Quick thoughts on a few summer movies

Wolverine. I liked it, but lots of other people didn’t. Those that didn’t like Wolverine are able to raise good points why they didn’t like it. That said, when I was walking out of the theater and hadn’t heard any of those complaints, I had enjoyed myself. I’d pay to see a sequel.

Star Trek. I really like this one. I like TNG and other the other Star Trek series more than The Original Series, so I wasn’t sure if I’d like this re-boot when I first heard of it. Turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about, as it was quite watchable. While I think it could have been a little less mainstream, that mainstream appeal is what will get more Star Trek films made – which is something I’m looking forward to.

Terminator Salvation. I saw this one just so I wouldn’t have to avoid spoilers and could checkout what other people thought of it. The movie has some good visuals and some nifty action scenes. Other than that, it was just alright. T2 remains the best of the series.

RPG link
Which of these movies would serve as a basis for a good pen and paper roleplaying game? Wolverine is super heroes, without the costumes. There’s already plenty of Super Hero RPGs out there. I’ve heard Mutants and Masterminds is one of the better ones.

Star Trek: I don’t know if setting a campaign in the Star Trek universe would be better or worse than a made up D20 Future setting. A good GM could make either work. (And of course there have been several official Star Trek RPGs released over the years, one of which would probably work fine.)

Terminator: Post Apocalyptic settings can be interesting and exciting. I do find them a bit depressing though. Spellchrome has a few areas that are designed as Post Apocalyptic settings, such as the Barrier Zone, although as I just mentioned, they’re a bit too gloomy to make a whole world like that.

Not to far after the set up Neeson’s character is a man on a mission, and he has to go through a lot of bad guys in order to get his daughter back.  The moral of the story is either don’t partake in human trafficking because you never know who you’re going to eventually piss off, or don’t mess with Liam Neeson. One of the two.

Just previous to Taken I had seen Max Payne out on DVD.  That was a movie that had style but left me wanting for more action.  More shooting.  Taken didn’t leave me wanting for more action. Was Taken formulaic? Probably. Unrealistic? Yup. However, altering either of those things wouldn’t have made it a better action movie.

If you’re a Game Master running a RPG adventure, Taken serves as a pretty good example of how to lay out a plot.  Going here will lead this other place, which will gain some new information, and so on.  Back in the day I was a player in a series of game sessions that had our characters traveling across Future Europe trying to break up a ring of human traffickers.  The adventures provided good opposition and objectives.

Here’s a trailer for Taken:

(IGN via YouTube)