"Just another one of DreamWorks' wacky ideas." That's what you might have thought when you heard a movie about a giant green ogre was coming to theatres back in 2001. Who knew ogres could be so loved by everyone the world over. "Shrek" is known today as one of the biggest and most popular animated movie series of all time, due to its lovable characters and quirky humor and dialogue, which has quickly made it a fan-favourite.
"The greatest fairy tale never told."
The movie revolves around Shrek (Mike Myers), an ogre living in a swamp who enjoys his solitude from other creatures. He also enjoys scaring the local townsfolk as sport when they come to raid his home. He plans to remain in isolation forever when he plans to build a wall around his swamp. He is interrupted when a group of fairy-tale characters arrive at his home, being exiled there by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Shrek enlists the help of Donkey (Eddie Murphy) to guide him to Farquaad's castle, located in the city of Duloc. The duo quickly run into trouble when they are thrust into a tournament set up by Farquaad. The winner is to rescue the Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in her dragon-guarded keep. Donkey and Shrek effortlessly knock out all of the competitors in the arena, and agree to rescue Fiona on the condition that Farquaad gets rid of all of the fairy-tale creatures that he banished to Shrek's swamp.
A legacy begins with a bucket of mud.
After rescuing the princess and revealing to her that he's an ogre, Fiona isn't all that pleased. But over the course of the story, the two gradually become closer, and... well, we all know what happens at the end right? Keep in mind though, that this isn't a love drama. The movie is filled to the brim with hilarious jokes, punchlines and dialogue, with some lines becoming rather famous on the internet, and Myers' and Murphy's banter is absolutely hilarious.
"Ogres are like onions!"
The movie did exceptionally well at the box office as well, earning $484.4 million in it's entire run. The series as a whole is the tenth highest-grossing franchise of all time, as well as being the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time. It also has an exceptional soundtrack, with the band Smash Mouth singing the incredibly catchy opening theme "All Star," among other groups and individuals.
Music video for All-Star, by Smash Mouth. "Hey now, you're an all-star..."
Overall, "Shrek" has become a classic that everyone will always treasure, and never fails to make you laugh. Even though the series as a whole has come to a close, this legendary scottish ogre will never truly leave, and his wisecracks and unique humour won't either. It turns out "another one of DreamWorks' wacky ideas" was true in that this guy's story underlines the word "wacky," but in the best way possible.
The good: +Hilarious dialogue +Awesome soundtrack +Remains one of the best animated movies to this day The bad: -None that I can think of! Final rating: 9 out of 10
Say hello to the series that has revolutionized the fighting game genre in video games: Super Smash Bros., first introduced in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, has become one of the most popular fighting games in the community today. The latest installment in the hit series, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, improves and builds upon its predecessors in every way. With endless hours of smashing good fun, hundreds of collectables, and the largest roster yet, you'll have a hard time putting down this masterpiece of a game.
See if you can name all of the fighters in this picture.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U maintains the unique fighting mechanics of the series, which centers around attacking your opponent to increase their damage, and then launching them off the screen to win a KO. The more damage your opponent has taken, the farther they'll fly when they get launched. This style has never been seen before in a fighting game, and has been met with critical acclaim. In addition to the game's standard "Smash" mode, there are several other modes that take you to all sorts of wacky places. For example, a mode exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, Smash Tour, is unique in that you play as Mii Characters and chase each other around a game board, battling each other as you go. Or you could go to the Vault and gaze upon your Trophy collection. Or you could look at some of the challenges you have yet to complete. There are 140 challenges in the game. Some of them will be a cakewalk, while others require an INSANE level of skill and strategy to beat. For example: Clear Classic on Intensity 9.0 without losing a single stock. Not just anyone is able to do that right off the bat. I only just managed to scrape by spamming Lucario's Double Team special move. The team really went all out when thinking up these challenges, and while some of them can be incredibly infuriating, they provide a lot of replay value.
This is the game's opening cinematic.
Another astounding feat is the all-new 8-Player Smash, which involves --you guessed it-- 8 players duking it out instead of the usual four. If you thought four players can get hectic, you haven't seen anything yet.With such a colourful cast of characters, having 8 of them going wild all at once is the most fun I've had in a long time; if I can manage to find one of the extremely elusive GameCube adapters for a fair price. With characters ranging from Nintendo's all-star Mario to lesser-known characters like Shulk from 2010's critically-acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles. Even 3rd-Party characters join the fray in the form of newcomers Capcom's Mega Man, Namco Bandai's Pac-Man, and the return of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. There's plenty of stages and new items this time around, such as the visually impressive Orbital Gate Assault, to the dreaded Blue Shell that has been ruining friendships for years over in Mario Kart. Unfortunately, there aren't as many new stages than Super Smash Bros. Brawl had, and instead, we get many more returning stages from previous installments. It isn't really a bad thing, but I was expecting more. A new feature allows you to create fighters based on Miis, Nintendo's customizable avatars. These fighters come in three different classes; Brawler, Swordfighter and Gunner, and each one provides a different way to play. With 51 characters to choose from, there will never be a time where you get bored with everyone.
20 years ago, you'd get laughed out of the room if you ever said that these gaming icons would ever be in a game together. There's only one game where that's possible.
Unfortunately, Smash Wii U has a bit of a spotty online performance. While it's definitely a step up from it's 3DS counterpart's lagfest of a mode, more often than not, the button input lag and dropped frames severely hinders the fun. Even when playing with friends, the connection frequently starts lagging and can cause mistakes in battle. It definitely must be improved, and it's because of that that I've strayed away from online mode.
When playing with people around the world, online mode is split into two modes. For Fun offers 4-player action with all items on all stages. For Glory offers intense matches that are only played on Final Destination. So basically, you get more lag in For Fun, and slightly less in For Glory.
Another selling point for the game is that it's the first to be compatible with Nintendo's amiibo figures, little toys that you can scan in on the GamePad. You can then train them up to level 50, and while I still haven't done that yet, I've seen that they can be ferocious on the battlefield. Unfortunately, they don't do much else than look pretty, and that has become a problem when buying them. amiibo turned out to be wildly popular, which can make certain figures nearly impossible to find, usually because of greedy scalpers that buy them all up and sell them on eBay for five times their original price. The "Holy Trinity" of wave one, being Marth, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer, are some of the toughest ones to find. Luckily, Marth will be getting a restock later this year. amiibo is one of those "I-never-thought-that-I-would-get-this-far" projects, and I must say, I'm quite fed up that I haven't found a single Captain Falcon since the day of it's release. I can only hope that Nintendo learns from their mistakes.
Nintendo's most ambitious plan yet is more of a hassle than it is an enjoyment.
Overall, I think Smash Bros. for Wii U is a masterpiece in the gaming industry, and is one of the best, if not THE best game for Nintendo's struggling console that is out right now. With hours upon hours of replay value, incredibly fun gameplay, and gorgeous visuals, this is one game that you WILL not want to miss. Now, I'm off to eBay to cough up $80 for a Rosalina amiibo.
When my aunt gave me this book to me for my thirteenth birthday last year, I passed it off as another generic story about wizards and magic and evil people trying to take over some random kingdom. And yes, that’s exactly what I found. The Septimus Heap series is chock full of spells, humour, weird names and charm; and pulls it all off magnificently. The story centers around a young wizard named Septimus, and his various adventures with his adoptive sister Jenna. The first book in the series, “Magyk,” tells the origins of the colourful cast of characters. This is where it all began.
The cover of Magyk.
Magyk begins with wizard Silas Heap returning to his family and newborn son, Septimus, on a cold winter night. During his trek, he discovers a young baby girl that had been seemingly abandoned in the snow. He takes the baby back to his house in the castle, only to be greeted by the midwife running past him with his newborn son in her hands, dead. Silas and his wife, Sarah, agree to raise the baby girl in Septimus’ place. They name her Jenna. Several months later, the word has gotten out that the current Queen of the castle has been assassinated, and that the castle had been taken over by the Supreme Custodian. The Queen’s daughter has also gone missing. Sarah and Silas realizes that Jenna is the missing princess, and decide to keep it a secret to everyone.
Ten years later, Jenna is whisked away by the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, in order to protect her from the same assassin that had murdered her mother ten years earlier. In doing so, they encounter a young boy in the Young Army, simply named Boy 412, who also accompany them on their travels. He is eventually revealed to be Septimus Heap, Silas’ and Sarah’s long-lost son. The group are chased to the Marram Marshes by the Hunter, sent by the Supreme Custodian to retrieve Jenna and bring her back to the palace so she can join the same fate that her mother once did.
Illustrator Mark Zug's depiction of Septimus, as shown in the books.
While the story may seem like your average “lost-baby-that’s-raised-by-another-family” style, it quickly blossoms into a fantastic tale that will always make you want to keep flipping the pages. Author Angie Sage has created a world that has us locked in our beds reading, and enjoying every word. With so many quirky and interesting characters, funny dialogue, and the weirdest names you’ll ever come across, this is one novel that you will never want to stop reading.
However, I do feel like some of the characters are a little underdeveloped. For example, Marcia Overstrand, plays a large role in the story as Jenna’s protector from the Hunter. Yet, she didn't really resonate with me very well throughout the story. Her past isn't explored very much until later novels, and I wasn't really impressed with her character all the time. It’s not enough to bog down the rest of the cast however.
Interview with Angie Sage, discussing the future of the series, her thoughts on the story and it's characters,
as well as info on "The Magykal Papers," a supplementary book to the main series.
Overall, this book, and the series as a whole, has the power to move in the direction of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. A well-balanced cast, whimsical world with even more creatures and a fantastic story makes this a real page turner that you won't want to miss if you love the genre. Certain characters could have used a bit more backbone behind their backstory, but it’s only minor. The moment you hop into this Magykal world, you won't want to stop until you've read all seven installments in this amazing series. Better get started.
