Recently, due to the heat and a bout of laziness, I have been consuming a lot of culture and entertainment. When these moods strike, I usually end up watching a film a day mixed into consuming a TV series on my watchlist over a period of a few days or completing a video game from my massive backlog. Over this past week, I watched Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR, a film that captured the big screen zeitgeist for a short time. Over the past six months, I also played and completed TALOS PRINCIPLE 2, the sequel to what is the best puzzle game of all-time. So how do each of these pieces of entertainment rank?
Alex Garland is a writer. No matter the genre, Garland has likely contributed to it. Back in the late 1990s, he entered our zeitgeist as a novelist writing THE BEACH (The Leonardo DiCaprio film) and THE TESSERACT. He moved into film and wrote a few of the best science fiction movies screenplays of the late 2000s/early 2010s, SUNSHINE, NEVER LET ME GO, and DREDD. He also was a primary writer on a DEVIL MAY CRY video game and another original well-reviewed game, ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY OF THE WEST. Taking the next evolutionary step, Garland began directing films. His first film was the indie darling EX MACHINA followed up shortly after by my favorite sci fi movie of the past decade, ANNIHILATION. He moved into television and created the very good Hulu TV show DEVS. With such a diverse creative career, I was looking forward to watching his latest film CIVIL WAR. Unfortunately, this movie was an idea that needed to stay locked in his brain. While the movie has wonderful cinematography and solid acting (A shout out to Kirsten Dunst’s husband Jesse Plemons who has the best scene in the movie), the screenplay is its biggest flaw. Since the United States is divided in ways like it has never been in my lifetime, a little dose of reality to make the film relatable would have been a positive step. Nick Offerman playing the President as a Trumpian type leader just doesn’t work. The Texas/California alliance with their two-star flag would carry more weight if we had a better understanding as to why these two states rebelled. But the director goes out of his way not to make any political statements. The movie should be retitled, SCENES FROM A CIVIL WAR. This leads to its other biggest flaw, a story focusing on journalists reporting on the ongoing Civil War. They move from location to location engaging with people while trying to remain objective. The movie wants you to be horrified by the images inside of these vignettes. But the movie having an objective point of view sucks all the emotion and drama out of the film. When the movie begins its final battle in Washington DC, it had already lost my interest. So, the ending left me feeling cold. I don’t know what the purpose of this movie was supposed to be. But it feels like one giant misstep for Garland and A24. On the brighter side, I finished THE TALOS PRINCIPLE 2 over this past weekend. One of the most beautiful games graphically that has ever been loaded onto my screen, the Talos Principle 2 is primarily a puzzle game mixed into a science fiction atmosphere with large doses of philosophy thrown in. Taking place after the completion of the first game, where the ending delivers a twist that human beings are extinct and life continues on through immortal robots that were created by one of the last humans who wanted to give them access to all the knowledge and history of humanity so as not to repeat its mistakes, this game starts with your creation as the final robot in their futuristic utopia, the robot 1K or number 1000 (The peak number for the “perfect” society of New Jerusalem). When these robots discover an ancient megastructure, your task is to infiltrate this monument through completing puzzles in twelve different worlds which unlock access. The puzzles are incredible and creative. As a person who historically struggles with puzzles, my cheat rate on this game was low (Around 20% of them required me to check YouTube for a solution). The game pays off its large commitment (47 hours of playtime) with a wonderful ending and the potential release of another game. The video game industry has not had the best decade so far. But this game is in the elite tier. I highly recommend purchasing this game and encourage getting that grey matter operating inside of your head whether through the intricate and complicated puzzle solving or reading the philosophical writings. TALOS PRINCIPLE 2 is a fantastic game that should not be missed. Until next time!
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October 2024
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