February: Haiku Reviews Plus a Line or Two (Including: The Lego Movie, The Outsiders, and Assassin's Creed IV, and more)

Okay, so I've been trying to figure out for a while now how I can cram in reviews for all the neat things I've seen, read, heard, and played. Then it came to me: simplify. And how do we simplify? Haiku! So without further ado, here are some haiku reviews for you to view. (I will also include a one-two sentence mini-review for those of you who just aren't attracted to Japanese poetry.)

NOTE: This list will be updated until the end of February so check back for more!

Film:

The Lego Movie (February 2014) 

Haiku:

Genius voice casting,

Great A.D.D. Visuals,

Everything awesome.

Plus a Line or Two:

The Lego Movie is playfully fun, creatively endearing, and easily my favorite film of the year so far. There are too few genuinely funny and clean inspirational movies (as I mentioned in an earlier post), so I'm glad to see one more added to that list.

Safety Not Guaranteed (June 2012) 

Haiku:

An indie darling,

Plaza and cast are charming,

Quirkiness is good.

Plus a Line or Two:

I found this one on Netflix and started it expecting a quirky, indie film with some funny lines and an off-kilter plot. I got exactly what I was expecting.

Brother Bear (November 2003) 

Haiku:

Better twist than Brave,

Songs called in by Phil Collins,

Lackluster ending.

Plus a Line or Two:

One of the few Disney movies I originally missed on release (along with most of the world). I found the story to be surprisingly interesting and emotional but ultimately still forgettable for a Disney film.

Video Games:

The Lego Movie VideoGame (PS4, February 2014) 

Haiku:

Real cast and film clips!

Batman, Gandalf, and Shakespeare.

Tried and true gameplay.

Plus a Line or Two:

This is another great licensed Lego video game that does the film justice but doesn't introduce anything really new to the Traveller's Tales franchise. The biggest downside, however, is that the sub-par music (with no volume control) often washes out the hilarious lines of original dialogue from the film's cast.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4, November 2014) 

Haiku:

Hurray, no Desmond!

Ships, treasure, exploration.

Pirate's life for me.

Plus a Line or Two:

Everything from the engaging ship battles, to bell-diving wrecks, to free-running Havana and tropical islands, to sword fighting and sneaking plays smoothly (with the occasional glitchy moment). There's a ton of content here and the historical setting kept me coming back to make this the first Assassin's Creed game I've gotten 100% on.

Books:

The Outsiders (April 1967) 

Haiku:

Top notch voice and tone

Brilliant character progress.

Stay Gold, Ponyboy.

Plus a Line or Two:

I'm bummed that I didn't read more classics when I was younger but on the bright side it means I still get to discover wonderful novels like this one. Loved the characters; loved the voice; loved the moral; loved the story - blown away that Hinton started writing it when she was fifteen.