#<- (bro is back from the mad max wasteland) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ichorai · 2 years ago

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almost (sweet music) ; robin buckley.

track two of WASTELAND, BABY!

pairing ; robin buckley x harrington!f!reader

synopsis ; five instances robin fell in love with you just a bit more.

words ; 3.7k

themes ; fluff, mild angst

warnings / includes ; profanity, reader is steve's sister, mild season four spoilers, brief description of injury, one kiss (!!!), lots of seventies/eighties movies, eddie LIVES bcs fuck the suffer bros, steve being annoying but we love him, it's a gay mess in there folks :D two awkward lovesick lesbians <3

main masterlist.

“Back again, nerd?” your brother called out from behind the counter of Home Video, cocking an eyebrow at you as he splayed his palms over the smooth surface. His elbow knocked against the metal rack of snacks just to the side, brightly-colored boxes of Raisinets and Goobers toppling to the ground.

Barely holding back a snort, you stuck your tongue out at him. “I’m not helping you pick those up. And I’m not here for you. I finished Footloose, so I’m in the mood for something a bit more on the darker side.”

Steve glared at you as he shuffled around the counter, grumpily picking up the boxes from the floor. “Over there,” he bit out, dumping the Raisinets back on the counter with a derisive huff before using his head to beckon towards the back of the store. “Horrors and thrillers are near the back. Robin’s doing inventory, go ask her what’s available.”

Your heart seemed to crawl into your throat at his words, and you managed a tight nod, swiveling on your heel to make your way to the back.

The store was dimly lit with few overhead lights the color of molten honey, accompanied by the neon red signs littered around the store. Your teeth worried on your bottom lip upon seeing the back of Robin’s head pop up from an aisle over.

“Hey Robin,” you said, which startled a small noise of shock out of her. Her head whipped around, eyes blown wide open.

“Oh my God, you scared the crap outta me!” she spoke over the shelf of films. “You really know how to sneak up on a person, huh?”

A wince fell from your lips. “Sorry. Steve told me you could fix me up with a couple watches. Anything with horror or action would be great.”

“Yeah, for sure. We’ve got Terminator, The Exorcist, Scarface, Star Wars, Jaws, Mad Max, Nightmare on Elm Street… any of those seem interesting? I personally recommend the last one if you’re in for a good spook. Plus Nancy Thompson in that movie is super—” She abruptly paused in her words, staring at you with owlish eyes.

You tilted your head. “Super…?”

Scratching the back of her neck, she slowly winced out, “Super, uh, cool. Love her character.” She fumbled for a moment on her side before handing the movie’s sleeve to you over the aisle.

A gentle smile graced the corner of your lips as you observed the cover art. “I’ll let you know what I think.”

“Yeah!” she blurted out, a bit louder than she meant to be. Rouge dusted over the freckles on her cheeks. She started walking around the aisle to make her way over to you, another movie clutched between her fingers. Before she could even think to stop herself, the words were already tumbling from her mouth, “I mean it doesn’t have much action or horror but one of my favorites is this one called E.T. You should totally watch it, one of my all-time favorites now. I know it seems absurd, your brother tells me I’m a lunatic, but I believe UFOs a hundred percent exist. The universe is just so big, you know? There’s gotta be aliens somewhere out there. Now, I’m not completely bonkers, I don’t believe in stuff like the Jersey Devil—though I’m on the fence with Bigfoot. Big hairy ape-like creatures living in the mountains doesn’t seem too absurd, right? Oh God, I’m talking too much. Am I talking too much? I should shut up. God, this is so embarrassing. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m saying all this.”

You stood there, smile just about permanently etched into your lips as you listened to her endearing rambles. “No, no, it’s nice,” you said quietly, a stark juxtaposition to her lively chatter. “I like hearing you talk. It’s very insightful.”

The genuine surprise that flooded Robin’s features made your heart break just slightly. How many times has she been told to be quiet and keep her thoughts to herself? You gently took the second movie from her, your fingertips grazing her own.

A quiet, awkward silence filled the space between you, and you scuffed your shoe against the wooden floors before jerking your head to Steve trying to balance a pencil between his nose and mouth. “Thanks for the recommendations, Robin. I’m sure I’ll love them. Make sure my brother doesn’t torture some poor girl into going on a date with him.”

A chuckle bubbled in her throat. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure he’s hit a decade-long dry spell—and believe me, celibacy makes him very cranky. I can assure you, that is not fun to deal with.” Robin paused for a moment when you started cracking up with laughter, her stomach squirming with glee. “See you later! Or, maybe not. I hope I do. But if I don’t, that’s fine too, I—I’m doing it again. Shit.”

You wrinkled your nose in amusement, and Robin felt like she was going to spontaneously combust into flames. Did you have to be so cute?

“I’ll definitely be back sometime soon. See you later!” you said before turning on your heel. Pausing at the end of the aisle, you looked over your shoulder one last time. “Oh, and, for the record, I think you’re right. Our universe is way too big for there not to be any aliens.”

With that, you strode out of the store, flipping Steve the middle finger and high-fiving Dustin who was just making his way inside.

Robin’s feet were planted to the same spot, her eyes fixated on nothing in particular as she replayed your conversation in her head over and over again. A silly smile had plastered itself over her mouth.

Shit. This wasn’t good. She wasn’t into her best friend’s sibling, was she? No, that was just absurd.

You did have a really pretty smile, though.

The Harrington’s doorbell trilled faintly when Robin pressed her finger on the round button. Not even a full second passed by before she pushed on it twice more, tapping her foot against the welcome mat with impatience. Absent-mindedly, she tucked a strand of her short, mousy hair behind her ear—it’d recently been trimmed; partially due to the heat of summer approaching, and partially because Robin knew she’d get back into the nervous habit of chewing on her hair if it got too long.

Finally, the door swung open.

But it wasn’t Steve who greeted her, it was you.

You, with that curious smile Robin had grown so fond of. You, with your multi-hued checkered button down that was far too large for you. You, with a birthmark she’d never noticed before just beside the corner of your eye that Robin wanted to kiss so very badly—

“Hi, Robin,” you said, effectively snapping her out of her reverie. “Are you here for my brother?”

It took her a good second to swallow down the lump in her throat and croak out, “Yeah! Yeah, is he here? See, we’re supposed to go to the arcade today but he told me the arcade isn’t a fun place to hang out anymore, which he only says because I absolutely demolish him in every game we play. So, I’m not so sure, we might be going somewhere else. I’m running my mouth again, aren’t I?”

“It’s fine,” you waved her off with an easy shrug before she could apologize. “I finished Nightmare on Elm Street, by the way. It was really fun! And you were right, Nancy Thompson is super cool in this one. The actress is gorgeous.”

You felt a sudden scuff on your shoulder, Steve’s face appearing only inches away from yours, twisted into a sneer. “Who’s gorgeous? Me?”

“Get off me,” you barked lowly, shoving him away with a palm flat against his cheek. “And none of your business.”

Steve reached over to muss your hair, and you fruitlessly attempted to duck out of his reach, but his damned long arms managed to twist you over and rub his fist over the crown of your head. “Stop, you’re such an ass!” you hissed out, grabbing his thumb to bite down on it.

Robin watched with amusement as Steve yowled out a string of profanities, jumping back and wiping his finger down his jacket. He glanced over at her before saying, “You know, Y/N has a bunch of posters of actresses she likes. One of Jessica Lange, another of… Jennifer Beals, was it? Oh, and one of Carrie Fisher in that Star Wars movie! In a bikini.”

Eyebrows raised in surprise, Robin swiveled her gaze to you just in time to see your scowl deepen, fist colliding with Steve’s bicep with a satisfying smack. “Shut up, you dickhead! Oh my God!”

You threw your hands up in exasperation, briefly shooting Robin an apologetic look before swiveling on your heel and storming away.

“Bye, Y/N!” Robin called over Steve’s cackling shoulder. “That was uncalled for,” she said to her friend, who had righted himself whilst swinging the car keys around his pointer finger. “Great taste in actresses, though.”

Mirth danced in Steve’s eyes. He unlocked his car, clambering into the driver’s seat. “You have my approval, by the way,” he commented as soon as Robin swung in.

The brunette quirked an eyebrow upwards with confusion. “Huh? Approval for what?”

Steve snorted. “If you wanna date Y/N, you have my approval. I say go for it.”

Uncharacteristically, Robin stayed quiet, her mind moving a million miles a minute. If Steve looked over, he probably would’ve seen steam coming out of her ears.

“It’s clear she’s into boobies, too.”

Robin’s heart lurched into her throat. Hollowing her cheeks for a moment, she leaned back into the carseat and shot him a half-hearted glare.

“God, Steve, don’t say boobies!”

A gush of cold air from inside Family Video greeted you as you pushed open the glass door, sheepishly grinning when Robin’s head snapped upwards, a surprised grin flourishing over her face.

“Hey, Y/N! How may I assist you on this fine day?”

You leaned over the counter and slid E.T. towards her. For a second, Robin seemed mortified, carefully studying your expression for any sign of aversion to the film.

“I liked it,” you reassured her, smoothing your hands down your shirt, exhaling a shallow breath. Damn it, you couldn’t remember the last time you were this nervous. “I was hoping you could recommend something similar! Turns out I’m more into sci-fi than I thought. I never really explored the genre outside of Star Wars, to be honest.”

“Of course!” Robin twisted to snatch a long sheet of laminated paper. “This is a catalogue of all the films we got in here. Pretty stacked—listed in alphabetical order, and the genres are color-coded. Blue for science fiction… right there. I mean, I’d personally recommend Westworld and Alien. Those are classics you can’t miss out on.”

The way your eyes widened as you peered over the list, accompanied by your slightly-parted lips and your nearly intoxicating citrus-scented perfume made Robin’s head spin in the best of ways. Subconsciously, she leaned over closer, the sleeve of her striped tee brushing your arm.

“I’ve heard Westworld is really good,” you said, looking upwards, mildly surprised to see Robin’s face only inches away from yours. Blinking, you managed a nervous smile before continuing, “Would you, uhm, be willing to rewatch it?”

Robin’s eyebrows inched closer to her hairline in thought. “Westworld? Yeah, I haven’t watched it in a long while. Would be nice to revisit.”

“Sorry, let me rephrase.” You internally cursed when your voice cracked, and you straightened your spine before stiffly asking, “Would you be willing to rewatch it… with me?”

It took around ten seconds for Robin’s malfunctioning brain to piece together the implications of your original question and it dawned on her that you were asking her out. You were asking her out.

Holy fucking shit.

“Yes!” she blurted out, leaning even closer in her fervor. This close, she could see the tint of your shiny lip gloss, the roiling hues of your eyes, the small, faded scar on the side of your jaw. You were whittled from pure angel’s light, she was nearly sure of it—clementine in aroma, tangerine in joy, marigold in joy. Robin wanted all of you.

The softest of beams canvased itself across your visage. “Perfect. How does this weekend at my place sound?”

“Perfect,” Robin breathily parroted. God, she wanted to kiss you so very badly. “Even if I had plans, I’d cancel ‘em just for this. There’s no way I’m missing out on rewatching Westworld. Nothing like gun-slinging robot cowboys to kick off the weekend. What should I bring?”

You puckered your lips to the side in thought. “Just you,” you said after a short moment, so quiet that it just barely bordered on whispering.

Her mouth twitched upwards in amusement, mirth dancing amongst the sapphire of her bright irises. “That, I can do.”

“So remind me what we’re making again?” Robin asked as she pushed the cart along.

Your fingers skimmed along the shelves, muttering the labels under your breath until you abruptly stopped. “Molotov cocktails. They’re easy to make, and can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time—let’s just hope Vecna isn’t fireproof. Here, we’re gonna need around four of these jugs of kerosene. Actually, make it five. A little extra won’t hurt.”

Robin helped you load the cart, her eyes trained on you as you pulled out a crumpled list of ingredients from your pocket. “So what’s all this kerosene for?”

“It’s highly flammable—so we’re filling up as many fragile bottles as we can and sticking rags into ‘em to light up when the time comes. Gotta be careful with this stuff though, if it gets too hot, it might just catch on fire and our supply would dry out.”

“Right,” Robin piped up, following after you with a dazed smile. “You’re really smart, you know that?”

For a second, you froze in place, heat flourishing over your cheeks. “Thanks,” you grunted out, pointedly avoiding her gaze so she wouldn’t see your evidently flustered features.

The two of you left the store hurriedly once Nancy spotted Jason by the gun rack. Nearly half an hour later, you were outside the RV with your brother and Robin, filling the umpteenth bottle with kerosene. Your nerves were practically alight on fire, anxiety clawing away at your insides at the prospect of coming face to face with Vecna—but you managed not to break down into a panicked mess. It was the last thing any of you needed right now.

“I gotta go take a leak,” Steve announced unceremoniously as he hefted himself onto his feet, glancing down at the two of you. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

As he trudged away, you could feel Robin’s eyes shift back onto you. “Y’know, I usually consider myself to be more of a glass half-full kind of person. But…” she bit down on her tongue, forcing her gaze away when you quirked an eyebrow at her.

“But…?”

“I don’t know, I just… I don’t know if we’re going to make it out of this one.”

You tightly pursed your lips at her words, setting down an almost-empty jug of kerosene onto the grass. Boldly, you moved your hands to shift on top of Robin’s knuckles, your thumbs stroking comforting circles into her skin.

“Look, I’m not very good at comforting people—that’s honestly more of Steve’s thing, so bear with me here. Even if this is gonna be the end of the world… I’m glad I’m gonna be by your side when it happens. Besides,” you added, shrugging just slightly with a mild smile twitching at the corner of your mouth, “I always imagined the end of the world to include an alien invasion of some sorts so… I guess this is something of an upgrade.”

An amused snort erupted from Robin and she tossed her head back to laugh full-bellied chuckles. You slipped your hands away from hers so you could get back to work. “It’s a shame we never got around to watching Westworld. A lot’s happened since then, huh? Feels like that was years ago.”

A twinge of sadness splayed over your chest. “Yeah,” you breathed out.

“Would’ve loved to go to England or something before I died,” she hummed absentmindedly as she grabbed another rag to stuff into the glass bottle. “Maybe Greece. Oh, Japan! There’s so many places I’d love to visit. What about you? Do you have any dream destinations?”

“I’d love to go to New Zealand,” you postulated, unscrewing the cap of another kerosene jug.

“Yeah?” asked Robin with a curious lilt to her tone.

You bobbed your head once. “Yeah. It’s quiet there… tucked away at the corner of the world. Away from everything. Gorgeous scenery, too.”

“That does sound nice,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. “Don’t think I’d have any money for those trips though—at least not if I decide to keep working at Home Video for the rest of my life.”

“I like that you work there,” you put forth without thinking. “Movies made a good reason for me to come and talk to you.”

The grin that flourished over her lips made your stomach turn over with nerves. “You know, in the beginning, I thought you hated me. You’d never talk to me whenever I came over.”

“I was intimidated,” you admitted, wrinkling your nose at the memory. “You were a pretty girl that was friends with Steve. I think I just assumed the worst.”

“Your brother’s a good friend.” She took extra care to emphasize that last word. “But you? Unclear. I mean, it’s totally okay for it to be unclear right now. Besides, it’s not really the time to—”

“It doesn’t have to be unclear,” you interrupted a second too quickly, before wincing at your initial vigor.

Surprise painted itself crimson over the freckled canvas of her face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you murmured, sending her a shy smile.

Robin could only beam back dopily, muttering out a dazed, “Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” beneath her breath. Then, she tacked on, “I really, really like you. If that wasn’t clear yet.”

Before you could vocalize your reciprocation, Steve rounded the corner of the RV, throwing his hands up into the air and exclaiming in exasperation, “Finally! Took the two of you long enough. Jesus, I thought I’d have to lock you guys in a room together or something.”

Hawkins High was transformed into a makeshift shelter after the ‘earthquake’ that Vecna caused. You were hunched over on a medical stretcher, head throbbing from the healing gash on the side of your head. The memory of dried crimson caking the expanse of your cheek lingered in the back of your mind—you had used an alcohol wipe to gently clean the wound, tears stinging the corner of your eyes from the burn. There was also a temporary brace fixed over your badly sprained ankle—an injury you acquired when hacking away at the tentacle-like vines suffocating you and your friends.

Despite your battered state, you still tried helping out, sorting through a couple boxes of clothes beside your brother, who wore an expression of clear concern, constantly mother-henning you into taking a break when that was the very last thing you wanted.

“Okay, okay, you can sort through these,” Steve relented, rolling his eyes with an exasperated huff. “But you stay sitting. You hear me?”

“Fine!” you snapped back, before biting down on your tongue and shaking your head. “Thanks, Steve.”

Your older brother shot you an indiscernible look, before bending down at the waist and planting a firm kiss onto the top of your head, mussing your hair slightly when he righted himself back up.

The sound of Robin’s voice appearing by your side made a startled noise fall from your throat. “Hey, guys!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Steve asked, using his head to beckon to the empty food station.

Faint pink canvassed over Robin’s freckled cheeks. “Yeah, I’m just taking a five minute break—I’ve made enough PB and J sandwiches to last a lifetime. Maybe you should go on a break, too.” She glared at him pointedly, clearing her throat whilst using her eyes to gesture to Dustin and Eddie at the other end of the school gym.

Steve wrinkled his nose. “Just say you want to be alone with my sister and go! Jeez, you don’t need to be so cryptic.” The two of you snickered as he grumbled under his breath, folding up the last in his box before clapping Robin on the shoulder and heading off to Dustin, who beckoned him over with a wide grin.

“You alright?” Robin asked, voice suddenly far more tender, gazing across your tired features with a tender expression. “How’s the foot? And the head? Man, you really… really took a beating there, huh? I have to admit, I was genuinely scared that was the last time I’d see you.”

“I’m okay, I think,” you admitted, shifting slightly so she could sit beside you on the edge of the bleachers with a pained grunt. Robin took a seat, her arm pressed right against yours. She was warm, so very warm, and your sleepy eyes grew hooded with exhaust. “Considering we all almost died.”

A comfortable silence stretched over the two of you, a blanket of security and trust, unspoken feelings.

“I never got to say it,” you mumbled drowsily, the uninjured side of your head dropping to rest onto her shoulder. Robin’s arm went around your back, clutching you to her side with a pleasant hum. She couldn’t help but notice just how nicely you fit against her. “I really, really like you, too.”

Your head lifted just for a moment to get a good look at her expression, which had gotten considerably softer, her bright eyes flickering down to glance at your lips for a moment. You dipped your head once as if to give her the green light—that you wanted her to kiss you.

And she did.

The kiss wasn’t like how they described kisses to be in the movies. There were no fireworks, no explosive passion, no feverish desperation. Only bumping noses and gentle smiles. And it was utterly perfect.

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yettoberefuted · 4 years ago

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I come back from the dead a bit to just....I WANT TO TALK ABOUT PACIFIC RIM BLACK AND I HAVE THOUGHTS. *watching pacific rim the black* Thoughts.... *No one is surprised that Australia became mad max wasteland filled with kaiju * KAIJU DOGGIES KAIJU DOGGIES * what timeline is this ...oh after uprising. * Wait wait out of the three solo pilots this kid could have chosen YOU CHOSE THE THE OKAYIST ONE...Stacker pentacost solo drove and was a genuine badass and they chose older *hanson* * Ok..ok...but can we just...WHERE IS MY OLDER NEWT IN FLASHBACK. You gave mention to uprising and apparently there was more kaiju sooo GIVE ME SOME OLDER SCIENCE BRO TECH. * WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT IDEA TO DISARM ANY JAEGER FOR INSTRUCTION....

#LISTEN #THIS HAS ALLWAYS BEEN MY TRASH #AND I WANT TO FANGIRL ABOUT THIS FANDOM AGAIN BECAUSE UPRISING JUST WAS AN OK DISAPOINTMENT #BUT GAVE ME SOME HURT FICS AND THATS OK

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welcometothenewtime · 4 years ago

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The 4 best action movies streaming on Hulu

Nothing turns a boring movie night into an exciting one quite like a quality action movie.

While many turn to Hulu to binge-watch their favorite TV shows, some often forget that the popular streaming service has an impressive collection of movies in its library. Among that collection are some of the most exciting, violent and heartfelt action movies in the genre.

Whether you’re a fan of science fiction, history or modern tales of revenge, Hulu has a little something for everyone trying to satisfy their need to watch some good-old-fashioned action cinema from the comfort of their homes.

ARE PREGNANT WOMEN AT RISK FOR CORONAVIRUS?

To help you plan the next movie night that’ll leave you diving for cover behind your couch, below is a rundown of the top 5 action films currently streaming on Hulu:

'The Book Of Eli'

Denzel Washington stars in the post-apocalyptic western, 'The Book of Eli.' (Warner Bros.)

This 2010 movie is perfect for anyone looking for a good post-apocalyptic western with all the action and violence anyone can handle. Starring well-known actors such as Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman, “The Book Of Eli” plays like a slower, more grounded “Mad Max.”

The film focuses on the tireless mission of a man named Eli who is trekking on foot across the wasteland that used to be the United States 30 years after a nuclear apocalypse. He proves adept at both survival and single-handedly taking on large swaths of desperate marauders. When he reaches a town ruled by a man named Carnegie that’s obsessed with getting his hands on a specific book, Eli worries that it’s the same book he’s been tasked with delivering to the west coast at all costs.

CORONAVIRUS: HOW ARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES RESPONDING TO THE OUTBREAK?

What follows is an adventure that sees Eli attempt to fend off Carnegie’s numerous attempts to steal his precious book as he continues his nearly impossible quest west.

'The Patriot'

Mel Gibson stars in the Oscar-nominated movie 'The Patriot.' (Sony Pictures)

Mel Gibson stars in this Oscar-nominated 2000 historical fiction movie set during the American Revolution. While Gibson is by far the star of the movie, it can also boast stellar performances from co-stars Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs, Donal Logue and many more.

The film tells the story of Capt. Benjamin Martin, a veteran of the French and Indian War who initially refuses to join his fellow South Carolina residents in rising up against British rule for fear of another bloody war. However, when his eldest son joins the Continental Army and inadvertently brings the fight to his family’s home, Martin is forced back into combat to try and free his home from the tyrannical British rule. Specifically, from Col. William Tavington of the British Army, who, without spoiling anything, is particularly nasty to the Martin household.

ARE PACKAGES FROM CORONAVIRUS-HIT CHINA SAFE TO HANDLE?

While the film is only loosely based on historical events, it does a wonderful job of tracking the American Revolution from the beginning until the bitter end while telling the emotional story of a man desperate to be free of conflict.

'Death Wish'

Bruce Willis stars in the remake of 'Death Wish.' (MGM)

Not to be confused with the original 1974 film starring Charles Bronson, the 2018 remake of “Death Wish” starring Bruce Willis is a modern take on a classic story of revenge and vigilantism that’s sure to satisfy your quest for good action content.

The film follows Paul Kersey, a surgeon living in Chicago that tragically loses his wife during a home invasion from criminals that also leaves his daughter in a coma. Grief-stricken, Paul tries his best to get the police to solve the case, but their progress is far too slow for him. He eventually steals a gun and begins taking to the streets and dishing out his own brand of vigilante justice.

HOW DANGEROUS IS CORONAVIRUS?

The movie is a classic revenge tale that follows the original movie somewhat accurately but definitely takes turns in its own direction to modernize the story.

'Mission Impossible: Fallout'

Tom Cruise stars in the sixth installment in the 'Mission Impossible' franchise, 'Fallout.' (Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures and Skydance via AP)

In a perfect example of Hulu offering more film content than people realize, the 2018 blockbuster, and the sixth installment in the franchise, “Mission Impossible: Fallout” is available to stream on the popular platform.

For those unfamiliar, the movies deal with the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and its top operative, Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise. For years the super-spy organization has thwarted various apocalyptic threats across the globe, and the sixth movie is no exception.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

When a terrorist group that Hunt and his cohorts previously dealt with regroup and try to obtain nuclear arms, Hunt and his team fail in their initial attempts to stop them. That’s when a new agent is brought into the team that has very little tolerance or respect for the way the legendary agent and his team typically operate. As the plot thickens, Hunt’s list of allies dwindles as it becomes clear that the terrorists did more than regroup, they infiltrated some of the highest organizations in the world.

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everygame · 5 years ago

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Mad Max (PS4)

Developed/Published by: Avalanche Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Released: 1/09/2015 Completed: 6/11/2019 Completion: Finished it; clearing 4 areas of threat and fully levelling Max. Trophies / Achievements: 56%

Well, as we all know Mad Max: Fury Road is pretty much as good as films get, and here we have Avalanche Studio’s game developed with what amounts to all the same pre-production and they’ve made… something definitely not as good as Fury Road.

I mean, you can see what happened fairly quickly. They’re known for open-world games like the charming Just Cause series (I’ve only played Just Cause 2, but I remember it was a laugh), Warner Bros Interactive had had great success with Arkham City (which I was harshly critical of) and then Knight, and let’s just smash those together like chocolate and peanut butter, where “chocolate” is the counter-based fight system from Arkham and “peanut butter” is the grappling hook from Just Cause but now it’s a harpoon and it doesn’t do as much. Fury Road is the wrapper, aka the bit that’s totally throwaway.

The thing that sucks the absolute most about this game, the most tragic aspect, is that the story. After watching Fury Road, you’ve seen something with an extremely alive world with full, rich characters that Max interacts with, never mind its extremely thrilling structure. With Mad Max you’ve got a Max who talks just enough to come across as an uncaring arse, and after a action-heavy intro (that you don’t get to play???) Max gets tied to the first character he meets, Chumbucket, who basically goes “I’ll make you the ultimate car” and never ever shuts up. Then you just do a bunch of missions in the wasteland for different warlords (who don’t interact, or do anything, really) until they fridge a couple of characters so Max can suffer more trauma and fight the big bad. It’s terrible.

Really, the game requires that they solve a problem that they weren’t interested in solving, which is how to create a game where you cross large distances in a car and fun stuff happens. It’s blatantly obvious that a Mad Max game should work like a road trip, and instead here it’s your usual thing where you drive back and forth in the same area running errands. Not that there are much in the way of missions; you’re stuck doing the same stuff over and over, and certain tasks are absolute dogshit (finding and removing mines by driving around slowly? Fuck that) and the more in-depth ones suffer samey if not outright weak level design (basically every camp you have to take over). The best stuff is, obviously, car combat, and I had loads of fun taking on convoys even if the game stupidly makes them trivial by giving you a rocket launcher (and frustrating if you don’t use it, because the armour on enemy cars mean more fun things like flamethrowers/grinding aren’t good enough.)

Of course, levelling up Max and in particular levelling up the car is real fun! And it does that thing where if you improve outposts they look better, which I’m a sucker for (even if the offline scrap collection doesn’t work anymore, which was real annoying.) It’s just that the entire thing feels so uninspired; a time waster where you slowly tick things off on a map not really caring whether the thing you’re doing is fun or not because, heck, you’ve got to tick them off!

Will I ever play it again? Absurdly, the game doesn’t have you level-up into the classic Mad Max look, instead saving that as unlocks right in the post-game, so you never even really feel like you’re playing Max. Driving around is fun and stuff and when I saw that I was like “ah man, it’d be cool to play this longer feeling like I actually am playing Mad Max” but NO. Eventually I’ll die!

Final Thought: It’s an interesting one. If this didn’t have the Max Max wrapper, there would, honestly, be no reason to play this at all. However, because it uses so much of the setting of Fury Road, referencing War Boys, Buzzards, Organic Mechanics etc. all it really does in the end is make you think about how if you get all the pieces that male up a work of genius but just put them together in all the wrong order, in all the wrong ways and with all the wrong assumptions you end up with something that sucks ass.

However, I will give this some points for having War Boys often call Mad Max “Raggedy Man” even though it doesn’t really make sense because Tina Turner calling him that at the end of Beyond Thunderdome is one of the best line reads ever.

#video games #games #gaming #mad max #mad max: fury road #warner bros. interactive #avalanche studios #text #txt #2015

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jp-hunsecker · 2 years ago

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Like 2020’s Scorpion Revenge, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is an unflinchingly violent, uncompromisingly brutal, traditionally animated little romp. Unlike Scorpion’s Revenge, though, Snow Blind — a western-flavored samurai tale (traditionally, it’s the other way around) complete with a six-fingered (pointer, middle, and thumb in each hand) blind swordsman (he doesn’t start out, mind you, either blind or six-fingered) whose face has quick-healing powers (it’s either that or lazy animators) — deviates enough (that is to say, quite a bit) from the MK formula to sustain viewer interest beyond the limb-ripping, skull-crushing splitting action. It’s also supremely silly — a character says “your souls are mine!” to what already is a whirlwind of souls (does he mean the souls’ souls?), and the hero’s training is equal parts Star Wars, Karate Kid, and Rocky (complete with the Chasing of the Chicken) — , but altogether a successful reinvention of the Mortal Kombat mythos.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Review - IGN Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is a movie that only die-hard Mortal Kombat fans are likely to appreciate. It's…www.ign.com

“But where Battle of the Realms presented itself as a straightforward battle royale between some of Mortal Kombat’s titans, Snow Blind feels like more of a Mad Max-styled post-apocalyptic thriller than an extension of a richly detailed video game universe.”

Like I mentioned in the overview, distancing itself from the video game is the best possible choice for this movie — and the wisest, considering that every MK film that follows the game’s blueprint has been an utter failure. Also, if you want “a straightforward battle royale between some of Mortal Kombat’s titans,” why not just play the damn video game? Overall, this review is contradictory in that it decries the movie for straying from the MK path while claiming that it “won’t resonate with audiences that aren’t die-hard fans,” when at least in my case it was the other way around.

REVIEW: Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Delivers a More Intimate Martial Arts Adventure A bold vision of the Mortal Kombat franchise began with 2020's Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, an animated…www.cbr.com

“For those looking for the Mortal Kombat Legends series to scale back down to a more manageable story, Snow Blind absolutely delivers without compromising what makes the franchise great.”

I wasn’t like, actively looking for that in particular, but since I found myself watching the film, I’m glad that’s the way they went.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022) Review - Voices From The Balcony Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, is the third and latest installment of the Warner Bros. animated franchise following…www.voicesfromthebalcony.com

“Snow Blind unfortunately does have a cheap look to it in many scenes.”

Be that as it may, at least it’s not computer animation (which looks cheap even when it isn’t).

“If you don’t mind the occasional lapses in quality and a script that feels a bit too much like a generic post-apocalyptic thriller rather than a Mortal Kombat film at times, then there’s plenty of over-the-top fun to be had here. Franchise purists however may find it all a bit disappointing though.”

See, that’s more in line with the general impression this film makes. And again, not only do I not mind “a script that feels a bit too much like a generic post-apocalyptic thriller rather than a Mortal Kombat film,” but I believe that’s the movie’s main strength.

'Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind' Review: Action-Packed and Refreshing Directed and produced by Rick Morales, the 2022's 'Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind' takes place in the…fictionhorizon.com

“Like in video games, Shao Kahn [Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film] is nearly immortal and has defiled death multiple times.”

I knew there were necromancers in MK, but I didn’t know there were also necrophiles (I guess they meant to write ‘defied death’). Typos aside, I’m glad they bring up that “there are no tournaments,” as a result of which “The characters themselves push the plot forward.”

“Although the movie had some beige tones, it is redeemed by the fight scenes being full of life.”

Or, in this case, full of death (as it should be).

Review: Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind - Bubbleblabber With Earthrealm now an apocalyptic wasteland, the greedy and power-mad, half-cyborg overlord King Kano (David Wenham)…www.bubbleblabber.com

“Predictably in stories like this, it plays into the typical relationship dynamics of Kuai Liang and Kenshi as master & student with Kuai teaching Kenshi to rely on his four remaining senses.”

And, later on, his six remaining fingers.

“ … the by-the-numbers training montage with Kenshi felt cliche at times.”

Yup, that’s pretty much what ‘by-the-numbers’ means.

“Overall, if you have already sat through the first two Mortal Kombat Legends movies, then go ahead and check this one out.”

Well, that’s encouraging.

#mortal kombat legends #snow blind #movie reviews #movie review

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wazafam · 4 years ago

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After Michael Bay’s second or third Transformers movie, it became clear that this franchise would be offering nothing but loud robot fights, incoherent plotting, and stereotype-driven humor. But audiences were happy to go along for the ride to a certain extent. It wasn’t until Bay’s fifth entry in the series, 2017’s The Last Knight, that Transformers’ reign over the box office came under threat.

RELATED: Transformers: 5 Things Bumblebee Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong)

Just when it seemed like the Transformers franchise was dead in the water, Travis Knight came along with Bumblebee, an ‘80s-set spin-off. Bumblebee isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is more enjoyable than all the previous Transformers movies combined. Now, the franchise just might have a chance.

10 Bumblebee (2018)

The opening prologue of Bumblebee set on Cybertron is the Transformers movie fans had wanted to see for over a decade. Michael Bay made a string of action movies about cars turning into robots and punching each other, but this is a rich sci-fi universe.

Travis Knight injected some fun back into the Transformers franchise after it had devolved into incomprehensible dull action scenes (complete with distracting aspect ratio changes) and eye-rolling “jokes.” Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson is a far more compelling human lead than Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky or Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager ever were.

9 Fast Five (2011)

When Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returned to The Fast and the Furious franchise for the fourth installment, a pseudo-reboot titled Fast & Furious, they turned it from a street racing series into a straightforward action franchise. But that movie was pretty weak.

In 2011, Diesel and Walker knocked it out of the park and turned Fast & Furious into a must-see blockbuster franchise with Fast Five. With the story of Toretto’s crew embarking on a daring heist in Rio, this became a series of large-scale actioners about mercenaries getting involved in big, explosive set pieces across the world. With bigger and bigger action sequences, The Fast Saga has essentially become an exercise in cinematic one-upmanship since Fast Five shook things up.

8 Batman Begins (2005)

George Clooney joked publicly that his movie Batman & Robin was so bad that it may have killed the franchise. This almost became a reality, as Warner Bros. struggled to find a director with a vision for a Batman reboot that would redeem the property in the eyes of fans who were still scorned by Joel Schumacher’s infamous movie.

Of course, the franchise was saved when Christopher Nolan came along with a gritty, semi-realistic take on the Bat’s origin story. Batman Begins’ dark tone changed the face of blockbusters forever.

7 Skyfall (2012)

After Daniel Craig’s stint as James Bond got off to a terrific start with the breathtaking realism of Casino Royale, his second outing Quantum of Solace arrived as a bitter disappointment. It’s just a generic action movie when Bond movies can be so much more (as demonstrated by Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and GoldenEye).

RELATED: 007: 5 Things Skyfall Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong)

Then, with Craig’s third Bond movie Skyfall, director Sam Mendes married Martin Campbell’s gritty realism from Casino Royale with the silly gadgets and formulaic plotting of the franchise’s classic era. The result was the first Bond movie to top $1 billion at the box office.

6 Scream 4 (2011)

The first Scream movie was praised as a sharp satire of slashers, then the second one tackled slasher sequels. With Scream 3, the franchise risked settling into the kind of humdrum slash-‘em-up series it had originally sought to lampoon.

Then, with Scream 4, the franchise was redeemed. The fourth movie updated the franchise’s satire and commented on the rise of torture porn in contemporary horror cinema.

5 Star Trek (2009)

After years of critically panned Star Trek movies revolving around The Next Generation cast, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with new actors playing the iconic roles from The Original Series. This could’ve easily gone terribly, but the 2009 Star Trek reboot is surprisingly great.

Although Abrams’ action-driven, planet-hopping storytelling is more akin to Star Wars than Star Trek, the movie did succeed in getting casual moviegoers interested in Trek. And Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were perfectly matched as Kirk and Spock.

4 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Brian De Palma’s initial Mission: Impossible movie was an agreeable spy thriller whose central set piece — Tom Cruise hanging from wires during a daring infiltration — has become iconic. John Woo’s second one was a little too silly to be entertaining, then J.J. Abrams’ threequel settled into mediocre action movie territory.

RELATED: Mission: Impossible: 5 Ways Fallout Is The Best Movie (& 5 Ghost Protocol Is A Close Second)

Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reinvigorated the franchise by sending Cruise out onto the facade of the tallest building in the world. Now, the Mission: Impossible movies are must-see actioners, because Cruise keeps pushing himself to do crazier and crazier stunts.

3 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did almost everything wrong — making all the same mistakes as Spider-Man 3 and a bunch of new ones for good measure — Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming reinvigorated the Spidey solo movies.

Hot off his highly anticipated debut in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland deftly proved he could carry his own movie in Homecoming. Watts made the film as a John Hughes-style high school comedy, which gave it a fresh, unique feel. A year later, a new bar was set for the Spider-Man franchise by the animated masterpiece Into the Spider-Verse.

2 Men In Black 3 (2012)

As has been pointed out, the critically panned Men in Black II just rehashed all the jokes from the first Men in Black movie and repackaged them as winks to the audience.

The third movie, Men in Black 3, shook up the formula with a time travel plot that saw Will Smith’s Agent J going back to the ‘60s to team up with the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent M, played by Josh Brolin (whose Jones impression is spot-on).

1 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

George Miller’s third Mad Max movie, Beyond Thunderdome, was one of the ‘80s-est movies of the ‘80s. The fourth movie was stuck in development hell for years. Miller spent so long trying to get it made that at the beginning of pre-production, Mel Gibson was supposed to stay in the role of Max.

After Beyond Thunderdome had lost the visceral intensity of The Road Warrior, Fury Road brought it back in spades with a feature-length car chase through a post-apocalyptic wasteland that’s been praised as one of the greatest action movies ever made.

NEXT: Jaws & 9 Other Timeless Classics That Didn't Need Sequels

Bumblebee & 9 Other Movies That Saved A Dying Franchise from https://ift.tt/3s3bCUH

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bcwallin · 6 years ago

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The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Every movie that follows in the path of 2014’s The LEGO Movie will have to contend with its legacy. The first in a series of who-knows-how-many spin-offs and sequels, the movie was able to surprise audiences and entertain at the speed of multiple laughs-per-minute while capturing a meaningful emotional resonance. As the fourth in Warner Bros.’ Lego movie world, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part finds itself stuck in its predecessor’s shadow.

The Second Part is an apt subtitle, considering how close together the original LEGO Movie and this sequel are. Part two picks up immediately where the 2014 movie ended and then time-jumps five years to close the gap.

Plastic doesn’t age much in five years, but the wear of being played with often can be seen in some characters’ costumes. Emmet Brickowski, hero of the first film, returns with his pals to the world of their plastic sandbox.

In keeping with its predecessor’s aesthetic, the materials in The Second Part are all made to look like Legos that are part of a stop-motion film. The LEGO Movie revealed that the world of its story was a playset stuck between a father and son’s conception of what could be done with construction toys, and the sequel continues to use that conceit as an integral part of the storytelling.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller return as screenwriters, with Mike Mitchell directing. Lord and Miller have made a name for themselves with snappy comedy and meta references in the Jump Street series and the original LEGO Movie, but The Second Part is missing some of that spark.

With Lord and Miller heavily involved in the wonderful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — still in theaters — it’s impossible to say that the sequel suffers just because of a five-year gap and the difficulty of living up to a breakout hit’s success.

If anything, The Second Part suffers most because of how closely it adheres to The LEGO Movie from a thematic perspective. Where the first film surprised, the second lacks subtlety and goes in an obvious direction.

Where the first took risks, the second gets stuck in a creative rut. The LEGO Movie teased a sequel with the introduction of a new Lego playmate and the children’s line of Duplo construction toys. The sequel picks that thread up and finds a solution not far from the first film’s own issues.

Fans should not expect a film with no laughs; The Second Part still outshines the mediocre The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Five years after the Duplo blocks’ appearance, the Lego world enters apocalypse mode and begins to blatantly resemble the setting of the dystopian Mad Max.

Emmet has trouble adjusting to the brooding demands of living in a sand-covered wasteland, while other characters like Wyldstyle — mostly known in the sequel by her birth name of Lucy — Unikitty, Benny the astronaut and MetalBeard the pirate manage to adapt.

There are fun jokes and the way the movie addresses Emmet’s lack of adaptation finds a fun outlet in the introduction of Rex Dangervest. These jokes, though, lack the life of the film’s predecessor.

Often, jokes get repeated or are held on to for too long. Other times, the only source of humor is from external references. As fun as they may be, the inclusion of Back to the Future's Doc Brown or Aquaman's Aquaman is not enough to carry an entire movie.

The Second Part plays like the studio executive follow-up to a movie that earned over $250 million, without a full understanding of what made the original so great. One scene from The LEGO Movie had a significant number of cameos from characters of various universes. The Second Part is chock-full of these moments, but they don’t hold water to the wackiness and out-of-left field nature of The LEGO Movie’s jokes. Fans of the original should go in with the expectation of a lazy stepping-on-Lego joke, which happens twice.

The Second Part does have the daring to step it up a notch with the introduction of Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi. Her song, “Not Evil” is as much a show-stopper as the movie’s new earworm and “Catchy Song” does its best to fit the gap left behind by 2014’s “Everything is Awesome.”

With more music than the previous film, The Second Part even offers an exciting song for the credits’ roll, notably featuring The Lonely Island.

Like with The LEGO Ninjago Movie: The Second Part would be much better if its predecessor didn’t exist, leaving viewers with a pretty good movie to enjoy once or twice and the question of what might’ve been.

Originally published in Baruch’s The Ticker

#lego movie #bc wallin #film review #ticker #sequel

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