Double Dragon (1994)

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I don’t know how the hell you screw up “Double Dragon.” It’s a beat em up video game set in the future where two warriors Jimmy and Billy (or Bimmy if you’ve played the video game) have to save their girlfriend from a humongous crime syndicate. There could have been so much to go on with this concept, and it might have made for a wicked great apocalyptic action film. Instead, much like “Mortal Kombat,” it’s neutered for kids, and sucked of all of its originality. Even at eleven years old I knew “Double Dragon” sucked. And I liked everything, back then. Even the Marvel Comics mini-series had more of a toothy, edgy vision of the video games than this movie did.

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The Last Starfighter (1984)

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

My love for “The Last Starfighter” was cultivated through late night cable television in the early nineties, where I was oblivious to its existence for many years. Yes, it’s a major rip off of “Star Wars: A New Hope,” but that’s what’s so entertaining about it. It embraces its derivative functions, and runs with it to deliver a fun kids space opera that’s simple, but exciting. Director Nick Castle’s “The Last Starfighter” has rapidly become one of my favorite action films of all time as it twists the silliness in to a riveting and rousing fight between an underdog and a galactic force of evil.

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Video Games: The Movie (2014)

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

One of the many things I really like about “Video Games: The Movie” is that it occasionally shares knowledge that not even vintage gamers like me knew. I was always convinced the term “bits” was a completely nonsensical buzzword invented to sell games, but surely enough it’s a real term. It’s not only real, but makes a big difference in regards to game consoles. While “Video Games: The Movie” may not shed new information for everyone, it’s at least a charismatic and entertaining celebration of the medium that’s become big business all over the world.

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Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

You have to appreciate the kind of world that “Wreck It Ralph” creates, paying homage to the vintage video games of the gamer culture, and building on that to introduce some very entertaining characters, with some complex issues about self worth, and what defines them. Though very derivative, “Wreck It Ralph” is a fun movie, especially for an ex-gamer like myself, and the director and writers really keep their target audience in view, while also giving some nods to the folks that grew up with the classics, offering endless Easter Eggs that help flesh out this rather unique tale of a bad guy seeking to show that he’s much more than a destructive force.

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Game Companion (2014)

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I really like the concept that director Jeff James Monson and writer Brian Morelan go for with what I would describe as “Weird Science” for the gamer audiences. “Game Companion” is a funny and zany short film about two hardcore gamers that happen to master their favorite fighting game. Little do they know that their reward is being able to garner a companion in the beautiful game character Kimiko. But things go awry quickly.

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The Guild: Complete Megaset (DVD)

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

It’s surprising how much “The Big Bang Theory” owes a debt to Felicia Day’s web series “The Guild.” Both series are about a small group of flawed but likable individuals who hide in their fandom, and confront life through the lens of video games, science fiction, and pop culture. And one of their main rivals is a character played by Wil Wheaton. That said, “The Guild” really managed to expose actress and all around adorable geek goddess Felicia Day to the online masses, paving her as a self made comedic performer who felt unpolished, but never amateurish. Day’s character Codex is surely a flawed girl with neuroses that stifle her from achieving true happiness, but we root for her because Felicia Day knows how to write the character with empathy.

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