The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Starring
Johhny Depp- Tony (1st Transformation)
Heath Ledger- Tony
Colin Farrell- Tony (3rd Transformation)
Christopher Plummer- Dr. Parnassus
Jude Law- Tony (2nd Transformation)
Lily Cole- Valentina
Tom Waits- Mr. Nick
Andrew Garfield- Anton
Verne Troyer- Percy

It's no secret that this was the last film that Heath Ledger worked on before his untimely death. I went into this film thinking that there was going to be an exploitation of Ledger's death, practically using it as a marketing stunt. I'm glad to say that there was no mention of his death, only a message at the very end of the film stating that this film was "Brought to you by Heath Ledger & Friends."

So, how do you get around the fact that one of your stars has died halfway through the making of the film? The solution that "Imaginarium" used was simple, but so effective- have the character portrayed by different actors. And you know what the best bit about this solution is? It worked perfectly.

Heath Ledger plays a character called Tony, a man that's found hanging from a bridge in London by Dr. Parnassus and his travelling theatre company, comsisting of Valentina, Anton and Percy. Tony claims to have lost his memory, but we eventually find out that he founded a children's charity, but was involved with a scandal involving stolen money, and thus killed himself. However, via the use of a brass tube lodged in his windpipe, Tony managed to survive the hanging. He then travelled with the troupe to try and save their business.

So, how do the transformations come in? Doctor Parnassus was once a monk, part of a sect that believed the world existed because of the story of the world the monks told each other. However, this is shattered when Mr. Nick arrives at the monastery and challenges this. After using magic to keep the monks from telling the story, the Doctor realises that Mr. Nick is none other than the devil Himself, and also that there were always stories being told that kept the world spinning. Thus, a wager was made between the Devil and the Doctor- the first person to get five disciples who believed the respective man's point of view would win whatever they wanted. The Doctor was able to win and thus wished for immortality.

Still with me? Good.

The Doctor then fell in love. But at this point he had lived for a thousand years, and was unconvinced that he'd be able to woo her, so the Devil made another agreement- he gave the Doctor his mortality and youth back, under the condition that any child born from the couple would become the Devil's property at the age of sixteen. And thus, a daughter, Valentina, was born from the two.

I know, I've still not got to the transformations part, just stay with me.

Three days before Valentina's sixteenth birthday (and the same day that Tony was found) the Devil made one more agreement- the first person to collect five souls in three days would win Valentina. This was done via a magic mirror that people passed through, and found themselves sent to a world made purely of their imaginations. Here they would be offered a choice- either be reborn (the Doctor's path) or be damned for all eternity (the Devil's path, obviously).

We're told during the film that if two people passed through the mirror, the stronger imagination would overcome the weaker. So when Tony suggests that the image of the show's updated, we finally see how the multiple actors fit into place. Tony passes through the mirror with people who have stronger imaginations, and this transforms him into their image of the perfect man (they're all female, by the way). And thus, the problem of your star player dying partway into the production is solved! And as an added bonus, I've managed to explain the plot at the same time.

So now we know the story, we just need to look at each individual performance. Heath Ledger's performance was very good, with a lot of subtle elements that you may or may not notice- the odd raised eyebrow here, the squint there, the little twitch when he gets angry, it all adds up. Also, rather oddly, Ledger's character wasn't the focus of the entire film, which you could expect following his performances in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight. He wasn't a bit player, pushed to the side of the stage, but he wasn't always the focus, which allowed other actors to step up and do their thing.

Christopher Plummer and Tom Wait made a great pairing- the two bounced off each other brilliantly, and you really got the impression that these were two people that had known each other for a long time. Plummer played the Doctor perfectly, making him both hopeless and inspiring when needed, and Tom Wait gave off an impression of being able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, just because he could.

I was personally surprised by Verne Troyer's performance. It was great to see him go from the comedy sidekick of Mini Me in the Austin Powers films to the sober voice of reason here. Troyer's Percy was a character that you could go to if you had a problem, and despite his shortcomings (Sorry, that was terrible) he'd give you the correct advice. Biting, blunt, and straight to the point, Percy is a guy that you don't mess with, but you wouldn't be scared to approach him for help.

Andrew Garfield (Anton) and Lily Cole (Valentina) are relative newcomers to film, but based on their performances here you feel that they're going to have long, successful careers. Anton was a character that you hated, simply because he was so full of jealousy, arrogance and, at times, rage. He irritated you, be it from his immaturity at handling interactions with the other characters, or because he would always try and gain favour from the Doctor, no matter what it took. If the idea of the character was to annoy, then give that man an Oscar! Lily Cole's performance as Valentina was also good, playing a character that just wanted her freedom and independence. Unaware of the deal with the Devil made by her father, Valentina would become annoyed at her father's protectiveness, and even when she learns of the truth she becomes even more annoyed at her father, and this was played off brilliantly. These two young actors are two people to watch for the future.

That just leaves us with our "guest stars", Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johhny Depp. It's not easy for an actor to play a character that had been fleshed out by another character, but our three stand-ins managed it perfectly, especially Johhny Depp. It's impossible to deny that these three actors helped make this film a success. It's also impossible to deny that without them, this film would never have existed. They managed to do justice to the character Ledger practically created, and I think that we can all appreciate the fact that Heath Ledger's memory has been well and truely respected here.

Visually, the film is awesome. The fantastical images created inside the mirror are unlike anything I, personally, have ever seen, and I've been to Las Vegas for crying out loud! The real world is dark, gloomy, and miserable; the world of the imaginarium is bright, colourful and cheerful. The two contrasting styles help make this film stand out, and are of a standard that in five years time I'll happily wager that they'll be just as good as anything that's being made at the time. If you watch the film carefully you'll notice a few references to cults such as the Illuminati and the Cabalists, which may or may not have been put in as a giant F-bomb to Dan Brown.

Overall, it's a good film. It's not fantastic, as the ending will leave you wondering "What the hell just happened?" and lacking that certain sense of satisfaction that you'd get from other films. But at the same time it's not terrible, it's somewhere in the middle, though it's leaning towards the upper end of the middle ranges.

7/10

Chuzzle Deluxe

Chuzzle Deluxe (PC)

I'll be the first to admit that this is an odd choice of review. Chuzzle Deluxe (Also known as just Chuzzle) is in the same styling as free Flash-based games on the Internet- it's bright, colourful and clearly appeals to the younger audiences. It was released in 2005 with an update in 2007, but because of the simplistic style you honestly wouldn't know.

The game's very similar to games like Bejeweled in that you're given a 6X6 grid of fuzzy creatures of different colours called 'Chuzzles', hence the name. The idea is to move rows and columns of the creatures to make groups of three or more, thus removing them from the board to be replaced with new ones. When you've removed a certain number of Chuzzles then you finish the level and you move on.

So, it's very simple, it's very colourful, and it's easy to play. But in my mind the pros don't measure up to the cons. There's just way too much wrong with this game for me, personally, to find it enjoyable.

The first problem is the pacing. I managed to get through the first five levels in ten or fifteen minutes, I'm not sure, I wasn't checking. Then as soon as I hit level six the game slowed right down. Level six took me nearly ten minutes to finish and level seven took over twenty. The game slowed down because of one simple feature- locking rows and columns.

At random points in the game a Chuzzle gets locked into place, meaning you can't move the row or column that it's on. That's not normally a problem, but there was a time when I had three of them at once, meaning that I was limited to half the number of moving components (as it were), meaning that, in effect, it would have taken me twice as long to finish the level. I know that's not the correct mechanics, but you can see what I'm trying to say. Bearing in mind that all previous games I've played like this make you have to get three of the same item in a row, I wasn't finding the adjustment that easy, which meant I had to use the 'hint' function.

The hint function works to a degree. When you eliminate Chuzzles a meter fills up depending on how many you eliminated in one attempt. But using the hint tool drains this meter. A lot. So if you can't see the next move, you have to increase the number of Chuzzles you need to eliminate. That's all well and good, but when you can't move half the rows/columns then you'll probably need this function a lot. Which means you'll be playing the same level for a long time, which just gets boring.

Another problem I found was the music. You have the same loop over and over, and after a while, it starts to grate on you. I actually turned my sound off after a while because I just found myself annoyed at the music. I enjoyed it at first, but there was such a small amount of variety that I just got fed up, and that's never a good sign.

This game got pretty good reviews from critics when it was released, and that was mainly due to the other modes of play besides the level-based game. I didn't dare try them, simply because I didn't want to waste any more time on them. I know that technically doesn't make this a complete review of the game, but I'm not other reviewers, and I would hope that my views on this section of the game are treated with the same seriousness as anyone else's.

So, to sum up this game, it's annoying, and the pacing is a joke, but there are some nice touches, such as the fur left behind by the Chuzzles when they're eliminated, and their eyes following your mouse cursor. It's good to know that there was some thought put into this game, albeit in the wrong areas.

The Official X-Factor- 4/10

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Nintendo DS)





Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars marks the return of Rockstar's sandbox game back to a Nintendo handheld (the last title being 2004's relatively poorly Grand Theft Auto Advance on the Game Boy Advance), and what a return it is. The first thing that you'll notice when playing the game is the return to the more top-down perspective from the first two games in the series, yet the camera angle gives enough of an angle for you to see what's coming ahead of the character, as well as being able to determine between barrier heights. The style's more cartoon-like, which, in my opinion, is another throwback to the earlier games, and is a welcome graphical style.



This being the Nintendo DS, the first thing I wondered about was how the DS's touchscreen would come into play. Rockstar have made great use of the second screen, having it showing your GPS system, health, body armour level, weapon, ammo, as well as other little in-game functions, such as the in-game clock and email indicator. You simply tap your equipped weapon and another menu pops up over it, displying what other weapons you have available, and choosing them is as simple as tapping them. It's so simple, anyone could do it. You're also shown your current projectile weapon, either molotov cocktails, flash bangs, hand grenades or proximity mines. These are used just by selecting how far you want to throw them on the touchscreen, and simply checking the top screen to make sure it's going to go where you want it to. It may seem confusing, but it's extremely simple to get to grips with.



The story's simple. You play Huang, the rich son of a member of the Triads gang in Liberty City, who travels to the city to deliver his family's sword to his uncle after his father's murder, who plans to give it to the Triad's leader in order to cement his place as the next leader. However, things don't go according to plan when Huang and his group are ambushed, with the sword stolen, and Huang beaten up and left for dead. Huang then vows revenge on the people who murdered his father and to recover the missing sword. Through a number of different missions and tasks Huang eventually discovers who was behind his father's murder and the theft of the sword.



In terms of gameplay, it's Grand Theft Auto, what do you expect? As with previous installements you can go anywhere and do anything. My in-game statistics menu states my game completion time at over 21 hours- it only took me this long as I was too busy doing other stuff, and there's a lot of stuff to get done. Hidden throughout Liberty City are 100 security cameras, and you're charged with finding and destroying them all. Thankfully, you're not given a time limit and it doesn't effect progression of the story, but you'll become obssessed with trying to find every single one of them. There's also thirty stunt jumps- basically thirty billboards that you can drive a vehicle through. Again, you'll want to try and find every billboard, and the method of getting your chosen vehicle through them. These add a little variety, as you'll have to think about how you're going to get to each location.



Another distraction is the drug dealing trading game. I'm sure we all remember the Drug Wars game that was available as freeware many years ago, where you had to buy and sell different drugs in order to reach a certain level of profit. This is the exact same thing, but on a larger scale and with no limits. All you need to remember is that you can only carry 50 bags at a time before having to drop them off at a safehouse. This is easily the quickest way to make money. From time to time you'll get an email from one of the city's many dealers, telling you that they're buying or selling a specific drug, and it's down to you if you wish to partake in these offers. It again adds another little diversion from the main game, and it's one that you'll no doubt spend a lot of time on.



Musically, Chinatown Wars is a slight departure from previous games. You get six radio stations all playing different kinds of music, but unlike previous games you only get instrumental tracks seemlessly blended into each other and no speech what-so-ever. The only speaking you'll hear is from random pedestrians and police, who'll say one-liners as and when they're needed. Dialogue in cut scenes is dealt with via the power of the written word, and thankfully, I didn't notice any spelling or grammatical errors during play- a sure sign that the game had been tested extensively.



There are only a couple of downsides, though. Sometimes the targeting system can feel a little awkward, especially when you target a pedestrian walking on the other side of the street instead of the policeman directly in front of you that's hitting you in the head with his nightstick. Also, sometimes the GPS system can give you directions to a place you've just been to, even though you no longer have any reason to go there anymore. But these are only minor problems, and don't detract too badly from the gameplay.



Overall, Chinatown Wars is a worthy addition to the Grand Theft Auto legacy, and unlike other games of it's kind, it doesn't feel like a bad conversion of the home console version, but is a game in and of itself that can stand on it's own two feet. While not the best game in the series, it's certainly in the upper percentile of them.



The Official X-Factor- 9/10