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Episode 10 - Doom, You season 5, Summer Movies we love, Marvel's future, Last of Us
23 Plays1 year ago
Doom, You Season 5, Sinners, Lilo and Stitch, Mission Impossible, Final destination Marathon, Last of Us, Thunderbolts and Avengers, Future of Halo
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Alright, what's going on everybody? It's Shamir and Arjun here for our 10th episode of Detroit Gamesters. g It is Memorial Day, so we all hung out. It was actually pretty good weather in Michigan, so got some sun.
00:00:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now it's Kyle Lane in the evening and we thought we'd do a podcast.
Shift from Gaming to Hollywood Focus
00:00:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
Respect all the fallen heroes. Right? Yeah, most definitely. So it's been a little while. I think it's been like two and a half weeks, which I think has given us a good amount of stuff to talk about.
00:00:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think this episode may be a little less gaming focused and a little bit more Hollywood focused. But I guess we can get started. So let's start off with
Arjun's Gaming Journey: Ninja Gaiden and Pokémon
00:00:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
what we've been playing. So Arjun, have you beaten Ninja Gaiden yet?
00:00:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
No, I have not. Oh my god. Just give up. I will never give on this game. just talking to you about this earlier. It amazes me that you have not been able to play Minja Gated, but you still play Pokemon every week, and it's probably a Pokemon game you've beat like 10 times. Yeah, it kind of is. Let me explain this a little bit.
00:01:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, yes, you're right. So, I have this routine right now where I do two things. One is, every day after work, right before I hit the gym, because gym is a religion now, and and I am crazy about going to the gym. i you know give myself 30 minutes play pokemon i've actually been playing pokemon um omega ruby alpha sapphire on the ds i just got a 2ds which i've never had before but it feels great playing it on that and that's like a 15 to 30 minute thing i played in my car with a co-worker we're actually having a blast playing it together i don't know if anyone's ever taken the time to play a game together that isn't multiplayer co-op focused it's kind of interesting how you guys play together we just sit in our cars we bring out our ds's and we both play a different pokemon game at the same time but
00:01:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
It feels motivating because we've played the games that we're playing. So like he's never played Pokemon Emerald. I played it and beat as a kid. He beat Pokemon Omega Rufi and Alpha Sapphire. I never beat it. So we're kind of giving each other tips and hints. So he's playing ah much older game, yeah right? Because he's playing old school Emerald. Yeah, so sorry, he's playing GBA and I'm playing BS. So it's kind of nice because I'm giving him tips. I'm like, hey, I remember that person. Watch out for these enemies, these types of Pokemon. And he's doing the same for me.
00:02:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
I kind of like that. You know, I kind of like the nostalgia, not going to lie. I was randomly getting some um like YouTube shorts and like ah Instagram reels and stuff like that, and they were about Omega Ruby. Oh, really? As random as it is.
00:02:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
And ah so for me, my favorite Pokemon game is by far Fire Red, just because of how much I played it. But a close second is Emerald. And I have never been able to play Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
00:02:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
because I really didn't have anything Nintendo for years until I finally got the Nintendo Wii U. So I totally missed out on those. And I had kind of i kind of wish I could play them on my Switch, but they they don't have you don't have the ability to do that yet. The Pokemon Company will never... I won't say never, but I don't think they ever will re-release them. And they had a lot of function, and they relied on the dual screen of the DS, so it'd be hard to maybe emulate a little bit of them on the Switch. so but So nowadays, if you actually wanted to play FireRed legally...
Challenges with Older Pokémon Games
00:03:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
Your only option is literally a GBA. That is crazy to me. Yeah, it's ridiculous. And same with some of these Nintendo DS Pokemon games, like Black and White and stuff. You literally need a DS, it's ridiculous.
00:03:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I have like three three ds two DS's now. And I think I was actually reading somewhere that if you try to sell or buy like one of those DSs, like 2DS or 3DS, they're still like... Yeah, i didn't buy I had to buy a 2DS for like $250. That's more than a goddamn original Switch. When did you can buy that? I bought it a couple months ago so can play this goddamn game.
00:03:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
So here's what I will say. Very interesting remake of a game that came out like eight, nine years ago. They used the 3D engine at the time, I think... ah from either X and Y or black and white to make remake alpha or Ruby and Sapphire.
00:03:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
And man, they
Evolution of Gaming: Open-World vs. Structured Games
00:04:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
did an amazing job. And this is what I don't like now with the Switch games is scope creep in the sense that like everything has to be open world, right? But the fact that the games were limited and technically on the DS, and they go, we'll just use their current engine to remake an older game. And it's still like feasible. like they didn't have to go out of their way to make this bombastic, crazy game.
00:04:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
It just looked so much prettier and then quality of life changes. So... i like it like I feel like the DS was the last great generation for Pokemon games, in my opinion. That's like where it stopped. But again, it's... what was that for the DS? Switch games, right? Yeah, then it was just the Switch Pretty right? Yeah.
00:04:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
And though they did remake Yellow with um Pokemon Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu. It's not the same. the So I was just thinking about it. like I think that's one of the best examples where the hardware limitations actually caused the game to have a certain structure. Yeah.
00:04:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
that just cannot be replicated. Yeah, it replicated. Because like when you think about these levels, like they felt arduous and it really felt like a grind and you really had to say, oh man, I have to get through this route. This the longest route.
00:05:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
You wanted to get your potions up. You wanted to get everything up because you knew... okay, this is what the map looks like. This is how I'm going to get through it. This is the grass I need to avoid. These are the trainers, right? And there was a lot of planning involved. And when you got to the end of a route and you were or you were about to go to a gym, like there was a sense of accomplishment.
00:05:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
But now that you have these open 3D spaces and you can go about them in any direction, like you're just not going to have that same challenge, I feel. yeah how do you, like now that I'm thinking about it, but like Scarlet and Violet and all these games, like you've kind of fight people when you want to fight. Yeah. You know, and like, and then like, then there might be like a succession of trainer battles, but it doesn't feel like the same kind of like hero's journey.
00:05:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. it doesn't feel like a hero's journey because they, they took you down a, not a linear path, but you had to go through certain routes in order to get to the next area. And they give you through a bunch of challenges with scar and violet. You can literally just fly past that yeah because it's open. So yeah yeah, it's just, I think I enjoy the older structure better and it's motivating that I have someone with me playing at the same time, even though it's not the same
Ninja Gaiden Progress and Doom: Dark Ages
00:06:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
Pokemon game.
00:06:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I like that. and then Ninja Gaiden, I am now, I think chapter 7 or 8. Did you finally beat the wolf guy? Yes, I did. That was cool. i actually That was cool, bro. Coliseum, and then like you beat him, and then all the other like- or I that was the best part, bro, because he was a hard boss, and then you're like finally you finally get like a breath of calm yeah and then you would like see this coliseum there's so many wolves and then they all start rushing you it was like how long is this gonna go on for it got me because i thought it wass just gonna be a cut scene and i'm just like yeah i'm not i'm done like i put my controller down i was like oh and then they do the thing where like you pick up the weapon from the boss and then you have to fight with that weapon which i was like oh that's cool as fuck and the weapon is sick yeah and weapon's sick i just didn't expect that was like fuck so i'm on the chapter with the next girl with a hammer
00:06:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
I forgot her name. or Yeah, ah some of the chapters where it wasn't Ryu, I didn't like him as much. Like, I remember there was one girl in particular, and you have fight these, like, This one red and blue. Yeah, the twin. Oh, that was like my least favorite.
00:07:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
well so kind Was the one with the hammer that girl, is she better any better? I don't remember. There was a couple of... She seems little slow. Like, it's like really heavy swings, and I'm just like, ah. So I took a break from that didn't feel the same. I'm almost like, do I stop? Because the playing as the other characters, maybe it's only a chapter long.
00:07:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, I don't want to be slogged through another chapter of a different character. So she's not that bad. There was also another one. I think she's the... that are a live girl with purple hair and she's like a ninja.
00:07:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
That one I didn't like as much because she was just way too quick. um But they're really short. But I get what you mean. It does mess up the tempo a little bit because you're just like, when you're with Ryu, it's just getting better and better, right? Because like you're using the same weapons, you're getting better at the combos.
00:07:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then it' it's like, Why should you learn how to get good with this one character because you're never use their moveset again? Yeah, exactly. And, you know, I did like leading up to that boss fight with, again, the Lycan or the Wolf or whatever, there was three boss fights back to back to back. So it was water dragon. Then immediately after is the skeleton with the soul that like builds up and you're like in a pile of bones. And then immediately after that, it was cool that those three back to back to back. I can only imagine if you're playing harder difficulties how excruciating that would have been.
00:08:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
um again i'm not playing back in the day when you're on the 360. yeah there was no adjustments to that But now I'm like, okay, I can suffer through this because it isn't as hard. I'm not playing the hardest difficulty. So I think at this point where I'm at, I might just stop playing the game. I might put one more chapter because I really want to start playing Doom Dark Ages. Yeah, I mean, I don't blame you like ah if you stop. To me, the game kind of dips down a little bit for a while after that. It's still good, but it dips down. And then it really just catches up back to speed like near the end because I think there's like know people who have played it will remember there's like this one staircase level that's pretty cool. Okay.
00:08:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you know I did feel like the last level, the last couple of bosses were pretty good. Okay, maybe I should play through it because I'm trying to stick to that mantra that you told me. It's like, look, there's a game you just don't enjoy. Just stop, like, i don't you know push yourself to do it just because, you know, the sum of- I mean, honestly, and I guess this can be the next thing we talk about, there's just so many games to play. Yeah, there's so many games. And ah so I have really gotten to Doom.
00:09:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
I've been playing it quite a bit. I'm almost done, actually. i'm on chapter 18 of 22. Did the game just come out? What the fuck? I mean, I'm sure, like, there's people who have easily beat it in just, like, a few days. How long how many hours have you put on this game?
00:09:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's honestly taken me a while because I have died a fair amount. Which difficulty? I'm playing on the hardest difficulty. Nightmare. Nightmare. I'm not like such a masochist and I play on the one where like you die and you have to play the whole game again because I think that's ridiculous. you know Yeah, this ain't Halo.
00:09:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the thing is, like with the difficulty, like it's Nightmare. And then every as far as I know, every level beyond that, it's the same difficulty. is just Adjusted. there's no it's It's all the same thing. The only difference is the penalty for death.
00:09:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh, okay. So like the hardest mode is Nightmare, but if you die, it's permadeath. Yeah, I gotcha. Now, just for people that don't know this, two things. One is there's also the difficulty can be customized or somewhat highly customized, where you can adjust the behavior of NPCs and all this other shit.
00:10:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
So even if you play Nightmare, you can still adjust it to make it slightly harder. Also, there was a patch that was just released two days ago to make the game more difficult, because many people within the Doom community have been complaining it's been too easy, even on Nightmare.
00:10:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't know how it is to play it before and the after. You would know more because I think you would play both. ah So, and this is funny, i didn't realize they patched it and i I was dying more and now I put two and two together, but I don't think the patch was that dramatic.
00:10:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
I guess my thoughts on Doom overall, I have quite a lot, both good and bad. You know, I'm actually a pretty big Doom fan. um i' And I was just thinking about like... Kind Doom OG or Doom 2016? 2016 onward. I can't even pretend. I've never never played the OGs.
00:10:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
um This might be a fun caveat, but I was just thinking earlier today about my favorite first-person shooters in anticipation of talking about Doom. um So number one for me is Halo.
00:11:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
No surprise. Number two is Half-Life. And number three was a hard... I really had a hard time deciding between Killzone 2 and Doom 2016, which kind of puts into perspective how much I really like Doom, right? Both very different games, by the way. And I might have to give Killzone the slight edge only because I enjoyed both the campaign and the multiplayer, right?
00:11:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
And for me, like, Doom 2016, the campaign was better than Killzone 2. But I spent more hours in Killzone 2. I mean, I friggin' bought PS3 for Killzone. Well, and again, Killzone 2 gameplay was more tactical. oh yeah But there was some weird thing about when you killed someone in Killzone 2 multiplayer. Like, it felt so sad. That noise that... Oh, yeah.
00:11:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
like that like weird, like, i don't know, like the way they kind of slowly, fun yeah, and they're just, yeah that was really as janky as it was. and I did like the abilities. Like I remember, like, i always pick the leader class and then I have that, like, it was like a tactical spawn grenade or something. i had a blast with that one. And I like being able to control where everyone would spawn yeah because it actually helped made me feel like the leader on my side for match.
00:12:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
But anyways, as an aside, i i just brought that up to you know show how much I really like Doom. And yeah the friend I think out of the three, 2016 Eternal and Dark Ages,
00:12:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
This is the weakest one. um But that doesn't mean it's a terrible game. I think it's a very good game. Why? Because they've done more for the story and cut scenes than they ever have in the first two games. And you like story. So so here's the thing. I think if you're going to do something, do it well. If you do something, but do it poorly, then you shouldn't have done it in the first place. And I don't think the story is very good in Doom.
00:12:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
Okay. Dark Ages. Doom the Dark Ages. Okay. Doom has never really had a story and like the story that it does tell a lot of it is like the mythos and it's just like a power fantasy um and it worked because you didn't have to think about it too much.
00:13:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in Doom the Dark Ages like they're introducing all these side characters and and things like that and you know, they're really one dimensional, there isn't really much to it. And I understand if like, okay, it's a power fantasy, we don't need, do you know, the Master Chief and the Doom guy to, you know, have all these emotions, I get that.
00:13:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
But when you have a scenario like that, the attention needs to go somewhere else, right? And so like, For Halo, like there are good side characters in Halo, right? And, you know, it's just the mystery of the universe and unraveling that.
00:13:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
And for Doom, you know, the story focuses for me less on the mystery of the universe and more on just like the antagonist and, you know, like the demonic people. And and just there's just no character that really strikes that strong for me. So like it's
Doom as a Major Xbox Franchise?
00:13:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
not a terrible story. It's serviceable.
00:13:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
But it's just like – I don't really know if it was worth it. Okay, because they probably spent a significant amount of resources yeah making this more story-heavy. Because like when I think of Xbox, you know synonymously were Master Chief and Marcus Fenix.
00:14:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
And again, Gears has been out of the pitch for a while, but I just always you know associate those two. And I thought they were positioning Doom Slayer in a way that in the last several years, like, if they can just make the right tweaks, he could be the third pillar, what right? You know, I think...
00:14:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
With that said, like don't get me wrong, this is a solid game. you know no I know, but like does it do any more for you for the character itself? like does this now When you think of Doom and oh my god, Doom the Dark Ages, like that was the one that put it on the back.
00:14:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
With that said, like I did get more interested in like the mythos and mythology and the story of the Doom world. And I watched a lot of really interesting like YouTube videos and I just went on this whole rabbit hole.
00:14:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
But most of the most interesting things I found were all from Doom Eternal. Like that I never played the Ancient God DLC, but I was actually looking at the story bits from the eight and like the Ancient Gods DLC and really how the world of Doom fits together.
00:15:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
was like, oh my God, this is so fascinating. Like basically God created a bunch of people and then they imprisoned him. And then he turned into Satan.
00:15:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh, it's such a fascinating idea. Then do you fight Satan? Yes. That's the end of it. I mean, spoilers, this is like, that's Doom. That's Doom Eternal. And then you get those mech suits. Cause this is all Doom Eternal. This is Doom Eternal Ancient Gods DLC. okay And so in the end, which I think, you know, some people were disappointed about because you're like facing God and like the fight was lame.
00:15:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so they're like, that's kind of disappointing. But just to put it into perspective now, like, I wouldn't say the story and the writing is absolutely terrible. And I'm happy they're going in this direction, because I'm happy to see them try new things and flesh it out.
00:15:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
But it's the weakest link for me. Like, if I'm just going from the story and the writing, it's like a seven based off of the story and the writing. ah Gameplay-wise, I have to really give it up to them because they really have found a way to reinvent the game again.
00:16:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the gameplay does feel really good. The first few levels did not really click for me because I... not the full arsenal Yes, because I feel like it's more of a drip feed. like you know It took longer to get an assortment of weapons and abilities and an assortment of enemies to fight. While I felt like in Doom, I just got hit with...
00:16:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
Especially Eternal. I got hit with so many different enemies so quickly, right? And I think, and I was really thinking about this a lot. If this if it went from Doom to Doom the Dark Ages to Doom Eternal, I would have been very happy with the progression.
00:16:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
But what I feel like happened, and why I feel so torn and ambivalent about this game... is I see ways in which the Doom franchise has evolved since Eternal, but in some ways it's backstepped ever so slightly.
00:16:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
So that's why I can't say it's the best of the trilogy, but it's still a very good game. It's like looking at Halo 1, 2, and 3, and 3 is my favorite. Yeah. And one is the worst. But that doesn't mean I think one is terrible. you know It's just relatively speaking. Yeah, relative.
00:17:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know There's always the contextual part. so And I guess like one last thing I wanted to add in is a difficulty. I am really happy they briefed up the difficulty ah because it really is too easy.
00:17:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
um I can understand making the entry-level gameplay experience like you know more digestible because it's very overwhelming. If you've never played Doom before, it is hard to get into.
00:17:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in Doom Eternal, I played Ultra Violent. I think that's what it was, which is the second hardest you know difficulty mode. And that was harder than Doom the Dark Ages at Nightmare, which is one step up. Which, again, I don't think... This is... um par for the course for id because they've done that to their prior games where they would adjust the difficulty after the fact so i think like you said they did it on purpose in the sense to get as many people as they can and if the bitching was too much like all right we we know we're gonna ramp it up yeah and they've done that a week so and i give them props to that they did it quick they weren't gonna wait you know so so the thing is i think what doom is dark ages is missing for people who have played a lot of doom like
00:18:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
If you played Eternal, like I think that stepped up your shooting abilities in games. like i I still haven't played it. I have never played a game that pushed me to the edge of my shooter abilities the way Doom Eternal did. Because when I was in the last level, I really was thinking to my god and myself, oh my god, I need a PC.
00:18:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
Because just playing on my... my Xbox one on my old TV, input lag. was just like, Oh my God. Like I'm really struggling here, you know? And I was like, if I had a PC and I was good with mouse and keyboard, I could handle this.
00:18:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's the first time i felt like I ever felt that way. that's crazy Um, but then after you go to that and you're just having this nonstop dopamine rush and dopamine hit, because like beginning to end and ah do maternal, it's just like, you have to survive. You have to fight like crazy. You never get a moment of rest.
00:19:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then when you finally beat it, you're just like, oh, my God, I'm a Doom god. I'm so good. It kind of feels like you're at an amusement park and you're just on a bunch of roller coasters with no brakes and so you find until the park closes. It's like, wow, I made it. Which, again, like pros and cons, like I like Doom 2016 the most of everything because it still felt like an amusement park, but it still felt like something I'd go back to. It felt like, you know because we've been at Cedar Point quite a bit,
00:19:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
it It felt like playing, going on the rafter multiple times and then hitting Millennium Force. Meanwhile, like, Doom Eternal felt like bouncing back between the dragster and millennium, dragster millennium, dragster millennium, and then you were both at the same time, nonstop, until your heart feels like it's going to explode. That's what it felt like for me. So then after you go from there and you go back to the raptor, yeah then it's like, I'm not saying the raptor is back. You're phase. I'm having a great time.
00:20:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm enjoying the shit out of Dark Ages. I recommend it to everybody. But it's like, okay, but i kind of just did Millennium Force like 50 times. Yeah, that's a good idea, dude. It's funny you say this because now it's starting to seem that it Eternal somewhat of a turnoff for me.
00:20:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
Oh, you would hate Eternal, dude. it's so It's so much acrobatics and so much weapon juggling. And like you have to know every enemy and know what weapons will work. And you have to rotate to all your weapons. Right.
00:20:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
And in Doom the Dark Ages, like this is one thing I am saying as a criticism, but you might see as a benefit. You literally find two weapons you love, upgrade them all the way, and you just stomp through everything. Which I prefer that. So it is funny. I think when Eternal first came out, I'm like, why am I not playing this? I love Doom 2016.
00:20:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And dude, I'm telling you, I think I read and watched reviews that had that exact, not not criticism, just concern. And I'm like, you know what? This seems so daunting. I'm not going to play it. So I am going to play Doom the Dark Ages first before I ever decide to even try Eternal.
00:20:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I think that's going to be such a jarring experience. I think you will love Doom the Dark Ages. like I think it will fit perfectly for you like if you don't play it the hardest difficulty, yeah like the normal difficulty. I think they made some really smart decisions that make it more accessible. like The shield, like the you really feel like Captain America on steroids. And the way you can just continuously bash and zoom around the battlefield really gives you a huge advantage. So I think that's a really nice thing.
00:21:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
There's definitely some bugs you were showing me yesterday where sometimes you throw the shield at just and it just does kill. It's just not going far enough. Yeah, it's clear like they need to fix it. And then, let's see, i think punching people to get your ammo back really helps ah because then you will be topped off on the weapon you're using a lot. yeah So you don't have to restore juggle, which was a huge pain. I love the fact that when you jump from a high enough place and it stumps, it's a shockwave. everyone around you dies. That is badass. So epic.
00:21:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
ah Let's see, what else is there to talk about, Duke? Well, another thing want bring up is, okay, based on where they're at, it's been 10 years now almost, like 9, right, for this franchise being reinvented. Do you think they should milk this franchise, or do you think it's just stop right here? So I think for sure, I mean, and this was a part of the leak, you know, so we know that there's going to be DLC coming for Doom, the Dark Ages.
00:22:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
I anticipate that they are going to have DLC that's going to be super hard. Like, it's going to be hardcore, and it's going to, like, build on the fundamentals of the Dark Ages, the way internal Eternal did, for Doom 2016. It's going to satisfy people like me.
00:22:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think that's probably going to be two years out. you know I think it's going to take them a while because I think it took them a while for ancient gods as well. um And then after that, I do think they're going to pivot away from Doom, but they're not going to leave Doom completely.
00:22:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think... um I can see them aspiring to be what Bethesda is, juggling between Fallout and Elder Scrolls, right? So another IP, potentially. Yeah, and I think they're going to go to Quake. I think so, too. just makes some sense. And the thing is, in this game, this is not entirely spoilers because it's in the trailers. um There's a lot of Cosmic Realm stuff, which is really trippy and cool. Like, that's by far my favorite part of the game.
00:23:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
think they can tie this in. and And I think Quake from what I remember is kind of more like a little more magical, like, you know, a little different. Was is there a story to Quake? There was. i never played Quake, um but I was like randomly looking some stuff up. So there's definitely a story.
00:23:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, you know, I was reading online, like some people think like, you know, this is them just kind of testing out something, it' say getting their vibe right. But... It's the same world, but... well Honestly, I think that would be amazing like if they took all their learnings from Doom and they went to Quake.
00:23:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
um They hit us with you know Dark Ages DLC two years from now. In the back burner, they're working on Quake. That comes out five years from now, yeah right which I think is the development time, honestly, nowadays.
00:23:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then after that, they rotate back to Doom. I think that would be really good because... um Like, i'm I'm, after I get more DLC, like, I think I'm going to be good for Doom for a while. Yeah. And then, you know, give it, like, seven years, I'm going to want to get back into it.
00:23:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I mean, like, the way I look at it's, like, it's been a good run. Three games in nine years with some DLC. And they've all been fantastic games. They've been fantastic. They've all been different enough from each other. And, like, we don't get trilogies like this anymore. Yeah.
00:24:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, they... Okay, look. And on top of that, their ed tech is being used in other games. So it was used in Indiana Jones. So it's like they created a good enough engine from the start, like what Capcom did with the Resident Evil engine, and then they used it for a ton of games. So it's portable, it's reusable, and they like you said, they cranked out now three games plus DLC in a span of nine years.
00:24:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's great for this ah environment. Two DLCs, too. And those DLCs were basically like another game. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, the way I look at it is... If they went to Quake next and then they pivoted back after that to Doom, we might not have the same people at the studio developing anymore. So will the that touch still be there? like I don't know. You either reboot it or... They'll probably reboot it you know Because the think about it. like They did the original Doom.
00:24:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
trilogy and then now they did this trilogy. I think they'll probably wait another 10 years and do another one. I'm changing it up in some ways because unless they have more ideas, like I'm just wondering like where else do you go from here? you know I mean, I feel like this could be a potential could be expanded to media.
00:25:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like this would be a great animated show. This could be like Maybe they, maybe look, they at one point they experimented with multiplayer. Do they maybe make an offshoot live service potentially one day? I mean, I wouldn't want a live service because I just feel like the live service bandwagon has got come and gone, but you know, doing something like Helldivers, you know, like, you know, a package like that contained experience that's, you know, meatier and, you know, is actually fully functional on launch, even if there's a price, you know, for it like 30, 40 bucks, but then it's on game pass.
00:25:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
That would be amazing, like kind of like what FBC is doing. Yeah, FBC, um but you know You take control, base game, couple years later, you're in the universe, do something a little different.
00:25:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think that'd be amazing for Doom. I would love to see that. um And you know you brought up the fact that like there was the pillars of Microsoft, which was Gears and Halo, and now like you know we were hoping Doom is the third one. Honestly, Doom can totally be the the third one. It's a different enough niche.
00:26:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
There is nothing in terms of competition. Like, name one other first-person shooter that has a story. yeah And the only one is Call Duty. Call of Duty, which is so different every year. And that time, it's so annualized that it's just... You forget it.
00:26:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
you You don't even think about it. And like when i look at like you look at the cover of Doom, dark the Dark Ages, like I look at that, again, I look at Gears I look at Hale. They're so iconic. like but night Now I am starting to associate the Doom, the Slayer, with Xbox more than PC back in the day. Oh, totally. I think it can totally be their franchise, their mascot.
00:26:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
If I was Microsoft, I would be calling up the guy who made Devil May Cry, and ah the anime. I think we were talking about this. Perfect fit.
00:27:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
perfect fit, you know? You know what's actually really funny? He just had an interview recently and he thought at the time when he was animating Devil May Cry a couple years ago, he was like, oh great, I picked this project because I thought I was reviving the franchise.
00:27:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
So he was like, I wanted to do it. It's been one of the things I've loved ever since I was like younger. And then he goes, Capcom calls me they said, they're making Devil May Cry 5. And he's like, wait, what the fuck? You mean like a new one? He's like, yeah. He goes, so I don't get to revive this franchise. So he was pissed. So he said, I would have done a completely different fucking show had I known. And it's like, maybe you could have pivoted to Doom. The thing is like, if you're going to make Doom into an anime or a movie, it's going to be hard because it's the same same problem that Microsoft had when they were trying to do Master Chief. Like,
00:27:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
a Like a character who's one-dimensional, which I'm not saying is a bad thing because it works in these stories, which is a you know power fantasy, hero fantasy, doesn't really have a character arc, works very well in video games. yeah But in in a movie or an anime, like if Doomguy is never talking... yeah and Does he not talk in this game?
00:28:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean... I don't think he said a single word, honestly. Damn, they have cut scenes on them, literally, and he still doesn't say a fucking word. I mean, he's just... they He doesn't need to, okay? It's literally just him looking at things in a very intimidating way. yeah I'm just killing everything. Come on, like, love talking let him in a fucking second. Okay, let me tell you this. When I was younger, i would look up random like YouTube videos where they were trying to compare like who would want to fight. Master Chief or Doom Gap.
00:28:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
After playing Dark Ages, I'm like, there's no way Master Chief would survive longer than two minutes. like This guy is so insanely OP. Just so insanely OP. And and like kind of spoilers, this is kind of spoilers.
00:28:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
like The game starts off by showing off this like insanely like like badass, scary-looking demonic guy. And then the Doom guy, you know he's like watching the Doom guy killing people on a hologram.
00:29:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
And yeah instead of being like, we have to find a way to stop him. Or like, you know, screw him, he's killing everyone, I'm going to go fight him. The guy's literally like, oh, we can't be, who we gotta find a way to deal with him later. Instead of confronting this guy, let's just hit the humans where they're weak. That's so funny.
00:29:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
so it's guybo He's the antagonist and he's supposed to be all powerful and he's just like, he sees like a video of Doomguy killing some demons and he's like, nah bro, I'm not even gonna mess with that.
00:29:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like what? I think it's like the second level. Like honestly then? It's like nah bro, I'm not even... But look, I mean, the story will evolve because basically like, you know... That's a problem. There's other ways for like the antagonist to get stronger and I won't ruin the story. Sure, but like... So it's not like... Let me give a comparison because you're right, this would be difficult it pivoted to an animation.
00:29:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
or a movie or whatever show. The one character I can think of is honestly Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. So for the longest time, for like a decade and a half since this like that IP was released, Scorpion was just this like one-off, like, hey, he's just the killer. Like, he's always an enemy, never spoke.
00:30:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was even in the early movies, one note, one dimensional. And they transformed him into a much complex character later on in through animated short films, through the games, to the point where now Scorpion is one of the most favorite characters. And he has, dude, some of the latest games in Mortal Kombat 1, they show him getting married, that he's falling in love, that he has, he cares about his brothers. I don't know if you can do that with Doom guy because it's like they've made such...
00:30:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
They have went so out of their way to just convince us that all the Doom guy knows to is rip and tear. Sure. and tear but But that that was the same with Marcus Fenix for the first like two games until they were like, hey, you're married. You have a kid.
00:30:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
you a you You have a brother that died. like To me, they they can do it. i just I don't want to say they're being lazy, but bro, like if they do another game... You've got to get a good writer. Yeah, you've got to get a writer. So that's why I was bringing this guy. um and I was actually going to think about it in a slightly different direction.
00:31:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
I kind of like the approach he's taken in Castlevania or this is a random other anime, but we love Helsing Ultimate, right? Yeah, I love Helsing. And like, you know, Dracula, right? And like Alucard, like you have a character who doesn't need a character arc.
00:31:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're just really badass and they are themselves. And the story is about how the world reacts to them. ah through the lens of other people. Good point. That's true. you know, if you... And so, that's Castlevania, right? Like, Alucard is Alucard. Yeah, Alucard's Alucard.
00:31:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
But the story's all about, you know, all of the other characters and they're, like, trying to find a way to stop that. But but let me let me take it back a step. Alucard still had a character. Yeah. With his father and then falling in love with some people.
00:31:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
Even though, you're right, he was so OP, right? And then he finally met his match in the other way. But you know I mean? Like, you know, I feel like in those scenarios, like, the character can change a little bit, but like, it's hard to just make the story 100% through the perspective of that character. you sure That's why a lot of these stories will have like another person. So my yeah he's like, goes a party cast yeah, it's like the great Gatsby effect, right? Like great Gatsby is all about the main character and his character arc, but it's told through the eyes of someone else for a reason. It's the same master chief. Sometimes you get a bunch of ODST or you get a bunch of Mark two Mark four, and then it's him. Like, so I think if they could evolve the story, maybe give him a supporting cast that he's working with other humans or some shit and he's always there saving the day. Sure.
00:32:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
But it's like his team or he's leading them or he, I don't know. Like they can. So, I mean, I'm obviously, i don't think I have a great do animated pitch, but i I think that's a really good place to go to.
00:32:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
Hire the guy who did Devil Weak or Castlevania. Yeah, I agree. Because will find way for him. He'll find a way. I'll be honest, that guy's very intelligent. I know he'll make it happen. like I ain't being biased, but has Indian guys. I know, represent bro. Represent bro. But like here's what I will say, one last thing.
00:33:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Again, if they did an animation, they could expand the lore and story through the animation. They don't have to put in the core games. They can say, fine, the people that the supporting has to be introduced there doesn't have be in the game. Oh, and the lore is really fascinating. Yeah. like like the The plot of this game might not be like the most amazing thing, but like the lore, when you really get into like who are the makers, like what is this cosmic realm, like what is the origin of the demons and the duet slayer.
00:33:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
Dude, it's wild. That's what I'm saying. like let that let that Let them do all that explaining in a supplemental thing. And you don't ever have to bring in the core game, but there's enough there for people to still be interested then to check out the the actual games and stuff.
00:33:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think there's, again, there's opportunities to expand this without creating more games in the near term. I hope they do that. This is a franchise that I think is worth investing in.
Doom Player Statistics and Xbox Game Pass Value
00:33:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
um Yeah. Yeah. But one thing I've been surprised about, and I know you mentioned this to me, I expected there to be way more than 3 million players. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So just to, again, as a reference, I think Microsoft or it just released these numbers. So about 3 million people have played during the dark ages, about a quarter million on PlayStation, a quarter million on steam, two and a half million on Xbox. And most of it's been through game. It's insane to me because ah you know, and back when they were saying the, uh,
00:34:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
the user base and how many people had played like Starfield or Halo Infinite or Sea of Thieves. was just like, oh, this is not that much. I remember like Halo Infinite hit 20 million and then like, I think it was 20 million. The Sea of Thieves has hit like 40 or something crazy.
00:34:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then like, that was kind of my bar, right? And so to me, I'm just like, how, how is it only 3 million? Like I thought it would have easily hit five to 10 million. like That's what I thought.
00:34:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like to me, Doom is like a massive franchise and like, bro, what are the PlayStation boys yeah playing right now? I mean, see, that's because Death Stranding hasn't come out yet. it's Like, what are you playing? You know, like, maybe like they're, they're busy playing Oblivion. They're busy playing, maybe. Yeah. You know, or Claire Obscura, but like, du it's not like there's a ton of PS5 exclusives to play right now. Yeah. i thought it would have been, and,
00:35:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
I thought it was sold like crazy on the PlayStation. Yeah. you have to look at the segment that overlaps between Claire and oblivion with this and they're not, maybe they're the same, maybe they're not, but I am shocked that like on PlayStation, at least one or 2 million people haven't bought the game.
00:35:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. But also it's, it's could be for the fact that game, the game pass marketing now is affecting this in the sense that, Hey, we had three bangers in the last month, oblivion, Claire, and now this, and people are like, fine, we'll just buy, buy $20 worth of a subscription to play all three. I mean, I was just thinking about it, like, even with the price increase on the Xbox, which is pretty wild.
00:35:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
So is it, like, $25 a month now, or $20? No, I meant, like, the console. Oh, sorry, yeah. The Series S is, like, $380 now. Ridiculous. But honestly, this game this year has so many good games on Game Pass. Like, if you don't have a gaming PC...
00:35:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, I mean, I don't think cloud streaming is good enough to play Doom, you know, with some these. I haven't tried to yet, but honestly, I played the other, like, the first Doom. I tried it on cloud streaming, and it was good. was like, dude. I mean, i don't know. That's a pretty twitchy game, but, you know, maybe you had a better connection than me. But anyways, like, even if you were to buy a Series S, right, if you just add up all the games that have been pretty hit, like, pretty good hits, 75+, you know, from, um,
00:36:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know from um the beginning of the year until now, it's insane. The value is way over $400, $500. So honestly, like you could just buy a Series S and just buy Microsoft like you know subscription for a year and play everything.
00:36:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
I agree. I mean, how much does it cost for a full year Game Pass Ultimate right now? Well, it depends. Like I always go through CD Keys, which is totally legit. You know, it actually is not a hack. And if you time it, like you can get it for pretty cheap. Like I think I've been paying like $140 through CDTs. have a that's going to slowly go away. like most Especially with, okay, you've already raised the console prices and now games for Xbox, first part, you're going to be 80.
00:36:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm telling you end of this year next year, they're going to be like, we're charging $240 or $300 per year. Probably, yeah. i mean I mean, this is the whole plan, right? Like, you know, you get people in, they get used to the service and then they can't leave, right?
00:37:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like Netflix, I'm playing for the highest tier of Netflix. If you had asked me three years ago, no way I'd pay for it. But now Netflix has just become such a part of our lives that like I'm like, okay, yeah. Yeah, you just have to. you know It's funny you say that because I'm still using the ad version of Netflix.
00:37:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, sometimes it does annoy me, but you know, the funny thing now for me is I just walk while I watch stuff on Netflix. So even when there's an ad, I'm like, oh, I'm still walking. ah so like So yeah, it depends. Like it I, one day I might get rid of those fucking ads. Cause I'll say this, this is how they get you. This is how they YouTube. I got so sick of those goddamn ads. I had to pay the premium. Yeah, I actually did. I had to do I was so sick of this. Yeah. It's honestly worth it. The fact that I can lock my phone screen and listen to YouTube videos. Oh, that's nice. And those ads, I am sick and tired of YouTube ads.
00:37:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
I, know the thing that's really bad about ads? like it's Back when it was just television, but like it would be mainstream for everybody. yeah Now it's these targeted ads. Yeah, it's targeted. And they're like, oh, you know you want to buy this. You know you want to buy this. And they just keep sending it to you. I can't remember. This article came out somewhere. I think it was a week ago.
00:38:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think it's Microsoft. I forgot who it was. They're experimenting with a version, okay, with ads in such a way that when you hit, or maybe it's YouTube, too when you hit a... the peak of the video, which is the thing that captures your attention the most.
00:38:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're thinking about throwing in ads right there and then. So that way they have your attention. I can still see that. happen That's a Microsoft move. Yeah. It was either Microsoft or Google. That's the future, man. That's the future.
00:38:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
Um, But yeah, I mean, I maybe have to get YouTube without ads too. Everyone who has told me they've gotten it has not regretted it. They've always been happy with it. And you know what's only $8 or $9 a month? I can live with that.
00:38:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
Compared to Netflix, you're paying $20 some dollars an now a month for the ad-free version, right? Or some whatever it is. And I mean, this is a little thing, but when I'm writing, you know, I'll listen to Lo-Fi for hours in the background.
00:39:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it is a lot, it's way... harder to juggle that on the iPad because when an ad pops up, I have to do so much shuffling around to skip the ad.
00:39:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I swear, maybe this is just me, but the ads I get on my MacBook and on my iPad are way longer. Like they've taken, yeah, I don't know. That's weird, bro. I'm telling you again, I caved because I got so sick of these goddamn ads. Like it, I don't know. I just, I won't go on any further than that. i thank God YouTube premium haven't sent, but a few Google for that
TV Series 'You': Character and Story Analysis
00:39:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
bullshit. Yeah.
00:39:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
um yeah so maybe we can talk about some some i really want to talk about a show that we both finally finished or i finally finished i want to talk about you season five oh man you know you've been i was wanting to talk to you with you about this for a while and then you know you wanted to talk about it i said no are you waiting for the podcast so sorry if i was kind of mean but i really have been waiting for your impression of you this is this is Spoilers, right? It's going to be spoilers. So please, if you have not watched You and you want to know, you might want to skip ahead a little bit. But we have been really wanting to talk about You for a while because season five, series finale, we have been watching it for a while. I think we even watched one of the seasons together. Yeah, I think we watched season one or two together. So, and I mean, this...
00:40:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
It has a lot of overlap with you know serial killers and mental health and all that stuff. So it's totally in my alley. yeah so And also, like I think this season for me resonated even a little more than most of the other seasons. And we can we'll talk about that. But like just to kind of to start with this, like again, series finale, I think it's based off an actual novel or a book. It is? I didn't know that. Yeah, which I haven't read. So maybe I'll actually check that out to see how much it differs from it.
00:40:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, you know, I'll say this, the way this season started, like, I loved how season four went for the most part, because the second half of season four, again, it was split in two cowards or whatever, about two seasons, is that, you know, it got to a point where Joe eventually said, or he was very ambivalent, but you're fighting between being a good person and a bad person.
00:41:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
And he says it in multiple times in season five, he's like, I had to kill to earn people's love, right? And he kept justifying why he did to get that person that the ah the person next to him as partner to like continue to let say, Oh, you did this for me.
00:41:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in season four, he was so ambivalent because he was like, I want to be a good person. But you can maybe talk about some more. He had like a dual personality and I don't know what they would diagnose him. yeah I mean, schizophrenia i don't know I think that's a big point of contention because I think Hollywood has really latched onto dissociative identity disorder, which is like a multiple personality disorder.
00:41:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
And honestly, i think a lot of people argue on if it's like underrepresented or overrepresented. you know Some people say that really it's far more prevalent in you know psychiatric hospitals and psych overall.
00:41:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, um you know, we're just not diagnosing enough and we're like focusing more on like psychotic illnesses. And, you know, the flip side, other people are saying that like, it's kind of a social contagion. And they're saying that it's because of the way we see this and digest it in media, it might be influencing it. And like, you know, it might be unconsciously causing people to, you know, behave or act in certain ways. Right.
00:42:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
um So, you know, I don't know. I mean, i think a lot of times TV and movies, they are trying to make things very visual. And so that's why they try and make this like split personality, like two people I'm seeing myself and seeing another version of me and stuff like that.
00:42:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I really think of it more as like a narrative device. Like it's a way for a person to like, you you know face their own demons and talk about themselves. And that was one thing I also liked about season four, um even though was a ridiculous season. So much ridiculous stuff happened.
00:42:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
But you actually saw a character arc for the main character, Joe, right? And I was like, oh, like he actually kind of has to contend with what he's going to do. Like kind of like Dexter, you know, kind of having to figure out what to do. And he almost thought he turned a corner at one point. Like, oh, he's like, I'm finally done with this. Like killing and like I want to be good.
00:43:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, you know, he not that he caves in. It's just that he has a moment where he finally relapses. And then he's like, I've accepted who I am and I'm going to continue killing. But at that point, didn't really like grow and say oh people have to forgive me or whatever. He's just like, I'm going to continue killing. I've fallen in love with another person and I'm going to continue my bad patterns and bad habits.
00:43:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think one thing that was interesting, I thought in season five, very, very interesting. Cause I wouldn't have believed it beforehand, but dude, insane. The way he was acting specifically, like when he killed, who was it? Um,
00:43:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
as he was doing his killings throughout season five, I started to compare his actions in real life to Luigi Mangione because a certain point when he kills Clayton, right? The guy that's harming Bronte, because there he's being catfished at this point.
00:44:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then everyone's like, oh, he did it because he did it out of love. He's a good guy. Anyone would have done that in a situation. And I would have never believed. I'm like, dude, I just don't know if that's really believable. But seeing in real life how someone killed a CEO and then every person, well, not every, but a lot of people were like, good for this guy. And everyone was in love with him. I think like this is such an interesting topic. And like, I love it when it pops up in movies and TV because it makes me think of Death Note, right? And when I was younger and the first time I watched Death Note, I loved light.
00:44:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I was like, man, screw all these you know people who deserve to die. should write all their names, and this will actually finally get us justice in the world. yeah i'd like Maybe I was really a dark educated. I don't know.
00:44:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then I got older, and now I watch it, and I'm like, Bro, this guy is a selfish narcissist who is just trying to shut down all criticisms of his himself and boost up his own ego by, you know, basically trying to be the good guy. Right. But really, he's just a selfish guy. Right.
00:45:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then it just hit me like a lot of people will latch on doing things that are societally right. Right. But really, it's their own selfishness, because they have to be the one who cleaned up the mess, right? It can't be somebody else.
00:45:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think, you know, now tying back into you, like what the show did really well, um is showing that even when he should have had, like he had it all, he could have finally lived a good life. now He couldn't.
00:45:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it showed that Deep down, there was a maladaptive coping mechanism that he never truly filled because he would try to always find the solution in love or keeping himself busy or you know being someone's protector and all these different things.
00:45:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
When the root cause of the issue was always how does he experience love and give love, right and the the root cause was he just never felt loved. Yeah. i And he has, there's a moment like when he's doing the interview midway through the season where he starts to actually break down when he's in the cage as he's thinking Mooney.
00:45:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, that's supposed to be a serious moment. And I don't think they portrayed it well, but like, that's his trauma. That's his baggage that like, that's the thing. Like if he just went to a therapist and actually started working through all these things, like it could, could have been different, you know, but like he just had, it was his like narcissism. Like it was him.
00:46:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like thinking, yes, I got this. I'm better than everyone. I'm going to outsmart everyone. Cause I think in the first season he was even seeing a therapist, which was under like yeah false pretenses. Right. yeah um But he, but he's he kills It's all different ways. Like by being such a narcissist and thinking he has everything for figured out, he's like,
00:46:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
guarding himself from his own failures, his own hurts, his own trauma, his own betrayals, all of his stuff. Well, I love the fact, again, the show, some people might think it's overboard, but I love the inner monologue in the show.
00:46:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
The one thing they do great is he's explaining every action he takes, right? yeah I love that because like when I'm living my day to day life, I feel like I'm talking to myself and I'm thinking, why am I doing this? but So I love that. You know what i find fascinating?
00:46:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Dexter did the same thing. I was reading this book called I'm not a serial killer. the Same thing. I think when you have a character that is doing something that's morally questionable, the more you can get the viewer to see through that person's perspective in the mundane aspects of their life, the less jargon will be. And they do like a heinous act.
00:47:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. Right. Because if, if you're an outside objective viewer watching this person and they are just doing something terrible, right, then it's going to be very jarring. And then you're automatically going to criticize that person.
00:47:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
But think about how much time you show spend, you know, that person in their workplace, that person trying to navigate a relationship, that person trying to navigate social things, they have to build up all the aspects of their life. And then you know, you kind of can see the guy as a protagonist. Yeah, I agree. You're right. So them doing that added to you sympathizing with him a little more, even when he would kill people, because you're like, he's doing it for the right cause. what Another moment I really liked in the show, and again, not that I relate to these moments, I just could understand it a little better, is when near the end of season five, he meets Bronte at this house. He thinks she's being like kidnapped by Clayton.
00:48:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
who's this guy that she's been faking being like her old boyfriend and reality, they met up online and they have this really serious conversation, Joe and Bronte and Bronte goes, you know, it's kind of a lot that you're putting your happiness on me, like that burden.
00:48:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like that's a lot for me to like, to handle. And he's like, well, you're putting your happiness onto to me and I've been handling it, you know? And then she goes, well, what if you see like the real me if that mask comes off? He goes, well, prove me wrong then.
00:48:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
So like, it's weird because she goes, you feel she says it like you have a lot of power over me. So it's almost like manipulative in a way where like lot of times when you try to save someone, a damsel in distress, someone that's been hurt by prior people in their prior relationships, because that's what Bronte was.
00:48:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then the white knight comes in and tries to save them and mend them and fix and heal them. It almost does feel like the person doing the fixing does have a lot of power over the other person. And I feel like I've been in some situations where i felt like that. So I understood it. If you're going to be the white knight who's coming in and you're in a position of power over that person, then you have to think about like how does that person feel or how has that person felt in prior experiences of having someone power or lord over them, right? yeah So if you think about it, like if this person has had bad experiences with people who are aggressive or you know is are being powerful and controlling their life,
00:49:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
Now you're coming in with good intentions and trying to help the person, but now you're being powerful, right? You're going to bring back all the memories of someone else because you're bringing back the emotion of what it's like to have someone else control your life. that's So that's the challenge, whether it's for good reason or bad reason, right? It's it's actually, we think of feelings as, oh, it's just the feeling of anger, the feeling of happiness, but what does it feel like when someone else is in control?
00:49:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
of the situation, right? That's a, that's a feeling. that's and How do you respond to that? Yeah, it's perfectly like fair because again, I feel like I've been in a position where even though I had good intentions for someone I knew, it triggered them to a point because someone with bad not bad intentions, but didn't have their best for them in the relationship triggered that. Like, so I completely, like it really stuck with me. And then the, but then the flip side to it is when he said, prove me wrong. Like, even if your mask comes down, prove me that like,
00:50:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
I still can accept you for who you are and I don't see all your flaws. but It was also another powerful moment where it's like, Hey, if you think I'm great and you think I'm amazing, step it up and show me that you can be great and amazing too, because I already accept you for who you are.
00:50:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
So that was also another interesting. There's always a flip side. It's kind of that dance, you know, like them, like starting to put their armor down and getting to know each other. And I think that's one of like the draws of you, right? Because it's so relatable. so like most Regardless of like where you've been, like, you know, if you've,
00:50:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
try to you know develop you know some sort of relationship with someone, whether or not it went through or not. like You can relate with some aspect of you know Bronte and Joe and things like that. So I think those are the things they do really well.
00:51:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so I have mixed feelings about you as well. And man, it got really bad reviews. Yeah, I'm surprised. I think the the shame in the show is, you know, they had to show that Joe is going to go back to his old devices, even when everything is perfect in his life, because the root cause of the issue is something he's never addressed.
00:51:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And as time goes on, like they made it, they started to make it clear that like in the beginning, maybe Joe and the other seasons was killing because he, he really had to, it was, you know, the best in this scenario, whatever. Right.
00:51:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was a little bit more justified, but as time went on in season five, became clearer and clearer that what he is doing has no ethical, you know, backup, you know, it's really just for him because he just could not let go. He couldn't stop. He had to, his reasoning and kept saying, I would do anything for this family. He had to be the protector, you know, like he, he looked for scenarios where he could be the protector.
00:51:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
Right. And, and then by the end, it finally culminated, you know, where I was hoping it would, because to me again, spoilers, if Joe didn't get caught and get, you know, busted for what he did, especially in that season,
00:52:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's like, man, the show... Yeah, i if it would have just been like, how could he even have a happy ending at this point? If Joe got a happy ending, I'd be like, man, I can't with the show. yeah this The show is done. Well, you could almost argue he still did because it's, again, twofold. A, look, his dick gets shot.
00:52:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
Kind of weird, but maybe that was a fitting ending for him. I don't know. It kind of was very ironic. It was very ironic. He got his dick shot. But the thing is, he ended up in jail. They're like, they're not going to kill him. Bronte doesn't really want to like actually end him.
00:52:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
But he gets into prison and he says he has another monologue and he goes, maybe is the problem isn't with me and it's with society. Because he's getting letters from people outside saying, do crazy things. well i feel like that's the Ted Bundy thing. Yeah, the Ted Bundy thing. People, like, come on. like You know what this guy is about and yet people are still admire interested and admire him and all those type of things, right?
00:52:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
for different reasons because it's actually a reflection of them, right? Like yeah reason they're admiring him is because there's something broken or missing in their life and they're kind of, you know, it's ah like some sort of fantasy in some way filling that so But I thought that was really smart writing and a really good critique of our society our relationship.
00:53:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so that was great. And I really liked Bronte's line of, and I'm probably going to butcher the line in the end where she was like, I always wanted to understand why it was that I was like so fascinated with you. And then I realized it's like the it's like dealing with you know people like you or like men who are like you know powerful like you It's like the fantasy of people like you is how we deal with the reality of people like you. yeah There's something along those lines. And I was like, oh, that's so interesting. such such I never thought of that dichotomy of why is chivalry like such a dramatic gesture and romance and all those type of things. And think about all the, you know, quote unquote chick flicks and like all of that. Right.
00:53:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
and and yet like when you think about we live in a patriarchal world there's a lot of man-on-woman violence you know domestic abuse things like that um and yet like you have ah men who are like very authoritative and taking the lead in romance but then there's men when they're abusive right and there's domestic violence they're also taking the lead right and it's like how do you kind of you know make sense of those yeah how do you and i mean i'm kind of I feel like I'm butchering it, but the way and the timing of what she said and when she said it, it just clicked. And I was like, oh, that's so insightful. That's so that's a good line. She also says something else too at that same time. She goes, again, it was a turning point for her, for a girl that had probably toxic patterns in dating men.
00:54:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
She goes, how did she say it? She goes, now he's just going to be another asshole I dated. And that in itself is powerful. It's a very basic line, but it's just like – You know what? You're no one, Joe. So that's when she she's getting rid of the power he was holding over her.
00:54:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the second thing she says is, you know, I don't know what's going to come after this, but I can't wait to find out see how I grow or something like that. And again, it's another hard hitting point for her because she's like, there's still so much more to life.
00:55:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah You know what I'm saying? For as a person who, who got caught up in the same trap that he cheated a bunch of other women and ah victims, she got out of it. And, and, you know, I was so mad at her. in the beginning for that.
00:55:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
But then, you know, when those final scenes, I think really, really worked for me ah because you, you, you understand why she couldn't let go and why she had to go the distance instead of just, you know, letting Joe you know die earlier, yeah you know?
00:55:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so that, you know, that was insightful for me. We actually saw the character grow a bit and I thought it was very fitting that the story for so long was from the male perspective. Yeah.
00:55:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
commenting on women and what women want and what they need and all those things. And then the end of the show is that, you know, this is actually what women want, what they need, things like that. So I thought like that was pretty fitting.
00:55:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I like those things. My thing with you is... We're giving it all these praises. You know, it makes us think it's more insightful. You know, of course, yeah, it's from the male perspective and we're two guys talking about it. So I understand, you know, we're only going to see a certain part of the picture, but still it is a good conversation to have and good points to hit.
00:56:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
But why did they just do some of the, yeah things yeah hold most la thing like imagine ah before you attack The get to that point, sorry just one like one other thing that Bronte or Luis, whatever the fuck her name was, says to to Joe is be she pulls the gun out on him. Again, this is near the end. She finally goes, i know you killed...
00:56:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
Guinevere back. Just want to know how. Redact the the lines in the story that you wrote for her. And then his son, gets a call with his son and his son finally says, no, like your son understands and goes, you're actually the monster.
00:56:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
and like that. He breaks down and then he goes, like, I can't believe this. He starts crying in the middle of having a gun pointed at him and Guinevere goes, or sorry, uh, Luis goes and says, you're not the victim here. like You're twisting it and you're turning it. like You can't manipulate me again.
00:57:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
I thought that was again another problem. I like that. another problem is i mean like There were so many like good moments, especially like near the end, where oh man, this is good. yeah you know and the The way it's tying in, the way we're finally seeing the world like flip on Joe and we're actually seeing him for who who he is. and like Well done. Yeah. And again, as ah a person that's either a narcissist or abuser, they'll gaslight a lot. Again, relatable because someone who's hurting you, whether it's physically, emotionally, goes, I was the victim here and I'm doing this to you because justified. And John was like the best manipulator, bro. And I love that near the end, like,
00:57:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
He's so crafty like when he was trapped in the thing. He's still trying to manipulate. He's so good at it. yeah the fact a kid is look But now let's get to that. This is what mean. The show just has so much ridiculousness.
00:57:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
Twins. Twins. Honestly the whole twins thing. Killing your sister. I thought for sure they maybe would have faked the sister's death. Oh my god the twin. Everything related to the twin stuff. was just like why? Yeah. Why would you do this? And how could Jo convince her? Even though she knew her triggers, in what?
00:58:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
A matter of days, you convinced her to now become her sister? Like, that doesn't make no fucking sense. Okay, and then why is it that they made the one twins, like, super powerful? She's kicking his butt. And then she just runs away like an idiot, and then he just knocks her out. Like, what? Yeah, like, that was, like, dumb. And, like, you don't think she has cameras on the outside of her house. Like, that's... The catfishing... Richest person ever doesn't have cameras. Yeah, doesn't have cameras.
00:58:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
The catfishing with... the three people, so Louise and the people she meets on the internet, like, oh yeah, we believe that, like, Joe is actually a bad person. And, like, the stuff they did too, like, like, okay, Clayton's at a speakeasy or something and he's, like, calling it Louise for a fucking stupid story, but, like, these people would know that you're faking and lying about this shit.
00:58:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
You're on stage talking about fucking story. Right, it's like, how does no one in that room, it's just, like, it's just overly convoluted, you know, and it's like, And I feel like the show was just trying to make it really convoluted because they wanted to make it like a detective story. You know, you're like on your edge, what's going on, you know, but it just got too convoluted for its own good. And it it just like got to a point where like, I can't take the show seriously if it's so ridiculous. Like how in the world is any of this happening in real life? yeah And it's like, how does anyone like Joe is it back in America and like,
00:59:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
How many of his girlfriends have died and new wives have died? And how many came back at the end? And now like he is this superstar who everyone loves and no one's like, other than these random internet detectives, no one's like, hey.
00:59:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
Joe. That's kind of weird. Yeah. Like no one. And he's like, I just got a lot of money. Like, okay. And the answer is like, oh, well I have a rich wife who made my name good for everyone. It's like, what well, so here's a funny thing. He has a rich wife, but his, his ace in the hole was this dude that he locked up in season one that can make him fake passports.
00:59:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
And can fake a boat death he's like oh yeah i was gonna fake them yeah just like the solution everything yeah like that you can't like that's a typical trope where you always have that one person on the side that can solve all your problems i know it's like okay ah again a little too much and like man joe was just like acting like an idiot getting away with so much stuff and like there was like things that were like kind of obvious you know like man for someone who supposedly knows women and tricks people all the time, like, how did you not know that this girl who just snuck into your, like, your, come on now, like, knew she was up to something nefarious. It was so obvious. Yeah, unless, again, and he's smart, so this doesn't, like,
01:00:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
constitute a whole lot for it but like again he changed from season four to five he finally he says it because i finally accepted who i am but that didn't make you that naive did it like again how could you have not thought that this person legitimately knew someone around you so it's just like and then i think like for me like i mean all those other things yeah i do think that kind of i think the fact that he hid the key inside of him was really ridiculous because it's like okay like how would you know to do that a how would you know to do that how are you not sick Yeah, be how you're not sick.
01:01:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
That shit is, like, covered in bacteria. You can't just, like, who are you? Like, who can just put a kid inside that and never get sick? Yeah, like, you get infected. Like, that, I just, that was a complete up the ass. Like, when I saw that, he just starts to unwrap it. like, you can't, you get, like, you gotta be infected. And, like, how many times has he had sex?
01:01:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
You're telling me, no one looked at his arm. No, I heard, bro. Why do you have this scar on this bandage? set The way they play that off is heat it was that day that got locked up in the box is when he put the key in, then warning off. I guess. so And then when Bronte asks, oh, what happened? He goes, oh I just slipped on some books. It's like, are you fucking... Okay, this is retarded. I mean, like the thing is, like the show does enough to say, like okay, yeah, maybe this works. you know You can kind of buy it.
01:01:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
But after a certain point with enough of these stacked up, you're just like, okay, come on now. the The show is gaslighting. Yeah, the show is gaslighting. It's like, oh yeah, he just cut his arm. Okay, that's fine.
Twin Tropes in Shows: Critique and Praise in 'Sinners'
01:02:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's fine. won't get sick yet.
01:02:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
He won't get infected yet. But I don't put these up. and i'm just like what And I think for me, like the moment that just broke me is like the whole twin situation. And then all of a sudden, the one twin who should hate him calls him and she's like, what should I do about the man I love?
01:02:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
And she says it herself after she's with the guy she loves. And she goes, what can we do? Cause she's like I want you kill him She goes, work your magic. Like it's an actual trope again. She goes like, they know it's in the universe. It's a thing that he can talk people into doing whatever he wants. And she goes, he goes, he goes, goes, okay, I'll work my, whatever he says, my magic.
01:02:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then it's like, what? So I just, you know, kudos to them to try and do the twin thing. But there's a reason why the twin and the evil twin is like, is this this trope that you don't do because it's like, Oh my God. Yeah. I agree.
01:02:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, I'll say this too. Like, I want to know how the books deviate from the show. Like how much did they actually go off the beaten path? Because I have a gut feeling that not all of this happened the way it happened in the So with all that said, what would you give you out of 10? The entire show?
01:03:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
No, this last season. This season, man. So like, okay, let me again, just, To give a little more context, when I first saw the first half of season four, I was so disappointed. But the second half season, it saved it for me. It was like, damn, like second half was just a completely different story.
01:03:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's like, don't know, looking at everything and I've seen already bad in you, it's like, I'd give this honestly, like it wasn't the ending that I was hoping for. i was hoping for a redemption arc. Like he truly becomes a good person. A seven. I'd give it a seven too, because a lot of shows, they will come consistently be running at like a seven, right? Or like then I'm debating between, oh, is it a seven or an eight? But for me, it's like a clear seven because The moments I hated were easily fives. The moments I liked were like nines. And so it probably averages out to a seven. Probably it averages out to like a six and a half. but yeah you know i say
01:03:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
I liked the show. And I was built, you know, I was invested in the show that it's a seven for me. yeah I mean, I think if you've gotten in far enough in you, you know, you've already seen four seasons. Like, it's not like such a bad season that you shouldn't watch it. Like, you absolutely should need to watch You need to watch it. But, I mean, yeah, the twin stuff is kind of ridiculous, you know.
01:04:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, 27 is ridiculous, but not as bad as when like they met all those famous rich people in season four and they he just killed them off one at a time. I think that was a little more ridiculous. um But it was funny as shit. so And I guess, you know, segueing from that,
01:04:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
I can talk about a movie that did the twin thing well. um but You haven't watched it yet. Sinners. Oh, yeah. Did you know there was twins in it? I mean, like the trailer shows there's two. You know, maybe I'm just dumb.
01:04:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
I did not notice that. Maybe I just wasn't making attention the trailer. One has a blue hat, one a red hat or something. Yeah, yeah. And ah they actually did the twin story very well. Because the thing is, like, the twins were different, you know, and they didn't do the whole hijinks of, like,
01:05:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
one twin is pretending to be the other. Who knows who is who. Okay, put that aside. The the twins and you are still different. One was just like more masculine. Not masculine, it just had, was it dick? And the other one just like more... So that's when it was okay. But then when you clearly could tell that they were going to do a twin switch. Yeah, yeah, And then they did the twin switch.
01:05:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then no one would have ever thought it was a twin switch. I was like, come on. Yeah, that's ridiculous. Come on. that's And it's like if the audience knows that this is so obviously going to happen, but the characters who are smart...
01:05:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
can't even tell it happened, even though they're supposed to know these characters, then it just feels like make-believe, right? ah But in Sinners, like, they didn't do that, right? And I really like Sinners.
01:05:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think um this might surprise you, but um favorite movies of the year so far, I actually think it's a toss-up for me between Sinners and Lilo and Stitch. and I'm going to give Sinners my number one right now. i It was way better than I expected. Maybe should check it out. I love vampire movies, you know and I've always loved vampire movies. Blade.
01:06:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
Love Blade. Interview with Vampire is my favorite vampire movie. I like 30 Days of Night. Blade was great. It's been a while since I've seen a good vampire movie.
01:06:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
And this movie just struck such a good balance because it's... You know, some... e A lot of times, like setting isn't enough for a story alone, but for here, the setting really just did wonders for it because A large chunk of the beginning of the movie. I'm not going to go into too many spoilers because you might still watch it.
01:06:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
But it really focuses on, okay, what does Jim Crow laws look like? like We've seen a lot of slavery movies, so like we kind of know what to anticipate. But I thought this was like similar but different because we're looking at Jim Crow. like Even though like racism is addressed in multiple points in the story,
01:06:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's not like we're watching 12 years as a slave. It's not like... So this isn't during the time where slavery is still legal. This is after that point, you're saying? I mean, there's cars. Oh, yeah. Okay. you know I'm assuming it's 1930s because there's like what looks like... you know Not the Model T, but like a few models after.
01:07:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
So it's Jim Crow, right? um But it's like we're not constantly being hit in the head with... like racism and racism is bad, you know, but it just permeates throughout the whole movie that like, you get it without the movie telling you, like you, you see firsthand without being told all the time, this is what racism has done to the South. And like, this is what it's done to the people. And it really like looks at, you know, like I think it's in Mississippi. i don't know where it is. It's like, look at the state, look at the plantation, look at the people in my involved, both white and black,
01:07:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
How do does everyone fit together? What's the pros and cons? It does such a good job of capturing what the setting looks like. So that was really fascinating. um it And I almost, you know, i i just got done playing South of Midnight. And so that had to talk about like Hanes and like Southern mythology and folklore.
01:08:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now we have Sinners. And it's also talking about Hanes and Southern mythology and folklore. So that was cool. I really dig that. um The action was good. The one thing I loved were the vampires.
01:08:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like they did a great job on the vampires because and they struck a good balance between like vampires that are scary, right? And terrifying. Vampires that are like manipulative and smart.
01:08:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
And also vampires that are just trolls. And like this is what me and like my cousin were talking about. like A lot of movies forget. like Vampires can just be trolls. And they can just be like hilarious.
01:08:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
Because... What do they have to be afraid of? yeah they are more Other than sunlight. So a lot of times, like these vampires, they're literally just dancing. And they're like teasing the person. they're like They're staring at the guy.
01:08:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're like, I'm coming to eat you. And then the guys, they're all scared. They're all like trying to figure out, like, oh how are going kill vampires? They look outside. Vampires are just singing and dancing. They're like, we're waiting for you. They're just like, see you, singing and dancing, see you, singing and dancing. I can't wait till I eat you when I learn your song, singing and dancing. Oh God. What kind of movie is this? I know it sounds ridiculous, but then it's like they're trolling and then they're like terrifyingly deadly.
01:09:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I love that. I think the ending was great. Like it stuck with me emotionally as well. Um, again, for those that don't know, um, Ryan Coogler directed, and I think even potentially wrote this, so the person who made and directed Wakanda.
01:09:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
I didn't realize that. And I like looked at all that stuff. I was like, yeah, like he's in a lot of movies and I guess like him and Michael B. Jordan are are tight. Yeah. Well, they also, he was also in Wakanda.
01:09:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. Or Black Panther. And just another thing, like, they did a whole marketing thing I saw online prior to the movie being released where Ryan Coogler talked about the types of film he used to film the movie. And it blew up to the point where now like so many people like, Oh, Ryan Coogler is a really cool guy. So like, it was a really good marketing thing they did. i didn't realize He's like, Oh, here's 40 mm. Here's 70 mm. Here's.
01:10:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I'm like, wow, he speaks in such an interesting like way. And the the film was filmed so well. Like, all the scenes, and not surprise it looked great. You know, like when they're driving down and you see cotton fields, you're like, aw man. And like even little touches, like, you know, they don't have to show You way you said that cotton fields, Oh man.
01:10:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
They don't have to show you people like bleeding and broken and tired. All they have to do is like, they show these endless cotton fields. They show you a snapshot of the ground and there's like tiny twigs and branches.
01:10:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
They show you the character in the next scene and they're barefoot. And then the next scene is just them having a conversation. they don't have to go into the depth of how much pain is this person in? You know, they're suffering their heartache, but you can see it. It's visceral. yeah
Marvel's Complex Universe and Future Directions
01:10:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
like Oh my God, I wouldn't want to step on there with shoes.
01:10:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
And this person is barefoot. And then you think about that and you're like, oh my God, like all of the ways their life must be if you know that's what their life is like. It's such subtle thing, but well done. is He's a good filmmaker, ah Ryan Coogler, by the way. So that's why I loved Sinners. I mean, it's not a perfect movie. um Again, I won't go into spoilers.
01:11:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
But near the end of the movie, when the antagonist and the protagonist are fighting and you know how that kind of culminates and finishes, like the basically the climax of the movie, massive letdown. It was so lame.
01:11:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
that was just like, oh my God, like this was terrible. um And so that's like the one downvote I have, one thing that let me down. But otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised.
01:11:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's so far in the movie of the year for me. Wow, okay. Interesting. Yeah, I'll check it out and then just to get an understanding of it. It's probably going to come out on Prime or something like that. Yeah, I'm sure will. Because think it's on Video On Demand, so probably in a month, month and a half. Okay.
01:11:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
You might not like it as much as me, but like I've always loved vampire movies and zombie movies, and I feel like zombies have gotten a lot of attention, and vampires haven't. Because there was like the whole Twilight era of vampires, and then like you didn't really get these like troll or deadly vampires for a while.
01:12:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah. And so this was so refreshing for me to see. And like Redfall was a disappointment. have to wait forever for Blade. You know, the game come At this point, it's basically almost been come from Blade's been canceled, the movie.
01:12:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
The movie, yeah. And ah so the game is still coming, right? As far as we know, but that's going to take a while. So there hasn't been anything that's really filled that like that niche, that desire to watch a good vampire movie. So that's why Sinners was just great for me.
01:12:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
I really like that. um What would you say is your movie of the year? Is it one of the movies we watched recently? So yeah, so two movies that I've watched, one with you and think one without. Final Destination and then Thunderbolt. So I mean i want to talk really quick about Thunderbolt. So another movie that I felt like really resonated with me to some extent, not completely, but like For those that don't know, I get spoilers.
01:12:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
You can spoil it for me. I'm not going to watch it. Okay, I'll spoil it for Shammy over here too. But as soon as the movie launched, they basically retitled the movie, and it's now called The New Avengers.
01:13:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
um So this ragtag group of people that we've seen in prior movies all come together and work with each other. Have they all been in other movies before? Yeah, they've all been in other movies and shows so at one point or another. Yeah.
01:13:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
they've just been broken characters the way they've all been described so yelena who was scarlett johansson's quote-unquote like adopted sister because they were both part of the same like program back in russia when they were growing up so they know each other really well they considered each other sisters you got the um captain america hack who's in like the last show called uh about the falcon and winter soldier basically and he takes over the mantle and he ends up killing someone that's innocent in the show so He has to deal with the fallout of that and the public opinion. And so, so much to the degree that his wife and kid leaves him because he can't even focus on taking care of their family. You got the red guardian who's a no one right now at this point, used to be the Soviet union's like prime like hero. And and now that there's nothing for him. So he has no life. He has a taxi service.
01:14:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you get Bucky who is running for like so like us being a Senator, you know, or something. So he's changed like completely. And then there' the other there's one other hero, who am I missing? One other person.
01:14:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then what and what they end up doing in this movie is they introduce a new hero, his name is um the Void or the Sentry. He has two personalities. So he's gone through a lot of depression throughout his whole life.
01:14:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
He's basically no one. He's convinced to take or participate participate in a program in like Thailand. And this program basically ends up failing. It kills a bunch of people, but surprisingly, he's the only one that survives and he gains a bunch of superpowers.
01:14:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
And to the point where he has the power of a hundred suns, I think is what they quote unquote say in the in the film. So he's technically stronger than most Marvel heroes. So he's pretty then. Yeah. Like he's basically powerful than almost all the Avengers at this point.
01:14:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like, and again, I don't know. they don't has What does he do? Like does he shoot laser beams and stuff? He can fly. He's basically like Superman times 10. Is he actually a character in the comics? Yes. So what doesn't make sense to me is they don't describe the procedures they performed on all these people. So I have no idea how a random company got the ability to... make someone that powerful. Yeah, make someone that powerful.
01:15:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
But what they end up dealing with is when he becomes very depressed, the void comes out and he just starts killing a bunch of people. But in reality, he's sending a bunch of people into a different realm that like they have no idea what's going on.
01:15:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so to kind of save this person, because they start to connect with them throughout the film. And he's like actually a decent person. They meet him in that other realm and they're like, look, we know you're suffering. We're here for you as friends. So like the one good part was like, they basically try to show that like, you know, So was he the antagonist? He's basically the antagonist. The person that gives him the powers is also in the film, but like she's really a nobody. It's really him, you know, and trying to stop him from killing like everyone.
01:15:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, that's kind of a fascinating idea, but I think this goes to like my Marvel problem. that This is what I wanted to talk about. Like Marvel has just gotten too complicated, complex, you know? like you know And I think the reason why Marvel worked so well before is, okay, Iron Man, easily digestible story. yeah And most people know enough culturally, you know, because it's like like a pop icon, that they can just like, you know, get right into Iron Man and enjoy it, right?
01:16:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then the next step up, Captain America, you know, that hit for people, right? I don't think like... Captain America did anything revolutionary, but it hit like the common tropes that people love yeah and did it well enough.
01:16:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm not the biggest Captain America fan, but I think it did it well enough. You have another good hit, and then that was enough to bring Thor in, bring the Hulk in. You have a good team, good base. Then you branch out from there.
01:16:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
me, to me like The reason why Marvel was so fascinating is like you got your main team, they're cool, and you're just like, all right, like what if this guy just joined in? Ooh, what does that do to the dynamic?
01:17:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
Ooh, what if Spider-Man joins in? Ooh, what's that going to do? Ooh, what if Black Panther is here? What if this person's here? You still have your core group that you love and you identify with, but now you have another person that's with a different personality that's going to riff off the main people, interact with them, join the team, and then bring something new to the team, maybe some pros, some cons, change the dynamics slightly.
01:17:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
The core is the same. And then that's how you just grow, grow, grow. And then there's one big bad at the end of it all that you're looking forward to that keeps you in focus. That's the key word, focus.
01:17:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
And that's what Marvel has lost because like you know you lost all those people. And those are the iconic people. Like, you can't expect people to, like, see Shang-Chi and then see, you know, all these other, like, She-Hulk and all these people and, like, be hyped for them in the same way yeah as Iron would Man and Thor and Captain America. Yeah, like, I look at, again, these new Avengers, they can't carry a film on their own. Right.
01:17:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
and And against any Big Betty, they all don't have powers other than the sentries. So then it's like, what's the point? Like, now they're making movies, like, a lot of these movies to me, it's like, they're only going to serve like the real comic book fanboys you know like and fangirls who really love this stuff and they're just happy to see the people that they saw in comics on the big screen right but like the casual audience which is what helped these movies make a billion two billion dollars they're just going to be so overwhelmed and they don't really know when to jump back into marvel agree right now that's we don't know when to jump in and like the film before this that came out february with
01:18:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
the Falcon, yeah whatever his name is. I forgot what the movie's name, oh, Captain America Brave New World. So basically Sam Wilson becomes the new Captain America, And what they hint towards the end of this film is that Sam is forming his own team of Avengers. And I don't know with who. Why we going to have two Avengers You have two Avengers teams. Both probably have no powers whatsoever.
01:18:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then, you know what they're really setting up for? The Fantastic Four. So the Fantastic Four... now going to have a third team. You're third team. And I'm sure the Fantastic Four will just take over and become the leaders because they have the powers.
01:19:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
They are going to fight with all the cosmic beings. and And the thing is, if you have such a power scale to like, now you dealt with Thanos... you know, you have to have very strong protagonists and antagonists going forward to make it feel meaty. Yeah.
01:19:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
But if they're too crazy, then people get lost in all these superpowers. Yeah. So it's tricky. It's, it's so, okay. The way I see it is Fantastic Four will be the leaders of the Avengers because in the new film coming up in July or June, they will be but fighting against Galactus.
01:19:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
And you, and you know, that might be the reset and like the place for people to jump back in because I was just thinking about it too. You know, if no one knows when to jump in, You can't make a game and like a movie that's so conclusive and so like central to your next plans because if everyone isn't jumping in then, then they'll lose track of things.
01:19:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so then it's like you can't have the New Avengers be the start of everything going forward and you're planning in advance. But if New Avengers doesn't do good, then no one really knows where to start.
01:20:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
So then why would anyone watch New Avengers 2 or all the things that are connected to it? And so you need like a pillar to come back and bring everything in. Me personally, you know, I think the smartest thing, this is what I wanted to talk to you about.
01:20:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think the smartest thing would have been to start with Spider-Man. Like, you know, I wouldn't have went the Fantastic Four route. Like what I would have done, right? um Was, you know, I, and to me, i think people love this when it happens and it gets like, you know, you know, it gets the hype going.
01:20:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like what if they had like a completely self-contained story? Maybe it could be Fantastic Four, but I was going to think X-Men because X-Men has been, um, common enough, right. That people know all the characters.
01:20:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't think everyone knows the fantastic four characters. Right. Um, and we know that there's been a change in hands. You start off with a whole new cast of X-Men characters, but I mean, they kind of screwed that up because they already had some and then, you know, it got complicated, but if they had done that, you get this whole like arc with, you know, X-Men and you think it's a self contained story, but actually that ties back into a bigger story.
01:21:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you have Spider-Man, which is somebody that people know, bring everything over ah back and you actually think that like these threats that you thought were the big bads in X-Men are actually just big bads in the whole universe. Yeah, it's funny you say because I think they they have an idea and they're somewhat on the right path, but execution is part because...
01:21:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
For those that don't know, there's two more Avengers movies coming out, Avengers Doomsday and Avengers Secret Wars. Now, they just announced that both of those movies have been delayed. um So originally, Doomsday was coming out May of next year.
01:21:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
Now it's coming out December of next year. How is it going to be done in time? know. They just started, didn't they? Yeah. So what's happening now is right now so but a new Spider-Man movie is slated to now air before Avengers Doomsday.
01:21:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
Before it was going to be Avengers Doomsday, then a self-contained Spider-Man movie. Now it's the opposite. So they're going to have one chance. You think it's a self-contained Spider-Man movie? don't think so. There's no way. think it's going to be um another multiversal bullshit.
01:22:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
and And the thing is they got to stop with this multiversal stuff. And I think what they're trying to do is like explain it all in a way where it ties together. i think they just need to ignore it. I think they should ignore it. They've done too much multiversal stuff. like Then you think of Loki and all of those things.
01:22:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's just too much. It's too much because the story has spiraled out of control. So any new film that comes after Loki... Unless they have like one way of tying it all together in one movie. But that's going be so hard to pull off. And it's going to be too complicated. I would ignore things.
01:22:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the reason I also thought it would have been smart for them to pivot in into Spider-Man and build from there, that's where Endgame ended. Yeah, that's where Endgame ended. The whole thing was passing of the torch to Spider-Man from Iron Man. That is the natural way of progressing forward. they fumbled And then they fumbled it with all this multiversal, crazy ADD.
01:22:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
different stories because they wanted endless content for everybody they made this new spider-man film what a couple years ago and then it did catch the eyes of a lot of people you have two three spider-mans in a film ah cool stuff but like that's i don't think you should have gone that route yeah well i mean they were doing the nostalgia play which is fine it made a lot of movie ah money but like the thing is you you did the nostalgia play to tie in all the prior spider-man movies right and like look you know I think Spider-Man has been kind of done to death. I love Spider-Man. Like, everyone who knows me is my witness.
01:23:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
I do think it's so there's been a lot of it, but look, if you really wanted to make a bunch movies with Marvel and and money and you needed a way to pivot, you should have pivoted to Spider-Man because he is the natural person you set up.
01:23:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, now that they haven't really done that, and I don't know what this film next year for Spider-Man will really be, even if it's a self-contained, it's right before Doomsday. So then you transition from that to no arc and then throwing everyone there.
01:23:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, What I truly believe, and I think you were on a good path here, was X-Men. But here's most likely what's going to happen. It's based on already rumors and all a bunch of stuff being filmed right now.
01:23:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
There's a bunch of X-Men already in Doomsday, and they're going to reset and pivot to X-Men after the two Avengers films, which is unfortunate because it's a good and bad thing. I think they need a fresh start, and I think X-Men will pave the way for the next five to ten years.
01:24:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
I really do. But I think if they let X-Men into these two films, it would have been so much better. But I think it would have taken them too many years to set that up. Yeah, I mean, if they you know what they could have done?
01:24:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
They could have just made all these self-contained. They could have made Fantastic Four feel self-contained. And they could have made X-Men feel self-contained. And then they could have used Spider-Man and started a new trilogy and started building up. yeah And then there was the first movie and then maybe the second movie. But all sudden you realize, oh no, the second and third movie is actually Avengers Spider-Man. And then all of a sudden, all of this stuff has actually been tied in. everyone's going to go back and watch the old movies now.
01:24:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then like, you know, clear point of starting. Cause like, okay, fantastic movies onward. ah an X-Men onward, Spider-Man movies onward. yeah And then they all converge together.
01:25:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think it's a shame. Cause like, I think Marvel felt the brand damage, the brand reputation, all just because the last several years, everything has been so poor quality. They're just like, how do we get people back into their seats? Cause you can tell their films and the last several years have not made a whole lot of money.
01:25:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the funniest thing to me is, like, you know they know how bad it is. yeah Because the Thunderbolts, like, the biggest selling point I saw in the commercial to make me go watch Thunderbolts is the best rated movie that's come out since Endgame.
01:25:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's sad. Which they're basically saying, hey, guys, we know we've been pretty trash for a while, but give this one a chance even though you don't really know the Thunderbolts. Like, I won't lie, the way the movie is written is...
01:25:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't want to say even written. The dialogue between the characters is good. There's real good play off each other. Like the first time in a long time in a Marvel film, like, wow, this seems believable. But again, I think when they announced the two Avengers movies recently, they were so premature. They're like, things will flow through and we're going to have the Russo brothers come back and they're going an epic banger and they can take a fucking mess, a spaghetti mess and just fucking make it. I hope they do something because And, you know, how did you go from, like, Shang-Chi to, like, Doctor Strange 2, which felt like they were kind of connected and
01:26:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
What happened? And, like, you can't even get the new Blade movie off the ground. They're basically confirmed at this point it's probably not going to ever happen. Waste of a Town with Mahersha Ali. This guy is even helping in writing the goddamn story, and you can't fucking do it. You know, after I saw...
01:26:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
how successful all the Marvel movies were. And look, I was kind of a Marvel hater and, you know, I'm overall a bigger DC fan, but the thing is I love end game and infinity war. And, and, you know, back at that time i was like, bro, Marvel cannot miss. I'm like any to all of their movies are interconnected. There's like 18 of them. And somehow you're getting people like my sister and people I know who are not into this stuff excited to see like,
01:27:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
random Marvel movies, random Marvel characters. And like, how did you screw this up? Yeah, dude, first of all, let me just say this because you mentioned earlier, we still don't have a single to Shang-Chi. What the fuck is going on? know. It's just like, this is a classic example of not knowing your audience yeah because your audience is not, what you took a bunch of like people who are not hardcore and they're, you know, you can call them like,
01:27:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
casual yeah and not massive comic book fans and you made them super interested in comic book stuff that they may have thought was super nerdy and they're not into it and it's because it was cool right and then it stopped being cool because it was too convoluted yeah it was too convoluted and again you make up another good point was like 10 years ago very casual fans were talking about marvel like Like my family knew about it My parents, they're like, it was weird. Like shit, that it was so crazy. Again, when it becomes a phenomenon and you can get people talking about it, people that normally don't watch and read this shit, like you've done a good job. Yeah.
01:27:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
and And that's what I was so amazed about because growing up, like everyone loved Batman. Everyone loves Spider-Man. But like, to me, like I didn't know all of these Marvel characters, you know, like I didn't really know Captain America, yeah you know,
01:28:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
I knew Hulk, but that's because of some the video game, right? And some of that stuff. Well, I think another problem you're going have here now going forward even though you got Robert Downey Jr., the guy that played Iron man How are you going to show to millions of people that this is the same old dude from the prior films? Because clearly he's not. And even if they find a way to tighten that he's a variant because of the multiversal shit, are you going to show half the film with him without the mask becoming Doomsday? don't going to do. My only hope for this is, you know, I think the Russo brothers are fairly competent. I know they've had some misses and things like that. If they're going to double down with him, you know, then they have to be confident.
01:28:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
Well, because either, you know, it's one thing if you're like semi confident, you know, you might try and do something that's careful, right? But if you're going to do something like that, where even before everyone is going to have questions and criticisms and everything, you have to be incredibly confident.
01:29:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And that either is going to translate to incredibly confident because you got something amazing. We're incredibly confident you're confident, and you're an idiot. And you're going to do the worst thing. To me, there's no in-between. It's a 10 or a 5. Look, I think you're absolutely on point because, first of all, the only reason why Marvel and Kevin Feige is now confident is because they're paying them a shit ton of money.
01:29:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
So they're paying Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo brothers like close to all over $100 million plus for just three people. And they're saying, if we're going to give you this much money, you have to write us a banger. And they said, okay. the And then the Russo brothers said, we woke up one day, we thought of a great idea, and we just knew that this had to be the next Avengers film.
01:29:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
Sure. But like you said, it can be a hit or a miss. And you know how i know that? It's because they did the same thing just recently with fucking Wolverine and Deadpool. And you know what fucking Hugh Jackman said? He goes, one day I woke up and I just had an amazing idea and I went to Ryan Reynolds and I said, we have to do something. Guess what? That movie was absolute dog shit.
01:29:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
don't know what anyone says. I liked it. I liked it. But I'll say this. It was funny. It was funny. But there was no substance to Yeah, there's no substance. So you can't tell me that he woke up when you're saying, yeah, I really wanted to pay homage to Wolverine by making this piece of shit film. I mean, I think I look at it more positively than you because I had low expectations for the movie.
01:30:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
If I saw a movie that just made me laugh, I was going to walk out of there very satisfied. I was kind of disappointed because I was hoping they would use this to clear up some of the Marvel nonsense. yeah And they didn't. They made it worse. they made it worse. But at least I walked out of that movie genuinely laughing and happy. Sure.
01:30:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
But like that wasn't what I was hoping for because we've been waiting for a true introduction of X-Men into this universe because there's been nothing again of substance. And they could have did that. But what did they do at end? They go, hey, are going to be back? Wolverine goes, no. And then just walks away. Like, what the- Arjun, be honest.
01:30:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
Were you laughing during the end Yes, of course I was. That was epic. Of course I was. But that's not the point. I'm not going to Marvel films anymore to fucking laugh, motherfucker. I'm going so they can set up a whole goddamn arc because we're getting Doomsday a year after. I get you. I get what you're saying. you cannot, like, dude, I'm telling you, there's already been pictures on set with Ian McKellen back as fucking Magneto and they got x Xavier, all this shit. You're just to start off with the first 10 minutes of them just fighting Sentinels and shit and be like, oh my god, this is all the same universe.
01:31:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
That doesn't help me. What are we doing here? I don't understand. you ah Dude, I just don't understand. You can't tell me that the fuck shit that happened 15 to 20 years ago is the same universe. I wonder if you Hugh Jackman like woke up from a dream and he was dreaming of Deadpool just beating people up with his dead skeleton. Yeah, like, i't know I say, I never, ever would have thought of that idea. It's such, and, you know, I was actually listening. i feel like I was randomly talking about Brandon Sanderson. And they were talking about, like, humor and what's funny in one of their podcasts, like, for writing. And he said that, like, what we find funny is unexpected.
01:32:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like a lot of comedians, like the reason they swear, talking about sex they're talking about stuff is because like, we don't anticipate it. We don't expect it. Katja's a self guard. So, you know, beating people up with the skeleton of Wolverine is so unexpected. It's hilarious. i mean And you would never expect NSYNC to be playing in the background. Right. And, but that's like the humor. Right. And, but anyways, I digress. I really liked that scene, but I'm with you. You know, like it didn't really, like it didn't really change the Marvel problem. Yeah. i didn't choose the Marvel problem. um And again, they had opportunities. And that was a good opportunity for it because all the casual fanboys were going to see that movie.
01:32:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I agree. And that specifically is they had a lot of people watching it. It did really well. One of their better Marvel films in terms of financials. So here's what I will say is if the Avengers films flop, because I actually think the Russo brothers think they have a great idea and it's going to be a five out 10. I didn't they do that electric state movie or whatever on Netflix? like That was a bomb. Yeah.
01:32:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think these will fail, but I think, Knowing Kevin Feige and Marvel, they go, you know what? Even if this flaps, it's okay. We have a lot of money. we've they They're like Microsoft. Fuck it. We'll waste the money if we have to. We try.
01:33:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
And you know what they're going to do They'll pivot really hard into X-Men. And going forward, X-Men will be the new Avengers for them. And that's it. And they'll fix all of it. The thing is with Disney, for as much as people hate on them, like if you look at the studio that's made the most money every year, it's still Disney.
Lilo and Stitch Remake: Strengths and Weaknesses
01:33:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think there was only one year that they lost a Universal. I think that was a year with Super Mario Bros., And if I'm remembering correctly, they only lost by like a hundred million yeah or 200 million. So they're still printing money, you know, even though like Snow White flopped, you know, they're making their money up one way or another.
01:33:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I guess that takes us to the next thing I wanted to talk about, which was Lilo and Stitch, which I know you haven't seen yet. yeah Um, and so, me and the wife saw it. She absolutely adores Lilo and Stitch. And me too, I think it's one of the things that connected us together. And it's kind of been like one of the pivotal things in our relationship.
01:33:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
So i think on her first ah birthday, I want to say, I bought her like a bunch of Stitch stuff. And, you know, so it's always had like a dear place in our hearts.
01:34:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
And we had to watch the remake. And right afterwards, we watched the the original, um you know, back to back. And It's so fascinating. You really have to watch them because this is one of the better remakes, honestly. And this is one of the few examples where I think the remake does things better than the original and the original does things better than the remake.
01:34:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think they complement each other. Interesting say that because so someone posted a clip on X and they did comparison with this one really important point and that and and in the show, the cartoon show. And then they show the comparison of the film because it's the point where Stitch is about to be thrown out by the older sister.
01:34:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then the little girl says, Ohana means family and family never gives up or leaves like people behind. and then, you know, she guilt trips her older sister to keeping Stitch so that they can take care of a Stitch.
01:35:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And in the movie, they're about to have that same conversation. She goes, you need to stop acting like a child. Like this is reality. This is your practical. But this is, I think like people are trying to share, you know, they're trying to twist things in a way that creates a certain narrative.
01:35:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
Cause that same scene happened later. You know, like they've shuffled things up. yeah The same scene happens where she's like, Ohana means family. Family means family. You never leave any anything behind as a manipulative way for the sister to accept it. It's just shuffled up and it's in a different place. That's so funny. And so, but if you take them, you know, if you take all of the scenes, you know, one by one, if you share them, like there is going to be things that are way better. and yeah You know, the original, no doubt.
01:35:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
um So I can kind of tell you a little bit about what I think is, you know, better than one or the other. ah The original was a lot more condensed and I think they did a lot, they were much better at showing, not telling, right? It was so subtle and it focused a lot more on Stitch. It made Stitch a more fleshed out character. He was more multidimensional. He had a better character arc as well.
01:36:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
Well, in the new one, he's more like a child or a pet, you know? And in the original, he thought he seemed more like someone who who's unloved, who has a lot of different emotions. Like you could just see it more.
01:36:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think like one of the, best ways that was shown was like the story of like the ugly duck. And I totally forgot about it, but the wife remembered because she's seen this movie like a million times. She's like, I can't believe they didn't include the part of the ugly duck. And because like that story has so many parallels to Lilo's life and Stitch's life. And both of them, you know, take that story in a different way without even having to spell it out just by reading the story out loud.
01:36:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
and showing Stitch and Lilo in different parts of the movie, like the audience just automatically gets it. That's like, to me, one of the best forms of writing where like, you know, it's just subtle and the original does that so well. And so that's one thing I loved about it. i don't think it came over as well.
01:37:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think the alien characters are way better in the original. It's not even close. you know i think Did they leave out the one big alien? Yeah, they left him out too, which I thought was fine. um I mean, I love that character, but you know I think Jumba is like the the big alien with like multiple eyes. yeah They changed his character a little bit to make him the main villain, and I thought it was fine. you know It got the job done.
01:37:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
So that was okay, and I can understand why they cut him. But the the downside was Jamba just does not sound right. He sounds kind of weird. And he just, both of them just didn't seem like the same character. And they were changed enough that it felt eerie. It was like uncanny.
01:37:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the thing is like Lilo and Stitch, there's minor changes, a sister, minor changes, but it wasn't enough that the characters felt like different people. But for the aliens, they were changed enough that they felt like different people. And that's why it was kind of eerie.
01:37:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
And overall, I don't think they were strong. So that's, to me, the weakest part of the movie. um But, and I get what I was listening to what the director and the writers were saying, and I get it. Like when you switch from animation to, um you know, live action, you can't just do a one for one, right? Because I think when we see things in animation, like unconsciously, we accept the back fact that the laws of the world are different. yeah So I'll give you an example, right?
01:38:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
In the original Lilo and Stitch, There is a scene where the sister sees Stitch like attack the two aliens who were dressed up in wigs as humans and apologizes to them.
01:38:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then she's at work. So because her pet attacked these people, humans, she left her job because she was going to quit. And that is you know the next story beat. How does the sister lose the job?
01:38:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
Well, Stitch attacked these customers at work and so either way. but in live action, that's absolutely ridiculous. yeah You know, these people are clearly aliens. How can anyone look at them and be like, Oh, this is not an alien.
01:39:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
And you know, in in animation, I think it like tricks our brain a little bit because like when characters get hurt, you know, it doesn't register as like a real hit. Yeah. And like a character's facial features are exaggerated. Right. And so all of these things, like they change the laws of the reality, you know, the laws of that, you know, universe.
01:39:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
Um, You know, in that fictional world. So like you can get away with more in animation and in live action, you can. That's fair. So like that's a like that's a good example of one of the things they had to change for one of the scenes. Right.
01:39:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so there's like an and so for like because of that, the aliens came to Earth and they became human. Like they, yeah you know, adopted, you know, the looks of a human being.
01:39:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
And a lot of the humor in this movie is like, okay, these people are aliens trying to be humans. And it wass pretty fun. yeah I thought it was fun. So I thought that was pretty well done. And in this story, they did a much better job with the sister, the older sister, they really fleshed her out.
01:40:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, there was things she was losing out on. She had a character arc as well. Um, kind of wonder and it culminated in a very different place for her overall, which made sense for the character.
01:40:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
Um, And they had an edition of the grandma, which I just thought was such a logical and easy thing that like, when I watched it, I was like, I cannot believe this is in the original. Like, why would you not have a character like that? Because I remember when I watched the original, I was just thinking to myself, like, how old is this this sister?
01:40:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, i'm like, know, what? always assumed like 16 and like, you know, yeah nine or 10. And so, but like when I rewatched it, and I was like, okay, like she kind of seems like she's like 22 to me. But like,
01:40:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
I guess she's a 17 year old, but like 17 year olds aren't like this. So it was like kind of odd, but in like the, the remake, like it made sense. It was like, okay, this is a girl who's trying to get into college. We can't get into college because of her sister.
01:40:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
And she has to balance that out. But then her grandma, her, her neighbor is a grandmother, ah like older lady and is helping out. And I was like, that makes sense. Like, I feel like I could see that in my neighborhood. yeah You know, that's like a realistic story. So like those to me are like the pros and the cons, you know, like,
01:41:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
Overall, I think I like the original better, right? yeah Because you' lot of nostalgia there, right? That meant a lot to me. And I think the writing is better. It's tighter. um But this is probably the first remake I've seen, like a live action where I was actually happy with it. And I was like, oh yeah, like I'm actually happy they did this live action, you know, because maybe it's because Lilo and Stitch meant a lot to me growing up because it was like my generation.
01:41:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't have kids right now, but like if I could bring my child there and they could experience Lilo and Stitch, well, I can also experience Lilo and Stitch. It's like that cross-generational thing. like That's amazing. like I don't want Lilo and Stitch to die. I want that story to continue you know onward for the next generation. and I don't think they're going to want to watch a 20 or 30 year old movie right don't know I feel like that like some of these cartoons do feel like if I was watching it 20 to 30 years around they're still well produced to the point where I'm like I could see my kids let me ask you this would you watch a Disney movie from the met
01:42:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
no probably okay that's so that so it's a bias because like for us the movies that are 1980s would be their movies that are 2000s agreed but you can't completely correlate like the way a movie was produced in the 80s versus the aughts so like higher production value potentially in the 2000s so again to me if i'm looking at yeah i mean it's apples to orange comparison yeah i mean i'm obviously not a 10 year old, right? Or like, ah you know, so I, but I can just think that like, would you still watch Princess Mononoke? That got re-released films.
01:42:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
How long did it take me to watch Princess Mononoke? But, point being, How long did it take? How much did you harass me? And how much did other people tell me pass And then I watched it i was happy to watch it. But that's the thing. like you know If you grew up with like animation that's so well done, like think about all of these 3D animated Pixar and you know Disney movies.
01:43:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
And now you're going back to something that's like old school. like I'm going to say that it's still beautiful. And honestly, in a lot of ways, it might be better right because I love 2D animation. But is someone who grew up on 3D animation that high quality going to feel the same? Or are they just to be like, oh, that's Boomer.
01:43:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't want that. you know I think it depends on how you introduce, let's say, your child to it. So let's say Lion King. I would probably first start off with the animated version only because it's far superior in terms of writing, but also I would do it just say this was the original version of it and now come compare. And maybe they would... I don't know. I mean, I kind of like the back-to-back. I personally like being able to go through both of them, but Honestly, like when I finished watching the remake, like I didn't feel like anything was missing in the story. I felt like it actually hit all the story beats.
01:43:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then when I watched the original, i was like, oh, man, they cut out a lot. I can't believe they cut out all this much. yeah But it still told the same overall story. You watched the original movie, right? Not the show you're saying. So you watched the live action, then the next you watched the cartoon movie. say it differently?
01:44:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
i I wanted to make sure you watched the cartoon movie because they made a cartoon movie and then they had the show. Oh, yeah. so i have so i watched the show when I was younger and I grew up on it. um but no, I just watched the Lilo and Stitch 2025 live action, and then right afterwards, I watched the original animated movie. Okay, because I think the show started after the cartoon movie came out, so it was popular enough that they then made the then made a second. Yeah. And the thing is, I think people sleep on how popular Lilo and Stitch is, and I think this movie is going to break so many expectations. was kind shocked that this many were watching, because again, the show at the time it came out was like peak Disney, right? Like again, early 2000s,
01:44:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I love, i love the show because they expanded it to a point where a Stitch got to meet all his cousins. I don't know if you've ever seen the show. It was cool. It was such a neat idea. a Bunch of different aliens that look just like a fat version, small versions, mini versions, like big bulky versions. I'm like, this is amazing. And like, they had such a crazy cool concept to the show.
01:45:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
So like they just kept rolling with it, but I'm still surprised that I, that was the age I grew up on Disney. So to see other people watching this, like where was like, damn, is isn it that popular? Like I was such was big, man. Like, and I think like Disney did not realize how big Lee Lona stitch was going to be. And,
01:45:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like they've been kind of sleeping on it. Yeah. But like most of the time when people think of like the biggest, you know, Disney franchises, they probably think like, I would think Lion King and Aladdin. Yeah. I think that's what people think are like the biggest.
01:45:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
They don't realize like Lilo and Stitch is massive, you know? Especially because we haven't seen
Final Destination and Mission Impossible: Film Critiques
01:45:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
Lilo and Stitch for like 20 years. Like legitimately, there hasn't been any supplemental. And again, maybe I'm just biased because this is what i grew up on, but I was actually...
01:45:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
happy for and excited that they brought back Lula and Stitch. Yeah, I'm actually too. Like, when Mulan came out, like, I'll be honest with Mulan was not good and I was not hyped for it. But, like, this, I was, like, been very intrigued. Now, I was also intrigued by the Lion King movie, the live action, and I just, that didn't go. Yeah, I mean, I was really intrigued by Mufasa, you know, because, like, you know, I was like, okay, Lion King is going to be very similar. And to me, like, I watched Lion King when I was much older. I actually watched him when was at college I think high school or college.
01:46:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
ah Yeah. I didn't really watch a lot of Disney growing up, but Lilo and Stitch was the one exception like that one I loved. okay um And it was, and I feel like it kind of marks like ah maybe this is me, I'm maybe biased, but it kind of marks like a transition point for Disney because they did a lot of their princess movies and mean maybe Lion King was the original transition.
01:46:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
But then afterwards, they really started spreading into, like, different things, you I wonder what they're going to do next. What's up next on their schedule? For what? Live action remakes. Oh, I don't actually know. i mean, I don't know what I would want them to do. Because if they're at Lilo and Stitch time. Yeah, like they've basically done the most the biggest movies, so I'm like, what else is that? I wonder if they'll do Finding Nemo. Oh, I didn't think of that one.
01:47:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
But that would be weird. Was Finding Nemo Disney thing, was that, like, a? That's Disney. Oh, it might be Pixar. I don't know. Because Finding Nemo was big, but the thing is, i think the I think the Disney movies that are successful as remakes are the ones where there's not too much fantastical stuff because that's the jarring part. Like, in this movie, like, again, why I think it worked um Stitch the animations for Stitch and the CGI for Stitch were fantastic because it actually made it kind of look like a teddy bear dog thing like it just it worked like maybe it's the Ted you know factor it didn't look odd and it totally worked well fact that it looks like a dog looks like a pet it's like it's very playful they just and it was really well done like probably they spent a lot of their budget on making sure Stitch looked good just like Sonic and that exactly and like that was absolutely what they needed to do
01:48:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
the aliens look so jarring. Other than Stitch, like, all of the other aliens look incredibly jarring. yeah And so it's not a huge surprise that they basically just had no alien scenes. There's, like, basically no alien scenes and it's just Lilo and Stitch and humans the whole time.
01:48:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I feel like Finding Nemo would be hard because, like, if it's all non-human characters, that's going to be weird. What about, they did Little Mermaid recently, right? They did that too. They've done like all of them. They did Cinderella already. They did Snow White. They did Lion King. They did Mulan.
01:48:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I don't know what else they'll do, but they'll find something. Okay. Interesting. So, okay. And then I guess the last movies we've seen recently, um Mission Impossible and Final Destination. so Maybe can start Final Destination first. Interesting, you know, there's this is what, the fifth film?
01:48:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
I didn't realize Tony Todd, Todd, Tony, Tony Todd, the the guy at the end, the African-American dude, black dude, he has been in almost all the Final Destination movies. I didn't realize that. No. So I guess he's had a role since then. So I didn't realize that.
01:49:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
By the way, again, for those that know, he's done the voice of many popular characters in shows and cartoons. He recently did Venom in the new Spider-Man 2 game that came out from PlayStation. He's done a lot of different voices.
01:49:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
on top of being an an actor, but he just passed away not too long ago as well. So I think he had some sort of cancer or something, but just add, you know, but I think we were both surprised by final destination. They did a really good job on that. movie You know, it was like the funny type of death.
01:49:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was just like, so outlandish that it gave me a good laugh. So ridiculous. so i mean, that's my point, right? Like comedy is when you expect it with unexpected things yeah happen. Right. Yeah. Now they didn't set this movie up. Like they have, like they've run a ton of horror films back last several years, like Halloween and scream. And and um now they're bringing, I know what you last summer and they've been setting them up to be sequels, especially with scream.
01:50:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like it, it made or already two films they were going to do a third. I like the way this ended. like it was straight up like yeah it killed everyone yeah that it needed to kill. Spoilers. And the reason I was really impressed by Final Destination is because I thought it would have just been like a cash grab, but they actually took time to pay ah like homage to like all the old movies. yeah They actually tied them in in a coherent way that was easily digestible.
01:50:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it just actually didn't make it seem like these are all a bunch of random movies where people were just trying to make a bunch of money and they kept going and going going. Like it all felt interconnected. You know, I think like in the last scene, i want one but i wasn't the biggest fan of like the ending ending.
01:50:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
But other than that, the the movie was pretty good. I think the writing is a little bit of a cop-out. So the way they started it was made sense to me. Like, We all survive longer than we should have. We should not exist. Death is coming. yeah Death is coming.
01:50:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
And there's films prior to this. What I didn't like was that in one of the films, someone does survive. And they said, yeah, they actually died. We resuscitated them. They escaped it. They broke out of the cycle.
01:51:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
Let's just do the same thing. Like, honestly, that's a cop-out. I feel like they should have came up with a different solution. different device, yeah. Yeah. And it's like, of course, you can... The thing is, like, it didn't really feel... Like, I think the stories that really speak to us is, like, when the protagonist and the antagonist are kind of, like, you know, going up against each other and, like, the protagonist gets an advantage and the antagonist does and you're like, oh, who's going to win in the end, right?
01:51:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
But in here, it didn't really feel that way. It was just, like, let's... I hope we survive and then there's no real hope for survival but maybe it'll work. you know, but then, yeah. And I feel like, that I wish they could have symbolized death a little better because there's a scene at the beginning where the grandma is basically like, looks around, like stopped prevents like her flower plant or pot from burning. And she goes, death, I know you're fucking with me. and she's like talking to no one. and it's like, if they had symbolized death a little, maybe visually or something to be like, yes, there's an entity out there that represents death and it's coming for us.
01:52:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
But like, yeah, it just felt like you're running from nothing, you know? Now, some of the deaths were cool, like the MRI thing. Oh, yeah. i think the MRI was a highlight for me. Yeah. I mean, absolutely ridiculous. Yeah. You know, I don't know if that's at all plausible, but whatever. Research level.
01:52:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
But also so funny because, like, the guy that died by the MRI, like, in the machine, had a cock ring. And so, like, not only does the rings on his face, his dick just, like, just. Yeah, that was that was pretty funny. Yeah.
01:52:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
Okay. yeah And then I guess um last movie we saw was, this has just been a week of movies. I think I saw four in the last week. Probably new record for me. But last movie we saw was Mission Impossible, which you made me go see at, what, 10.15?
01:52:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And we got done at 1.30 in the morning because this movie was so long. It was 20 minutes worth of trailers. This was not a satisfying ending. Not at all. To the series and to the last film. It's it's definitely not the strongest Mission Impossible. Yeah.
01:52:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like they didn't need to split this film up into two parts because the entity barely had a part in the film. They just kept saying, Hey, it's just going to take over everyone's nuclear arsenal and it'll just kill everything. This is the problem with this kind of movie. Like if you make the antagonist so powerful, like it it just is going to feel like a cop-out. Like it's going to feel like a ridiculous thing. Like, okay. Super computer AI knows everything. going to take over all the nukes. It's the end of the world.
01:53:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
okay then where do you go from there you know there's no way the entity is going to evolve there's no back and forth between the protagonist and the antagonist really you can't really have the entity pop up multiple times but because it's basically god you know so it just these are the problems with these kind of stories they're hard to do this is why i like the terminator anime sorry gotta make this conversation because i have to because there's parallels here but in the terminator anime that came out last year it's still about Skynet and Skynet has the ability to cause cause doomsday and kill everything using the nuclear assets. Right.
01:53:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
But they introduce a new AI that's still evolving and learning and it doesn't know what's right and wrong and it needs someone to teach it. bit you good and bad So we actually see like, Hey, this is a weakness. Like, I mean, after watching the whole movie, like, can you look at that AI and think of any weakness it had other than the fact that, you know,
01:54:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
the main character can do things that are impossible life. Exactly. And they's actually it's not just mission. It's actually impossible. It's impossible. Like literally, you're in 100 milliseconds. Spoilers, spoilers. Guys, 100 milliseconds is really fast. It's faster than the blink of an eye.
01:54:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
And they're like, oh, you have plug in a 5D flash drive. What is 5D? I don't even know how to plug flash drive. What is 5D? Plug it in, cut a wire, and hey, because you have sleight of hand, we trust you to unplug it within 100. don't even say it.
01:54:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
What is 5D? And how does this thing? What is it running on? Yeah, like, what is it? Like, ah like again, and for those that don't know, like, if you use something that has, like, NAND flash, it's, like, eventually memory has to be refreshed. So after so much time, that memory can die and be corrupted. So, like, well I don't even understand what five a 5D flash drive I don't even know. I think they were just trying to use some fancy term. They were like, oh, what's a term people don't understand, but they think will sound cool Yeah, and like, what's a 40 flash drive then in that universe then? Like, absolutely am I in space and time?
01:55:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then like, is this Interstellar? Like, is this? Like, I don't want to. Like, I legit, that has to be. And if that's a real thing, i am I just that stupid? I don't know, but when I heard that, I was this is so ridiculous. Like, even Tom Cruise, did he approve that in the script? Because like, there's no way. So, sorry, just to get back to a point.
01:55:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
So with the Terminator anime, again, what I liked is that when there was a new AI... And it didn't know what was good and bad and good. It was kind of developed from a human and then it started to make its own decisions. And then they said, Hey, I technically could stop Skynet, but I don't even know if the humans are worth saving and I need a reason for it. So actually again, I wish the entity has something that it rivaled. Like, cause like, I'll be honest with you.
01:55:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
like tom cruise could not rival the entity it had not it literally was told everything it read all of his mind yeah so it was like he wasn't a match you know so like i wish there was something else that could have matched the entity and said i'm here to stop i'm a good ai or whatever it was it was such overkill and then like man i almost felt like it was a bollywood movie with like the amount of drama they were like every missile silo is going to be offline, Madam President. yeah Are you going to kill 1 billion people to save 7 billion or whatever? yeah
01:56:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
Or not? was like, what is this insanely dramatic situation and the only person you can rely on is Ethan Hawke, which you can't even reach. yeah So you just sit around in your office doing nothing. And how stupid of a decision was it for her to be like, oh, I'm not going kill anyone.
01:56:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
Are you stupid? You either wipe out all of humanity or you kill 100 million and you save the rest of humanity. Are you? Like, if I'm president... Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm killing 100 million people. Oh, thank God. I wouldn't have done it. I mean, I wouldn't. Dude, you're telling me you're let all humans go extinct?
01:56:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
But there was no guarantee if she did it, it would have changed anything. If it was a matter of, okay, you have to do this, and it would 100% work, or even 90% work, okay, maybe. But honestly, what's the percentage chance? Sure, okay. Like 5%. I was thinking in the realm of their universe that like it was a surefire thing. If it was a sure thing, okay. you know But maybe I'm wrong. I don't fucking know. Arjun, you psychopath, bro. We're going to make a you show about you.
01:57:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
What do you want me to do, man? Like, I'm doing this for the good of me. All right, right. That's fair. I mean, they did prose it in a certain way. Yeah. But, um so I thought that was ridiculous. And then the second thing is, okay, I understand you want to take the stunts to the next level again and again, but at a certain point, it's like, dude, this is this is too much. Yeah. The whole scene with the submarine. It was ridiculous. And, okay, fine. Like, all of that stuff, you know, it happened. It was kind of, it felt a little slow.
01:57:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
What was the point of having to make him take his suit off? Yeah. And then getting trapped, ah you know, pulled down even more by the submarine. It's like, okay, man, like you couldn't help yourself. You couldn't stop yourself. Like you've already invented devices that don't exist.
01:58:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
ah Multiple, you know, to do something that's absolutely impossible and told us all these horrible things that will happen with these devices connected. And now they're gone. You just expect us to believe that you're fine.
01:58:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, it really made no sense. So that was, as soon as I saw that, was like, okay, like, I have lost, like, any ability to, like, you know, you know, think that this is possible. Like, okay, the whole mask, like, putting on the faces of other people is absolutely ridiculous, right? Yeah. But the fact that, like, there is some downsides and things like that, you're like, okay, it's not a complete, there's like, power move out nowhere.
01:58:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
But the submarine thing, after that, was like, oh my god. Yeah, that was ridiculous. And then, like and the main character the main villain the antagonist so bad like the writing so one-dimensional so and his dialogue is horrible but he talks and like he's so monotonic that it's just like dude shut up like you're literally reading from a script like it's so bad and then it's literally like ha ha i am bad guy you are supposedly the guy but i will make you suffer yeah that's how bad it was and i'm actually surprised that this guy actually remember the lines like legitimately that's how bad it was all right this is spoilers for anyone but if you watch mission impossible then you know you can listen to this part though i thought it was so ridiculous in the end when he's on a plane and he makes tom cruise hijack another plane to follow him and he goes up to him and he's like
01:59:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
I knew that it didn't matter what I did. you would thing that I need would come to me because you would always come. And I'm like, okay, fine. Okay, you are saying that Tom Cruise is so insane. He will follow you to the ends of the earth.
01:59:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
Why did you need to get on a plane? Why don't you just hide behind a crate with a gun? And then when you get on set plane, knowing that Tom Cruise will come to you, why don't you have a with you? The whole plane chase made no sense to the point where he's so stupid that he goes, by the way, there's only one parachute, literally tries to jump, kills a missile, splits his head half, and he's just like, you cannot be that stupid. You you've literally escape the entity.
02:00:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
You've outmaneuvered a bunch of people. You knew Tom Cruise was coming to give you what you wanted and you killed yourself. Man. That was the dumbest thing of everything. That was so bad. So that was bad. I mean, the thing is, it's a Mission Impossible movie. I like how they tied in some of the stuff in the end. You know, nostalgia hit, all those things.
02:00:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
I love some of the action, you know, but man. It didn't hit because they tried to pull it out. They're like, oh, don't you remember impossible Mission Impossible 3, 4, and 5 where you took that one thing that you thought was chemicals, like a nuclear like or whatever. it was it was easy It was a virus in there, and that's what spread and made the entity. What logical person is going to be like, oh, yes, I feel guilty for destroying the world because this AI is now going to nuke everybody.
02:00:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
is this your fault, right? again, they basically rewrote the whole series because he thought he was exchanging a bunch of chemicals for his wife. He's like, this thing that's, like, whatever contagion it is. that It was the birthplace of... Yeah, but instead it was a virus that once we plugged it in, ha, ha, ha, it created... It's like, you you didn't even have to do that. You could have just said this was a separate thing.
02:01:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
what was the point in time? And guess, like, I shouldn't be too critical of this because God knows my writing is way too convoluted, but this is just things being too convoluted. Yeah, this is complicated. Too complicated. So,
Summer Movie Roundup and Anticipation
02:01:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
okay, yeah, that's how I feel about that. So a lot of movies we watched. Probably going to be a lot more movies to talk about this summer because there's a lot of big ones coming out. I mean, I'm looking forward to Superman. i think it's lot of You know, even though it's super basic and I know it's going to be the same as every other one, I'm still going to watch Jurassic World as soon as it comes out.
02:01:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I'm looking forward to that. They'll be Fantastic Four. There's going to finally be 28 years later. i cannot believe they're making that. And they're making it into a trilogy now. Oh my God. I mean, don't about the trilogy thing, but I'm so excited to see that back. that's like That was 28 Days Later is a zombie movie that made me get into zombies.
02:02:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
Just like Interview with the Vampire was a vampire movie that made me get into vampires. So I'm super looking forward to that. I still haven't seen 28 Days Later, so might try watch it before 28 years later. I think that's the first big movie with Cillian Murphy, actually. Yeah, and so the funny part is they've already confirmed Cillian Murphy will be returning to this franchise in the sequel or the third movie so he's gonna be coming back just he's not in this first one uh but the big the big actor is what's his name the british dude uh oh i don't even know the guy that's like kick ass i have oh i forgot his name between condom i forgot his name just call him that because that was his name in the movie
02:02:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
um Okay, now I guess a couple of other things for us to catch up on. um i know we've going on for a while, but we really want to talk about Last of Us because yeah you know we've been putting that off until we could talk about it after we watching the whole season. So I know you haven't played Last of Us part two, but somehow you remember all the scenes of that better than I do. And I played it. Yeah. and what did What did you think of the season overall?
02:03:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think I, I wasn't as interested in the season two as the season one, like honestly. So
The Last of Us Season 2: Empathy and Adaptation Challenges
02:03:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
for the, again, those that don't know the way this season two ended is it ended maybe where the game was like 60 to 70% through it's playthrough.
02:03:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
it's playthro So they're splitting it into at least two seasons. What I liked about season one was that, like, you could have ended it at season one, you know, like, the ja mean even with the way the game is, the season was like, Joel saves Ellie.
02:03:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's like, hey, we're just going to continue to go on. And who knows if they could have made a cure or not, you know, based off of Ellie's immunity. But, like, there was something that was just more personal there. Without Joel in this season, it just didn't feel... Yeah, i feel like that's why a lot of people overall didn't like the second game as much, too, because...
02:03:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
When you take a character everyone really loves and you kill them off, yeah and like that's the the viewpoint of the audience, like yeah, it's jarring and like it's the whole like Game of Thrones effect, but i mean it's really hard to get around it too. It is, you know because the way Season 1 started, again, putting aside the game is...
02:04:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
you show me joel you show me has a daughter and then you show me you find the replacement for his daughter i'm attached to his character now more so than the adopted daughter and then for him to just be gone within the first two episodes so shocking shocking it's like i get why they did it because you know they they wanted the audience to feel the same pain that ellie is feeling because it's like feels so unfair and it's just like how and so that's supposed to add to the rage Then to make that audience look at things to the viewpoint of Abby, right, who they are going to detest and then make them empathize by seeing her struggle. I mean, God, that was such a daring move. And I think that's why I really respect, you know, The Last of Us Part II.
02:04:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think they did as good of a job as they could within the confines of their story. But they set themselves up for such a difficult task and ask, you know, because if you're going to kill off such a beloved character and then go through the viewpoint of the person who did it, God, that why would you why would you want to do that? that's You're asking for such a hard job.
02:05:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, that I agree with. And again, maybe like you said, see, now you look at an animated film and then a live action film, and there's things that we just –
02:05:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
more so believe or are willing to like be okay with that. we When you look at a live action film, you're like, Hey, the alien clearly isn't human. I feel like when you're playing a game and you're looking at it, there's like those parallels, right? Like I can, I can believe it more.
02:05:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah I agree with you. And like, also, most of the game you're playing as a character who's killing a bunch of people and hiding and stuff like that, right? So, like, you know, you already kind of see them as a threat, right? Because you kind of embody that person and you relate that person because you're playing as that person.
02:05:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I feel like that doesn't translate over into the the TV show, right? And so I understand how they're trying to make Ellie have, like, a character arc where she ends up more like naive and then she ends up more like grizzled by the end i get that um but for a lot of gamers it's just not going to carry through because i mean you're already like a killing monster machine right like from the beginning of last of us part two because you have to be right like okay you can't kill people as easily as you did joel but you're still killing like 20 people yeah and like in the tv show if one person dies or is about to die and like
02:06:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
she's very emotional, but you know, in the game, like you're killing 20 people who knows if you have families, right? Exactly. And so like, that you say that's, it's kind of jarring, right? It is jarring. Yeah. So that's the now parallel that I make. It kind of solidifies my point.
02:06:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
Cause then the game, you're to advance, you're killing those people, but then they make a good point in the show. Literally in the last episode, it was my community was like basically destroyed in front of me. mean, she's talking about Joel, right? And she goes, you, Hey, um, what's his name? The Asian dude, Jesse.
02:07:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
She goes, hey, you think you're so high and mighty you're better than Joel because you put the community over like yourself. It's like, you just let a poor kid die. And it's like in the game, you would have killed 20 of those Seraphites or whatever they're killed.
02:07:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
So it's like, yeah, that it is jarring. It's like... so But I mean, that's the thing. like When you adopt something from a video game into a movie or a TV show, like that's inevitable, right? Because it's not like... you know If this whole series was Ellie killing as many people as you have to kill...
02:07:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
in the video game, I mean, at a certain point we would get numb to the violence and we would just be like, okay, this is grotesque for the sake of being grotesque. So I understand why there were fewer deaths in this series, this season, but they made each one more impactful and meaningful, right?
02:07:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's just a challenge of translating things over. And I think some stories can translate easier than others, right? Like to me, the first season and the first game,
02:08:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know it's a lot easier to translate back and forth because that's a more like tried and tested story. It's like you know you know basically know we're taking going from point A to B right in order to you know make the world a better place yeah or make things better. But then there's an inverse because what's better is actually different because what Joel's definition of better is different than what the rest of the world's definition of better is.
02:08:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
So that's the interesting wrinkle, but it's a pretty basic story. It's a basic story. Look at Odyssey. Like, look at, you know, is time time tested. Easy to translate. But Last of Us 2 is a much more complicated thing to translate over. It's a revenge story, yeah cyclical vengeance from multiple viewpoints from both the perspective of the victim and the perpetrator. It's slipping sides of who's the perpetrator and victim are different sides.
02:08:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
so much harder to translate over. Yeah, and again, now you're not playing as them, you're watching it. Exactly. like if you're playing as both Abby and Ellie in the game, you're kind of understanding their pain, like because you're seeing what they're going through. You're controlling them.
02:09:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
Now, one thing that, again, the show did that was interesting because they had an opportunity to add on to some of these scenes, right? Things that they just weren't able to go back to. Because an example I can give is they show Joel and Tommy as kids, and then, right, they bring their father in, and their father was abused, and then when Joel points out, like,
02:09:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
hey, i don't want you to hurt Tommy. And he goes, you know, I thought I was doing this to like protect you guys, but you could be a little better than me. And then he says the same line to Ellie. And he wasn't ever physical with Ellie.
02:09:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
So it's just like a generation. Yeah, that was nice. There was nice touches. and And so to me, I think I'm really biased when I'm looking at The Last of Us because I obviously love the games quite a lot. And I know what's going to happen and it's not deviating that much necessarily.
02:09:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
So a lot of times I'm just like sitting and waiting because I know what's going to happen. I'm just waiting for it to happen. So I'm a lot more of a passive like audience member. I'm not as engaged. I'm not going to be shocked because I know what's going to come. right um so So there's that. But I think like some of the nice additions and nice touches they made, you know, um I also like the the little story about how Joel had sniped that, you know, shot that guy in the back, basically, you know, I felt like that was a little nice touch as opposed to showing um her going again to Seattle and going to, you know, the hospital and figuring out herself.
02:10:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
I felt like, you know, the, you know, him shooting that guy was a nice way of getting to the same thing. Right. um So those were smart decisions they made. So I think that like, you know, rose to score up for me a little bit.
02:10:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
But again, it just, it doesn't hit the same as the first season. still, I'm still, yeah, that I agree with, but I'm still getting uncanny vibes, uncanny valley vibes because again, I'm seeing a lot of clips on Twitter where people are comparing the exact scene in the game versus like what the way show is doing. And some of it's like literally one for one, almost beat for beat.
02:10:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
But then when I see the character models and again, I'm like, damn, I just like can't envision. Why wouldn't they get the same character who like, cause nowadays, isn't it that they do motion capture and basically like a performance. Like why could they just get the same yeah exact people from the video And that's why i'm shocked because they actually had Troy Baker in season one, not as Joel, but as a random dude in one of the groups.
02:11:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
And like, he should, he could have potentially. I mean, I aint i love Pedro Pascal. He did a great job. So like, I don't think they dropped the ball there, but. Honestly, I just don't know why not. Yeah, and then same with Ellie. The actress that does Ellie's voice acting and performance, she's so talented. It's like you cut it easy. And the thing is, if they're doing motion capture, they're doing these scenes. They know how to act.
02:11:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
They know how to act. you know Because like you're getting to the point where the movies and video games are almost the same thing. So I'm like, why not? so I agree. And she actually looks kind of like Ellie Duke. Yeah. the word thing And I mean...
02:11:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
Look, I know there's a lot of backlash to Ellie, like the way she looks and stuff like that. um But it's like, come on, like this is your audience. This is what they expected because they played the video game. Like there's going to be that backlash, you know, like, and this is, what I mean, it's like you're you're setting yourself up for these challenges and difficulties because like you you know what you're going to face going in.
02:12:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
Like no one who has played the first game and the second game and they've seen that drastic change in how the character looks. is going to look at Bella Ramsey and be like, oh yeah, you know, like there's obviously a big age difference.
02:12:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
She looks very similar. yeah And I get her point as an actress, like, okay, I was really stressed out because I was like, can am I going to be able to do this? Cause I'm not going look that different. So I empathize with her. I feel for her I think she's a very good actress, but it's like, you know, that's kind of the choice the directors made and they put her in that situation by choosing her yeah and choosing not to have a different character and different things or,
02:12:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
Choosing not to find a way to make her look very young, right? Like when she was young, like maybe a different hairstyle, like something like that, right? um Well, so here's the funny part now. So for those, again, that haven't been paying attention, like Intergalactic is the new Naughty Dog game that was recently announced.
02:13:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's been in development for four years. They showed a trailer, right? Here's the funnier part. In the show, The Last of Us on HBO, there's two characters already in season two that are the main protagonists in Intergalactic. Yeah, I know. When I saw that, I was like, whoa, that's weird. So you got the black girl that's shaved.
02:13:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
Shaved had her forgot her name already. But she was from you. She's from you. And you got the guy that portrayed Joel's dad as the main protagonist that's missing within the game. Really? Yes. So here's the funnier part. They're not doing this uncanny valley bullshit.
02:13:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
They're not taking their performance and putting it on a character model that looks different. This time, it's the exact way they look translated into the game. that's true. And then guess who else is going be in the game? ah who Wasn't it Kumail Nanjiani? Really? The actor. And he looks exactly how looks in real life.
02:13:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
now and they can So they're switching it up finally where yeah however you look is just translated in the I just thought that would be natural fit, especially for Naughty Dog. I feel like they were the pioneers of like really like you know movies and video games. They one for one. you know like Remember Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3? was like, oh my god. It feels like playing a movie. yeah oh It was epic.
02:14:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
so So there's that. um you know I have to say I've been kind of really surprised at IGN scores. and I know everyone on the internet makes fun of IGN, you included. I actually think sometimes therere they're like they're on the dot. you know A lot of times that's what they say. like I know people get frustrated. Everyone gets and but...
02:14:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
Because most things are 7 and 8s. Yeah, I just feel like it depends on who they have it reviewing. If it's a contrived... Yeah, I mean, I agree with you on that. Sometimes they'll get someone who's just wildly off. Like, I can't believe they gave Starfield 7.
02:14:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
It would just blow my mind. I'm sure if it was multi-platform, yeah every day they would have been an 8 or a 9. I feel like there was some massive biases against Starfield because, you know, look, you know you can hate... You can...
02:14:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think people who are just massive Bethesda fanboys are rating it really, really low because they expected something different. Objectively, 7 out of 10. There's so much content, and it's pretty good content. Anyways, I digress. like I was surprised by how low some of the episode scores were. I was too. Right? like lot of sixes a lot of sixes and i was like what i was like look like i'm being pretty harsh on this show right because i'm kind of a fanboy and i was disappointed that something didn't translate over but i mean not everything's gonna translate over like it's fine you know like this is a different thing like i'm not one of those people who needs everything to be a one-to-one and if not like my memory of something i loved is tarnished you know like
02:15:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
and I know a lot of people are like, oh, canon, everything has to be perfect. I just don't get it. You know, it's like, these are different stories. Like people are going to do different things. Like you had the thing that you love that's in the past.
02:15:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
You'll forever have that memory. yeah Why are you afraid that that memory is going to be tarnished because of someone doing something slightly different? It's the future. Like, you know, um but yeah, I would never,
02:16:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
think any episode was really a six some episodes were very slow maybe a seven but i think overall the season came in for me at like an eight yeah i think an eight like when this the shows the episodes really hit like a strong eight eight and a half and then this when it hit like the emotional like they they hit you know like the the lines were good I mean some the ones you mentioned like they hit you know and I was like oh man some of the additions were nice wrinkles so I just I don't know how you're me this just don't understand just like okay so like I think there was another episode I think they gave the episode where Joel died six as well and I was like that wasn't a six that was not a six was like how is this a six was okay you don't like the way he died fine but and you felt like it was jarring
02:16:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
But objectively, a six is pretty low for that. like that's You also have to wonder if they had a person review the show that hasn't played the game or not. Yeah, I don't know. And I feel like it's sometimes really strange. like You listen to reviewers, and they'll like say, and I do this too, you you'll say a laundry list of complaints, and they'll give you like a minus one score, and then another reviewer will give you complaint. complaint and it'll be like a minus four yeah it's like okay all right like it's it's very off i i i enjoyed it but like i think some numbers just came out the viewership for season two dropped drastically compared to so so i think in total they had like 90 million people in total watch all of season one and they only had 37 million people watch
02:17:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
season two and like the final episode only had like 3 million people. Yeah, I mean, I'm not surprised. I didn't expect this show to build on itself because season two just takes it in such a different direction. You know, I feel like it's Westworld where like season two, the season three, and season four were all so different from each other.
02:17:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't expect the show to continue growing with time, but as long as it doesn't dwindle the same way Westworld did, I'm fine with that. If they're just going to do three seasons, I think that'll be enough. And honestly, if you're even getting 50% of what you got or 60% of what you got from season one, that's still a big success.
02:17:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think... I'll say this one is they're lucky that they're getting probably a third season and it's not getting canceled. I e we've seen just real time and other shows get canceled all the time after two, normally two seasons, sometimes three, I think they're lucky to get a third, but I'll say this, the fact that there's always so much pressure on companies like Naughty Dog, who are so big to constantly output product that has to be like, it has to be a banger.
02:18:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
They can't put out a story and it utterly fail. And it's a testament to them that they made a game that then became a show and it was popular. So even though the game was controversial, It sold well, and even though that was that controversial, the the first season was viewed very well. yeah so People I know who are not into video games at all were coming up to talk to me about Last of Us. They wanted to learn more about the game. I was like, oh my god, that's amazing. And the fact that they can then release a $110 version of a game that comes out and people are still buying it.
02:18:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
So what I will say is that like I have confidence that this next game, even though people are shitting on it already, called Intergalactic, I think it's going to be a good game. I don't know why. Like, I feel like now we've entered the stage where it's like cathartic for people to see, you know, something burning flames. yeah so Like even the marathon, you know, like now everything is burning in flames and like, but maybe that one deserve I don't know. Like things have just gotten so ridiculous for either. we need these like savior games or we need these like burn in hell. Like this is the devil. You know, it's like, it's become so insanely polarized. Like you don't just like hear something that like is cool.
02:19:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
and it's it's okay, you know? Like, everything is either a 10 or, like, a 3, you know? it's It's insane. It's funny because, like, two things. One is... And if... Go ahead.
02:19:36
Shameer Mehdikhan
The... What's her name again? I'm forgetting her name already. The main actor for now, Intergalactic, the protagonist, she was warned by the person that did Abby's voice in the game for Last Us was Part II saying, hey, like, be very careful. There's a lot of, like, toxicity. Like, the fan base is, like, they shatter me, they threaten my life after, like,
02:19:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know, we killed Joel in the game, blah, blah, blah. And she goes, really? She goes, I don't have social media and shit. So I didn't even know any of this was going on. What do I really need to be worried about? So there was this funny disconnect where it's like, oh, i I don't understand. Why would people be so toxic for video games? Isn't it just a video game? and she's like, I don't get it. Even though, you know, she doesn't pay attention. Yeah, mean, if you're not in that culture, like it wouldn't make any sense you. Yeah.
02:20:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
This is how like my wife is a fictional world. Yeah, but people take it so seriously. Why are you ready to like for a fictional world? But mean for people, it means a lot to them, and I get it, you know? And the the second thing I was going to say is, if Naughty doesn't deliver story-wise, or the game is an utter failure, dude, then they will get absolutely murdered. Because the thing is, like, there are people who are just waiting for them to fail. And the second there's any news that sounds like a failure, they're just going to blow it up. Because that's what a lot of people, like, live on. And, like, like I said, it's like...
02:20:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
If you think about it, like this is going to be a crazy analogy, but it's almost like you, right? like People are making it seem like, oh, like you know it's about this game or that game, but it's kind of not. you know just like It was a device for Joel to actually like do something else. I feel like that's how gaming is, right? like People are looking for something to make like a savior out of. like This is the savior of gaming.
02:21:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they're looking for something to make the devil out of gaming, right? And they're just waiting. They're just searching for it. And then they're going to make those, make those stories and just go on and on. And I don't know what it's, I don't know. It's something that fascinates me. I don't know what purpose it saves, serves for people or like what it it supports. But I mean, have all the discourse I see. It's, it's basically one or the other. Yeah, no, I agree, man. It's it's like, people can't just like enjoy a game. Like for me, like I love Davao, like it's my favorite game of the year, but it's like,
02:21:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
my god, like, people are, i' like, ready to crucify people for a while. At the same time, like, Helldivers is very disappointing to me, and people are probably going crucify me for saying that, you know, Helldivers isn't, like, the most amazing thing. So it's just, like, things have just become way too polarized.
02:21:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
And to bring that up with Naughty Dog, like, I also feel bad for them because, you know, regardless of, like, how you feel about Neil Drunkman, like drunkman you know, like Drunkman drunkkman has,
02:22:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
uh like one way or the other like the guy's talented man like you know like how many people can like write stories in that many different genres yeah and they're successful exactly and and again he started off as video games when he was young and for him to evolve into this person that's been writing these stories like what a crazy path and journey and then sony goes oh there's a bunch of financial pressure everything you better put out better be insane it's crazy i think like he went from heist games yeah to you know freaking zombie games yeah and now he's going to sci-fi games yeah like insane how how many successful people that you would find in the video game industry write something that yeah they and the other thing to again just to point this out i'm sure everyone knows this obvious but you know drachman also has a family he's got kids he needs to spend time with them and
02:22:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
the more pressure he has to deliver and if he's not encouraged to do his best and motivated and satisfied and and engaged in his work because people are constantly shitting on him online because you know these people go online to read the comments right you want to not know just based on the the vicinity or the immediate vicinity of the people you work with knowing that it's good you want to know if the whole world likes your at that point of course yeah and if the people are constantly shitting on him it's like dude he has a whole life to live outside of work and it's like so infectious yeah dude it's like i guess like going back to marathon like You know, for me, like I'm actually still excited for Marathon, you know, like I still want to play it. Oh, sure.
02:23:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the thing is, a fortunate app but like, I feel like what happens is, you know, for every controversy or everything that's a question mark or even things that people blow up into a question mark, you lose this percentage of your potential customer base and this potential. And if you, you turn off now 5% of people, cause they're worried about some voice jet, you know, your proximity chat feature. Okay.
02:23:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
Then you lose another 5% worried about the cost. Then you lose another 5% worried about the number of maps. Then you lose another 10% because of you know art theft and things like that. And all now all of a sudden you've lost like 35% of the people who could call you know buy your game.
02:24:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And that might be you know too many. you know And then that might, okay, it makes you money but not enough money. yeah And I feel like right now people just want money. like Marathon to Burn.
02:24:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it was the same with a way with Assassin's Creed Shadows. How long was the fervor that Ubisoft needs to die Assassin's Creed Shadow is terrible? And then it came out and guess what?
02:24:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was another Assassin's Creed game. And it did well just like other Assassin's Creed games. And it was like how much of the internet, how many petabytes of data, terabytes of data were all consumed by talking about Assassin's Creed And if it was going to fail or if it sucked, all this attention and energy. And guess what?
02:24:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
It came out and it was similar to other sciences we gave and it did similar numbers and life went on. Yeah. Right? now That was like, but okay, with Bungie, again, you're right. If you put it contextually into like everything that you're saying makes sense.
02:24:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
The one caveat I'll say to that is like if you look at this specific instance, stealing art from someone, this isn't their first time of being accused of it. It's like their fourth time. So there's something definitely going on there. The thing that really surprises me is why weren't we seeing so much more like like more backlash? and like I didn't even know about the prior.
02:25:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah I feel like I actually hear about a decent amount of news. How did none of this stuff like pop up on IGN's homepage or like on anything? like If this is like the third or fourth time they've done it and now all of us are saying,
02:25:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
oh yeah, Bungie's done this multiple times before. And I'm just like, what? like Is this common knowledge for the last five years? Everyone's just been knowing this? It's kind of weird. I remember one time, but like I even ignored it. Probably not real. Who cares?
02:25:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
To then hear that happened multiple times? but I mean, not to you know belittle anything, but it's like, okay, like people were gassing up Destiny, and then they're stealing art about Destiny.
02:25:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
You didn't see it have a massive controversy. Now everyone wants Marathon to fail. Yeah, that's why. And they get caught, you know, with art theft. And now it's like 10 times more. I mean, this is a lot more egregious.
02:26:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
And it's just absurd to me that someone, i mean, it's, it's so stupid. It's so, it's like the people who love video games and they do all this fan art or even actual art.
02:26:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
If you just hit them up and you're just like, hey, we love what you're doing, can we use it? Yeah, it's so easy. They're probably going to just do it for free. Yeah. and And look at Halo Infinite, bro. They are literally running on fans for like the last like year and a half with Forge. Yeah. And they give them a little bit of credit and these people are like slaving away.
02:26:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
I mean, guys, they're amazing. That's true. And it's like, it's not like, you're really, and it's sad, but like, this is fandom. Like, to be able, and like, for me as a fan, like, if I was a writer, and I slaved away, and I wrote something, and it got included in the next Halo game,
02:27:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
bro, I would be so happy. true and it's like And it's like, why couldn't you just reach out to this person? Yeah, I agree. Even if you threw him a little bit of money, like... like so So here's the thing, right? Look at it from this angle.
02:27:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
One is, you're paying a designer $100 K to come the original content. And they're like, fuck it. We're stealing this shit on Twitter, wherever. They're like, I can't come with shit, but I get paid to do it too.
02:27:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
To think about it this way. Halo, forge, people are creating a bunch of maps and shit. Not getting really paid for it. Getting some recognition. cool But is that 40 map making them a shit ton of Halo studios, a shit ton of money?
02:27:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
Compared to if you make art that's gonna be on the character for the more fundamental thing. It's a fundamental thing that then I'd be like, okay, well, can I get paid like a percentage? You know what really impressive?
02:27:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
It sounds right. Okay. Like, If you got that far in your career, yeah okay, you must have a modicum of talent, you know? Like, even if you're a hack, and let's say you've cheated a million times, you can't get that far with, like, zero talent, especially if ai is not even a thing as you you got up the ranks.
02:28:09
Shameer Mehdikhan
So you must know, like, a general rules of the trade, you know? Like, is Bungie actually going to fire you, you know? I guess maybe I shouldn't speak too soon, like,
02:28:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I just thought about this now. Maybe the reason we're seeing this stuff in Bungie is because management is so ridiculous. yeah They would fire somebody if they went up to them. They're like, hey, I saw this cool thing on the internet from somebody else.
02:28:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think we we we should give them $5,000. And they're like, okay, yeah, we'll give them $5,000 and we'll fire you because we don't need it. Yeah, exactly. And if that's the case, then yeah, I think I get it. That management screwed up. Yeah, that management.
02:28:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
And there's always been rumors about how that leadership has always been toxic since the Activision split. and I mean, I don't know for sure. I'm just speculating, but man, if your management is that bad, like how could you even make Destiny? Destin Laguerre just came out with a video the other day talking about, he basically interviewed a lot of Bungie employees anonymously.
02:29:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
And from what he got, a small sample size. Their leadership has been toxic since they split from Activision. And so it's stuff like this that either people got away with and they ignored, or similarly, they encouraged them to do crazy shit like this. So I'm not going to believe all of it because it's just the small sample size small people. You can always have but ah like really mad employees that just say, you're going have some bad eggs, you know, again you're going to have some yeah central people, but, but I'm just like at the end of the day, what from the rumor is Colin Moriarty knows quite a bit. Now he's basically saying that they're canceling all the marketing plans as of this moment for marathon. And they don't know if the game is getting delayed or
02:29:40
Shameer Mehdikhan
they should delay it probably needs delay in my opinion yeah and figure that out. it To me... Honestly, if you delay it like six months to a year, yeah you just avoid when Grand Theft Auto is going to come out. You just add in like two more maps...
02:29:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
you amend all the things that went on with the art. Exactly. And then you get it back out there. Like, see, I think the bigger symptom of what you said earlier, why people are hating on this shit, it's a bigger symptom of the Sony ecosystem.
02:30:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
The fact that they've had so many live service games fail, right? They can't get even the last of us, uh, factions game out, which a lot of people were looking forward to cancel that. way yeah had they canceled it They were looking to that more fans were looking forward to that than the game itself because of how the story went down. Right. Of last of us part two,
02:30:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
Then all of a sudden, now you get announced that fair games becomes fair game and Jade Raymond is leaving and they go, wait, the only line. Yeah, because it's so fucking bad. They basically had internal plate testing and it's fucking horrible.
02:30:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
Again, Colin already is substantiating a lot of this. He has contacts in Sony and he's like, yeah, that's why she left. She was basically fired. Oh, man. So they gave her a chance to just say, hey, I'm out.
02:30:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you go, all that shit fails. And they go, oh, the only live service game that i guess we're going to release is Marathon. Everyone's probably pissed at another Bungie fucking game. So I think the bigger symptom is that Sony fucking failed all their fans.
02:30:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so people have... They really dropped the ball on the live action stuff. Yeah, and so people are hating on... Bungie because not because of complete of their outputs because the bigger symptom is that in that ecosystem. I guess like when you say it that way like never thought about that but like if you've been let down again and again like you need somewhere to channel it. I feel like it's like that cathartic like you know someone needs to suffer. But think about it if they had released five live service games and this still happened they're people are not gonna shit on Bungie as hard they're like oh we still got other games we can play yeah this is like the xbox thing you know where like for a long time there was a string of nothing so like if anything came out like it had to carry the weight of every failure it had to be a 10 out of 10 like you couldn't just carry the weight for yourself you to carry the weight of like redfall and everything before it and every game that came out was like a 7 out of 10 so that's not enough like when i think about it like okay south of midnight
02:31:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know, 78 game, I was happy with you know? But if, like, South of Midnight was the only Xbox game I got for two years, you'd be like... Oh, my God, You'd be so much harsher the game. End of world, End of the world, yeah.
02:31:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
You'd be like, why can't we get a better Hail instead of South by Midnight? I think for me, like... I've just loved Mungie for so long and I was a massive Destiny hater. you know like I was so disappointed that they were moving away from their story roots with Halo and I just felt like there was too much grinding and you know I feel like even the PvP, you know they let me down on that.
02:32:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
But overall, I had fun with the game. you know and you know there' There's just not that many great first-person shooters anymore. Look, Shamir, sometimes you just got to let go, man. You've loved Halo for too long. You've loved Bungie for too long.
02:32:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
I was thinking about that because at least I have Doom now to you know support that. But the reason I say that is like there's just not a lot of great first-person shooters. Everything has become so...
02:32:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know It's just, these three plays, you know, formulaic stuff. Yeah. And like, okay, even if we get a decent shooter in terms of gameplay mechanics, they shoehorn microtransactions or it's live service. And i'm like, I don't want that. And we can't, I, okay. When Space Marine 2 came out with just a simple ass competitive multiplayer, again, it's not even that good, but people are like, people gobbled it off. They gobbled it off. God. Thank you. Yeah. So I say that because ah part of me was excited that like, Hey, you know,
02:33:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
I was really disappointed and let down by Destiny, but in the end, Bungie did deliver. I was not 100%, but they delivered enough for me to be happy with Destiny overall.
02:33:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
Maybe Marathon will be the same thing, you know, and I've never been in Extraction Shooters, but maybe this is going to be the thing that will get me into it, right? um But now... man, they really need to delay it. I think if it comes out the way, like this way, it's's it's, it's, it's going to flop. You know, I feel like it's going to be another, like Halo Infinite, you know, ironically, because with Halo Infinite, really, I feel like if they gave it another year, yeah two years, bro, Halo Infinite would have been bomb.
02:33:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
would have came out it would been great. You know, too many high expectations. That was, that one's on Phil for him and being like, it's launching with the series X console. Like, I just think that's such a shame because it's like now Microsoft has so many stuff, you know, uh,
02:34:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
on Game Pass and so many things for people to play. like If you know we could just move Halo Infinite five years forward and we got a polished, complete package with like you know variety level design.
02:34:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
But that's what everyone said about Cyberpunk and it took four years later for everyone to... Yeah, not everyone loves Cyberpunk. They talk about it like... It's like amazing how everyone has forgotten the controversy. Yeah, revisionist is true. But...
02:34:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
Is it fair? Like, you promised me something 7-12 years ago, and then it still took 4 years for it to become the complete edition. No, it's absolutely not fair. Yeah, which is why with Halo, even if it came out in 2023, 24, I'd still be upset because I'm like, okay, this feels like a complete complete package with Forge.
02:34:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
Maybe the contents all isn't there, but I'm like... People will be upset at how long it took. Yeah. I mean, I think I... ah was it Shigeru Miyamoto? Shigeru Miyamoto, yeah. He said like a bad game will forever be bad. but A good game no matter how long it takes.
02:34:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, a delay game. Exactly. you know And so same thing, like, yeah, you would be disappointed, but like if you got satisfied because you eventually got what you felt like you deserved, right?
02:35:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
Then, you know, you'd be like, I'm grumpy. It took me too long, but at least I got it in the end. you know But if you never got it in the But that's like saying beggars can't be choosers. Oh, you you'll get it when you get it. Like, you know what I'm saying? No, I know. I mean, in an ideal world, like we would get things the way they should be but when they're promised, right?
02:35:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
Not even that. I'm more of like... Halo 5 and where it ended, the promises weren't met. So yes, I might be asking you to bring me the next game sooner, five years, but is that unrealistic? No.
02:35:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I think the fan demands for Halo Infinite were not unrealistic. I think that was a great example of management totally yeah bombing, screwing it up. And I think what happened needed to happen because 343 really needed to have so many people ask. They needed to you know kind of reshuffle everything, restart. So that needed to happen.
02:36:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think for me, in hindsight, since we're talking about it, the shame is even if you gave Halo 4 more time, it wouldn't have been able to deliver on what fans wanted. If you gave Halo 5 more time, it wouldn't have been able to deliver because they did not get it at a studio. yeah But finally, after Joseph Stanton came in and there was a lot of updates and change, if you gave Halo Infinite it truly more time, and it was an unrealistic amount of time it needed, the budget was way too high.
02:36:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
It was impossible for them to really give it the, To me, at least two years more it needed. But if you could, they could have actually done it because they finally started to get to what Halo needed. But it was too little, too late.
02:36:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
yeah yeah And that's a shame. That's a shame to me because I'm just like, God, if only you guys had realized this earlier in your development cycle, which is a hindsight bias, but it's like after so many years of ah as a fanboy waiting for it, you guys actually got it Just too little way too late. But is that true? See like devil's advocate, I'm just going to little Cause I know we kind of went off topic, but like with halo infinite specifically, yeah, Joseph come in.
02:37:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
He was supposed to be the cleaner, the fixer upper, but you know what? They rebranded the fucking studio. Now they're called halo studios after he left. yeah So do, is he part of the problem?
02:37:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
Even he couldn't have potentially fixed it. I'm just saying devil's advocate. that's where I think that was an impossible task, like ask. And I think. from what I gathered, like looking into rumors and you know, like what people said on the inside, there was two different paths a studio could go forward with, it was either Joseph Staden's vision or this other guy. Yeah.
02:37:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they chose him. They liked his vision better. So, I mean, I wasn't on the inside. It's not like I know what Joseph Staden's vision was, but at least judging off from his interviews, the things he said, like Halo Infinite needed, things he prioritized,
02:37:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
the fact that he made Halo through ODSD and he knows Halo, like i think he had his eye on the right thing and I had my trust in him. You know, like i actually trusted him as the leader. And to me, like if, and again, this is all hindsight, perfect world would have been great, but you know, if Joseph Staden had just been involved earlier, maybe Bonnie Ross was out the door, but then also this is impossible ask because you need half of 343 fire.
02:38:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
And if they were able to make that pivot earlier and they had just more time for Halo Infinite to cook, we could have actually had a very good Halo game. Maybe. Again, I'm saying i'm just going to say it maybe because we don't know what direction it could have went in, but what you said earlier makes a lot of sense here.
02:38:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think that franchise just needed a fresh start, and they're doing that right now by finally using a different engine. But I was just thinking about this. like I'm happy for the people who will get to replay or play for the first time the halo remake because you know it's coming on playstation oh yeah yeah and and i think it's going to catch a lot of attention and things like that but at the same time like i've actually played a lot of halo so i'm like i'm okay with not playing the halo one remake i'm still going to play it but you know i'm not as excited for it but the time it's going to take for them to make halo infinite 2 is so long and people don't care and enough about halo infinite
02:39:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
that by the time Halo Infinite 2 even comes out, like well it's kind of like a yesteryear thing. I agree, but what if they didn't go a different direction? See again, with Jason and now this fresh start and the rebranding, what if they go, okay, we released Halo 1 Remake.
02:39:28
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's popular on PlayStation and Xbox. We're just rebooting the franchise. I mean, they could. um i mean, if they decide to go in a completely different direction where like it's Halo 1 remake, but Halo 1 does not end in the same way in the remake and it's like a remake trilogy, they could totally do that. They totally do it I don't know if they will because, you know, all the Halo YouTubers I've been watching have not really been thinking that. Like they've been saying that, no, it's multiple games and it's Halo Infinite 2 and it's coming later.
02:39:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
You never know. Things can scrap. But it's something to be said about, like, constantly changing your course of direction. You know, like, if they're trying to make Halo Infinite 2 and then Halo Remake and then they scrap it to make a new remake trilogy, that's a completely different direction.
02:40:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
That's a problem with what's been happening. Like, Halo 4 went in one direction, Halo 5 went in another, Halo Infinite went in third. Yeah, I agree. And they've just been in going around. So, I mean, I digress. You know, i'm I'm a big Halo fan. But I just can't think of, like, another studio that did something like that. Not that hard.
02:40:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
Maybe Mass Effect, maybe Bioware. Could you imagine if like the only other one I could think of, Capcom. like After 5 and 6 came out, and they were totally different than what people wanted. 7 came out, and you waited a long time for it, and you played 7, and you were just like, oh my god, this is 70% of where you needed it to be. yeah And oh my god, if only you guys weren't such idiots while you were developing this, you could have been 100% where you needed to be and and put this all behind you. You know, that's that's the closest analogy. But no, Resident Evil 7 hit where it needed to hit. yeah And then you could just kind of forget 5 and 6 and move on.
02:41:06
Shameer Mehdikhan
It's funny you say that because that's probably the best example because they did 7. They did 8. They built off of 7. So again, there's that's the reboot. But then they go, well, let us go back to the old shit, like 2, 3, and 4, remake it. and And also, we have... Okay, so here's our two paths.
02:41:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
I don't think... in my opinion i don't think halo infinite falls in the first bucket i think they're gonna do your remake which is they go back to the all quality of the life improvements broader audience great that's already like figured out i think you reboot it you make a sequel to halo infinite but you don't call it halo infinite 2 it's just another halo whatever and it's also an unreal and it's just coming different from infinite you know and you go this is the will they continue the story i i think They have to disregard that story from Infinite, honestly. But then if they disregard the story, then they have to remake it. Because the thing is, like, Halo Infinite and Halo 5 have deviated so far away that, like, either you continue the story of Halo Infinite or you restart from zero. That's true. And then you go in the opposite direction. Because if you restart from zero and then you go one, two, and three, and they're the same, and with the hope that now you'll get the Halo 4 that you actually have gotten from the beginning,
02:42:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
Who is going to replay all of Halo 1, 2, and 3 with no differences? Just to get a Halo 4 15 years later that's going finally progress the story. Maybe this is their silver timeline. Maybe, again, Halo 1, 2, and 3 deviate from the original game. So that's the thing. so To me, like that's they're going to have one of two choices. Either they they change Halo 1 enough that it goes in a different direction...
02:42:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
Or they're just trying to do what Capcom did. And they could have done what Capcom did successfully if they had just spent a little bit more time with Infinite, you know? Because I think, like, everyone hates on it, but if you look at the way the multiplayer is now, people who are actually playing multiplayer, like, and other than the fact that, like, the microtransactions are crazy expensive...
02:42:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
which, I mean, they've got to make money now, but I agree, they're ridiculously expensive. Most people don't have anything to complain about with the the actual state, and it's actually still getting decent content. It's true. People play it, just it feels like PUBG to me. No one talks about PUBG anymore, but they play it.
02:43:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
It almost still feels irrelevant. Yeah, it's irrelevant. It's the shame. It's irrelevant. And the campaign is probably the thing that needed the most work. But honestly, if you had gave that another year of development time, you probably could have added in the levels you needed to get a variety in the biome.
02:43:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
And people would have been really happy with it overall. but I agree. Anyways, you know, I digress. What I'm actually hoping for is like now Microsoft is pivoting away from Halo, right? They're spending more time on like Gears, Fable, Perfect Dark. They're going to build those franchises up.
02:43:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
Bethesda has been a great focal point. They're going build up Doom. They're going to build up everything. So then by the time it's, it's, time for us to pivot back to Halo, like people will be wanting it.
02:43:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
like Right now, like other than Halo fanboys, I don't know if people are really asking for Halo. you know Yeah, migrate I I think they've been burned enough times. like They want a good Halo, but they just had a Halo TV show they were disappointed in. They just had Halo Infinite. They've had a lot of bad news and questionable news.
02:44:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
i don't think like people are thinking more that's in the yesteryears and their their attention is separated into different things i think this is the time you just build and grow and then like we talked about with gears right like yeah it's about six years right like after gears five like people were like feeling all type of way and now everyone cannot wait for gear six yeah which is actually funny so that people people have mood swings you know so don't yeah don't be surprised if im like two or three years was like I need Halo. So that'll come because there's, there's nothing filling that niche. Yeah. Right. And,
02:44:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
clearly not marathon yeah and so eventually people will miss that like you know sci-fi alien first person narrative story we're not getting it anywhere and and but i think it's going to take a while like i think people are truly not going to miss halo until like i think like three years three years yeah i could see it like said i miss gears now but it has been five years so it's like makes sense you know these the feelings come and i feel like even with like another game like god of war like i would love another god of war but I'm okay with waiting little longer. Yeah, still okay Because I feel like got a good amount of God of War. Yeah, we got a very good amount.
02:45:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
But there's a rumor already that some something God of War Relates is going to announced this year. All right, all right. So I guess ah we've been going for a while, so just finishing up on a couple things. Game Pass has Metaphor of Re-Fantasia as well, so I feel like an idiot because I just bought it last month. Damn, bro. Who told you to buy that shit? You did!
02:45:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I guess that's that. And then i guess, um you know, last thing for us to end on, um because we'll probably do the next one in like two, maybe three weeks, depending on how much news there is.
02:45:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
What are you looking forward to? A couple things. You got the Nintendo Switch 2 releasing in 10 days. Let's fucking go. You pre-ordered it? Yeah. but Oh my goodness, I did not. So as soon as you get that, I got to check that out. Yeah, for sure. What game are you going have on day one?
02:46:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
Mario Kart, for sure. Mario Kart and Cyberpunk. I bought the Ultimate Edition pre-ordered that. Okay. just haven't played it. um comfortably I just think it makes sense. And then Summer Games Fest is in two weeks.
02:46:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then you got Microsoft's Game Showcase also in two weeks. So honestly, June is in two weeks. Wait, is it exactly? i think June 8th and June 10th, Summer Games Fest is in Microsoft. Oh my goodness, I did not realize this in the beginning of the the month.
02:46:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
I can't wait, man. Well, that's interesting. We're rolling straight from Doom into into Microsoft Showcase. Yeah, and there's a rumor right now that there's going be ah and another Nintendo Direct for the Switch 2 right around the launch of the console.
02:46:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
And i it's from a credible leaker, so like I just believe that there will be. So we could we get potentially three big showcases. Honestly, that's E3. There we go. Should be a fun one. Should have a lot of stuff to talk about. Yeah, you're right. June eight So right around the corner.
02:47:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
All right. That's it for us. Take care, everybody. See ya. Peace.