great physiological quality to it but wasn't a very driven story.

The Gameplay

            This was where the game really dropped the ball, as the gameplay was exactly the same as the previous game.  The weapons were the same, the enemies were mostly the same, the upgrades were the same and most of the other gameplay elements were the same.

            While the dismembering of enemies was the same stuff we saw in the previous game it was just as fun.  The enemies also had a larger variety to them and had a few cool boss fights with necromorphs the size of King Kong.  There were also a lot of good environment puzzles that call on Isaac’s engineering skills to solve.  They were challenging enough to make you think but not difficult enough to make you want chuck your controller across the wall, (unless you’re a complete retard).  There were also a lot of good uses of the environment for combat.  Most notably, they make you aware that you're in space and a single blown airlock can mean the end of you.  The last to mention in this area are the graphics and were they great.  The developers vastly improved them and there was so much attention to detail and to the little things like the wiring in the walls.  Who honestly takes the time to make that part of the environments?  The developers of this game.  That's who and they're great.

            The main problem with the general gameplay, however, is that it just seemed like more of Dead Space.  They added a few things but it just wasn't as mind blowing as it was in the first game.  I also couldn't help but feel that the enemies were a lot easier to kill.  I'm not exactly sure why but they didn't strike me as being as challenging.

            All around, the gameplay had its ups and downs but ultimately just felt like more of the first game.

The Characters

            With the first game, the characters were beyond clichéd, boring and I didn't have much to say about them.  These characters, however, were different.  For starters, you have Isaac who actually had a voice in this game and it worked really well.  He was a character who was going insane, knew it, and was desperately trying to keep a hold of his sanity while trying to survive the outbreak. 

            You also had a pretty good cast of supporting characters as well who were entertaining in different ways.  Nicole was a constant and almost scary threat and you never knew when she was going to pop out and you were never sure if she was trying to help Isaac or trying to kill him.  Once, again, she made for a great physiological battle for Isaac and kept you on your toes.  Ellie was also a very entertaining character.  She was tough, funny, and a character you got attached to.  Not to mention she is probably the only character I've ever seen to have her eye ripped out, got up to fight the ass hole who tore it out, and had the energy to yell “You owe me and eye!” at Isaac.  That's pretty badass.

            You also had an insanely unpredictable character in Nolan who was suffering from the same form of dementia as Isaac.  There isn't much else to say about him other then he kept you on your toes throughout the game.  The character of Daina was good for what she was but her time was too limited for the player to develop a love or hatred of her.  Surprisingly, I found the main antagonist, Tiedemann, to be a pretty interesting character.  He's got all the clichés of the nut job who thinks the aliens mean salvation but is revealed to be a believable character as well.

            All around, the characters of this game were great, especially for this genera and I have nothing negative to say about them.

The Verdict

            All around, I have to say this game had a lot of improvements over the first game but I felt it came up a little short.  Granted I have played a lot worse video game sequels but this one just struck me as being more of the first game with better graphics, character, with a duller plot and less difficult enemies.  It just failed to leave as much of an impression.  But still, most of my criticism comes from comparing it to the first game.  Granted, the plot is still dull but if you take the first game out of the equation, it's a kickass survival-horror game and a lot better then those that have come out in recent years.  If you liked the first game, you'll definitely like this one but it won't impact you the same way.  If you're not familiar with the franchise, definitely check this one out because it's worth any gamer/horror fan's time. 

All Around

8/10

First Thoughts on Dragon Age: Legends

            As I’m sure you all know, I love Dragon Age and just about every other game made by BioWare.  So as you can imagine, I was curious when I heard about the Facebook game Dragon Age Legends.  I wasn’t really hyped or geeking out when I heard about it because Facebook games have never impressed me the way they have other people.  Maybe it’s because they’re strictly online games.  Maybe it’s because so many of them require others to effectively play.  Or maybe it’s because it takes so damn long to get anywhere in them.    Or maybe it’s all of the above.  Bottom line, I don’t like Facebook games.  Under normal conditions I wouldn’t even consider playing such a game, let alone write a review on it, but seeing as how it’s Dragon Age I decided to give my thoughts on it.

            As far as I know, this is the first time BioWare or even EA Games have made a game for Facebook.  In fact I don’t think any major video game company has before now.  It came out around the same time as Dragon Age 2 and I checked it out for about five minutes before getting bored.  In recent months, however, I’ve found myself not really wanting to play video games, (it’s something that happens for me every now and then) but got bored a few days ago and decided to take another look at it.

            From what I gather, you play as the champion of a Free Marches Viscount named Ravi.  To sum it up, weird things are happening in the lands surrounding Ravi's city and you go out investigate.  Apparently, his son is somehow involved, but I have no idea how he fits in.  As far as I am into it, that's all I've been able to gather.  This is something that I find very odd, because of the game's developers.  Even BioWare's crappier games still had decent, follow able storylines but this one doesn’t.  Maybe it gets better the further you get into it but as far as I know the plot is fairly bland and boring.

            The combat is a basic turn based system, not unlike Final Fantasy X and the abilities are very reminiscent of those of the consul Dragon Age games.  It also has a number of recognizable enemies, most notably the Darkspawn.  As usual, you can buy and sell items that you need or don’t need and said weapons and armor give you different boosters in strength as such.  You can also build a castle in it.  Yes a castle.  Now, why do you need a castle?  Well to make potions and bombs.  And that’s about it.  But still, it is pretty cool to have a castle      

After that, however, it just becomes another Facebook game.  Like all medieval Facebook games, it requires you to wait for hours for your energy to recharge in order to continue your quest.  Another annoying thing about it is your companion system.  In this game, you can only use your companions for one battle and you have to wait a number of hours before you can use them again.  This makes the game incredibly difficult and tedious, especially if you lose a fight.  For example, if you have a particular set of characters that work well for you, this makes it impossible for you to use that set more than once under two hours.  Even worse, if you screw up and die you waist said characters for a number of hours and this pisses me off beyond belief.  The most annoying thing about this game, however, is, like all Facebook games, the premium content.  While you can pick up a number of weapons and armor from battles and win them in missions, you can’t get the really good ones unless you actually buy them with real money.  This is something that all Facebook games do and it pisses me off to the point where I'm willing to disembowel Mark Zuckerberg.

So what else is there to say?  Well, I hate Facebook games.  That’s about it and all my negatives draw from that simple fact.  I just don't like them and that's where all my complaints come from.  As far as these kinds of games go however, I have to say, I do enjoy this one.  If you like Facebook games and Dragon Age, I say give this one a shot.  Odds are I’ll stop playing this game before the month ends, but other people may enjoy it.  And that’s all I have to say on the matter.          

My thoughts on Suburban Knights

            As my more dedicated readers know, I love web series, especially ones that involve reviewers.  So naturally, when I heard about the seven part Suburban Knights series I was all over it.  The seventh and final part aired last night on the website thatguywiththeglasses.com.  To those of you who don’t know, it’s the base website of the Nostalgia Critic and several other internet reviewers such as The Cinema Snob, Linkara and Spoony.  It was something they put together for the website’s three year anniversary and seeing as how I like this kind of stuff I decided to give my thoughts on it.

            The plot, (although I use that term very loosely), involves the Nostalgia Critic gathering up all, (or most of), the internet reviewers from That Guy With The Glasses to hunt for a supposed magical gauntlet.  How do they do this?  Well, they all have to dress up and act like fantasy characters and follow a map across Chicago that turns out to be a chain letter.  All the while, they are shadowed by a strange man in black who has an extreme hatred of technology and are constantly stopped by people who can actually wield magic.  It’s as stupid as it sounds, but more awesome then you would ever believe.

             On the positive side, you have the opening for starters and it was fucking awesome.  I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it but it was cool as shit to watch and surprisingly tense and nerve racking.  Throughout most of each episode I couldn’t stop myself from laughing my ass off.  There were just a ton of jokes and gags that were just hilarious.  Most of the actors really got into their parts which made it all the more funny.  As the characters they usually play, they were very realistic and as the characters they were pretending to be they were so into their parts that it was funny and almost disturbing.  There were also a lot of great spoofs and parodies of famous fantasy moments such as Link’s infamous “Well excuse me, Princess” catch phrase from the 1980s Zelda cartoon and having Crom from Conan the Barbarian actually talk to one of the characters. 

            Surprisingly, there was also a really creative back story to the magic gauntlet.  I won’t spoil it but it’s really cool and actually better than half the stuff they come out with for fantasy games, books and movies.  I also couldn’t help but love the effects in this series.  They looked cheep, they looked retarded but were awesome and really show that these people love what they do.  I also liked the way it ended; concluding the events of this story but opened the way for another.     

The guy who really stole the show, however, was the strange man in black.  He was hilarious yet awesome at the same time.  Whenever he was on camera, you couldn’t take your eyes off him because you never knew what the hell he was going to do and his role wasn’t revealed until later in the series.   

On the negative side, they tried a little too hard to be funny at time and the result was just stupid.  The best example that comes to mind is the fight in the playground.  That in itself was silly and stupid enough but then they had to include a few Indiana Jones references that just felt forced.  Another example is the stone “give me light” scene which started out funny but was a little too drawn out.

            Another annoying thing about it was some of the camera work.  To sum it up in a single sentence, the damn camera wouldn’t stop shaking whenever the characters were walking and made it painfully obvious that what I was watching was a web series.  While I did love the effects if this series, some of the sound effects weren’t entirely on par with the action going on screen, (although that may have something to do with the site, my computer or internet connection).

There was also a lot of dialog that just didn’t seem right and was obviously scripted.  Not to mention, there were a few too many film references that were predictable and got old very fast.  There were also a couple of cast members such as The Nostalgia Chick or Hansom Tom who didn’t seem to get into their roles.  While everyone else were really were into their roles, these two just didn’t seemed like they cared and were just there for a pay check.  I don’t know how else to explain but it annoyed me.

            The last negative thing to mention was the solution to it all.  I won’t spoil it, but I felt it was annoyingly predictable.

            So what are my final thoughts on Suburban Knights?  Well, like I said it was stupid, retarded, but awesome and hilarious.  If you’re already familiar with the Nostalgia Critic and other people on his website I absolutely recommend watching this series.  It’s not quite as funny as Kickassia but is still hilarious and worth anyone’s time.

As Siskel and Ebert used to say,

Thumbs up!