Disney Reportedly in Talks With Fisher's Estate

Its been a difficult few weeks for Star Wars fans who have been rocked by the death of Carrie Fisher. Even more so consider her reportedly large role within the upcoming instalment of the series. Fortunately, the filming for Episode 8 has wrapped and Fisher will be making a posthumous return, but what about the final episode in this trilogy that also considers her role extremely important?

If we take a step back and look at the latest Star Wars adaptation, we can see Disney and Lucasfilms have a potential solution. Peter Cushing or as some may know him, Grand Moff Tarkin was digitally imprinted into Rogue One. Cushing, who died is 1994 was brought back to life by VFX artists and magicians to reprise the iconic role with express permission from his estate. Personally, had I not been told, I wouldn't have known about this until after the release of the film which prompted a lot of controversy. Towards the end of the film we also witnessed a young Princess Leia using the same technology but was far more apparent. 

Its being reported that Disney have already begun talks with Fisher's estate to utilise her image as Princess Leia so they can finish this trilogy. As of what the talks will consist of or if there will be any script/story changes, we can't be sure, but its hoped by many that if they come to an agreement, Leia will be done gracefully, not overdone and her role heavily reduced or ended appropriately. 

Considering the impact of the character on the universe and the film industry, I can see a deal going ahead. Fisher's estate owes a lot to the Leia character and the fans that have supported them the over decades and I feel that justice can be done for both Carrie and Leia to round out her career with respectfully. 

What do you think of this? Would you like to see Fisher maintain her role through CGI? Let us know in the comment section below!

Film Review: Warcraft: The Beginning

"Is War The Only Answer?"

When it comes to past live-action video game adaptations that have made it on to the big screen within the past, let's say the record has not been the best so far. I mean look at Hitman: Agent 47 last year, what a load of rubbish that was and whilst others have trembled in the wake of mediocrity or downright awfulness, 2016 was tapped as the year for the reinvention of the genre with not only Assassins Creed hitting the big screen but Warcraft too, helmed by self-proclaimed fan Duncan Jones, director of sci-fi greats such as Moon and Source Code. Although I can admit to never playing a single second of Warcraft in the past, Jones' behemoth of a summer blockbuster was a surprising popcorn romp, one that indeed has a wide range of flaws and weaknesses, but one that was never challenging or seemed to be verging on the edge of boredom throughout its' questionable two-hour plus runtime. CGI galore and Flash Gordon esque costume design. What more does one want?

Amidst unpronounceable locations and names, Warcraft essentially focuses on the battle between Orcs and humans, coincided with some pretty funky CGI magic and featuring warlocks, wizards and flying eagle bird things within the realm of what is essentially a rip-off of Middle Earth. The Lord of the Rings comparisons do not stop there however, with similar themes and even similar characters resulting in a fundamental likeness on the surface but Warcraft falters on the scale of the latter's depth where even though there were some characters worth caring about, others simply acted either as canon fodder for giant hammers or as a tent-pole for extraordinarily polished suits of armour. Warcraft is set to be the starter pistol for another heavy-hitter of a blockbuster series and although it is indeed not perfect, far off in fact, Warcraft does the job and does it solidly, smashing humans to pieces as it traverses the world of humans in the 21st century. Over to you Assassins Creed, let's see if you can do better. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Revolution, Episode 1. First Impressions [UK]

Revolution is the new series airing on Sky 1, produced by the one and only J.J. Abrams. For those of you who don't know what the concept it, I believe it was a large solar flare which caused all electrical products to stop, dead in their tracks. Opening up the show we are given the perspective of the main protagonists at the start of when everything when tits up. Planes drop from the sky, cars cease to run and roll to a halt, computers crash and the lights flicker off. Can you imagine it? All of the power gone?, no internet, no TV, no cars...NOTHING...

Anyway, as I write this, I'm watching it gradually. Character development and violence has already developed and we are only 30 minutes in. However, everything seems to be moving rather rapidly. We have no chance to understand the background behind the event and how our protagonists have worked together to cultivate their own little village. However we move incredibly quickly to a city

(Chicago) without so much as one deep story between the travellers. We see fight scenes that are extremely over the top to the point of ridiculousness and we have characters that are a little boring.

Set pieces are gorgeous and very well refined. CGI helps to blend these and make them far more realistic. It's easy to see that this sort of thing would develop if all electricity was to disappear. This is true to some extent but when they have a church submerged in water, it gets a little confusing to imagine how that actually happened in the first place. Reviewing the sound is difficult as it varies from TV to TV but there are tiny noises that give the rooms atmosphere and sometimes you have an aggressive buzz that can be quite irritating.

At the end of this episode, we find out who the big bad boss is which is a bit of a downer as it could have really gripped people if they simply dropped small hints to real you in for the next few episodes. Finally to wrap this review up, I feel nothing towards the characters. The female protagonist is extremely annoying, her brother is also a huge pain in the ass. The rest are also much the same, their given roles are fairly poor and most of the acting leaves little to be desired.

All in all, I agree with the 6.5 rating on IMDB as mine is in that sort of area too.
I understand it is a little jumbled but it has been written as I watch it and make judgements throughout!, Don't forget it is the first of the series, it may get better!

Paperman Review

Disney’s "Paperman"

Directed by John Kahrs

Paperman was recently awarded best animated short film at the Oscars last week and due to this, I decided to review it and let you know what I think of it.
I saw Paperman by accident while browsing the interwebs back in February and I'm glad! It was worthy of that award.

"An animated short film that follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City. His destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced that the girl is the woman of his dreams but will be gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him." - Walt Disney Studios

Firstly the film is completely black and white, except for the single shade of red of the women's lipstick. Plus, not a single word is spoken during the length of the film. The animation runtime is only six and a half minutes for the entire length. So, with no speaking and no colour, it is bearable and, in-fact, I would say it makes it better. What really stood out to me was the animation style, a mix between hand drawn 2D animations overlaid with 3D CGI, which looks incredible. You can see the pencil sketch marks which slowly are lost to digital works. In terms of the story it was a simple story of two people falling in love at first sight, which has Disney written all over it but was told in a fantastic and creative way.
Due to the lack of speak, the soundtrack is the only thing you are given to listen to and the music goes perfectly with the animation; in some parts it portrays the sad and alone feelings of the characters, and in others it  brings out the magic of the two characters reuniting with other. The music was beautifully performed by Christopher Beck.

Overall I would really recommend this to anyone for its amazing animation and simple yet quick story that anyone can enjoy. 9/10