Tag: scifi

Star Wars II Explained

Let’s pick up where we left off the last time. Palpatine rose to the position of Chacelor, Qui-Gon Died and Anakin was accepted in the Jedi Order as Obi-Wan’s apprentice. A Sith threat looms in the distance. The story is set 10 years after the battle of Naboo.

The Galactic Republic faces a new threat in the form of a separatist movement organised by former Jedi Knight Count Dooku. Dooku is the former student of Grand Master Yoda and master of the now deceased Qui-Gon Jin, known for his excellent combative prowess and being egotistical. Queen Padme now a senator wishes to form an army to help Jedi combat the threat, she narrowly avoids an attempt on her life on Coruscant. Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker are assigned to protect the senator, after thwarting another attempt on the senators life Obi-Wan is asked to find the mysterious bounty hunter responsible in the death of the assassin.

Obi-Wan’s search leads him to Kamino a planet known for its cloning facilities. There Obi-Wan finds out that clones are being made in the name of the Republic on the orders of Sifo Dyas. Sifo Dyas was gifted with the power of foresight wihch showed him the possibility of a war. Sifo Dyas died before the order could be completed and the order was funded by darth Sidious who used bounty hunter Jango Fett as the genetic template for the clones. Obi-Wan interested in Jango meets him and discovers that a man known as Darth Tyranus suggested Jango being the genetic templet. Obi-Wan notices the helmet stored in Jangos room and realises him to be the same bounty hunter that killed the assassin. After a brief battle against Obi-Wan, Jango escapes with his son Boba to the planet Genosis.

Anakin begins experiencing visions of his mother Shmi, in those visions she seems to be in a lot of pain. He decides to return to Tatooine his home world to check up on her. The slave trader Watto reveals that he sold Shmi to a moisture farmer, after tracking the farmer Anakin finds out that Shmi was abtucted by the tusken Raiders. Hell bent on saving his mother Anakin ventures into the camp to find Shmi barely alive, she dies in his arms. Anakin overcome with anger massacres the entire tribe of the Tusken Raiders only to realise what he did after a while. Feelings like anger, fear, hatred and jealousy are considered to be the seeds of the Dark side as they cloud our judgement.

Obi-Wan discovers the separatist movement organised by count Dooku on Genosis and is caught before he could relay his findings to the Jedi order. Count Dooku visits the captured Obi-Wan and reveals himself to be working with the mysterious Darth Sidious against the galactic republic. The message that Obi-Wan sent reached Anakin who along with Padme decide to save Obi-Wan, they are caught by Jango and sentenced to death along with Obi-Wan.

The trio manages to fend off the creatures set to kill them and stay alive until a clone army led by Grand Master Yoda, Master Mace Windu and other Jedi arrive on Genosis after receiving the retransmitted message from Anakin. Windu kills Jango Fett in the ensuing battle against the droid armies, Obi-Wan and Anakin intercept Dooku that tries to escape. They engage in a light saber duel against Count Dooku but loose after a brief battle due to Dooku being a skilled duellist. They are about to be killed but Yoda intercepts and defends them, Dooku knowing he could never defeat his old master uses the force to distract Yoda by making him choose between saving the young Jedi or letting Dooku go. Yoda decides to save the young Jedi and Dooku uses this opportunity to escape.

Senate representative Jar-Jar Binks proposes a successful vote to give the chancellor emergency powers completely authorizing the creation of the clone army. The Jedi council now more wary of the oncoming threat is baffled by the claim Dooku made, that the senate is controlled by Sidious. Anakin secretly marries Padme which is against the Jedi rules, Jedi claim attachments to be a path that could lead to the dark side.

We shall pick up the next part soon so stay tuned. Until then May the Force be with you

Star Wars I Explained

Most people who read these words immediately thing of people wielding light swords and fighting but star wars is much more complex. The movie order confuses a lot of people so lets just get the order straight, its just a numerical order that goes from 1 to 9. The story is divided basically into 3 different trilogies I-III, IV-VI and VII-IX we’ll be talking about I the phantom menace this time. I-III were released after IV-VI but stand at the beginning of the timeline. Star wars I-III kicks off a beautiful saga set in a galaxy far far away which is home to not just humans but a multitude of races. Some people in this world can harness an ability known as The Force and are known as being Force sensitive.

The Force is a mystery that few understand, member of one such groups are known as Jedi tasked with protecting the galaxy. The Jedi are primarily peacekeepers that use their abilities to help people in need. The galaxy is in turmoil with the trade federation that wishes to conquer planets using its droid armies. The Jedi Order dispatches Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jin and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to convince the federation to not invade the planet Naboo. The negotiations fail and the secret benefactor of the trade federation, Darth Sidious orders the invasion to proceed as planned. The two Jedi fight back and escape with Padme Amidala the Queen of Naboo but in the escape their ship is damaged and they’re forced to stop on the desert planet of Tatooine for repairs.

On Tatooine Qui-Gon comes across a young force sensitive slave Anakin Skywalker, after freeing the young boy from his slavery Qui-Gon decides to train him in the way of the Force. On the way back to their ship Qui-Gon comes face to face with Darth Maul a Sith lord and after a short duel escapes. Sith are the opposite of the Jedi they use their connection with the Force for their own gain unlike the Jedi, Sith were believed to be extinct by the elder Jedi after long periods of inactivity. The Jedi travel to Coruscant so that Padme could plead her case to the galactic senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi council permission to train the young Skywalker but his requests are denied. Padme is convinced by senator Sheev Palpatine to call for a vote of no confidence in the current leader. Meanwhile Padme decides to lead a rebellion to save Naboo with the help of Gungans a race of amphibious creatures that live underwater on Naboo.

The Gungans agree to help out and lead the fight against the droid army on the ground and Padme with the two Jedi decides to search for the viceroy that leads the invasion, meanwhile Pilots attack the federations droid control ship to weaken the droids. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan come face to face with Darth Maul again and fight him together, Maul however overpowers Qui-Gon and mortally wounds him. Obi-Wan avenges his master by defeating Maul, a dying Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin as his apprentice. After the battle the viceroy is arrested and Palpatine replaces him as the chancellor, Grand Master Yoda promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of a Jedi Knight and accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan’s apprentice to respect Qui-Gon’s wishes.

The Sith have a rule known as the rule of 2 wherein only one Sith lord and one apprentice is allowed to exist. According to this logic, with Maul dead one Sith still remains. The Jedi order has to prepare themselves against the oncoming war against the Sith.

We shall pick up the next story soon so stay tuned until then, May the Force be with you.

Edge of Tomorrow: Second Chances

Anyone who has played video games knows what checkpoints are, but checkpoints are a way to save your progress in a game. Certain games allow saving progress at any point, but some games allow saving progress only at predefined points known as checkpoints. Imagine having this ability in real life; you could revert back to a checkpoint with future knowledge. There is a catch though, to reset, you have to die. The protagonist of this movie finds himself in a similar predicament. Dying sends him back in time, and he is forced to relive his life again.

The movie is set in an alternate 2020 where aliens conquered most of Europe in 2015. Technological advancements lead to the creation of mech suits that give their pilots superhuman strength and reflexes. After success in Germany, the UDF or United Defense Force, a global military organization set up to fight against the aliens, plans on using the mech suits to invade France. The movie turns its focus to the protagonist, Major William Cage, played by Tom Cruise. He finds himself demoted to the rank of private and assigned to the invasion party. Lacking combat experience, he dies but not before killing an unusually large mimic known as an Alpha.

Cage wakes up on the morning when he was demoted to a private and assigned to the invasion party but strangely remembers landing and dying. He tries to warn his commanding officer but to no avail and keeps on being reset after dying and remembers the actions and tries to act accordingly. In one of many such loops, he tries saving Seargent Rita Vrataski, a hero of the attack on Germany against the aliens played by the lovely Emily Blunt. She realizes that Cage can loop back time when he saves her by apparently anticipating every move that could lead to her death. She asks him to find her when he resets again.

When Cage finds Rita and explains what has been happening, having experienced a similar situation, she takes Cage to Dr. Carter, an expert on the Aliens biology. Dr. Carter explains how Cage hijacked the aliens’ ability to loop back time; the ability is a defense mechanism used by the Alien leader “Omega” that reset time to prevent losing. Vratski begins training Cage to use his ability and warns him that a blood transfusion will take away the ability. After many failed loops, Cage learns about the location of the Omega and plans to end the fight once and for all.

After even more failed loops and almost having the ability taken away, Cage and Vrataski decide to track the Omega together. Cage suffers a major injury but is saved by a blood transfusion that inadvertently takes his ability away. Realizing that he has only one attempt at destroying the Omega, he enlists the help of his previous squad. After a grueling fight, Vrataski is killed, and Cage wounded. Cage uses whatever strength he has left to destroy the Omega, drowning in its blood in the process.

Cage wakes up two days earlier and realizes the world is different than he remembers. His effort in killing the Omega helps weaken the aliens and gives humanity the edge required to win.

In conclusion, it is an amazing movie that shows knowing what the future holds can help. The name is apt as Cage literally has the edge over tomorrow, knowing what the future holds for him. A VFX-heavy movie that gives the aliens a menacing look which helps sell the terror and fear. Based on the 2004 Japanese light novel “All you need is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka checks all the right boxes for a science fiction enthusiast like myself. I heartily recommend the movie to any Science fiction fan or to the fans of Tom Cruise.

The Man from Earth

Every culture has a form of immortality and its a concept used in almost every type of media, be it the villain’s motivation or the hero’s reward. Immortality comes in many forms and shapes like using an ancient artefact, using magic, using technology or even being a supernatural creature grants immortality in a fantasy setup. Rarely any depiction of immortality deals with the darker aspects like being detected and experimented, psychological impacts of possibly outliving everything and everyone you loved. Immortality can be as much of a curse as it would be a boon, imagine being alive more than a 1000 years from now and being the only one who cannot connect because you’ve held on the past for so long. Todays generation is a hectic and tired one, only some would dare to accept immortality.

The movie from 2007 follows Professor John Oldman who seems to have survived for almost 14000 years, the entire movie is set in and arounds Johns home and mostly contains intellectual dialogues between him and his friends. John is moving from his current location and is stopped by his friends for an impromptu Farwell party. His friends are his colleagues that are experts in their respective fields and play a crucial part in each story told by John. His friends notice some peculiar things in Johns belongings like what seems to be an original Van Gogh, a hunting bow, some historic texts and objects that could be dated back to the Magdalenian era.

Oldman reluctantly start telling his story to the others. He relocates every ten years to keep anyone from realizing that he doesn’t age. He begins by telling his friends of his origin and later life when he realised he doesn’t age, he started out as a caveman from the Magdalenian era. He later relates being a Sumerian then residing in Babylon before moving to the east to become a follower of Buddha. He then continues telling his story of apparently having sailed with Columbus and having befriended Van Gogh. All the while each of his friends questions his stories pertaining to their knowledge. John tries to leave religion out of their conversations but he has no option when asked about his beliefs, he reluctantly reveals that in trying to take buddha’s teaching to the west he inadvertently became the inspiration behind Jesus.

This revelation of John possibly being the story behind Jesus doesn’t sit right with one of the groups members who is a devout Christian, John decides to say his stories were a hoax and leave to diffuse the tension. Every member of the group has different reactions to Johns revelations, a few believe john and a few don’t. After everyone else leaves John talk to Sandy one of his colleagues who believe in the story, he tells her some of the aliases he used. Will Gruber a psychiatrist friend of John overhears the conversation and recognizes one of the pseudonyms he previously used. Will realises John had been telling the truth all along, he asks John a few questions that can only be answered by someone close to his family. John is revealed to be Wills father who left when Will was young, after the revelation Will suffers a heart attack and passes away in Johns arms.

In conclusion an amazing movie that makes you think about immortality as not just a boon. A must watch movie for a science fiction enthusiast that doesn’t mind watching a movie only for its plot. The entire movie take place in and around Johns house, has no special effects or action, the movie makes up for all of this with its intriguing plot. A sequel was released in 2018 which showed John getting older and feeling the effects of time.

The Prestige : Science or Magic

Directed by Christopher Nolan The Prestige based on the 1995 novel by Christopher Priest follows the story of 2 rival magicians set at the end of the 19th century London. The magicians Alfred Borden played by Christian Bale and Robert Angier played by Hugh Jackman are bitter rivals who once worked together and were good friends. Their friendship ended when Angier’s wife fails to escape a water tank trick due to a mistake made by Borden while tying her up. Thus began their rivalry as they both started their careers as stage magicians, always finding a way to one up each other. Angier takes the name “The Great Danton” continuing to work with John Cutter a stage engineer played by Michael Cain, Borden takes up the stage name “The Professor” and works with his mysterious partner Fallon.

Their rivalry continues when they keep trying to one up each other by performing seemingly impossible tricks, their rivalry takes dark turn when Angier sabotages one of Borden’s tricks. Angier replaces a bullet that Borden removed beforehand for a bullet catching trick, Angier plans to kill Borden but Fallon thwarts the attempt. This attempt on Borden’s life though unsuccessful causes him to loose 2 of his fingers and his reputation. Borden decides to make Angier pay by sabotaging one of his famous tricks the disappearing bird, when selected as a volunteer Borden messes with the contraption that hides the caged bird so that it not only kills the bird but injures another volunteer. This in turn diminishes Angier’s reputation as well.

Borden comes up with a new trick to regain his lost reputation, he seemingly teleports between 2 wardrobes almost instantaneously. Angier cant figure out the secret to the transporting man trick, he decides to imitate the trick by hiring a body double to come out the other wardrobe. The imitation is a success but Angier a very egoistical man hates the fact that his body double gets all the cheers. Borden easily sees through the ruse and sabotages Angier again by taking away the padding meant to dampen his fall when he falls through the wardrobe, this cripples Angier and fuels his hatred even more. Hell bent on getting the secret to the trick Angier acquires an encoded diary that belongs to Borden, he gets the key to decode the diary after threating Fallon’s life.

The Diary leads Angier to Nikola Tesla played by David Bowie who he believes to have created a machine for Borden. Angier travels to America hoping convince Tesla to build a machine for him. Angier finds out that the diary was just a distraction planted by Borden with the help of his assistant Oliva played by Scarlett Johansson, Tesla nevertheless decides to try and build such a machine for Angier. After numerous failed attempts Tesla and Angier are about to give-up when Mr. Alley Tesla’s assistant played by Andy Serkis discovers that the machine didn’t completely fail. The machine was cloning the objects placed inside it and transporting them a short distance away. Tesla warns Angier to not use the machine fearing the consequences.

The Prestige gives a tiny glimpse into the rivalry that still makes people think, it talks about the rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Its well known now that most of Tesla’s world changing ideas were opposed by Edison for being different.

The movie is definitely a complex one and I have chosen to leave the ending out, giving away the final plot device would make no sense. The end makes you think not just about the story but about emotions and makes you question yourself. This is must watch watch movie for anyone interested in Science Fiction. If you are like one of fans hoping for a crossover between DC and Marvel this movie is the closest we could ever get, we have Hugh Jackman who played the iconic Wolverine, Christian Bale who stared as Batman in a trilogy directed by Nolan himself and Scarlett Johansson who plays Black Widow.

In Conclusion its an amazing movie and definitely worth a watch.

Minority Report : A Glimpse into the future

A world with a police force that could stop crimes even before they occur would be safe and devoid of major crimes. Minority Report by Steven Spielberg brings such a world to life, crime in Washington D.C in 2054 is at all time low due to an experimental PreCrime Police program going on from the past 6 years. The program makes use of 3 three clairvoyant humans known as Precogs who can visualize details of an impending homicide, the police force then analyses the data gathered to then apprehend the would be perpetuator. This method takes care of premeditated plans but fails to work on crimes of passion.

The Precogs are connected to a system to display and store their memories, wherein they lie floating in a pool with sleep inducing drugs to separate them from any and all stimulus of the real world. The criminals that are apprehended are sentenced to a virtual-reality as their penance. The system is not perfect and can generate errors, these imperfect predictions are analysed further and purged from the records if necessary. These imperfections occur if any one of the three precogs witnesses a different future, these are purged as group precognition agreement is the foundation of the precrime laws. The state wants to implement the PreCrime program on a national level despite of the issues.

The program is led by Chief John Anderton played by Tom Cruise. Danny Witwer an agent of the US Department of Justice played by Colin Farrell discovers a prediction made by the precogs while auditing the system for national implementation. He discovers a prediction made about Anderton hidden in the system, Anderton is going to kill Leo Crow a man with apparently no connection to Anderton. Anderton who learned about the future before Witwer decides to flee the office to save himself, which then causes Witwer to issue a manhunt.

Anderton tracks down Dr.Heinman the founder of the PreCrime program, he does so to learn about anything that he can use to save himself from being persecuted. He learns about the existence of the minority reports from Dr.Heinman and tries to use those to his advantage, the minority reports which are purged from the system are programmed to be saved to the lead Precogs mind. Anderton retuns to PreCrime to kidnap Agatha the lead Precog to try and prove his innocence, they decide to track Leo Crow down and find him in a hotel room with photos of children which includes a photo of Anderton’s own son believed to be dead. Anderton in a fit of rage attacks Crow but decides to spare his life after Crow claims that he was hired to plant the photos. Crow proceeds to kill himself to make sure his family is unharmed by whoever hired him.

Further research by Anderton points him to a murder that happened in the past, Agatha’s mother Anne was murdered even after the possible culprit was caught. Witwer deduces the murderer to be Director Lamar Burgess and is killed by him as the precog system is offline. Anderton is eventually apprehended but released when Burgess inadvertently reveals his hand in the murder of Anne Lively. Anderton displays the footage of lively death publicly and proves Burgess to be the man behind her murder, a new precrime report is generated which Predicts Burgess killing Anderton. Burgess commits suicide and precrime is abandoned, the 3 precogs are moved to an undisclosed location set to live normal lives.

In conclusion Minority Report manages to show both the benefits and the downsides to knowing ones future. An amazing movie worth watching not just for the plot but the subtle visual effects that looked like magic when it was first released.

Looper : Loop back

Time travel is an idea adored by every science fiction enthusiast, it has been a popular concept in all kinds of media for a long time now. Time is a fascinating concept itself and the idea of somehow being able to traverse it is even more fascinating. First popularized by H.G.Wells in his novel “The Time Machine” in 1895, now a concept used by almost all form of media. There have been multiple fictional methods of time travel depicted in a wide spectrum, everything ranging from magic to advanced physical theories like blackholes have been used to explain time travel. Not many stories try to convey the possible consequences of time travel, most just end up brushing the very possible effects under the rug. This movie does its best to show the possible consequences of making changes to the past.

Looper is set in the year 2044 in a world quite similar to ours, technological advancements in 2074 have found a way to facilitate time travel. The use of time travel is not elegant or something good at all, it is instead use to coverup crimes of the future. The tracking in 2074 have reached a point where covering up a murder is almost impossible. The future crime bosses utilize time travel to care of their tracking problem, they simply send their targets to the past to be killed and disposed. Loopers are assassins hired by these crime syndicates who take care of the targets sent their way, the targets are bound and blindfolded before being sent back with silver bars on their body as a form of payment. The Looper shoots the target and recovers the silver bars to complete the contract.

The story follows Joe a 25 year old looper that works for the Kansas Crime syndicate played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His job is simple, execute the target and recover the silver. He has a pretty wild night life and is also addicted to a type of hallucinogenic. The crime syndicates of the future send the Loopers old self to be executed to hide their connections, these executions are identified with gold bars on the target instead of silver this is referred to as closing the loop. Every looper bides his time waiting for the day to come, Seth a Looper and friend of Joes lets his past self live. This action is frowned upon by the organisations and a manhunt for Seth begins, Joe reluctantly hides Seth in his place but gives him up when his finances are threatend.

The movie does a fantastic job of depicting the consequences to changing past, Seth is captured and used as a beacon for his old self to come back to. The movie shows in its own gruesome way what would happen to the future self if pain is inflicted on the present body. Seth is tortured by first by cutting an address on his arm which develops into scar tissue for his future self then slowly his limbs are severed, these effects appear on the future Seth’s body until he finally dies.

Joe gets to the location for his next target which turns out to be his old self played by Bruce Willis. The only surprising thing for Joe is that his future self is unbound and facing him, Joe fails to kill his old self and returns to his apartment. It is shown that the Joe who returned was successful in closing his loop, he moves on with his life waiting for the day to come. When the day eventually comes Joe is not ready to die and wishes to change the past to avenge his wife, so he returns to the past with the motive to stop “The Rainmaker” a person that overthrows all the crime bosses and forcefully closes the loops. It becomes a battle between Future Joe and the present Joe to save their respective lives.

In my conclusion this is a must watch movie for any science fiction enthusiast with interests in time travel. The cast included Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the primary protagonist, Bruce Willis plays the part of an antagonist, Emily Blunt plays the role of a mother trying to save her son who has psychic powers from the old Joe. Its an amazing movie with an enticing plot, written and directed by Rian Johnson.

Interstellar : Finding a Replacement Planet

Its not difficult to imagine a future where our world is slowly dying, for all of the greatness achieved by humanity it hasn’t gone hand in hand with our planets life. We keep hurting the planet that makes life possible for us, depleting its natural resources and wreaking the protection it has. Interstellar a movie by the phenomenal Christopher Nolan which lets peek in the future which would be unavoidable if changes aren’t made. It speaks about a world that has become near inhabitable, blights make it difficult for the crops to survive and massive dust storms threaten humanity. Chances of humanities survival seem dire but the flame hasn’t died yet.

The movie follows the path taken by the best of humanity, there are 2 theorised paths, path A where gravitational propulsion must be developed to send entire settlements to space, path B involves traversing a wormhole that appeared near Saturn and has possibility of 12 habitable planets. To ensure humanities survival a ship known as the Endurance carrying 5000 cryogenically frozen embryos is to be piloted through the wormhole onto a habitable planet. Before sending the Endurance into the wormhole small scale tests were done where volunteer astronauts went to these planets to survey the living conditions, this was referred to as project Lazarus.

The Endurance requires a pilot to complete its crew, Joseph Cooper an ex NASA pilot played by Matthew McConaughey is selected as the pilot. When they venture into the wormhole they begin searching for signals left by the members of the Lazarus Project. They come across a few signals and the closest one seems to coming from a ocean world, a splinter crew descends to the planets surface to recover Miller the astronaut sent to initially survey the planet and confirm the suitability of the planet. After descending to the surface they discover the planet to be uninhabitable due to being plagued by gigantic waves cause by the planets proximity to a blackhole.

After losing time and a crew member they decide to check up one of two remaining beacons, one from Edmunds and another from Mann. Mann’s report seem to be more positive so its decided to visit his planet. Mann played by Matt Damon is however revealed to have faked the reports, he does so to be rescued from the planet which is actually a frigid wasteland and incapable of being the replacement humanity desperately desires. Mann fails an escape attempt killing and damages the Endurance, Cooper manages to pilot the damaged but functioning Endurance to try and reach Edmund’s planet the last hope for humanity. A depleting fuel reserve forces cooper to use the blackholes gravity well to propel the Endurance forward. To reduce weight and to provide a final push to the Endurance cooper decides to separate himself from the craft entering the blackhole in the process.

This movie not only talks about dying earth but manages to satisfy every science fiction enthusiast by depicting time dilation. Time dilation refers to phenomenon of time passing differently depending on either the gravity or the velocity of an object. A popular theory which says time is about all about perspective, for a ship orbiting a black hole what would count as mere minutes may be months or even years for a person on the nearest planet. This difference in the rate at which time passes is generally attributed to the distance said object is from a strong gravitational pull, in the case of a black hole distance from the event horizon being the defining factor.

I’ll recommend this movie to any science fiction enthusiast fascinated with time and space. The visual effects are amazing and most of the physics is spot on. A must watch for anyone that is familiar with Nolan’s work, he never fails to impress even the toughest critic. The movie also serves as a watch glass into our own future if changes are not made soon.

Inception : Dream Adventures

Imagine a world where you can dive into dreams, not just in your dreams but dreams of your friends, family and even enemies. Think about all the stuff you could learn about someone through their dreams, because what are dreams if not a projection of what we long for. Dreams are an extension of ones desires, fears and even secrets. Imagine the benefits of such a technology, it could help patients suffering from PTSD as it would give a closer look of the trauma faced t the therapist. It could be used to help patients to overcome their fears on their own all the while having full control over the environment. It could also help patients that have trouble remembering by just helping them relieve their life. Every coin has 2 sides, for a lighter and hopeful side there always is a darker side. This side is what the movie sheds some light at.

The movie follows a crew led by Dom Cobb played by the dashing Leonardo DiCaprio, he plays a professional thief that specializes in stealing secrets. He is an extractor who dives into his targets mindscape using experimental tech and extracts information required. He has a partner Arthur played by the lovely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Arthur manages the operation and is responsible for research about the target. Cobb is known to be one of the best extractors and generally uses a multi layer structure in the dreams. The dream within a dream approach which makes it difficult for his targets to anticipate his actions. When a person dies in the dreamscape they just wake back up in the real world.

Mr.Saito a Japanese business man played by Ken Watanabe decides to hire Cobb not to extract an idea, but to implant it. In the dreamscape the targets subconscious is weaker and susceptible to suggestions, Saito wishes to use this to his advantage by having Cobb convince Robert Fischer played by the talented Cillian Murphy to relish his business empire. Robert Fischer is the heir of Saito’s business rival Maurice Fischer who left everything to his son before dying. Cobb accepts the job as Saito promises him to clear his criminal status, Cobb prepares a crew that contains himself, Arthur, Ariande a graduate student responsible of creating the world in the dream scape, Eames who specialises in forgery and impersonations, Saito himself and Yusuf a chemist tasked with designing a sedative to manage the dream within a dream strategy. Getting out of these tailored dreams requires a kick and a member who is responsible for creating the dream stays behind to deliver a kick. Usually when someone dies in the dreamscape they just wake back up in the real world, this multi-layered dream has a catch where if someone dies they pass on into a world of infinite subconscious and would prevent them from waking back up. Cobb reveals his experience of this limbo to Adriande and the others.

The movie is directed by the brilliant Christopher Nolan who does an amazing job of building the world and all the intricacies that make it interesting. The story is gripping and make you think critically, it is known to confuse many people when it comes to understanding the different levels of the dream. The end is pretty ambiguous and truly makes the viewer think and understand the underlying plot.

In conclusion its a wonderful movie that is sure to make you think. A must watch for sci-fi lovers and enthusiasts, many fans watch it more than once to try and decode every little secret possible. All the twists and turns make you wonder about our own reality.

The Matrix : A Recap

In mathematics, a matrix is a rectangular array or table of numbers, sym…., oops that’s the wrong kind of matrix. I’m pretty sure that most fans of science fiction would know what this article is actually about, its about one of the best cyberpunk sci-fi stories to ever exist. This is about the hit franchise written and directed by the Wachowskis and starring the amazing Keanu Reeves in the lead role as the chosen one. It was originally a trilogy and was supposed to end at that, an announcement of a fourth movie has excited all the new and old fans alike. So I decided to brush up everyone’s memory of the masterpiece with a recap of the story and also talk about its influence on the minds of today.

First a recap of what the plot is like. The world starts out pretty normal as a world set in 1999 but nothing is actually as it seems. The world is actually a wasteland set in 2199 where machines have taken over and the human resistance is slowly but surely loosing. The condition is attributed to advancements in AI technology that occurred in the early 21st century, the machines slowly becoming self aware and self reliant. At some point a conflict arose between the machines and humans, the machines rebelled against their creators. A war broke out and mankind was close to their wits end, they tried to deny the machines solar power by filling the sky with thick clouds. This strategy worked against the humans as after an eventual victory the machines decide to use humans as their power source, relying on the bioelectric and thermal energies of captured humans. The humans were placed into pods that extracted said energies while making them believe they are living normal lives in 1999.

The plot revolves around Thomas Anderson who is a programmer for a reputed software company, he also leads his life as a hacker in secret as Neo. He is given a chance to break free from the simulation by Morpheus, he’s the captain of “Nebuchadnezzar” a ship in the resistances fleet. Neo decides to take the chance and wake up to aid the resistance, he is believed to be the chosen one who would bring an end to the ongoing struggle. The resistance has members capable of plugging themselves back in the matrix, they have some degree of control over the rules of the virtual world and are seen as people with supernatural abilities. They fight the war on 2 fronts first in the real world against the machines keeping Zion safe which is a place occupied by freed humans, the second front is in the simulation know as the Matrix where they face off against sentient programs created by the machines to keep the world in check. One of these programs known as Agent Smith goes rouge in order to enact revenge against Neo, he also becomes the primary antagonist who tries to gain dominion over both the real and the virtual world.

Now I’ll stop talking about the plot or I would end up telling the entire story. Lets talk about the influence this series had on the world, from theories to technology this series is credited for a lot of things. There are many people that believe are world to be a simulation and this theory has its roots deep in many cultures, the series can partially be credited for the increasing number of believers. Todays technology prides itself on being able to cut its users out of the reality with immersive AV tools like noise cancelling headsets and virtual reality headsets. Components are being developed to not only give the users haptic feedback but use haptics as input, this basically means being able to interact with a virtual environment physically. Matrix influenced a couple of outstanding games as well. Matrix has had a pretty hefty influence on creative minds altogether.

As a conclusion I would just like to say how excited I am for the upcoming movie, lets all gear up for what promises to be an phenomenal movie with Keanu Reeves returning for what seems to be the final time as the chosen one Neo.

The Dead Road : Reviewed

The final chapter in the Reviver series by the wonderful Seth Patrick lives up to the previous 2 titles “Reviver” and “Lost souls”. It bring this wonderful series to a close with grace. The Reviver series takes place in a world quite similar to ours, the only difference being that there are a few special people that can bring the dead back to life for short periods of time. This ability is used by law enforcement to get a testimony of the deceased and is widely accepted in the world. People with these abelites are known as revivers but they face opposition from a quasi religious organization know as the Afterlifers. The Afterlifers oppose revival as they think of it as disrespectful and unnatural.

Jonah Miller is a reviver with the Forensic Revival Service, its his job to bring the dead back to life long enough to get some answers. He’s one of the best at the job and also has special connection with force that facilitates the Revival. After facing a boat load of troubles in the previous parts and learning a lot of secrets about their society, he finds himself still on the run and confused about his role. He gains a new ability amidst all the commotion, he begins seeing shadows on people. Thinking it to be an after effect of all the trauma endured he brushes it off and continues to stay in the radio silent zone in the state of Virginia with his girlfriend Annabel. Annabel is a journalist who began investigating Michael Andreas after her fathers death. She uncovered secrets that put her into the crosshairs of Andreas.

The book picks up indirectly where it left off, with a warning Tess had warned Jonah that the Beast is coming. Jonah attributes this beast to be connected somehow to the entity masquerading as Michael Andreas. Michael Andreas was a dashing businessman with a shady past and shadier interests. He was one of initial funders and believers of the revival process with his organization know as Baseline. The organisation was a front for Andreas’s experiments getting in contact with an entity that promised peace and power.

Jonah’s new ability proves useful when the trio of Never, Annabel and himself come face to face with the looming threat. What he sees on the people are parasites that are connected to the Beast and are bound to do his bidding. This ability becomes useful when they are attacked by the followers of the beast. Jonah soon discovers that his ability to revive the dead which helps bring humans back can be used to send these parasites back where they belong. These parasites seem to have different levels of power and have an hierarchy. Frightening things begin to happen and a darkness fills the oceans and rivers taking anyone who stands in their path. Jonah decides to revive Kendrick a government agent with ties with Andreas to learn something more. He ends up finding out that he might be the only one who could stop the impending doom.

In conclusion Seth Patrick manages to twist and turn the story even more and makes sure the last leaves an impression in the readers mind. The entire series throws curveballs at you and keeps you on the edge of your seats. The ending seems a bit simple in comparison to the others but is pretty satisfying. The protagonists have to deal with after effects of the fight, they could be the only ones able to help humanity. It was a well rounded book that makes you think about the reality too. This was the final book in the series and would be my final review pertaining to this topic.

Lost Souls : Reviewed

A sequel to the brilliant thriller “Reviver” by Seth Patrick, Lost Souls picks up where it left off with a bang. It develops on the established conflict between the revivers and the antilifers in way that is not expected. After the clash between Jonah Miller the best reviver and the antagonist, Jonah thinks the clash is finally over but he’s soon proven wrong by a series of events. The Afterlifers have nearly doubled their efforts to stop revival with better funding and a stronger resolve, they’ve started to play to the publics fears and reel them in.

After the ordeal faced in the last novel thinking everything is dandy, Jonah gets back to his job as a forensic reviver. He talks to the recently deceased to get some answers and bring some closure to the ones they left behind. Jonah is called up for a revival that doesn’t go as planned. The victim seems to be the latest target of a serial killer, the mystery still remains as Jonah is not allowed to proceed with the revival as the afterlifers get their hands on the case and do everything in their hands to stop the revival. He begins to think if it’s the time to retire from the FRS and get into private revival. Jonah thinks about the mutilated series of corpses and has a feeling that everything’s not as it seems.

Annabel Harker is investigating Michael Andreas and trying to balance her new relationship with Jonah. She comes across some more secrets about Andreas and baseline. Jonah and Annabel are drifting apart due to her giving more importance to finding Andreas and less time to their own lives, Jonah the ever hopeful keeps trying to hold on but finds himself hurting more and more. Despite their differences they have to come together to each others aid when Michael Andreas seemingly back from the dead announces his arrival to the world. Jonah knows something is wrong, he knows Andreas is not who he claims to be. Jonah, Never and Annabel go on the run in an attempt to stay safe and find all they can about Andreas.

The trio of Jonah, Annabel and Never start to dig deeper even when on the run and come face to face with a series of revelations that point to an incoming apocalypse. They soon find out the depth to which Andreas and the afterlifers are rooted to. This makes it difficult for them to trust anyone but themselves, because one mistake could end up being their last. Having to deal with such situations on top of being practically marked for death makes them question the science and dive into the myths. The saying knowledge is power cannot be any more perfect, knowledge of what they are dealing with will be the tool they need in the fight. After countless hours of research they find out the true motives and identity of the entity masquerading as Michael Andreas. They have to fight to save the world.

In conclusion the thrilling novel “Lost Souls” lives up to its predecessor and ramps up the intrigue and action in the novel. Sure to keep you from putting the book down is its complex story that is sure to make you think. The character development from the first novel is amazing, it keeps the qualities that define the character and adds to it. The novel sets up the final part with a warning to our heroes and an incentive for the readers. For me this novel was a blast and would heartily recommend anyone fond of a good thriller. So, stay tuned for my review on the final part of this trilogy.

Reviver Reviewed

A question that has probably existed since the dawn of man himself “What happens after death ?”. This is question that Seth Patrick tries to address in his novel “Reviver”. It tells the tale of a world with special people that can temporary revive the dead and have a conversation with them. This process is even accepted by the law as the testimony of the recently departed it is a complete process where a licensed reviver asks questions to the departed about their demise and this entire conversation is recorded and presented in the court of law if required.

The story follows Jonah Miller a top reviver of the Forensic Revival Service on a seemingly normal day out to try and revive a murder victim Alice Decker. What seems to be a routine revival turns out to be a complex one as the deceased is scared of something and nothing Jonah does helps calm her down. After coaxing allice to answer his questions he lets her go but not before receiving an ominous message “Someone’s Coming” he lets her go immediately. When he’s just about to leave the corpse seemingly speaks only to him in a malicious voice “We See You..”. As this isn’t witnessed by anyone but Jonah it’s chalked up to stress and fatigue but Jonah has a feeling this isn’t all it seems.

A new day rolls around and with it sadly a new murder. A little girl is murdered and Jonah is called up to do the revival and get some answers to the cops and closure to the family. Though anxious Jonah completes the revival with no issues at all and the girl even gets to say goodbye to her distraught parents. Satisfied about a job well done Jonah leaves the girls house but is suddenly washed over with feelings of anger towards a man he feels like he knows, he then proceeds to attack the man saying “you killed me” and passes out. This is again chalked up to stress and Jonah being overworked as revivers have a rest period and he is one of the revivers with the smallest tail as it was termed.

Then Daniel Harker the man credited with the discovery of a reviver is found dead and to solve the mystery of his death FRS calls upon their finest reviver Jonah again. The reason for calling upon Jonah is simple Harker is a complex case and another top reviver Pru Dryden failed at the revival. Jonah starts the long revival attempt feeling all the pain Harker felt while dying of thirst he almost fails but still manages to establish a connection with Harker. He has a conversation with Harker and is able to get enough answers out of him but sadly isn’t able to let Harker have a last conversation with his daughter Annabel. After the revival Jonah starts seeing Harker who seemingly let go of his own body but didn’t let go Jonah.

The revival points the police to a group know as Afterlifers who oppose revival on predominantly religious beliefs. Jonah still coming to terms with having Harker in his head decides to investigate the murder himself and bring justice to Harker. He works with Annabel and his best friend Never Geary to try and solve the mystery but is sucked into a whirlpool of mysteries and ends up with having to search his own past for the answers. He slowly discovers the reality of the defunct organisation known as Baseline which experimented and promoted revivers funded by the aging business tycoon Michael Andreas.

In conclusion the novel heavily leans on the fact that being right or wrong differs from the perspective from which its being viewed from. It is a really great novel that is part of a trilogy which is really intriguing and amazing to read. It really is gripping story that has elements of both Sci-Fi and horror. The novel plays on the concept of the world facing utter annihilation or conservation depending on who you ask. Stay tuned for a review on the next 2 parts of the trilogy too.

Why did Atlas Shrug ?

This is not a question answered by Ayn Rand’s novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ however it does shed light on a dystopian world which is rushing towards a total economic collapse. Businesses suffer due to a corrupt and meddlesome governing authority putting up burdensome laws. The story follows railroad executive Dagny Taggart in her struggle against ‘looters’ that exploit their productivity. In this world more and more successful leaders and thinkers abandon their business and seemingly disappear as a strike against the looters. The novel pushes a capitalist world where everyone gets what they deserve. This novel takes the idea “what if all thinkers decided to go on a strike” and revolves around the consequences.

This world has a common saying “Who is John Galt ?” which means “why bother” this phrase not only confuses the protagonist but drives her. Dagny sets out to save her company from the economic collapse by setting out to make a new rail line with the help of Hank Rearden who creates a new alloy lighter and stronger than steel. A government research foundation “State Science Institute” wants to buy the alloy from Rearden but he’s unwilling to sell. The institute then publishes a report condemning the metal without proper analysis still succeeds in making many significant organizations boycott the train line. To counter the boycott Dagny declares the new line an independent line with the name John Galt line to protect Taggart transcontinental. Dagny and Hank find out that Ellis Wyatt a supporter of the rail line set his oil fields to fire and disappeared along with a few other leaders. Meanwhile an old friend of Dagny’s Francisco d’Anconia is found by Dagny and hank to be damaging his own business for unknown reasons.

After the completion of the John Galt line and eventual inauguration Dagny and Hank find out an incomplete motor that works on the atmospheric static electricity. To find more about this mysterious motor she hires a scientist by the name of Quinten Daniels. The authority then imposes a directive where employees are forbidden from leaving their jobs and all the patents are nationalized in protest of this Dagny resigns. Due to a major disaster in Taggart Transcontinental’s tunnels Dagny returns to work and is notified that Quentin Daniels is resigning too. She tries to stop him from doing so, on the way she finds the secret about the motor which was created by an engineer named John Galt. She chases after Daniels in a plane and crashes into a hidden valley called Galt’s culch while inadvertently discovering the reason behind all the disappearances.

She meets John Galt who is leading the organized strike of the “men of the mind” against a society composed of looters and exploiters. Dagny stays at the culch and begins to understand Galt’s motives and reasoning behind the strike. Galt wishes for the world to be devoid of the leeches and looters. Galt asks Dagny to join his strike which is supported by many prominent figures like d’Anconia but Dagny refuses to abandon the railroad.

Dagny leaves Galt’s culch and finds herself back in her world which has devolved into dictatorship. d’Anconia finishes the sabotage of his own industry and invites Rearden to support the strike after stopping a government sanctioned armed takeover of Rearden Steel. Meanwhile Galt follows Dagny to New York and delivers a long speech about his ideals but is captured by the authorities he is then rescued by his followers joined by Dagny. The novel ends as Galt announces the way is clear for the strikers to re-join the world and help rebuild it due to the downfall of the government.

In conclusion I’ll say that the novel is definitely not a small one which an avid reader could finish in a weekend but is definitely worth reading as the world seems to be going in the same direction the author feared.

WESTWORLD: SCIFI AT ITS BEST

The science fiction dystopian drama is based on the Michael Crichton film of the same name. Premiering in 2016 on HBO in a technologically advanced wild west theme park that allows visitors to live out their illicit fantasies. The writing, acting and cinematography are all top notch with an excellent cast which includes Evan Rachel Wood, Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris and Jeffrey Wright. Aaron Paul joined the cast for season 3 of West world.