lilguyollie Reviews

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013 Video Game)

Who can't like this game??

[9/10 · 7 March 2015]

Whether or not you're a fan of Assassin's Creed, it doesn't matter. This game will satisfy both fans of the series and those who just want a damn good pirate game. Everyone wins. For those who wanted both of those things, your luck is well and truly in.

Black Flag is an ambitious game but has a truly great pay-off at the end. The sense of exploration and freedom found in this game isn't something that you would find in most other games. With the north part of the Caribbean as your world (including but not limited to places like Jamaica, Cuba and Barbados) you can sail as pirate captain Edward Kenway on your ship, the Jackdaw, through the open seas taking on British and Spanish ships to steal their cargo, hunting sea creatures and exploring underwater shipwrecks. There's just so much to do. The sense of progression in this game is really great too. In previous AC games there was often an issue of having too much money and not having anything to do with it. Well here you can use that money to upgrade your character as well as your bad-ass pirate ship. As the game progresses you'll be able to take on larger and larger vessels with bigger prizes and even take on the Legendary ships. The characters are mostly based on real historical figures of the period and all are interesting as well as well produced in every respect.

Issues with the game however are that combat is still to easy, stealth is not refined enough and regardless of being a fan of the franchise, the story really didn't do it enough for me. I honestly preferred the story in AC3.

I would recommend picking up this game. It's fun, well made and engrossing. Even if the story doesn't really float your boat, there's so much more to do in terms of side quests. I therefore give this game a 9 out of 10 and would argue that it was one of the top 5 games of 2013.

Thanks for reading this review I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed it please feel free to read my other reviews.

Les Misérables (2012)

I dreamed a dream...of a much better movie

[5/10 · 7 March 2015]

So just as the award season passes us by I thought I'd review a movie that at the time of release won a lot of accolades and even 3 Oscars subsequently. So eventually when I had time and felt like watching a musical I decided to review this movie based on the great play based on Victor Hugo's novel in the hopes that the magic that I witnessed in London's West End could be transported to the medium of cinema for all to marvel at. By the end of the movie I thought to myself "I should have just re-watched Sweeney Todd".

As always lets start with the good things in this movie, first off the acting for the most part is great. It's not easy to transfer a stage show to the cinema and use the actors to the same effect. On stage the characters have to be exaggerated and stylised as does the singing. In the movies this doesn't tend to work so well as it just looks like horrible over-acting, which does actually happen in a couple of scenes here. However, the majority of the characters are believable and interesting with the majority of delicate, heartfelt scenes coming off well. The film's costume design is also very commendable and adds a very strong air of authenticity to the film.

So what reasons do I have for giving this film a 5? It's horribly filmed, the live singing was a poor decision, the story is f***ing stupid and despite it being nearly 3 hours long it has more corner cutting than a paper snowflake. The shaky-cam style of filming really doesn't work here and it's very clearly demonstrated in the scenes where any of the characters have to show a bit of energy. Furthermore, even during action scenes the camera is zoomed so far in on the characters faces that I'm surprised that their breath isn't fogging up the lens. I get that this works for sad or dramatic scenes but not through out the whole bloody film. The live singing is uneven and some of it is just really poor. Imagine hearing a beautiful rendition of I Dreamed a Dream by Anne Hathaway, full of emotion and soul that nearly brings you to tears. Then imagine Russell Crowe trying to belt out a lesser song without putting in much discernible effort or acting like he's trying to act like he gives a s*** about where he is or what he's doing. In terms of story, I'm not going to say too much as I don't like giving spoilers but let me just say it's the kind of thing you might see in a low budgeted sequel of a bad Disney film. Finally, the whole jump cut style thing with time cards is stupid. They sacrificed so much character development by just showing time cards saying "9 years later" and then suddenly one of the characters has made a huge transformation. If they maybe cut some of the scenes featuring Sacha Baron-Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter who add nothing to the plot line after their first scene then maybe they could have fit it in and made the story more interesting and believable.

So in the end this movie gets a 5 out of 10. It's biggest crime for me being that when I later watched a stage recording of the show that I bought a week later to wash the taste of this garbage from my mouth, I began to think that I was giving this show more credit than it actually deserved. That's what this movie did. So do as I do and forget that this movie ever happened.

Thanks for reading this review, if you found it helpful please feel free to check out my other reviews.

Black Sails (2014–2017)

All ashore thats going ashore

[9/10 · 7 March 2015]

It's 3:09am right now so I'll make this really brief. Watch this show, it's good. Very good. It doesn't matter that Michael Bay is executive producer, you wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't tell you. The characters are wonderful, most of them are a clever blend of Treasure Island characters and real life pirates. They are mostly well written and well acted by all involved. The scenery and sets are great to watch, real postcard type stuff but with the grittiness of early 18th century piracy. My only gripes about this show is that Season 1 gets a little bogged down by the minutiae of story and character development but so far those issues have been erased in season 2. Also, one actress in particular (Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie) is not as convincing as I would like her to be. There's too many unnecessary expletives in her lines and they aren't all said with enough conviction. All in all this show is great and is getting better episode by episode and so far just about earns a 9 out of 10. Thanks for reading this review I hope you found it helpful and if you're interested please check out my other reviews.

Unfinished Business (I) (2015)

True Detective can't come soon enough for Vince Vaughn

[4/10 · 6 March 2015]

If you were perfectly happy with watching The Internship, The Watch or Delivery Man, then this film will probably be serviceable to you. I however grew tired of seeing seemingly strong comedic concepts and characters flounder in Vince Vaughn's movies and went into this one hoping it would improve on his recent crop of films. Sadly this movie must now be dumped on that crop of mediocrity. It's just too familiar.

What I liked about this movie is that for the most part Vaughn and Franco are likable screen presences and they play their parts well. However that only a positive if you like either of them and they both tend to be very polarising figures. Some of the humour lands quite well, but again you have to be of a particular lowbrow mindset to enjoy this enough. My biggest compliment is that the message is heartfelt and warming. The typical underdogs vs. fat cats in more ways than one, which I found refreshing.

The bad news however is that it's bland(ish) characters, mismanaged story/script and similarities to many a film that has come before hold this movie back. In an attempt to make the film more realistic, the characters are written in a way that shows that no-one is completely good or evil. Which means that the easy form of comedy in this genre is removed which is commendable but wrong. The characters and writing just aren't funny enough to carry this movie in this realistic(ish) way. It's like if the Hangover was merged with the Little Engine that could. It just doesn't work. Finally this movie is exactly what you would expect from Vince Vaughn, except for the fact that given the premise and trailer content, I actually expected this one to be decent. I was wrong.

Essentially if you like an easy movie with fairly low brow and cartoon styled humour this movie will kill a couple of hours for you and you won't feel guilty about it after those hours are dead. Conversely, I'd advise you not to waste your time if none of these things appeal to you. Unfinished business therefore earns a 4/10. I hope Vaughn can salvage his career, he's a talented man but his typecasting will leave his career dead in the water. (I also predict that in a year from now I'll probably have written something similar about Melissa McCarthy).

Thanks for reading this review I hope you found it helpful, if you enjoyed this review please feel free to check out my others and keep and eye for more in the near future.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

......Oh dear....

[2/10 · 13 February 2015]

I didn't want to bother doing a review for this movie, because being honest it doesn't deserve any more of my time. Nor your's for that matter. Getting straight to the point, a lot of this movie just doesn't work. At all.

Based on the inanely stupid book of the same name you have cardboard cut out sheltered chick Anastasia Steele (yeah, really) and kinky billionaire Christian Grey who partake in confusing bondage sex that actually barely appears in the movie. Yep the most anticipated movie in years because of it's graphic sexual content and Twilight mum fan base that trolls the internet doesn't feature much sex.

So if there's little sex in a movie all about bondage, bdsm and all that stuff what can we rely on to carry the movie? A good story? If you've read the books you already know the answer to that question (those who haven't, it's garbage). Good and interesting characters? The main characters have less engaging chemistry than a two hour chemistry lecture presented by a professor who should have retired a hundred years ago at 3 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. If there was a huge amount of sex going on in this movie it would be more awkward and uncomfortable as opposed to sexy. Why? Because there is zero sexual tension in this movie which culminates in it committing the worst sex movie/porno sin...inducing boredom. Severe boredom.

I give this movie props for two things: one it's actually shot fairly well and does it's best to create an intimate atmosphere (unfortunately the dialogue and awkwardness undoes all that hard work) Secondly at least it's not as laughably bad as the book its based on. Two kinda positive points results in it being given a 2/10.

Thanks for reading and if you found this helpful /enjoyable check out my other reviews.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

....It's got some good visuals...

[4/10 · 13 February 2015]

Jupiter Ascending has a lot going for it. It's written by the Wachowskis (Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas), it features a viable cast of actors and it promotes a seemingly interesting universe and mythos of its own. Unfortunately, though these things excited me pre-release they also pave the way for this movie to become generic...blegh.

The visuals are great in this movie. Which is probably no surprise seeing as it's the Wachowskis, they are nothing if not pioneers of stunning visuals in movies. It's just a shame they can't make the characters as interesting. OK I'm being harsh because they weren't terrible. In particular Sean Bean and Channing Tatum are the best parts of this movie in terms of acting. Mila Kunis however is to me like Helena Bonham Carter. They both made their careers through being close to popular successful guys in show business and end up starring in a lot of they're movies. And Eddie Redmayne...I know he's nominated for an Oscar but the less said about him the better.

This is a classic case of style over substance. The story is a blended, convoluted tale of Princess Diaries meets Phantom Menace. Mila Kunis is some space princess and she has to stop Eddie Redmayne (muffled laughter) from stealing it or something like that. I began to switch off after about half of this movie.

It's frustrating because this movie could have been more if not for some questionable acting, awful dialogue and confusing story. It had the potential to be so much more than it is. I kind of hope for a sequel so that they can improve as they go but honestly I'm not sure if I could sit through that. In the end this movie is meh. It just exists though I wouldn't recommend it at all and therefore it gains a 4/10.

Thanks for reading this review. If you enjoyed it or found it helpful go check out my other reviews.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Summer of 2014 just keeps giving!!

[10/10 · 6 August 2014]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is obviously the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and carries on the story from the first movie as you would expect. The premise is that the Saimian (I think thats how it's spelt)flu has wiped out a most of humanity. Though as you would expect the Apes led by Caesar have created their own home in a Californian Forest. Eventually they discover an isolated pocket of humans looking for aid who they see as a potential threat. The story essentially focuses on the relationship between the two species with both groups just looking to thrive and survive whilst demonstrating how similar they are to each other through various events in the movie.

Now to quote another critic I follow, this movie was never afraid to take risks and always kept me guessing. The story originally didn't appeal to me when I heard about it but the movie works so hard at making you emotionally invested in it that it's just too hard to resist. It has it's share of light hearted moments delicately balanced with harrowing dramatic scenes that tug at your heart strings fused with some fight sequences that truly are a sight to behold. The entire cast of this movie were truly fantastic, the Apes look and act like Apes and the humans in the movie are interesting as opposed to just being there as in a lot of movies (i.e. Avatar). Seriously if Andy Serkis doesn't receive an Oscar nomination for this performance it will be the biggest awards farce since Ricky Gervais was allowed to host the Golden Globes. As you can expect the CGI is fantastic, when you see the Apes conveying emotion it looks so genuine it gives Kristen Stewart a run for her money.

The only issue I really have with this movie is that at times it seemed that this movie lacked pace. Personally I didn't mind it too much but if your a expecting a purely testosterone fuelled action adventure then this movie isn't for you.

Overall this movie excelled in near every way possible. The story was great, the ending was satisfying and perfectly set up the sequel without baiting it too much like in the X-men movies (I swear to god all they talk about is this upcoming war which whilst it seems cool begins to get repetitive and nauseating). The acting, cinematography, music and CGI were all terrific and managing to pull them all off together so well truly makes this movie worthwhile. In sequel terms this is so awesome in comparison that it rivals the Dark Knight trilogy I'm not even kidding. Now I can only hope that this movie has a sequel that does the previous two true justice.

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

10 out of 10? I'm not so sure

[7/10 · 15 August 2013]

In many respects this film is a masterpiece. Memorable, mesmerising and beautiful. The acting is solid, the singing is okay (some are great others are not) and the sets are wonderful. However, the directing is awful. Just awful. Joel Schumacher missed so many opportunities to make this a classic. So what is the final verdict? The premise is that the Phantom (Gerard Butler) is a musical genius and magician who hides in a lair beneath the Paris Opera House due to his horrible disfigurement. He spends his time trying to lure singer Christine Daee (Emmy Rossum) into his grasp only to face opposition from the young nobleman Raoul (Patrick Wilson).

The good: The acting is great, every actor puts there heart and soul into it and I particularly enjoyed Gerard Butler's rendition of the Phantom. The singing was exceptional from Emmy and Patrick however I found Gerard's singing to be hollow and powerless when singing along side others. The sets and costume were brilliant and set the mood and feel perfectly.

The bad: Nowhere near as good as the show. I hate the fact that Joel Schumacher put off making this for years which then led to Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman becoming too old for the parts. The film doesn't quite have the creepy Gothic feel that the play has. The fact that Schumacher opted for a younger phantom just made this look like a fight between two kids for a girl. It completely disassembled the adult feel that the rest of the film worked so hard to create. Just as an added note, his deformity isn't that bad.

Verdict: Good, not great. I love the songs and story and I felt that the actors did a fine job and at least they tried to stay true to the source material. The direction really held this film back, too many wrong decisions got this film panned by some but in my view, the movie works too well in certain areas to be labelled a bust.

The Borgias (2011–2013)

Historical Accuracy isn't everything

[9/10 · 15 August 2013]

Like many people who watch this series and others like it, I often pick out moments which are fictional or an historical event that is slightly altered. It doesn't really matter though especially if what the writers come up with instead is still interesting and entertaining.

The first series focuses on the Borgia family's rise to prominence and the Popes children's gradual loss of innocence who grow into corrupt, murderous figures. The second series then follows Lucrezia's several love interest stories and the bitter sibling rivalry between Cesare and Juan. Finally, the third series follows the Pope and his son Cesare fighting their main enemies Caterina Sforza which leads to an epic conclusion with the battle of Forli.

The good points of this series for me is the general tone and atmosphere of the show. This is created by the actors and the setting of the show. The era itself holds strong interest as during this revolutionary time which saw the rise of Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and grand architecture there are dark, viscous conspiracies going on. The whole cast are top notch, in particular David Oakes who plays Juan. His ability to jump from emotion to emotion just like that shows his talent in full flow. Sean Harris who stars as Micheletto is the underrated star of this show. Jeremy Irons is marvellous, need I say more its Jeremy Irons c'mon. I am also a huge fan of orchestral music in shows and it features prominently here and adds to the mood perfectly.

For some, this show may feature too much gore or sexual content, as there is at least one sexual scene every episode. However if you're comfortable with this sort of thing then I can give you no negatives. If you're an anal historical fan who purely wants fact and non-fiction drama then this probably isn't for you but give a try anyway.

In my view its fabulous and I am one of those who was gutted to hear that it was cancelled after 3 seasons due to budget concerns despite consistently getting successful ratings. I highly recommend this show and advise you not to be put off by the fact that it was cancelled because honestly The Borgia's Requiem Mass has come too soon.

Team America: World Police (2004)

I f***ing rove this movie!!!

[9/10 · 1 August 2013]

Those of you who have not yet seen this movie, please bear in mind that although these are puppets, the acting in this movie is far better than anything you will ever see in the Twilight movies. Sorry to mention that crap. Also you will understand the summary of this review when you see the movie.

Basic storyline: Actor Gary Johnston is recruited to Team America: World Police, a group of specialised anti-terrorism soldiers who are led by an older man named Spottswoode. Their task is to bring down an upcoming terrorist attack and save the day.

Essentially meant as a spoof of Jerry Bruckheimer's over the top action movies, this movie actually stands out as a cult classic comedy that doesn't only poke fun at Bruckheimer but also at left wing liberals, actors who belong to the fictional group the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G) and "the murti-tarented Kim Jong Il". Again you see the movie, you get the joke, or maybe you've figured it out by now in which case good for you. The voice acting from Trey Parker and Matt Stone is as good a ever and seems serious yet stupid at the same time. Plus the musical numbers are a good laugh. I guess all I can say negatively is that it may be a little too offencive or explicit for some. But that's down to opinion.

Fans of South Park will love this movie and those who don't will love it if they are fairly open minded. It's a fairly old movie but hey, great comedies don't really exist anymore. So basicarry, go see the movie. Like now.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Much better than anticipated

[9/10 · 1 August 2013]

We all saw the trailers early on and perceived this to be an adults version of power rangers. Whether that sounded good or not to you, it's still worth watching. Don't be put off by the lack of big name actors in this movie as this proves that the reputation of an actor does not men they will make the film good, also proved by The Lone Ranger.

Pacific Rim's premise is that giant dinosaur like creatures called Kaijus are attacking the countries which surround the Pacific Rim, which contains a portal which leads to the Kaijus dimension. To combat this, the UN pooled their resources together to create giant robots known as Jaegers to fight them. The Kaijus begin to evolve and with the UN losing faith in the Jaegers, they make one last stitch attempt to permanently deal with the Kaijus.

Starting as always with the positive points, everyone in the film provides an A plus performance. Maybe it's because we expect the acting to be mediocre due to the emphasis on CGI and the lack of big name actors. Maybe this would make us look at this and think it's much better than I thought it would be. But no it's just plain good. The CGI is marvellous, as are the fight scenes and both combined is just as colossally gorgeous as the monsters. Whilst the story isn't as engaging or stimulating we would expect, especially from Mr del Toro, the ending is still satisfying and leaves room for a possible sequel. As an added point i'd like to ask how the hell did Grown Ups 2 beat this movie at the box office? because basically that film is bloody awful.

Overall, it's like this concept was purposely drawn up for Michael Bay just so that he can have a CGI vacation with this. However, the story is still engrossing ad the action and acting keeps the viewer in the moment and excited. If you're action fans, you will love it and if you are fans of a deep, twist filled storyline you will learn to appreciate it. Basically, if you are reading this, Go see this movie. Like now.

Amadeus (1984)

Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham: Careers that never were

[10/10 · 30 December 2012]

Why would any actor perform to the best of their amazing abilities in a fabulous, moving movie just to then perform in mainly mediocre movies later on then retire from the world stage? Ending on a good note is good for a mediocre actor (cue Kristen Stewart, Please!!!) but I felt that Tom Hulce had so much more to give.

With Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) giving us the prologue, the story is based on Salieri's jealousy and envy for Mozart. Mozart (Tom Hulce) is about to compose a piece at a palace in Vienna (Home of the musicians). Whilst eager to meet Mozart, expecting him to be a talented, humble and grateful young man, discovers that he is actually a lewd, immature deviant. After witnessing Mozart perform, then seeing him memorise an entire piece of Salieri's music almost instantly then play it to him, he grows jealous of Mozart as he realises that god has chosen a simple, undeserving boy rather than a devout, dedicated religious musician (himself) to be bestowed with such talent. Salieri then devises a plan to get Mozart to write an absolutely perfect piece of music, his requiem mass, then dispose of Mozart and take the credit for it. He would finally gain his victory over Mozart as he will dispose of him and god as he must now watch Salieri get the recognition he finally deserves. Only time will tell if it will work...

There is absolutely nothing negative to say about this movie. Coming from me, thats a rarity (check out my other reviews, I'm not kidding I always find something negative apart from AC3). Every actor is brilliant and as I mentioned Tom Hulce is amazing and I can't understand why he retired so soon. In short this movie is well worth seeing time and time again. I love this movie purely for the beauty and musical passion that goes into every scene.

Amadeus will always be renowned as a classic and I am telling you to see it to truly appreciate it's amazement. I place this movie at number 4 of my personal top 20 movies.

Dishonored (2012 Video Game)

A return to brilliance for gamers

[9/10 · 27 December 2012]

Dishonored is a solid and satisfying game. The game play is absolutely brilliant and the environment is awesome. This game is a testament to the faith of hardcore gamers waiting for a game that will never disappoint.

Dishonored tells the story of Corvo, the Lord Protector of the Empress of a huge plague ridden empire and her daughter. When the Empress is murdered and her daughter abducted, Corvo is framed for her murder. Now he must fight, with the help of his new found allies, against the very men who framed him and with deadly stealth, prevent them from taking over the empire.

So everything in this game was great although I think it would have been better if it was a third person game like Assassin's Creed or Prince of Persia. However that is only my view. Finally, the guards seem to be everywhere and the problem with that is if you're trying to sneak past one guard the odds are that you will be spotted by another guard who suddenly appears behind him. It seems trivial but trust me it can be f***ing frustrating at times.

So to wrap up this is a game well worth buying as it has a fulfilling story and shows that video games will soon overtake Hollywood movies completely.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Dark Knight Rises above it's competitors

[10/10 · 22 December 2012]

So Christopher Nolan brings forward the final installment of the reboot trilogy after the last group of movies was subsequently butchered by Joel Schumachers Batman and Robin.

Lets start with the good, I don't care what anyone says about the ending. For me it was whole heartedly satisfying and it absolutely did the trilogy justice. The storyline was brilliant even if it was a little bleak at times but hey, thats an appealing factor of all of Chris Nolan's movies. The acting was top notch from every actor. Chris Nolan has been criticised for using the same troupe of actors in most of his movies. There has only been one good Chris Nolan movie that didn't feature Christian Bale (Inception). But you can see why here. Every actor brings they're A game to the table. The special effects were brilliant, at the perfect point between the ridiculously bad graphics of The Last Airbender yet not so overdone as any Michael Bay movie.

Now the bad. To be honest the only complaints of this movie were that I didn't think that Tom Hardy as Bane could top Heath Ledger as the Joker and for me he didn't. He still did a great job as Bane though with his malicious voice and villainous swagger. Finally, I wasn't the hugest fan of Anne Hathaway. She was still great but after hearing that she was selected ahead of Natalie Portman, I definitely would have gone with Portman. However it could turn out badly as Jake Gyllenhaal was a possible Batman actor and that would have been terrible. Esecially that scene in the Dark Knight where Bruce and Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal, his sister not his wife) kiss in his penthouse. Ewww incest.

So to rap up, The Dark Knight Rises is the best movie of the year even though The Dark Knight was better in my opinion. This movie is certainly worth the money they charge for it and I rate this at number 17 in my personal best movies i've ever seen list.

Batman: Arkham City (2011 Video Game)

A game with a villain as it's hero

[9/10 · 6 November 2012]

Batman Arkham City is beyond compare. It contains the heroes and villains that we all know and love like Joker, Mr Freeze, Catwoman and even some that we honestly don't care about such Calendar man (luckily he doesn't have a huge part in the game). The game mechanics and environment are of the highest quality. The detail is perfect and the combat and gliding makes any other superhero game look like Mindjack (see Angry Joe Mindjack review on youtube to understand what I mean).

Boss fights are sublime and varied in techniques which is a huge improvement on the last game. The Joker is absolutely fantastic. Mark Hamills portrayal as the clown prince of crime truly is a stroke of genius. In my view the Joker is a better character in effort and more interesting than the Dark Knight himself. It is obvious that this game is pure class but it's not without it's faults. So I am going to bite the bullet and point out the faults of this otherwise perfect game.

The environment maybe be brilliant in detail but it could have been bigger. This game was in production for two years and compared to a map we may see in Assassin's Creed which has half the production time, it seems inferior in scale and variety. The only other complaint would be the length. Whilst there is so much to do in this game, I can't help but feel that the story line was rushed.

Overall, this game has many more qualities than flaws. It is worth paying for and should be played several times to truly appreciate the quality and brilliance that rocksteady and DC comics delivers.

Assassin's Creed III (2012 Video Game)

Game of the Year!!!

[10/10 · 2 November 2012]

I make no exaggeration when I say that this game is the best I have ever played. I've been an Assassin's Creed fan since I played AC2 two years back. It has since been my favourite and in my view the most impressive. That was until I played this game.

This game is a revolution of gaming in of itself. The mechanics are brilliant, as are the graphics, soundtrack and voice acting. Like all AC games it takes a while to get into. That is true but (and without mentioning any spoilers here) it proves essential to the storyline.

If you are looking to play a game that will leave you stunned and fully fulfilled by the end...then heed the Creed.