“Kingdom Hearts Re:coded”

by Austin Verburg

The latest of the famous Kingdom Hearts series, the “Kingdom Hearts RE: Coded” is simply a remake of “Kingdom Hearts Coded.”  Released only on mobile phones in Japan, the remake of “Coded” gives fans of the series a chance to finally see this installment, but only if they own a Nintendo DS.

But fans have little reason to be anxious about being slighted.  While the game’s plot line was interesting, it didn’t seem to hit anywhere near the epic levels that previous titles seemed to reach.

The plotline takes place just after “Kingdom Hearts 2”. This is the first time in a while that the series has actually continued its storyline in the forward motion, as previous titles such as “358/2 Days” and “Birth By Sleep” went back to bridge a few gaps and serve as prequels to other games.

After returning to Disney Castle, Jiminy Cricket discovers a message in his journal which leads to a digital world within the journal, corrupt with Heartless. King Mickey enlists the help of a digital Sora (the character players become) to clear out Heartless and unravel the mystery of the code world.

But it is not the plot line that is lacking, so are the settings. When the first Kingdom Hearts title was released, it was so fresh, and visiting various Disney worlds was fun and nostalgic. Now it’s just annoying and repetitious; one can only take Wonderland so many times.  One keeps hoping that Square Enix will find another way to make visiting Disney Worlds exciting again, such as maybe buying the rights to Disney movies they haven’t used 20 times already.

But the game does surprise with new game play modes and in some places actually played like an old-school RPG. But in another world, players can find themselves in a side-scrolling platform game type. These new ways to explore the Kingdom Hearts universe really stand out.

Despite the new game modes, I would not recommend this Kingdom Hearts game to someone who has not played and enjoyed the original titles. As Game Informer magazine stated in issue 214, “Re: Coded” is “the most skip-worthy entry in the series.” While I don’t entirely agree with this assessment, I  would only recommend this title to the die-hard “Kingdom Hearts” fans. And by fan, I don’t mean “Yeah, I like Kingdom Hearts.” What I mean is, “OMFG I LOVE KINGDOM HEARTS!!!”

“No Strings Attached”

by Nathan A. Alonzo

Among all the winter season movies this one definitely stands in a class all of its own. No Strings Attached starring Ashton Kutcher as Adam and Natalie Portman as Emma is a mix between a raunchy flick and a romantic comedy. In the movie the question of whether or not casual sex-partners can be a couple is brought up. In the movie Adam and Emma are a couple of single people that meet at a party and start something up after that. They make an agreement that they want to begin a pattern of non-meaningful sexual encounters, non-casual because Emma who plays a hospital doctor in the movie is seemingly commitment-phobic and does not want to have to stay for breakfast after she has a sexual encounter with someone. So the couple goes on for a while living this sort of lifestyle. They also have only one rule, no falling in love! The first one to do so must call the whole thing that they have going on off.

The rest of the movie is lost in a jumble of scenes of casual sex encounters, arguments as well as near puppy dog cute moments that have the audience wishing that the characters would just hurry up and get together already. No Strings Attached does not really have anything new to offer, it is like a sappy love story from a cheap 1980’s movie.

The movie concludes in dramatic fashion, with Emma coming and finding that without Adam she is completely empty. So she ends up leaving her sisters’ wedding and rushing to go see if she can get him back only to find that when she shows up at his apartment he is with another woman. But at the end everything works out and the film concludes with just another sappy ending.

Go watch this movie if your into cheesy love stories, if not just wait until it comes out on DVD.

“The Right”

by Dominique Hernandez

“The Rite”, starring Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga and Anthony Hopkins, is good in some parts but overall, leaves a lot to be desired.  The movie by Warner Bros was released on Jan. 28 and is rated PG-13. It is directed by Mikael Håfström, the director of “1408”. The producers, Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson, worked on “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”.

The story, inspired by true events, begins with a student by the name of Michael Kovac (Colin O’Donoghue). He lives with his dad who is a mortician. Kovac, who frequently questions his own faith, has a choice to either stay with the family business or become a priest. He is sent to the Vatican to an exorcism school, being referred to Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins). This is where Kovac is exposed to the practice of exorcism. As Kovac continues to doubt, things get worse as he must find his own faith to save the possessed Father.

The movie is two hours and seven minutes long. It has a great pace and does not refer too much to religion, making it simple and easy to watch. The visual and sound effects are really good, almost reminiscent of the demons in “Paranormal Activity.”

Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, who has appeared in “Silence of the Lambs” and “Wolfman,” was brilliant in this movie. He plays a possessed priest, a rare character, but he did a great job with it. If you are a big fan of Hopkins, this movie is a must-see.

Alice Braga who plays the lead female character, Angeline, has appeared in multiple films including “Predators,” “Repo Men,” “Blindness,” and “I Am Legend.” Her character, Angeline, is a journalist taking the same exorcism course as Kovac. Her own story unravels as she keeps contact with Kovac, hoping she would get a good story which is exactly what she gets.

Viewers can expect to be disappointed by the movie’s happily-ever-after ending. There were some parts in the film that were confusing. At first, one can be confused about who is possessed and who just hears voices. Also, it is unclear how Kovac finds his faith. A part of the movie shows he had turned his back on God during his childhood when his mother died but then after going through so much, he loses his father, and then decides to become a priest.  The viewer is left wondering what happened, and it can be confusing.

Overall, the movie is okay, especially if you’re a fan of Anthony Hopkins.