Late Night Ramblings (Nov. 21, 2014) -- Why I am on hiatus from Fighting Games?

The top question that I keep getting since Ultra Street Fighter IV has dropped in the post-Evolution 2K14 gaming landscape is, "Why haven't you bothered to pick up the game?" On top of that, I keep getting the other question, "Do you still play fighters anymore?"

To answer both questions, I'm going to take the time out of my evening and go in-depth on why I'm personally on hiatus.

I'm COMPLETELY burnt out on the genre.

After roughly 400+ hours total on ALL previous versions of Street Fighter IV since the initial launch, I'm done for the time being. I don't have it in me to grind my way up to B+ rank again on Ranked Matches when it took me about a year or two to do so in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition version 2012. I'm positive that I have hit my plateau with that character (Chun-Li) and despite her balance changes/tweaks in the newest iteration of the game, I doubt I'm going to do much better. I'm not a "pro gamer" and I'm not in the grind to attend tournaments regularly. Lastly and more importantly, I'm not being paid to keep wasting so much time on this single game.

I haven't watched a single tournament stream, Cross Counter videos, nor Wednesday Night Fights/The Runback broadcast since Evolution. To be quite honest, I haven't had the desire to even care. When I was still playing the game regularly, I would check Eventhubs and Shoryuken for news on a daily basis. Currently, I barely pay attention to either site, but I still get news tidbits on my Facebook news feed. Previously, I would be excited to check out a new combo video or tutorial.

Nowadays, I get the feeling of "meh" off almost every new video. No disrespect to the players or the games themselves, but I'm positive that I'm burnt out on this genre for the time being.

Almost ALL of my close friends have moved on...

My friends who I used to regularly spar matches with in Endless Battle at every opportunity we were all online on Xbox Live have moved onto other things in gaming or in life in general - getting married, busy with school/college, moving onto different genres (Call of Duty, Madden, MMORPGs, etc.), or just moving onto a different console (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One, etc.) than I own (Xbox 360). 

The simple solution would be to find new friends and I honestly tried that over the past few years.

Despite being an introverted person (I can easily admit that I'm not the guy who races out excited to meet new people as I have a hard time trusting people to begin with, but that's a story for another day...),  I branched out and joined a few fighting game communities. I joined and I'm still a member of Facebook groups oriented towards the characters I main in Street Fighter IV, namely Chun-Li and Rose, but I haven't read nor posted anything in those groups in months. Before that, I was part of the local fighting game community in my home state, but I didn't stick with that as everyone was more preoccupied with either arguing with each other or self-promoting themselves as the "best" when I was under the impression the group should have been about pulling together as a community and helping each other out. That way the community levels up and gets better as whole instead of this one versus everyone mentality that the group had. Apparently, I was wrong. I thanked the admins for their time and quietly walked away from the group. People from that said community still send me event requests and what-not, but I kindly decline to each and every single of one of them. Even doing that got me bad blood with other players who see it as an insult that I'm not "contributing" to the community by playing in every little tournament or attending every event that pops up. It got to the point where I had to curse people out and explain to them that "You nor these games pay my bills, so get off my case."

It reminded me of a situation in a particular professional wrestling discussion group that I'm currently in. There weren't enough people striving for the better of the group and the community as a whole than the majority of people bringing the group down with negativity. Whether your intentions are pure or not, there's no "I" in team. One person can't bear that burden all on their own. For a LONG time, I felt like that had to continue contributing to this genre as one of the "little guys" who understands the struggle to be "not quite" a pro or godlike at these games. Now I see that I don't owe these people anything really. I should be playing these games for MY own entertainment. If people see my gameplay videos or like having games against me online, cool - that's a bonus, but I'm done trying to please people. 

Then don't get me started on the people I know online personally who say I should be playing this game or that game because what fighting game I'm currently playing sucks. I had a personal falling out with one friend in particular that he was butthurt that I would only play my fighters on Xbox 360 (despite the fact that use a converter for playing in tournaments when they have the said games on PS3) while he played exclusively on PlayStation 3 and despised anything and everything made by Capcom and Namco-Bandai. Buddy, it's not my fault that you don't know there's other fighting games other than Injustice and Mortal Kombat 9... Protip: Calling the game I'm playing hot garbage isn't going to make me too keen to try out whatever you're trying to sell me into playing.

Allow me to run down my general experience with most fighting games with a quick Cliff Notes' guide: 

Arc System Works

• Guilty Gear series: Played the hell out of Guilty Gear XX on PlayStation 2 in college, but that was mostly solo play since most people there were into either Tekken or CVS2. Xrd looks okay, but doubt I'm going to be racing out to the store to buy it.

• Persona 4: Arena series: Never got into the Persona gaming franchise at all (I plan to eventually...), but the characters do look cool. Haven't played this series at ALL. 

• BlazBlue series: I gave the original game a shot, but took it back shortly after getting frustrated trying to learn it. I've had friends at anime conventions drag me into trying the newer versions, but I'm still not that keen on playing it seriously.  

Capcom

• Street Fighter series: Played the original SFII briefly on Sega Genesis, didn't come back to the series until the Alpha series on the original PlayStation. I played Alpha 3 and Street Fighter EX+a more than anything else prior to Street Fighter IV. Unlike most hardcore Street Fighter fans, I can count on one hand how many times I've played Third Strike or Street Fighter III series in general, so go ahead and flame me for that. 

• Darkstalkers series: Much like the Vs. series, I only played this exclusively in arcades in my hometown. Barely anyone played it so I was left fighting against the lone AI. I know I suck at it, but I love Capcom's character designs for this game too much to let that deter me.

• Vs. series: Played just about everything from X-Men: Children of the Atom to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 back in the arcades in my hometown. MvC2 in my area was mostly zoning with projectiles. All of this flying around and everywhere across the screen is COMPLETELY over my head in these newer games. Plus, let's factor in that I lost my "twitch" reactions, thanks to my college years of alcohol and smoking during the height of popularity of Halo 1 and 2. The Vs. series lost me completely after my frustration with Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I love the characters, but it's a game designed to piss you off at every level. For those wondering, I've played CVS2 even less times than I have touched Third Strike. I have NO shame admitting that I will always be a Namco guy over Capcom.

Lab Zero

• Skullgirls: I had the demo for Xbox 360 while one of my good friends gifted me the full game on Steam. Once I get a gaming PC built, I'm going to put some time into this game. Much like DarkStalkers, I absolutely LOVE the character designs for this game.

Namco-Bandai

• Soul Blade/Soul Calibur series: I think I have had said it back on the original Method to Madness blog, but I'll say it again - my first love of fighting games on the competitive scene was in Soul Calibur II. I attended my first tournament in this game and the first second game took REALLY serious on a competitive level. It's a damn shame that my enthusiasm with this series went out of the window after Soul Calibur IV and V were HUGE disappointments for me personally. 

• Tekken series: The first Tekken title that I played was Tekken 2 that came with my original PlayStation on a demo disk. I begged my dad to buy me the retail release shortly afterwards. That was the first fighting game that I sat down for hours, learning combos, moves, and experimenting. Like most fans, I loved the boom period of this series around the launch of Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament, but I fell out of the series when the system changes came around Tekken 4 that were adopted from Dead or Alive. I played Tekken 5 BRIEFLY when visiting friends in college, but I jumped back into the mix for Tekken 6 off and on. 

• Urban Reign: This was made in the style of Fighting Force from Eidos with a bit of flair from Final Fight/Streets of Rage in 3D. With over 40+ playable characters and some guest stars from Tekken (Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law), I convinced a few of my close friends to play this with me from time to time. It was simple enough to pick up but had enough depth to keep you playing for the long haul. To this day, I still hope and pray that Namco would consider a sequel to this game.

• Shonen Jump-based anime fighters (Naruto, Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach, etc.): Oh, anime fighters... the bastard stepchildren of the fighting game genre... I've lost count of how many of these games I've played over the years, but I know for sure that I love the amount of dedication and love is put into this games' narratives to hold true to the source material. Let's not forget accessibility too. If there's anything I can't stand about the FGC at times, it's this so-called elitist attitude that nothing can't be regarded as a fighting game unless it has complicated inputs and one-frame links. 

Nintendo

• Super Smash Bros. series: Unlike most people, I DID consider this game to be a fighting game. I've attended plenty of anime conventions where people took this game FAR more seriously than anything with Marvel or Street Fighter in the title. I gotta admit that I played more Brawl than Melee though, but I can see why the pros stick with that game over Brawl though. 

NetherRealms (formerly Midway)

• Injustice: Gods Among Us: After that disaster that was Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, I was glad to see that DC Comics' heroes have proper representation in the fighting game genre, much like Marvel Comics' has their own heroes and villains. I rented this about for a week or two upon launch and QUICKLY grew bored with it. After playing SF4 prior, the animations were really clunky and distracting to me. 

• Mortal Kombat series: While I played the previous entries briefly with friends over the years, MK Trilogy was the first MK title I actually owned on the original PlayStation. After enjoying Mortal Kombat 4 in arcades, I got that as well, but I fell out of MK completely until their "final" title, Armageddon. I ended up REALLY liking that game, but next to NO ONE I knew played it. After that I stopped caring about Mortal Kombat. I only recently picked up MK9 on 360 after it was discounted on Xbox Live. That title left me feeling rather underwhelmed as well after I had SEVERAL people over-hype that game up.

SNK Playmore

• Fatal Fury/King of Fighters series: I played the original Fatal Fury when I discovered the world of emulation in high school, but I played KOF '95 via demo disks for the original PlayStation until I acquired a full retail disk. KOF '99 got a lot of time between my close friends and I in high school for a while, but we quickly went back to Soul Calibur II. I've played the demo for KOF13, but I doubt I would pick up that game anytime soon or ever. The last KOF title I remember owning was 2002/2003 back on PlayStation 2. 

• Samurai Showdown, Garou: Mark of Wolves, etc.: I remember playing those games sparingly between time on MvC2, Soul Calibur/Blade, Darkstalkers, and Mortal Kombat 4 in arcades. 

Tecmo/Team Ninja

• Dead or Alive series: Out of ALL of the games that my older brother had on our import Dreamcast when he came back from Korea, I think I only played this ONCE and really didn't care for it. Out of most 3D fighters I'm going to hold Tekken higher than anything else. 

Other misc. fighters: 

• Virtual On series: Another non-traditional fighter, but I enjoyed the competitive aspect of it back in arcades and both the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast ports. Good Lord, the fucking PlayStation 2 sequel was horrible though. I was bummed out that many people didn't play the PSN/XBLA re-release of Ontario Tangram though. 

• Anarchy Reigns/Max Anarchy: I really had high hopes for this game, but not many people picked it up nor gave it a chance like I did. Platinum Games are definitely my favorite gaming developers in the industry right now and I wish more people got behind this concept instead of allowing it to fall flat into the ground.

• Ehrgeiz: Much like many Final Fantasy fans at the time, I played this mainly just to play as the folks from Final Fantasy VII in a fighting game. My best bud had a copy of the PlayStation port, but I preferred the arcade cabinet's setup over the PSX pad layout. 

• Battle Arena Toshinden series: While I have a love/hate relationship with the PlayStation titles in this series, I played the hell out of the Gameboy port with friends in high school. This was one of the few portable games that wasn't Pokemon that we managed to have mini-tournaments in. 

• Killer Instinct series: One of my friends growing up had the original for SNES while I played the sequel in arcades off and on. From what I have played of the newest iteration on Xbox One, it reminds me a lot of Street Fighter IV, so I'm sure I would enjoy it if I took the time to learn the game. 

This wasn't overnight process either. My spirits were renewed when Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arrived and my close friends had all agreed to form a team on the World Tekken Federation community system, but it ended up with me doing the bulk of the work as I had more matches played and more experience earned for the team than ANYONE else on the team. Nothing against my friends, but if I'm going at this literally solo, then I'm better off not even being on a team. I left the team and only played Tekken Tag Tournament 2 out of my own personal enjoyment. I'm not a great player in that game by any stretch, but the lack of players to practice with locally, combined the frustrations with actually learning the game caused me to fall back into my comfort zone with Street Fighter IV. 

I chronicled my journey to B+ rank with Chun-Li on this blog's Facebook page on social media over the past year. That felt like a crowning achievement and personal milestone, but I didn't necessarily feel like "celebrating" when I should have. It merely felt like a reward for my countless hours of online play. With Ultra Street Fighter IV set to release that following week, I made up my mind then and there that I wasn't going to waste my time grinding to this point yet again. 

Keep in mind that I already did the level grind from D to B rank in both Super Street Fighter IV AND Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition after the online rankings were reset. To do this feat again, it felt like I was putting myself through the personal Hell that is the hit-or-miss online community of the FGC all over again. 

Furthermore, I finally came to grips to the reality...

I have lost my passion for this genre...

Nothing on the market right now really wants to draw me back in. The spark is gone. Sure, the Omega Mode changes to characters for Street Fighter IV sound cool, but I remember in the back of my head that the people I have to play or experiment with those said changes in-game are little to none.

The Mortal Kombat X trailers haven't done anything at all for me as I personally think the game looks like a hi-res version of Mortal Kombat 9. Killer Instinct Season 2 looks cool, but that's not enough to make me run out and purchase a Xbox One just for that. While I'm more inclined to purchase a Wii U in the near-future, I'm not running out for the new Super Smash Bros. like everyone else. Namco's Tekken 7 and Pokken (Pokemon-oriented fighter) are intriguing but not blowing my mind with excitement like they would have a year or two ago.

Everytime I see a new fighter, I get feeling of dread. Dread of having to going through the frustration and trials of learning characters, more dread of being pissed off at myself for not picking up said-characters, and it just gives me a headache thinking about it.

The irony of me not liking the "learning process" is pretty funny though.

A few weeks ago, I found myself discussing fighting games with one of my fellow fanatics of wrestling and he was talking about he was struggling how to do Super and Ultra Combos with charge characters in Street Fighter IV. I casually gave him a technique that I was doing out of habit to help myself and now the guy looks up to me as a mentor to help him learn stuff for the game that he was having trouble with. I don't feel like I'm qualified to be teaching ANYONE. That's why I gave up the Chun-Li Guide project I started on Google Documents back in 2012. It's still there if you want to reference it, but I'm sure that information is completely outdated now in Ultra Street Fighter IV. Consider that my humble gift to my fellow Chun-Li players as I'm sure there's more people who could benefit with all of that information in one place instead of scattered across the 'Net.

Regardless, I felt sorry for the guy and leave my door open for him to instant message me with questions from time to time. If I'm not playing, I guess it's the least I could do for those who are still passionate about the genre. No need for me to drag them down with me.

(Laughs) I guess... 

All hope is NOT lost...

My friends, I think we need some time apart... I'm sure you'll be fine without me for a while.

I'm positive that I'm not going to give up fighters for good, but I think my time of playing these games trying to impress people are over. I'm a slightly above-average Joe in this genre, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I just need a break... I'm sure that I will come back to see my old friends from this genre again sooner or later, but I have a whopping number of games on my always increasing gaming backlog to tackle. I've neglected FAR too many games in the last console generation of gaming and it's about time that I take the time and enjoy those said games and a bit more of life in general. 

Bellatrix Female Warriors - Series Premiere -- Results & Afterthoughts

Bellatrix made TV history last week by becoming the first all-women wrestling promotion to have its own show on British television. Broadcast on My Channel on November 6, 2014, the premiere episode featured three matches from Bellatrix X and had a hot crowd giving the impression of a hot product. Coupled with the studio setting and long banners highlighting the big names in the promotion and it would have come across pretty favorably to new viewers.

As the channel is only available on satellite TV, there would have been people without the capability to view it but that has been thought about, as the whole programme has been uploaded online for the whole world to see, as you can watch the ENTIRE show on their YouTube channel below.

For those so-called wrestling fans who are above watching anything low-resolution, Bellatrix has their show in full HD (720 and 1080p respectively), so there shouldn't be any complaints in that department.

Erin Angel vs. Lady Lory

WINNER: Erin Angel via Diving Cross Body

Not a bad opening contest. Lady Lory dominated the bulk of the affair with her ruthless aggression - no pun intended, but the babyface underdog sneaked by with a win after enduring all of Lory's physicality. One thing to take away here if you're only accustomed to watching WWE Diva matches - note that both women took the time to sell each other's offense and make it believable while adding their own personalities/characters to the storytelling of the match. WWE Divas aren't allowed to do this nearly as much (unless you're AJ Lee or the bulk of the NXT Divas) as I would love to see that in today's product.

Saraya Knight vs. Chanel

WINNER: Chanel via Standing Moonsault

Interesting to hear that Chanel is billed as the "future of women's wrestling." I marked out a little when Sweet Saraya came out to Linkin Park's "Faint" - one of my all-time favorite Linkin Park songs. Mad props to the crowd chanting, "You're a Legend!" to Sweet Saraya.

After seeing Chanel transition from a Tarantula to a Hurracanrana Pin was rather impressive, so I can see why Bellatrix are getting behind this girl. Chanel won under a bit of controversy, but you can't fault the lady for taking advantage of the situation. She maintained her babyface alignment by helping Saraya to her feet out good sportsmanship post-match though.

One thing I want to give Bellatrix props on is the use of replays and highlights. Ring of Honor does NOT use this enough nor as effectively as I would like in their current product.

Sweet Saraya shoots a colorful (read: profanity-laced) promo on the woman who distracted her long enough for Chanel to pick up the win. Obviously, Bellatrix is going to setup  a

Bellatrix British Ladies Title Match: Violet O’Hara vs. Penelope (w/ Axl Lynch) (Under British Rules/Rounds)

WINNER: Penelope wins with score 2 to Violet's 1 to become the NEW champion.

First of all, get comfortable for this one. It's a whooping 20 minutes long in length. If you're not too crazy about lengthy matches this one might not be your cup of tea.

First fall by Penelope via pinfall after a Swinging Neckbreaker. This was after a heavy technical exchange between the two at the start of the match to evade and escape each other's holds.

Round 4 (the bout is split into rounds like boxing under British Rules) is where the excitement happens. Violet gets "hot" on offense and starts speeding up the pace. I was skeptical at first, but now I can see why she's champion.

Second fall by Violet via pinfall after Asai DDT. The girls really threw out their big guns for the last ten minutes of the match.

Final fall by Penelope via pinfall after clocking Violet O'Hara with a Super Kick during a backflip counter. Violet gave it her best effort, but ultimately, Penelope came out of the match as the winner and new British Ladies Champion.

The broadcast ends with an update to their official rankings (something Ring of Honor did in the past) to show who are the top five women in Bellatrix who are in line for a future title opportunity. I thought this was a rather nice touch as it gives you an idea where your favorites stand after tonight's events, despite their wins and losses.

Closing Thoughts

Bellatrix was a great show from top to bottom. A solid presentation and great cinematography. Both of those traits are a must if you're looking to impress wrestling fans and get them to pay attention to your product. Otherwise, the superficial marks will be quick to disregard your promotion as "just another cheap indy backyard wrestling company" and go back defending World Wrestling Entertainment as the only entity that can product great wrestling.

If you care about women's wrestling or currently finding yourself becoming bored with women's wrestling in the mainstream promotions (especially WWE), I suggest giving this a shot. Impact Wrestling's Knockouts aren't the only girls in wrestling who can kick ass and take names. Besides, Paige's family is firmly behind this promotion, so you know the wrestling aspect is in great hands. 

REVIEW -- Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For is a 2014 American neo-noir crime thriller film and follow-up to the 2005 film Sin City. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, the script is written by Miller, and is primarily based on the second book in the Sin City series by Miller.

One of the smaller plots of the film is based on the short story "Just Another Saturday Night", which is collected in Booze, Broads, & Bullets, the sixth book in the comic series. Two original stories ("The Long Bad Night" and "Nancy's Last Dance") were created exclusively for the film written by Miller. The film was released on August 22, 2014 in theaters and has released on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 18, 2014.

Let's be serious here... It has been long overdue that I owe you guys a review on this film.

Cast: 

Mickey Rourke as Marv
Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan
Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Johnny
Rosario Dawson as Gail
Bruce Willis as John Hartigan
Eva Green as Ava Lord
Powers Boothe as Senator Roark
Dennis Haysbert as Manute
Ray Liotta as Joey
Christopher Meloni as Mort
Jeremy Piven as Bob
Christopher Lloyd as Kroenig
Jaime King as Goldie and Wendy
Juno Temple as Sally
Stacy Keach as Wallenquist
Marton Csokas as Damien Lord
Jude Ciccolella as Liebowitz
Jamie Chung as Miho
Julia Garner as Marcy
Lady Gaga as Bertha
Alexa PenaVega as Gilda

Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

"Just Another Saturday Night"

Marv (Mickey Rourke) regains consciousness on a highway overlooking the Projects, surrounded by several dead young men and a crashed police car and with no memory of how he got there. He retraces his steps, recalling since it's Saturday, he watched Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) dance at Kadie's Saloon. Stepping outside, he encounters four rich frat boys burning a homeless man alive. When Marv intervenes, the leader of the frat boys shoots him in the arm, calling him "Bernini Boy", which Marv mishears as "Bernie". They flee, and Marv follows, stealing a Police car on the way, which he crashes into their car, leading to his blackout and memory loss. He follows the two surviving frat boys into The Projects, the neighborhood where he grew up, and with the assistance of the deadly residents lurking in the shadows, he dispatches the frat boys. He questions the leader about being called "Bernini boy" and learns that it is the brand of coat he is wearing. After slitting the boy's throat, he considers his coat, and realizes he can't remember how he acquired it.

"The Long Bad Night (Part I)"

Johnny (Joseph Gordon Levitt), a cocky young gambler, arrives in Sin City and heads to Kadie's place, where he immediately hits the jackpot on multiple slot machines. Taking a young waitress, Marcie (Julia Garner) with him as a good luck charm, he buys into the backroom poker game led by the all-powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe). Johnny repeatedly wins in the high-stakes game, and cleans the senator out. One other player, the corrupt police lieutenant Liebowitz (Jude Ciccolella), warns him to flee the city, but instead Johnny takes Marcie out for a night on the town. He walks her home when Roark's goons suddenly attack him. He fights them off and tells Marcie to meet him at a hotel before he is escorted into the Senator's waiting limousine. In payment for the humiliation he suffered at the card game, Roark takes back his money and uses a pair of pliers to break three of Johnny's fingers. They toss him from the car and the Senator shoots Johnny in the leg. Roark then reveals that he recognized Johnny as his illegitimate son. However, he remarks that he only considered his dead son Roark Jr. his flesh and blood. He leaves Johnny alive, preferring to let him suffer, and Johnny swears revenge.

"A Dame to Kill For"

Years before "The Big Fat Kill", Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) attempts to put his violent past behind him, working as a private detective and leading a life of complete sobriety, struggling daily to refuse his inner demons. After saving the life of a young hooker (Juno Temple) who is nearly murdered by her businessman lover (Ray Liotta) he receives an unexpected phone call from his former lover Ava Lord (Eva Green), who left Dwight four years prior for a wealthy tycoon, Damian Lord (Marton Csokas). She begs him to meet her at Kadie's saloon, and despite his embittered feelings, he agrees. When Ava arrives, she begs forgiveness for leaving him, and infers she is afraid for her life before her massive chauffeur, Manute (Dennis Haysbert) arrives to escort her home. Unable to get her out of his mind, Dwight sneaks into Damian Lord's estate, where he observes Ava swimming, but is caught and beaten for his trouble. Dwight is returned home, where a nude Ava waits for him. He tries to throw her out, but can't resist her and they make love. She tells him that Damian and Manute torture her physically and mentally, and she knows Damian will kill her soon. Manute arrives and viciously beats a naked Dwight, tossing him out a window.

Determined to rescue Ava, Dwight recruits Marv to help him, and they mount an assault on Lord's compound. Marv attacks Manute, putting him in traction and tearing out his eye. Dwight confronts Damian Lord, who denies Ava's accusations, and an enraged Dwight beats him to death. As he reacts in horror, Ava appears and shoots Dwight several times, taunting him and thanking him for helping her murder her husband and take over his business. She shoots him in the face and forces him to fall out of a window, where Marv rescues him and takes him to Old Town. Dwight's old flame, Gail (Rosario Dawson), recognizes him and saves his life. With the help of Gail and the deadly assassin Miho (Jamie Chung), Dwight undergoes reconstructive surgery on his face and plots his revenge.

Meanwhile, two detectives, Mort (Christopher Meloni) and Bob (Jeremy Piven) investigate Damian's death. Ava claims Dwight was an obsessive ex-lover, and he killed her husband in a jealous rage. Bob is skeptical but Ava seduces Mort, who believes her every word. They begin an affair and Ava pressures him to find and kill Dwight. When Mort, obsessed with Ava, attempts to track Dwight down in Old Town (an action that would break the truce between the police and the prostitutes), Bob attempts to stop him. An enraged Mort shoots Bob in the head, then turns the gun on himself and dies on the roadside. Out of options, Ava reluctantly partners with the mob boss Wallenquist (Stacey Keach).

Dwight (with his reconstructed new face), accompanied by Gail and Miho, poses as Wallenquist's man from Phoenix. Inside Ava's estate, however, Manute sees past the new face and captures Dwight. Gail and Miho strike from Dwight's car, and Dwight shoots Manute with a hidden .25 he had up his left sleeve. Six bullets fail to kill him, and Manute aims shakily at Dwight as Ava unexpectedly grabs one of Manute's guns, shooting Manute several times. She attempts to convince Dwight to pair with her, and that the pain he suffered revealed his true intentions, but Dwight shoots her mid-kiss, and she dies in his arms.

"The Long Bad Night (Part II)"

Johnny visits an unlicensed doctor, Kroenig (Christopher Lloyd) who shoots up heroin before trading his services for Johnny's last forty dollars and his shoes. Realizing he left Marcie unprotected, Johnny flees to her hotel, but finds the Senator waiting for him along with Marcie's dismembered head and hands. Again, the senator lets him go. Intent on taking down Roark, Johnny scrounges a dollar from a sympathetic waitress (Lady Gaga) which he uses to regain enough money playing slots to buy his way into Roark's game the following night. Playing a card shark's con, Johnny folds his first few hands, allowing Roark to taunt him about his dead mother. He once again cons Roark into going all in, and then reveals his winning hand. Johnny taunts his father, reminding him that tonight's story of how the same man beat him twice will follow him for the rest of his life. His vengeance completed, Johnny smiles resignedly as Roark dismissively shoots him in the head, commanding his men to get rid of the body.

"Nancy's Last Dance"

Set four years after "That Yellow Bastard", Nancy Callahan struggles to cope with John Hartigan's selfless suicide. Drinking heavily, she is obsessed with vengeance on Senator Roark, for having driven Hartigan to kill himself. As she wallows in despair, the ghost of Hartigan (Bruce Willis) watches over her, unable to reach her but still attempting to help. On the same night that Johnny joins the backroom poker game, Nancy attempts to shoot Roark from the stage of Kadie's, but finds herself unable to pull the trigger, possibly due to Hartigan's ghostly influence.

Nancy hallucinates a visit from Roark, and shortly thereafter cuts her hair and smashes a mirror, using its shards to cut her face. She decides to get Marv to help her kill Roark by showing him the scars, and making him believe Roark was responsible. As they step out of the club, they meet a motorcycle gang there to shoot up the place. Marv kills two, but leaves their leader for Nancy to finish off. The pair mount an assault on Roark's compound, and Marv slaughters Roark's bodyguards while Nancy picks off the guards with a crossbow. Marv is wounded, and Nancy continues on to confront Roark by herself. Roark shoots her several times and is about to finish her off when Hartigan's ghost suddenly flashes in the mirror to distract him, which gives Nancy enough time to recover and shoot.

The Verdict: 

Much like the film itself, I'm going to split this review into four sections. 

"Just Another Saturday Night"

This short introduction instantly throws a bit of confusion at viewers right out of the bat. This is a common issue with this film as I personally had to remind myself about how all of these events in this film take place in chronological order. The thing you have to keep in mind that the bulk of this film is a prequel to a bulk of the events of the first film, with Nancy's story being the only exception.

This introduction serves as an interesting action-packed set piece to kick things off. This portion of the film also serves as a humble reminder that Marv is ultimately the star of the Sin City franchise and we're going to be seeing a LOT more of him in this film by the time the credits roll.  

"A Dame to Kill For"

Without a shadow of a doubt, this easily the best story of the entire film on pure acting alone. Josh Bolin and Eva Green have a bit of magical chemistry together on screen and I don't mean their "steamy" sexual encounter either. Every scene that they are in together is reminiscent of Mary Astor and Humphrey Bogart's on-screen chemistry in The Maltese Falcon (1941).

It makes me wish that they were alive back during the boom period of classic film noir films in this genre as their talents would truly be appreciated back then than in their performance in this film. Don't get me wrong, their performance is nothing less of phenomenal but I think this film was skipped over by many fans of the original, namely due to the significant gap between the original theatrical release and this sequel. 

Call me biased but I felt that Jamie Chung was a mediocre replacement for Devon Aoki's portrayal of Miho. Sadly, Aoki hasn't been seen in anything since 2009, so that's a shame that Robert Rodriguez couldn't get her to come back. While we're on the subject of the girls of Old Town, I felt that their involvement was a little rushed towards the end of this chapter. They just had to squeeze in a quick cameo from Goldy and Wendy (Jaime King) to serve as a humble reminder of what time frame this took place compared to the first film.

Another thing that looked rather cheesy to me during this chapter was Dwight's post-surgery appearance. The only thing they did was give Josh Brolin a wig to look like Clive Owen. So you're telling me that they couldn't have offered Clive Owen a paycheck just to film that last sequence? They got Bruce Willis to film that split second of footage for those "ghost" of Hartigan sequences and he looks ancient now. You KNEW that they filmed that footage immediately after the first film. 

"The Long Bad Night (Part I & II)"

I personally felt that Robert Rodriguez could have gotten just about anyone else to play a role that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was easily typecast into this part for, but it was an interesting narrative nonetheless. It manages to add another layer of villainy to Senator Roark's already extensive resume. It's not like audiences already don't hate this guy enough, but to see the lows he's willing to go against his own son just to make an example of his show of power and dominance in Sin City is downright ruthless. 

At the same time, the audience is treated to Nancy's deteriorating sanity as she mourns over the loss of Hartigan. 

I have to wonder if Lady Gaga appearing in Robert Rodriguez's films is going to be a recurring theme. First, she was in Machete Kills earlier this year (and more likely will appear in Machete Kills, Again!) and now she appears in this. I enjoyed her in both roles, so I'm not complaining in the least. 

"Nancy's Last Dance"

Nancy's sanity has been deteriorating from the start of this film. This final act is where she finally reaches her boiling point and took action against Senator Roark. I loved Nancy's transformation - mentally and physically - that took place over the course of the film, but sadly, it's Marv who steals the spotlight from her during this chapter.

Nancy is the one who gets to pull the trigger on Senator Roark, but felt the final confrontation was a little underwhelming after Marv pretty much did all of the dirty work for her outside of killing Roark. Nancy couldn't even do that on her own without Hartigan's ghost giving her the distraction that she needed to get the jump on Roark for the kill. To say that Sin City has the trend of making (almost) all of the women in these films bad-asses, Nancy turned out pretty damn weak in this last hurrah. 

Closing Thoughts 

If I had to take anything away from this film right off the bat, it's that the black-and-white color scheme isn't as cool and edgy as it was back in 2005. The nine year gap between films did not do the style any favors in the least either. That being said, I wish this sequel came out a LOT sooner, but I can't hold it against Robert Rodriguez and this film's cast and crew for the numerous setbacks (mostly casting issues) that plagued them throughout the years.

Another issue I have with this film that there's a little bit of confusion on the chronological order of all of the events in these films. We saw Marv die in the first film, only for him to pop up constantly in this film from start to finish. For fans of the Sin City graphic novels, this is a no-brainer how these events played out, but for the average moviegoer this could be a tad bit confusing.

Overall, the film as a whole isn't bad, but unlike it's predecessor, it doesn't offer anything new or fresh. Stellar performances by the cast, especially Josh Brolin and Eva Green, don't manage to save this film from being a slightly above average film. It's a damn shame too as I think there would have been more interest here if there wasn't such a huge stretch between the two films and if it didn't release in an already superhero-heavily box office period. Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy were still in theaters at the time, so that didn't do this film any favors either.

As a result, Robert Rodriguez delivers his second mediocre big budget box office release in a row for 2014, following in the footsteps of Machete Kills. Much like that film, I'm going to have to give this film a slightly above average score to fit.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For nets a 8 out of 10. This score would have been lower but I absolutely loved Josh Brolin and Eva Green's performances in their portion of the narrative. That was worth the price of admission alone. 

PREVIEW -- Overwatch

Overwatch was one of the first "big" news to come out of BlizzCon this weekend was Blizzard Entertainment's reveal of their take on the science-fiction genre with a new team-based shooter in the vein of the VERY popular and successful team-based shooter, Team Fortress 2.

It's my pleasure to share the multiple trailers, gameplay videos, and information that was unveiled today to the masses. I don't know about anyone else but Blizzard definitely has perked my interest.

Premiere Trailer

I wish more developers would do trailers like this. Hell, I wouldn't even mind a full-length animated series based within this universe.

Every Known Character Class, Broken Down

Credit: Kotaku for the information on all of the classes thus far. 

Right now, there are twelve announced classes. Each one works differently, in terms of controls and in terms of role. Let's take a closer look, shall we? Note how many of these moves and abilities were showcased in the trailer—the flashiness wasn't all for show!

Tracer

Tracer is a young pilot with a cute accent that somehow got lost in time during a test flight. As a result, she can manipulate time at will. Left clicking uses her "pulse pistols," Shift allows her to dash forward in time, E allows her to dash backwards in time, and Q drops a pulse bomb. See all of this in action here:

Winston

The cool, bespectacled class we saw in the trailer earlier, Winston is a genetically engineered gorilla who is also a scientist. Right click uses his "Tesla Cannons," which he can charge, Shift lets him use a Jump Pack for added mobility, E makes Winston put up a shield, and Q lets Winston go into "Primal Rage," something that looks like a beserk mode (which we saw in the trailer!) 

Symmetra

A lady obsessed with perfection and order, Symmetra can bend reality, use sentry drones, and set up teleporters.

Bastion

A otherwise gentle robot (see the birdy?), Bastion can shoot, set up remote controlled mines, turn into a cannon, and more.

Reaper

One of the slickest of the bunch, Reaper is a pistol-wielding terrorist according to Overwatch's fiction. He can turn into a wraith, he has a move called Shadow Step that allows him to teleport, he can do an awesome spinning move called death blossom, and more.

Torbjorn

An infamous engineer, Torbjorn has a rivet gun, a forge hammer (of course), a turret, and more.

Widowmaker

One of the more nefarious-looking classes, Widowmaker is an assassin with no emotion (how original). Her sniper is called "Widow's Kiss," she has a grappling hook, and she can set up mines.

Hanzo

A former criminal, Hanzo can use a bow and arrow for damage, or to reveal nearby enemies (very clever). Hanzo can also wall climb, and he can unleash dragons onto his enemies.

Zenyatta

A monk seeking enlightenment, Zenyatta can shoot all sorts of orbs, and he can become immune to damage by transcending reality.

Reinhardt

A hammer wielding champion, Reinhardt can also pull out a shield, as well as charge enemies. Looks like a bulky class that packs a lot of power.

Pharah

A soldier, Pharah can shoot rockets, has versatile jets that can boost her, she has concussive blasts, and generally very offense-oriented moves. Basically, she looks like she'll be a major force to be reckoned with.

Mercy

One of the more angelic-looking classes, Mercy is a literal guardian angel. She can heal, she's a scientist, she uses a staff, as well as a small blaster.

QUICKIE -- Mike Tyson Mysteries - Series Premiere

When I first saw the trailers for this, my initial reaction was "This is either going to be extremely stupid or crazy enough to work as a sleeper hit". I was relieved to see that this show fell into the latter category. Adult Swim tends to have more stupidity on their animation block than quality cartoons nowadays, outside of reruns of older, retired hits. After the flop that was The Boondocks' last season, I had little faith in Adult Swim and Cartoon Network's creative talents on new original programming. Fortunately, Season 2 of Black Dynamite and the first season of Rick & Morty have remedied that somewhat, but I'm glad to see there's something new being brought to the table here.

Synopsis:

Mike Tyson Mysteries is an animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation for Adult Swim. It premiered October 27, 2014. The series features Mike Tyson solving mysteries, in the style of Scooby-Doo!, Jonny Quest and Mr. T. A sneak peek for the show premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 25, 2014.

Main Cast: 

Mike Tyson as Himself
Norm MacDonald as Pigeon
Rachel Ramras as Yung Hee Tyson
Jim Rash as John Chambers the 9th Marquess of Queensberry

The Verdict: 

You can find both this pilot episode and episode two on Adult Swim's website here.

Each episode is merely 11 minutes in length, but that doesn't stop this cartoon from jamming in the laughs. The funniest thing on this show is Mike Tyson actually voicing himself. You can easily tell that he's merely reading the jokes off the script and naturally sounding clueless or reacting in an absent-minded manner as he would do in a real life in environment. I wouldn't be doing this review justice if I didn't mention Norm MacDonald and Jim Rash offering their comedic talents to voice Tyson's sidekicks on this show. Norm plays Pigeon who is a wise-cracking man trapped in a pigeon's body, much like Klaus from American Dad while Jim Rash plays the Marquess of Queensberry, a gentleman ghost who hangs around the group who finds himself getting disgusted with both Pigeon and Tyson's antics on a regular basis. Rachel Ramras plays Tyson's fictional adopted daughter, Yung Hee, who pretty much is fills the role of Scooby Doo's Velma on this cartoon - she's the only person who approaches these situations they find themselves in logically and in an intelligent manner.

The actual mystery for this episode is laughable for the most part, especially when they resolve the matter. I notice that this "pattern" is repeated in the following episode, where the team decides to tackle a random mystery. Tyson's team then gets into a little mischief or get in over their heads, which results in Mike Tyson beating the shit out of someone or something.

Is this show worth checking out?

Yes. You owe yourself to check out at least the pilot episode.