A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

Wow…   Just wow…

Seriously, THIS is the Superman film we’ve been waiting for!  Now the station staff know I’m not the biggest fan of the Dark Knight Trilogy (although yes, I will be going to watch the three film IMAX next month), but they, and Christopher Nolan‘s input shines through, grounding the film from the VERY Scifi start.  The direction by Zack Snyder is solid, the story by David S. Goyer shines, from start to finish.

In Man of Steel we actually get to see more of the life of Krypton than we EVER have before.  This is a test tube society, people are bred for specific roles in life, Warrior, Scientist, Diplomat… and the society has suffered because of it!

Krypton is a dying world, years of harvesting energy from the planets core depleting it and leading to a catastrophe.  Zor-El (played AMAZINGLY by Russell Crowe), tries to warn the ruling council, but knowing how it will turn out, he and his wife, Lara Vor-Ul (the incredibly beautiful Ayelet Zurer), give birth to the first (and last) son of Krypton to be born be natural means.  Whilst Zod (Michael Shannon), tries to stop the council by military coup, but ultimately fails and is banished to the Phantom Zone by the council.

This is an incredibly strong opening for the film, Crowe is on fine form (something I, and others, will be shocked by, considering his films of late have been, well, flat) as Jor-El and he steals the film up until the destruction of Krypton and beyond.

This, of course, leads us to Earth, 33 years later and an adult Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), hiding from the world and doing odd jobs here and there, having to move on when he uses his power for good and saving people in case he is found out and shunned.

We very soon get to meet Lois Lane (played brilliantly by Amy Adams), looking into an alien ship discovery.

Some excellent Smallville shout outs happen here, firstly we meet Dr. Emil Hamilton, played by West Wings Richard Schiff, however, the US Air Force technician helping him is played by Alessandro Juliani, who played Dr. Hamilton in the TV series (and yes, quite a few people in the cinema also recognised this when you heard the little giggles to see him)

From here on in, the films turns into a tour de force of just HOW powerful Kryptonians can be on Earth.  Not only Zod, but his small army aswell, ESPECIALLY his right hand lieutenant Faora-Ui (Antje Traue), who (with the help of some amazing CGI, takes down US soldiers with a combination of military martial arts, super speed and super strength.

We also meet US Colonel Nathan Hardy (Christopher Meloni), who goes by the codename Guardian throughout the film, in, what I am hoping, means we will (somehow) see the return of this character in a sequel as the Star Labs hero.  Here’s hoping!

The fight scenes between Superman and others, and all the destruction they bring, truly leap off the screen, and not just because of 3D (I watched the 2D screening), but because they are so strong and perfectly done.

JJ. Abrams can learn a lot from Zak Snyders use of lens flare aswell, what is in the film has a natural place and looks like its MEANT to be there!  The whole film looks beautiful throughout and I’d happily goto see the film again if I can.

I’ve mentioned in previous reviews about my “tingle factor” for films and how I base my scoring of a film on how it makes me feel.

Avengers made me tingle and scored highly because of it.  Man of steel didn’t give me the tingles, it made me feel stronger, as a person, but thats because the character is meant to do that and Snyder brings that out brilliantly!  Superman is a shining beacon for all humanity to strive to be better, compared to Batman, who is there to instill fear in those that would do wrong, Superman brings the light to the world.

It’s clear we’re gearing upto, if not a full on Justice League movie, a live action Batman/Superman would be IMMENSE!  And with Zak Snyder, David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan at the helm, we could genuinely see a really good cinema takings scrap between Marvel and DC, something the fans want AND DESERVE!

This film LITERALLY flies!

9/10

~Lone

A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, a millennium after events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help.

A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, a millennium after events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must travel across earth to retrieve the beacon to signal for help.

After Earth starts strongly grabbing your attention with the main storyline straight away. This was a great way to start the film, as expectations of Jaden Smith sharing the screen with father Will was questionable.  The film strips that down straight away and throws you into the crash landing on Earth.

You learn quickly that the film is based around the relationship of father and son (a great movie release time around fathers day).  The bond between father and son grows throughout the film which was expected but still left you with the tingly feels throughout the film. I personally went into the film with preconceived ideas of Jaden and was pleasantly surprised by his performance in an action based storyline. Would it be as good without Will Smith – No, but the actual bond is conveyed well near the end of the film.

Although very serious there are a few golden moments and gag lines which break the tension and increase the likeability. Being jumpy at times the film kept you on your toes anticipating the new dangers which lurked in every corner of ‘Earth’.

Ok so the Techy side of things:

The scenario detailing lacked somewhat for me, almost seeming rushed. Although massively expansive and layers. The actual motion of the ‘New Earth’ wasn’t detailed enough for the technology of today.

For what looked liked a ‘Rainforest/ disturbed’ atmosphere you only really see two types of weather sunny and freezing. Although a short scene covers rain fall, I feel that an unstable atmosphere would kick up more weather fronts quicker and possibly multiple fronts within hours.

The monsters although very well animated, looked slightly pixelated, with no real intricate detailing on them.  A simple splash of imaginative colour could have changed this, in order to convey evolution which is described in the brief for ‘Earth’

A final thought:-

A great film which I would definitely buy the DvD and watch at home. I would watch it again at the cinema but would need to leave it a week or two in between.

A sequel, ‘After Earth 2’ is rumoured to be releasing in 2015.

7.5 / 10 – A definite watch needed here guys.

~Wiskets

Maxis has been busy patching up SimCity once again, this time readying it’s latest fix in version 5.0.

There is certainly plenty new to been seen in version 5.0, such as better trading, improvements to great works and fixes for garbage and recycling trucks.

Here’s the patch notes.

SimCity Update 5.0 patch notes

• New: Historic Price charts for Global Market resources are available from the SimCity World button on the main menu.
• New: The Region Wall chat has been completely updated with a new look and new functionality! Chat functions more efficiently and it’s much easier to communicate with other players. Time stamps show on chat messages on rollover. Regional events are easier to read and can be toggled on and off.
• New: Added a filter for friends’ regions in the join region section.
• New: Trading control. Added feature to give players more control over their utilities. Players can now choose whether or not to keep their power, water, or sewage local. This setting can be found on the information panel accessible by clicking on the power plant, water tower, or sewage pipe or plant. Sharing with the region is on by default.
• New: Regional Missions: Added seven new regional missions: Drink It Up!, Plug In, So Stoked, The Wheels on the Bus, Ferry Dust, Station to Station, and Riding Coach.
• New: Regional Achievement: Added a new regional achievement, Field Trip!
• Gifting Improvements: Cash gifts are now delivered electronically, not by truck. This should improve the efficiency of gifting.
• Resource gifts: Resource gifts will happen more reliably. Multiple trucks can make deliveries at once if they are available in the sending city and the truck capacities have been increased.
• Great Works Improvements: Delivery trucks will mark their resources as dropped off as soon as they reach the Great Works, instead of when they arrive back in the city. This will make tracking time more reliable.
• Great Works Improvements: Update to have all resources at Great Works handled at the regional level. This will address players in different cities seeing different resources once the server has processed the region and cities.
• Great Works Improvements: Fixed an issue where an Arcology would maintain power from the region and fixed an issue where shoppers would not increase at the Arcology as it was leveled up. This will update in both existing and new Arcologies.
• Great Works Improvements: Tuned the Solar Farm.
• Regional Unlocks: The advanced coal mine unlocks regionally. Fixed issue where the Trade HQ sometimes did not unlock.
• Fire Advisor Trading clarity: Tuned the Fire advisor so they do not tell you that neighbors are sending fire trucks when your neighbor has no fire stations.
• Trading: School buses that travel from a neighbor’s city will show that city’s avatar.
• Regional Commuting: Fixed an issue where Sims would not be able to take transit out of cities with lots of streetcars or shuttle buses. This could cause some cases where commuting Sims could not return home and their homes would go abandoned.
• Garbage Trucks and Recycling Trucks: Fixed an issue that some cities experienced where garbage and recycling trucks do not leave their buildings or disappeared when trading service with neighbors. Existing cities who have trucks that have disappeared will have to demolish their missing trucks’ garages and plop new garages.
• Text Clarification: The “Out of Money” message now says “Can’t find work” when appropriate in rollover feedback and the approval rating UI. This is to clarify your Sims’ actual need.

Hi Guys,

    So the question is what’s your favourite class to play in PvP and why?

Mine personally at the moment is Destruction Warlock:-

    Check me out if you want http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/outland/Xarvo/simple

I just love the survivability and the damage you can cause linking the right move mechanics. Not only does the warlock kit look wicked through almost all Tiers and PvP sets but their spells also look intensely strong when casted on a target.

I am also playing a fire mage which I’m becoming really partial to but only being level 55, I still have a lot to learn about them and their capabilities. Any feedback would be great although I have seen many youtube footage about ‘How to play mage’.

Let me know your favourite PvP class and why! Tell your mates to reply so we can get a good discussion on our hands!

Yours

Wiskets.

Got a good imagination and can create adventurous stories? We need you to create our storyboard for our online campaign and potential comics on site. This will need you to continuously write new material down to keep the interest of gamers and comic readers.

If you have a good understanding of game lore and would like to express or create your own then this could be the role for you to undertake!

Skills needed for the role:

• Good, diverse and edgy imagination

• The ability to convey your thoughts into a storyboard format

• Good literacy skills and punctuality

• The ability to hit deadlines

Desirable skills needed for role:

• Previous experience storyboarding

• A portfolio of previous experience and your own stories

• Flexibility with your storyboarding

• A good understanding of internet socialising, and usage of group meeting software such as Dolby Axon and Skype to convey ideas.

This is a volunteer based role to start, with opportunities for paid employment later on.

Click “Apply for this job” underneath this posting on our main Jobs page to apply for this role.

You can also email admin@sanitarium.fm for get more information about this role.