The Raid 2: Berandal

*Spoilers*

This Indonesian explosive sequel to an already amazing movie surpassed my expectations, made me and my buddies watch with shock and awe, and honestly, The Raid 2: Berandal is the best martial arts movie I have ever seen.

And it is also about damn time that this subgenre gets more praise and treatment from the audience and filmmakers, as both titles have easily taken away the breath of audiences too many times to count in so much memorable scenes.

Rama's story continues only mere moments away, as his brother is liquidated in a revenge sequence, and he gets approached by an undercover division in order to strike down the higher ups who control the crime, corruption and destruction of the city.

As he himself goes undercover as well in exchange for safety for his family and identity, Rama becomes a partner of Uco, who is the son of a crime lord who amongst other higher ups take care of business including what happened in the previous film.

The story is consistently written and the buildup towards the many fight scenes are remarkable filmed. I couldn't believe some of the camera shots that were happening such as in the incredible car scene, and I haven't even started about the amount of the color red to be found in here yet.

You see, the gore level has gone MUCH higher than in the original The Raid, as countless victims get sliced up, while others leave behind bloody spots as their heads get banged, and others get unspeakable death scenes that once again made me and my buddies go crazy and wild.

In an act of surprise, even Mad Dog returns in part 2, somehow reviving after his throat was cut previously as well! But after knowing more about his background and motivation for the scenes happening, he gets defeated and surpassed for good by his superior well... let's say, "final boss" of Berandal.

Alongside the final boss, who gets equipped with 2 daggers, Rama must face off against a blind girl with 2 hammers and another guy with a baseball bat and balls. It might sound goofy on paper, but just wait until you see these three fight in action, especially the first one mentioned, who rivals Mad Dog easily as depicted by another literal fight to the death scene.

Iko Uwais can now easily be considered and ranked along the greatest martial arts movie stars, such as Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan and even Bruce Lee. Top his choreography and stamina of with great variety, and he might arguably be the most important and recognizable actor of this sub genre, right now.

The Raid 2: Berandal is not only the best martial arts movie ever for me, but also the longest one yet, with 150 minutes clocking in. It has a great buildup, excellent pacing, unbelievable fight scenes, an above average story, satisfying finishing moves and a lot of creativity.

Rating: 9.0

EDIT: I just found out that Mad Dog does not return for The Raid 2: Berandal, rather, the same fan favorite actor plays a different character this time! I just thought he was using a different identity like Rama, but I was wrong.

E3 2014 Thoughts

Let's get right to it shall we?

Microsoft:

The overall conference was predictable but content in regards to focusing entirely onto the video games instead of sales or other distractions. Many ones were already known and practically Microsoft didn't had any surprises, but Sunset Overdrive seems to be standing out in regards to style and presentation.

The biggest dissapointment with Microsoft was how Conker suddenly appeared at the end of Project Spark in order to tease a potential new Bad Fur Day, but instead he confirmed to be some kind of DLC for that project instead. What a let down, and an insult to Rare fans.

But, this was definitely a step-up and a proper E3 show.

Electronic Arts:

This was the most cringy, terrible and dissapointing one. Electronic Arts constantly used the "epic approach" towards ANY game they were showing us, including all of the regular yearly sports games, in order to bring the message that it's cool to take video games seriously.

Aside from the dozen sports and shooters, I only truly paid attention when the focus was onto the next Mass Effect, too bad they didn't had a true announcement regarding that.

Ubisoft:

Above average, with a few surprises and enough diversity. Fallout 4 and Assassin's Creed Unity are the usual suspects and easily the highlight of this conference for me. The Girlwood girl from last year returned to satisfy the meme users, and I felt that this show was the most balanced in overall.

I just can't believe how Ubisoft has screwed over the Wii U once again with bringing Watch Dogs later to it, as they previously kind of similarily did with Rayman Legends.

Sony:

Destiny continues to look promising, The Order 1886 at first looked like a new Resident Evil game, and Little Big Planet 3 is a cool announcement! Bloodborne, or Project Beast is definitely from From Software but not sure how it will differentiate yet from her previous franchises and not just talking about the Souls games then, but King's Field too.

Dead Island 2 had a funny zombie trailer, Magicka 2 also had a funny one, I never was aware of the first title. Let it Die latest Grasshopper Manufacture IP seems to be more of the same they have been releasing over the years.

No Man's Sky looked refreshing, and Project Morpheus seems compelling to keep looking out for. PlayStation TV is interesting for it's backwards compatibility potential. Mortal Kombat X gameplay looked familiar and exciting.

Arkham Knight looks great, larger world, Batmobile, badass Scarecrow. And Uncharted 4 A Thief's End is great to finish off Sony's incredible conference. The Last Guardian however continues to be the new Duke Nukem Forever in regards to overall status.

Konami:

It seems that Konami's conference did not happen as previously scheduled.

There are many multiplatform titles obviously being announced and portrayed as well, but
MGSV: The Phantom Pain's new trailer in particular looked good.

It was not so shocking or disturbing as Kojima hinted, but once again did many scenes inside make no sense, leaving it all for speculative interpretations. And the more I rewatch it, the more I'm starting to like it on par with the previous E3 trailer of The Phantom Pain.

Nintendo:

Many titles were already shown last year at this E3, and they all continue to look good, but new ones such as Splatoon made sure that Nintendo continues to try new ideas. The Amiibo project with the figurines is a new interesting addition towards the market, and is filled with potential.

There is much more to cover actually, as Nintendo is also hosting a Treehouse special event with interactive live demo's present while developers accompany players and press with their upcoming projects.

The Super Smash Bros. Invitational had an amazing show and it exceeded expectations. The tournament was well run and the matches were exciting to follow with the crazy gameplay, announcers and so on.

Splatoon is an interesting original take on the third person shooter genre, where ink and squid transportation are key features for differentiating from the rest. All of the major upcoming titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles X, Bayonetta 2(first Bayo is included), Zelda U and Smash looked great.

The Smash Bros. reveals weren't really surprises as Pac-Man, Palutena and Mii were heavily hinted at, but I'm still glad they got in for iconic, feminine and casual reasons. There hasn't been a huge surprise regarding games as I type this, but Star Fox for Wii U IS confirmed, there just isn't a trailer available.

The Treehouse event on all days was entertaining and gave outside viewers like me an inside look into pretty much all of Nintendo's announced and upcoming games. Project Giant Robot, Guard and S.T.E.A.M. made sure alongside Splatoon that Nintendo continues to be trying to innovate.

The overall presentation E32014 is once again solid like last year, but not much new IP's in general when speaking of all developers and publishers. I was excited, entertained and hyped for the overall show, and I am content with what was shown.

Now we can game on as the releases have been announced for the majority coming in the holiday of 2014 or the first quarter of 2015.

Mario Kart 8

In this latest sequel which has been marketed and promoted progressively, Mario Kart 8 takes new turns while hanging on old threads to keep both old and new fans consistent of the overall design it has going for it.

First of, the 3D art style is the prettiest seen yet, with smooth gameplay to back that up, even when going online with a buddy. 4 player mode is technically called a downgrade, but no true entertainment is lost in the process.

Mario Kart 8 features not only a few new interesting items such as the Piranha Plant and the counterdefensive horn, it also has layed out new anti-gravity based roads in order to utilize more routes to take besides normal ones and short cuts.

The chosen courses from past titles have enough favorites from the general audience such as Melody Motorway to satisfy, and new tracks include an airport, a water park, an electrodrome and a cloud based stage which are among the most impressive, aside from the usual Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road.

The character roster however could have been improved, as too many babies and dissapointing unlockables were used instead of more variety in appearances. Weight classes and different parts of karts, wheels and gliders are still available.

Battle Mode still isn't as fun as it used to be in older titles, as Nintendo has once again changed how this mode works considerably. The time trials and online mode as well as the usual unlockable Mirror Mode add a lot of replayability to redeem this dissapointing factor.

In overall, Mario Kart 8 builds upon previous titles mildly, with no true innovations as far as I can see, but the formula continues to work as this franchise remains one of Nintendo's most profitable, as it is easily targeted for anyone from young to old.

Rating: 8.5

Life is Uncertain, Unfair and Unbelievable.

I am not trying to be a pessimist or cynist. The title of this post is simply a quote I created on my own which constantly seems to reflect back towards my current thoughts, opinions and more states of my mind.

Aside from seeking a decent normal job and the critique for that stressful process, as well as the problems of the economy in general, I would like to once again reflect back on many negative aspects of my current life.

You know, it's really too bad that I never was good previously at mathematics in school or interested in physics or chemistry, because in my middle twenties, I am vastly intrigued by everything surrounding science. Having reviewed several world famous books of them already in here, many people continue to be impressed by my growing book cabinet.

I really would like to leave my 2nd home, as I feel the need, the urge and so on to really make the next big step, by obtaining a place of my own and being rewarded with much more independence and freedom in general.

However, without a decent normal job with a stable insurance of a wage salary constantly letting me able to pay for the future bills, this means I am stuck looking for a job until I can move on. And after sending dozens and dozens of job applications since February, with the majority of the rejections being the same reason, I feel demotivated, defeated and at one point, I was dissapointed towards myself and for letting my parents down.

As I shared this previous sentence with my parents, they quickly denounced those negative conclusions and told me they are proud of me and they grant me their support and strength. Which I obviously have had in all my life, and now I really know they love me.

The rejection reason is that other candidates fulfill the job more and are better suited, without ever specifically stating why. Contantly reading this very same excuse creates the negative thoughts of doubt, uncertainty and such.

Even with having completed two different degrees, academic accomplishments, which in this case aren't remarkable in my opinion as for example bachelors and beyond, don't mean much when jobs have a lot of requirements and the spots are limited.

Although I wish to do atleast 1 more study, trying to reach for a bachelor degree, if I cannot atleast get a decent job with insurance and move out of the house(and in this case I would like to have an appartment for myself), then this must get postponed.

The truth is that job seeking has become much more difficult than it has been for past generations. Immigration and technology are two major reasons, but cryptic economic shifts and their unstable bubbles are another which just lets me get a headache and makes me become mad of all the corruption this monetary system has done.

And yet, many people of my age and below get out of the house, attend a university, have relationships and seem to be more successful in life than myself. That is, until I remember all of the precious memories and accomplishments I have done in life already, and then I feel much better.

Because life has the tendency to let me rebounce out of my negative and jealous thoughts while steering me towards potential solutions and general hope. And for that I am utterly grateful. Just for a little more clarification surrounding the title, it applies to both my personal life and the world I see around me.

It's good to talk about topics that worry me and make me feel uncertain. It's greater to talk about these topics with the numerous friends I have and then receiving their support, advice and wisdom. Friendship is truly one of the most precious things to obtain in life.