Ip Man, the master of the Dragon, has fought against Japanese Imperialists, Sammo Hung and now Mike Tyson? This movie is the 3rd movie in the Ip Man series and depicts the titular going off to defeat a corrupt developer and his thugs in order to defend his child's school.
Plot
The plotis okay. There isn't much to dissect from the plot as it is very simple. It is a straightforward fight between purity and corruption, the traditionalist ways of the Chinese versus the corrupt ways of the Gwai Lows (Foreign Devils). However, the sub plot, of Ip Man having to deal with family life was rather interesting as previous movies have showed how disapproving the wife was with Ip Man's martial arts and constant fighting but now that chapter has closed as they mutually accept each others needs. We also get to see a personal side to Ip Man as we see how he deals with tragedy and decides what is really important to him.
Action
Anyways, odds are, when you are entering the cinema for an Ip Man movie, you didn't come for the plot. You came for the action and let me tell you, the action was extremely well choreographed with Donnie Yen punching and kicking at light speed. The movie also gave us a treat with Mike Tyson actually getting into a fight and showing some actual fighting prowess despite being such a big softie in person. There was also a very interesting fight with a Muay Thai practitioner!
Soundtrack
The soundtrack runs the basic traditional chinese sound track throughout the movies. There isn't exactly a Williams score but it is okay.
Criticism
The movie could have been longer and some fight scenes should have been extended. I really would have liked to see more from Mike Tyson and more from the Muay Thai dude.
TL;DR
This movie is extremely enjoyable for all audiences even if you haven't watched any of the prior films.
I would rate the movie 7/10.
Sharing is caring,
Sean Wang
(WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SMALL SPOILERS)
I guess it would be fitting for my first review in a long time to be something that has greatly affected me over the last few days of 2015, ushering in the new year. That would be Undertale.
What is Undertale?
Undertale is a game by Toby Fox and centers around a young human falling into a hole. In an Alice-in-Wonderland-esque style, the human discovers that the monsters that have been banished from the human world have thrived (or rather, survived) in this underground world. The child then interacts with the monsters and is destined to either be their saviour or the harbinger of doom. My thoughts
I would have to break down my opinions of this game into multiple facets for the sake of simplicity as I will break down every aspect of the game and provide my opinion. However, I will leave a tl;dr note at the bottom to summarise my thoughts. Gameplay
When you are playing a game, the first and foremost would be the gameplay itself. Undertale offers a rather different take on traditional roleplaying games (RPG). RPGs often focus on attacks, grinding, increasing levels and beating bosses. However, Undertale offers you the alternative of sparing the monsters you encounter by certain pacifying actions. These actions would include hugging, picking (or not picking) on, flirting (yes, you can flirt with a monster) and many more. Each monster has their own unique method of defeat via mercy. However, the game still allows you to take the traditionalist route of being a murderous badass at the cost of, well, you being a cold psychopathic killer. You monster.
Gameplay also consists of dodging bullets as the primary means of surviving combat. So, it isn't the traditional combat system of randomised damage counters based on multipliers and the like but rather the players dexterity as they bounce around dodging bullets. Different enemies have different attacks too so there may be some attacks which may be easy to dodge and some that are impossible to. Most of all, it shows that each monster, no matter how small and insignificant to the plot, provides a unique experience to the player.
Plot
If you are playing a game and it isn't for the gameplay itself, you are probably looking for a plot or rather the writing in the game. This means that you are interested in how the creator expresses himself and his opinions and most of all, you would be asking if it is a good story.
Well, it could be said that Undertale has been one of the most well-written games I have ever played. The story extremely involves your character's decisions. Anything you do in the game will be remembered by the game even after you reset your save file. For example, killing certain characters will unleash a certain slew of dialogue berating you for doing so in the next run through. Furthermore, actions that you commit to in the playthrough itself would have consequences. If you chose to spare all the monsters you meet, you may actually get to meet them in neutral areas. It is pretty heartwarming.
The humour in the game was actually pretty funny. The usage of a lot of puns and extremely meta jokes. By meta, I mean fourth wall breaking and self-referential humour. There are a lot of jokes referring to real world phenomenon such as the anime craze that every teenagers seems to go through (imagine slashfictions and yaoi).
The game may be funny and all but it will tug at your heart strings. During my first playthrough, my blissfully unaware self decided to play it just like any other RPG. Little did I know, the boss monsters that I fought... well, all I can say is that I cried before the title even showed up (Then again, I do have mother-related attachment issues and would get emotional in such situations).
Soundtrack
If you are fond of traditional video game music from the eras of Pokemon, Zelda and the like, you would appreciate the nostalgic yet somehow modern tunes of Undertale. One of my favourite would be Megalovania (below). It is upbeat but at some points you feel the dread as you realise your sins crawling on your back (Yes, this soundtrack comes from a less than favourable outcome but it is well worth the heart wrenching murdering).
My other favourite sound track would be ASGORE. It is a battle of epic proportions but with a sense of duty and restraint.
TL;DR
So, in summary, the plot is well written as it is both heart wrenching and humorous. The soundtrack is extremely pleasing to the ear. The game is very unique in its approach to the combat system and puzzle solving in general. I would rate it 10 out of 10 would play. Undertale is available on Steam for only $7.99 (Currently at 20% off) at this link
I hope you enjoyed reading and remember, sharing is caring. Share this with friends, encourage them to check out the game. If you liked reading, please give me some feedback so I can improve! Remember, every bit of your input will help me make better content for you to read.
Sharing is Caring, Sean Wang
Well, it is indeed 2016, a new year and a new me. Who am I kidding? Why should I change myself to suit society's standards? I am perfectly happy with who I am and I accept my flaws to improve further as a human being. There is no reason to completely omit who I am because I am me.
Anyways, I got quite sidetracked. What I mean to say is... I am returning to blogging. I noticed that I haven't had much practice writing and I thought that it would be nice for me to share stuff on this site again, especially since it has been rebranded (with a hopefully less-of-a-mouthful name) - Sean's Sharings ( sharingsean.blogspot.my as the link).
It is a brand new year and I believe that there will be plenty of new things to write about. There are a few good movies coming out in 2016 of the superhero genre. Maybe, if you stay tuned, you will get to hear my opinion on them. Also, listen up because I will be sharing with you anything and everything that interests me. Hopefully, you will enjoy what I enjoy.
Furthermore, I will be ecstatic if all of you leave comments or feedback on either facebook or this page because it encourages me to write more and I also get to learn from any mistakes made. Thank you very much!
Remember... Sharing is caring!
Sean Wang
Hello everyone. I have started making gaming videos as it is a part of the youtube market which I thought would have been interesting. So, I decided to start with one of the rage inducing games - Cat Mario
I was introduced to this video by a friend. The video is very well put together with interesting shots and plot points. However, I am not here to critique the film, the purpose of this post is for me to share what I think about this video.
This video shows an alternate future in which men are oppressed like women are nowadays. It shows a society in which feminism triumphs over masculinity. Misogynists would normally retort that this is a reason for feminism to be stopped. They miss the point of the video.
The point of this video is to show that this is the truth, the reality, this is what women have to go through everyday. They are seen as an accessory, an object.
However, this is what I gather from the video. No matter what gender we are, we would still find a way to assign roles and oppress the other. It is ingrained for us to strive for dominance over each other. Instead, we should abolish the roles and abolish gender. We should instead strive for equality instead of dominance in any way.
When we come down to it, when you look at someone, you shouldn't see that they are male, female, white, black, gay, straight. Instead, everyone should understand one thing. We are human.
When we think of anyone famous who has made a positive or negative impact on society, they would have made speeches at one point in their career. Whether it is Chairman Mao, Hillary Clinton, Adolf Hitler, J.K. Rowling, they all have been trying to persuade people to do something, whether it is to follow their (often demented) ideology or even to buy their books. And normally, they do succeed. Why don't we do the same? It is very simple. Writing speeches or persuasive writing has a very simple structure. Purpose, Audience and Format or PAF for short. We must first realise what is our purpose for writing the speech, why are we giving the speech, is it to promote something or to demote something, to put forward an ideology or to shut down an opposing or contradicting ideology, to persuade someone to buy into what we are selling or to make people not buy what others are selling. Next, audience plays a key role in writing. We must decide who we are writing for, we cannot simply write a jack-of-all-trades speech as it would be to generalized. Hence, we need to focus on a particular audience for the anticipated response. For example, if we are writing a speech on the political aspects of the Weimar Republic in Germany and its ineffectiveness, we wouldn't write it in a way that we would speak to small children but instead, we will make it into something intelligent for intellectual minds to comprehend. Format is also very important in any form of persuasive writing as there are different ways of writing the same message for it to be perceived differently. A great example of this is that if we are writing a speech, we would use a different format than a persuasive letter to a figure of authority. Next, let us go into deeper detail of writing a speech. A speech that is carelessly written will not persuade anyone. There are various techniques applicable to ensure a successful speech. These techniques can be remembered as A FOREST. Let us dissect this acronym. A - Alliteration - This is repetitions of various letters or sounds to put emphasis on specific parts of a text to initiate an emotional response by the reader or listener. - Anecdote - A story or introduction of a quote will intrigue the reader/listener as it would have both more substance and more enjoyability. F - Fact - Facts are a necessity in writing a speech or any form of persuasive writing as concrete facts show that our speech has substance and is more impressive to the reader or listener. O - Opinion (Expert) - Expert opinion by famous writers or scientists will support the persuasion that we wish to convey as people are more willing to trust an established author/philosopher/scientist than us as we are really nothing in comparison. R - Repetition - Repetition of words can be used to reinforce the purpose of our piece of writing as this prevents a monotonous flow of words. However, constant unnecessary repetition can lead to our downfall as the repetition itself becomes monotonous, bland and uninteresting.
- Rhetorical Question - This technique is a common staple in speeches as it is very important as we are including the audience as part of our speech. A bond between the spokesperson and the audience is an absolute necessity to ensure persuasion. When we ask a rhetorical question, we are questioning not only the audience but ourselves too as we may or may not know the answer sometimes. Hence, using rhetorical questions, we are able to voice out our doubts or questions without having to find an answer as the readers would reflect upon themselves to find the answer to our questions. E - Emotive Language - Strong words are an absolute necessity in persuasive writing as we are persuading someone to follow something we wish to put forth. We cannot use words that will say the message without persuading as we will be failing on our purpose, we want to be able to write something that will persuade people through the language itself. The usage of words can change the audience's perception of the speech. S - Statistics - This technique is held hand in hand with the "Facts" part mentioned earlier as its purpose is roughly the same but it is to add some numbers to our story. People like numbers. T - Tripling/ Power of Three - This method is very commonly used to emphasise a point that needs to be addressed with utmost importance. The usage of tripling is best used when we wish to convey our original message/ purpose. If we use tripling unnecessarily we will be degrading the importance of our main point. In conclusion, A FOREST and PAF will be able to lead us into literary success upon writing a speech or persuasive writing of any sort. However, we need to understand that although these are the basis for persuasive writing, it does not mean that we have to blindly obey these rules. Some may practically apply the rules differently or use their own set of rules but this is at least the basic guidelines for a great speech. To put in an analogy, our speech is a tree, these rules are the roots, our branches may reach far and wide but deep down, this is where it begins. "As Aristotle said, "In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech."
Recently, I have got a part-time job with Comics Mart in Midvalley Megamall so I have something to do during the holidays. The job wasn't exactly high-paying but it was a job that I wanted to do and I enjoyed doing it. I started around mid-november and I had my last day today as I am going to go to Penang for the Christmas holidays.
Working at a comic and board game stall, this one, I have learned a lot of things, I have observed many things.
Firstly, I learned a bit about writing and people's preferences when it comes to comics. People like comics that have a relatable character. Nowadays, people do not wish to look for a story that has a god-like or omnipotent character that has no flaws. No. People want dark, gritty and realistic stories. Hence why Batman is currently more popular than Superman.
I ask some of the customers I deal with regarding their favourite heroes sometimes and when I ask about Superman, he isn't that popular due to him being too much of a boy scout and being too powerful.
Next, I learned how to communicate better. Normally, I do not socialize well with people because I am actually quite shy. Ever since I was young, if I were to come in contact with other humanoids, I will hide behind my mother and observe until I decide I am ready to talk. However, after I got this job, I learned to speak clearer and I got to talk a lot trying to convince people to purchase things and sometimes, some people just needed someone to talk to, even though they weren't buying much (Though I have to admit sometimes it was a waste of time).
Also, I have been able to feel the glorious taste of success. When I sell something and the money temporarily goes into my hands before going into the register, it feels wonderful because I have managed to sell something and helped someone make some money. I just can't put my finger on it but it just feels great.
Furthermore, I learned to ask for help when I need it. For example, if a task is too hard (Which rarely happened) or I was clueless as to what to do, I would simply ask.
Also, I have to really idolize my boss, Khai Hoong. He is extremely kind and very friendly. He keeps his customers close and his staff closer. We are not his workers but instead we are like a family. For example, for his future renovations, he asked me how things should be changes. No one asks me for my opinion. This sort of thing makes me feel included in the future for this shop while giving the information that he wants. It is a win-win situation. He gets the information he needs and I get the good feeling.
Furthermore, I have to admire his dedication for his shop. Whether sick or not, rain or shine, he will come and ensure the safety and fluidity of the shop. This shows that he is extremely dedicated in his shop.
He is extremely admirable and I would be like should I be an owner of a small enterprise in the future.
Also, my co-workers, Anthony, Fahimi, Daryl and Nurul, were very fun. I really like working with them because they make you feel like you are in a big family and we can laugh together and play games together. It was a wonderful experience. Especially playing Magic with some of them.
Comics Mart is a very cool shop if you are a fan of boardgames, comics and Magic: The Gathering (Which is my favourite game of all time by the way). The prices are relatively cheap in comparison with other stores around Malaysia and the games are very unique because they are not the mainstream games like Monopoly.
I really want to work with them again someday :D
I am thinking of doing reviews of the games on youtube if I have the time.
I guess that is all I have to say, so bye and Merry Christmas.
I am a foodie who enjoys different types of entertainment. I hope to be a great writer one day, capable of sharing my ideas and opinion across the globe (and maybe the universe).
