Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Razer’s Blade has been one of the most iconic gaming laptops on the market over the last decade and this year is no exception. I’ve spent the last several weeks with the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition in its highest configuration. Coming in at an eye-watering $2999, is this the flagship gaming laptop you’ve been waiting on or merely another contender for best gaming laptop of 2021? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=razer-blade-15-advanced-edition-review&captions=true"]

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition - Design and Features

What’s in a name? In this case, quite a lot. As a high-end laptop from Razer, you can count on focused gaming performance. The “Blade” speaks to its thin and light design – well, reasonably light, anyway. This unit features a 15-inch Full HD Display configured to run at an esports-grade 360 Hz. Under the hood, it’s running on a 10th generation Intel Core CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU, and 32GB of system memory. The total specs as configured are:

• Price: $2999.99
• Processor: Intel Core i7-10875H (8-core/16-thread, Max Boost 5.1 GHz)
• Display: 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) IPS 360Hz
• Graphics: RTX 3080 (Mobile Version)
• Memory: 32GB DDR4, 2933 MHz, 64GB Maximum
• Storage: 1TB NVMe (Expandable with Additional Slot)
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E AX210, 2X2, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2
• Battery: 80WHr, Up to 7 Hours, 230W Adapter
• I/O Ports: 1x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), Supports 20V USB-C chargers with PD 3.0,  3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-A), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, Supports 20V USB-C chargers with PD 3.0, SD Card Reader, UHS-III, HDMI 2.1 output (Up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz)
• Dimensions: 0.67 x 9.25 x 13.98 inches
• Weight: 4.4 lbs

  Like most Razer laptops, the Blade 15 is available in multiple configurations that will set you back anywhere from $1699 to $3299 depending on the components and display you choose. On the cheaper end, you’ll be downgrading to an Intel i7-10750H, an RTX 3060, and half the memory and storage. The most expensive version is similar to the one I’m reviewing today but is equipped with a 4K OLED touchscreen. The exterior design of the Blade 15 is similar to last year’s model. It’s outwardly simple but unmistakably a gaming laptop. The matte-black aluminum chassis is unassuming except for Razer’s large, backlit snake icon smack-dab in the center. The lighting can be turned off, but if you’re hoping to hide the fact you’re carrying a gaming laptop to class or the office, think again. Personally, I rather like the look of it lit up in classic Razer green. Thin and light has been the name of the game in gaming laptops for several years. The Blade series definitely embraces this maxim and this year’s model comes in at only 0.67 inches thick. I was easily able to slide it into my messenger bag and still have room for papers and materials. It’s light, but not industry-leading at 4.4 pounds. Over the course of the day, my bag definitely started to feel heavy carrying the laptop with me, but it’s a trade-off for the extra-durable design and caliber of components therein. The aluminum chassis is very durable and rigid. There’s no discernable screen flex opening the laptop, which has been a concern on other models. An all-metal shell also aids in heat dissipation but does mean the entire lower-half of the laptop eventually feels warm to the touch. Unlike the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 I last reviewed, the area above the keyboard didn’t get so hot, which speaks to the vapor chamber cooling solution Razer has applied. The biggest downside to the frame is that it’s an absolute fingerprint magnet. It will show every bit of oil from your fingers, which leaves it looking messy within a day of normal use. The Blade 15 is a beast of a gaming laptop. It’s Intel Core i7-10875H processor features 8-cores and 16-threads of processing power, but more important for in-game frame rates is its 5.1 GHz boost clock. It pairs wonderfully with the Nvidia RTX 3080 mobile graphics card which is currently the most powerful on the market. Like all RTX 30-Series mobile GPUs, it won’t run quite as fast as a desktop 3080 but absolutely dominates at 1080p gaming. The 1TB NVMe SSD is also very fast, reducing load times to the bare minimum, and has enough storage to hold a decent selection of games and applications. It also sports a second M.2 slot to quickly expand the storage without the need to reinstall Windows. The system came with 32GB of pre-installed memory, which is more than enough for any game on the market today in conjunction with streaming apps and even a few browser windows with room to spare. These specs also make the Blade 15 a very solid choice for streamers and content creators. While many games aren’t able to leverage all eight cores of the CPU or all 32GB of DRAM, many creative applications will happily use these resources and benefit from them. I recorded 4K video directly to the laptop with OBS and an Elgato CamLink and then edited it in Adobe Premiere Pro – the process was virtually seamless. Like most (all?) consumer laptops currently available, it did stutter when rendering certain aftermarket transitions, but its ability to handle massive video files with ease was impressive. Since the unit has a 1080p screen, most gamers will be working with 1080p video files and the experience was even smoother there. The real highlight of the screen is its incredibly fast 360 Hz refresh rate, which is ready to compete with cutting-edge 360Hz and 240Hz gaming monitors. This can offer real benefits in motion clarity and responsiveness if your reaction speed is up to the challenge. Even though the RTX 3080 is a powerful mobile GPU, it won’t be pushing many games to 360 FPS outside of esports, however, so be wary if you’re expecting to play AAA games at such high frame rates. Still, offering such a high refresh rate pays dividends in the smoothness of games even below 360 FPS, so it’s a welcome addition – albeit one that will more quickly drain the battery. The laptop also has a number of other features going for it. For day to day use, the keyboard is outstanding. The keys offered greater travel and tactility than most other laptops I’ve tested, which made typing reliably accurate. The touchpad is also very large, which makes navigation quite easy and even opens the door to some casual gaming if you forget your mouse at home. The keyboard offers bright, saturated, per-key programmable backlighting and is also completely programmable akin to Razer’s standalone keyboards. Above the screen is also a 720p webcam with Windows Hello compatibility for biometric login. To either side of the keyboard are the built-in speakers, which feature THX Spatial Audio and 7.1 surround sound support. They are able to get exceptionally loud and seem to project out in a way that gives a greater sense of space than you would expect from a pair of laptop speakers. They work very well for most kinds of content, though bass is stereotypically lacking. The dynamic range and frequency response of the transducers is enough to give rifles a satisfying “crack” in Battlefield V – they just don’t have enough punch for a good explosion. As a gaming laptop, connectivity is much more important than laptops designed for productivity. The Blade 15 has it in spades. There are three USB 3.2 Type-A ports, one USB 3.2 Type-C port, another USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 (the latter two ports also supporting 20V chargers with PD 3.0), a combo audio jack, a UHS-III SD card reader, and an HDMI 2.1 video output for external monitors capable of 8K40 or 4K120 output. For networking, it supports WiFi 6E for high-speed wireless internet but doesn’t offer an RJ-45 ethernet port. It also supports the latest Bluetooth 5.2 standard for wireless peripherals. Taken as a whole, this is a generous array of connectivity options that easily allows for a full array of USB peripherals and external storage and display options – just keep in mind you’ll need a USB ethernet adapter if you want a wired internet connection. Compared to a number of other RTX 30-series laptops we’ve looked at here at IGN, the Blade 15 appears to have a surprisingly sparse arrangement of vents to support its cooling. This is partially because Razer cleverly hides the rear exhaust under the edge of the lid, but it’s also because there are flat out fewer vents. The reason for this is that the laptop uses a vapor chamber cooling solution that better isolates thermal flow through the unit. This approach to cooling is common on graphics cards and high-end CPU heatsinks as it allows the manufacturer to better guide the flow of heat and direct it in the path of blowing air. In this case, that results in heat expelling from the rear of the PC. In practice, the cooling solution proved to be reasonably effective, albeit not exceptionally so. The CPU regularly peaked at 100C, a behavior that’s common among gaming laptops with this particular chip. The GPU, on the other hand topped out at 77C after extensive testing. Not bad, but right in line with the similarly equipped MSI GS66 Stealth that featured more traditional heat-pipe cooling. In addition, the Blade became quite loud under heavy load managing those thermals, forcing my wife to turn the TV up while sitting next to me on the couch. There is an ongoing balance in the world of gaming laptops between heat, noise, and performance. In this case, there’s definitely room to better balance those elements.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition - Software

When it comes to software, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition is delightfully sparse. My unit shipped with a basic Windows installation in addition to Razer’s Synapse management software. This was my first experience with a Blade laptop but I was familiar with Synapse from many peripherals over the years, so getting up and running with it was fast and easy. Upon opening it for the first time, you load into the Dashboard which shows a picture of the laptop. Clicking it takes you to the Customize screen with an overview of the keyboard. This is a rather counter-intuitive design since this screen doesn’t actually allow you to change the settings of the laptop. Instead, clicking a key opens up the programming options, exactly like a standalone Razer keyboard. You can record macros, create shortcuts to launch programs, map media controls, and more. Thanks to Razer Hypershift, you can even create entire secondary layouts for storing macros or alternate key sets. The lighting tab controls your system lighting. The available options allow you to control system-wide rules – such as how long it needs to be idle before disabling lighting to preserve battery or brightness – to individual lighting presets. The illuminated logo can be made to breathe or stay lit at a custom brightness, while the keyboard is much more programmable with animated presets like fire, rainbow waves, spinning color wheels, or entirely custom layouts created in the Chroma Studio. These lighting effects can also be synced with other Razer peripherals to quickly color-match your whole setup. When it comes to actual system settings, these are tucked away on the performance tab. Razer has done an arguably too good job simplifying the settings here. Performance modes are limited to Balanced and Custom when plugged in and just Balanced when running on battery. Setting custom specifications doesn’t give the same degree of control found on flagship MSI or Asus gaming laptops and instead gives you a basic performance slider. Custom fan curves or overclocking are out of the question with this version of Synapse. This tab also allows you to choose the current GPU mode. Like some other RTX 3080-equipped notebooks, the Blade 15 supports Nvidia Optimus and can intelligently swap between the integrated GPU on the processor or the dedicated RTX 3080 to save battery. Enabling Optimus defaults the system to 60 Hz outside of games, however, which is very noticeable even in basic mouse movement. That said, it’s very effective in extending battery life through most of the day.  

Benchmarks	Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition	Origin EVO15-S	MSI GS66 Stealth	Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
Price as tested	$2,999	$2,997	TBA	$1,799
CPU	Intel Core i7-10875H	Intel Core i7-10870H	Intel Core i7-10870H	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
GPU	Nvidia RTX 3080	Nvidia RTX 3080	Nvidia RTX 3080	Nvidia RTX 3070
3DMark Time Spy	9973	10163	9623	9417
3DMark Fire Strike	21765	19318	19725	20947
3DMark Night Raid	48029	44155	40996	35633
Total War: Three Kingdoms	82	80	83	71
Borderlands 3	88	89	89	110
Metro Exodus	63	63	64	57
Hitman 3	134.5	129.4	NA	113.9
Unigine Heaven 4.0	123	135	124	123
PCMark 10	6697	6029	5892	7016
PCMark 10 Battery Test	5:52	1:56	5:44	5:01

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition - Performance

As a flagship gaming laptop, what really matters most is how it performs in games. I conducted my testing using IGN’s standard array of games and benchmarks. Since thermal solutions can make such a big difference in overall performance, I’ve shared the results alongside other competing laptops with similar specs. All of my tests were conducted at Ultra settings. Note: We added Hitman 3 to our test rotation after the MSI GS66 had already been returned, so that entry is marked with an NA. The Razer Blade 15 performed very well across these tests. In synthetics, it led the pack in all but 3DMark Time Spy. Performance in Unigine Heaven did fall slightly behind the Origin EVO15-S but it made up for that with real world performance gains in Hitman 3. In other game tests, the Blade 15 performed right on par with other mobile RTX 3080s we’ve tested. Since the NVMe SSD in this drive was undisclosed, I also tested its speed using CrystalDiskMark. If offered impressive, if not cutting edge, results. At 2.9 GB/s for both read and write speeds, the Razer Blade 15 will be able to optimize load times and offer good performance in creative apps like Premiere Pro. Still, given the price, I would have liked to have seen Razer include a drive that runs a bit faster. The same is true of the memory, which is clocked to only 2933 MHz versus the 3200 MHz offered by some of the competition. These might seem like small things, but remember, the Blade 15 Advanced Edition is actually more expensive than many models currently available today. For gaming outside of these tests, the Blade 15 was excellent. Even though I’m not an esports player, the fluidity of motion with the 360 Hz screen was fantastic. There is subtly more clarity in quick turns and the system does feel more responsive, though I wish it came with Nvidia G-Sync as a cherry on top. I also loved how color rich the screen was, which made both gaming and watching shows on Netflix more enjoyable. It was also nice to be able to use and enjoy the built-in speakers. They do sound thin but are perfectly sufficient for gaming and loud enough to hear clearly even when sat back with a controller. For normal use, it was also exceptionally good. The keyboard was great for getting work done and the touchpad made carrying a separate mouse optional for me. The webcam also worked well and colleagues on the other end reported that I both looked and sounded good. I do wish it was slightly lighter, however, as I could definitely notice it in my bag after a while.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition - Battery Life

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition features a large 80 WHr battery. This falls somewhat behind the likes of the ROG Zephyrus or MSI GS66 Stealth that offer 90 and 99 WHr batteries respectively. Still, it optimizes battery usage well. With Optimus enabled and the screen and backlighting at 50% brightness each, it lasted 5 hours and 52 minutes in the PCMark 10 Modern Office Battery Test. This falls short of the average workday; however, by turning lighting off completely and further dimming the screen could likely be extended to the full seven hours of rated uptime. An interesting feature of this laptop is the braided cable on the charging brick. The brick is large and rated for 230 watts, so is already challenging to carry along with the laptop itself if you need more battery life (and you just might). The braided cable looks very nice on the surface and will certainly help protect the charging cable over time, but is very stiff and difficult to manage. It’s also flat-out bigger, taking up more space in your bag. In the end, I would prefer something slimmer and easier to work with. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-laptops&captions=true"]

Purchasing Guide

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition is available from the Razer Store for $2999. Razer also offers alternate configurations ranging from $1699 to $3299. The line-up can also be purchased from Amazon.

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Returnal Review

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Fast and frantic action, a dazzling display of thousands of bullets in a multitude of shapes and sizes, and glorious, glorious particle effects. These hallmarks are what Housemarque games are all about, and Returnal certainly checks all of those boxes. But it’s also their most ambitious effort yet: a PS5-exclusive third-person shooter with an incredible sense of exploration and discovery, rich atmosphere on par with Dead Space or Metroid Prime, and shootouts that remain fresh and rewarding throughout the multiple playthroughs needed to beat its roguelike campaign and unlock the secrets that remain beyond the credits. A good run takes a bit too long for something you have to complete in one sitting, but the reward for making that commitment is more than worthwhile.

Returnal tells the story of Selene Vassos after she crash-lands on an alien planet called Atropos. As she emerges from her ship and tries to locate the origin of a mysterious signal, things start to get very weird and time-loopy very quickly. Of course, this all serves to contextualize the fact that this is a roguelike and built on the idea of repeated runs through the same environments, but it’s also a clever storytelling device. Selene is able to find logs left by her former selves, which slowly starts to peel back the layers of Returnal’s central questions. Housemarque even goes a step further by incorporating a number of surreal and chilling PT-esque first-person segments where Selene must explore her memories and nightmares.

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It makes Selene an interesting protagonist who’s in this weird repeating-but-different scenario along with us, and it’s all way deeper than I would ever expect a roguelike’s story to be. Housemarque deserves praise for finding a unique and compelling way to incorporate an interesting story in a genre that makes storytelling rather difficult. It’s not quite as elegant of a solution as Hades’ home base full of characters that always have something new to say to you based on your successes, failures, and overall progress, but it’s an admirable effort nonetheless.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Selene%20is%20an%20interesting%20protagonist%20who%E2%80%99s%20in%20this%20weird%20repeating-but-different%20scenario%20along%20with%20us."]While the story focus may be a surprise given Housemarque’s previous games, the tight and responsive gun play is right on brand. Returnal takes the bullet-hell stylings of the likes of Resogun, Nex Machina, and Super Stardust HD, and transplants them into a third-person shooter. The results are spectacular. All the usual staples are here: the directional dash that makes you momentarily invulnerable to damage, the enemies that shoot a barrage of bullets that are just slow enough for you to outrun, the ones that shoot just a straight-up wall of bullets you have to dodge through, the jerks that fire a locked-on laser beam at you if you can’t kill them in time, and then there’s the mega-assholes that do a little bit of everything. There’s an excellent variety of enemies in Returnal, and even when it resorts to using the same character model in a different environment, there’s always something different in their behavior that makes them a completely new challenge.

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Learning those behaviors is important, because Returnal really, really encourages you to avoid getting hit. There’s an adrenaline meter that builds up as you score kills and grants up to five stacking buffs, but they all disappear when you take a single hit. Also, if you pick up health items while you’re at max life it actually adds to your total health capacity. Returnal is a hard game, but it rewards you handsomely for playing well and for making smart choices, which is always a great feeling.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Returnal%20rewards%20you%20handsomely%20for%20playing%20well%20and%20for%20making%20smart%20choices"] And those major risk-reward choices often aren’t so easy, either. Many chests and health pickups are “malignant” and have a chance to saddle you with a debuff that can only be removed by completing specific requirements, such as killing a certain number of enemies. Then there are parasites, which offer both a buff and a debuff that can only be removed with a rare consumable or by finding an equally rare parasite-removal machine.

Sometimes the risk pays off, like when I open a malignant chest and receive a powerful weapon that’s two levels higher than the one I currently have and helps me decimate the next few rooms of a level. But oftentimes it doesn’t, and I just get a weak consumable and an added two seconds of cooldown to my dash. Coming out on the bad end of a risk-vs-reward gamble can be brutal, but it also is one of the things that makes each run of Returnal feel unique and exciting. You just have to make the best of a bad situation, which is one of the key aspects of the roguelike genre that Returnal absolutely nails. This improvisational style of combat that has you constantly changing up your weapons, altering your strategy on the fly based upon the types of upgrades that you come across, and deciding whether to buy or save your currency is crucial to making every run feel like a new and fresh experience.

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The roguelike format also works because of how interesting each of the 10 weapons are. While most fill the expected roles in a shooter, several others are wildly inventive. There’s a gun that never has to reload but can only be fired once a round bounces back into the gun, and a weapon that fires pylons into the ground and triggers streams of red lightning between them. It’s clever stuff.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=There%20are%20many%20more%20possibilities%20for%20each%20weapon%2C%20which%20has%20given%20each%20of%20my%20playthroughs%20thus%20far%20a%20distinct%20flavor."]The best part, though, is that each of the 10 weapons can spawn with one of nine gun-specific traits which can dramatically affect how that weapon is used. A shotgun might have a slugshot trait that makes it super accurate and powerful from a long distance or one that makes it spit out acid clouds for damage over time; a carbine can be given a chaingun-like trait that makes its firing speed ramp up as you continue to hold the fire button down or one that fires slow but powerful high-caliber rounds; and the pistol might spawn with a trait that turns it into a burst fire weapon, or one that gives it a barrage of homing missiles after every shot. There are many more possibilities for each weapon, which has given each of my playthroughs thus far a distinct flavor.

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Returnal’s persistent progression comes from the fact that these traits are already present on guns that you find when you start, but they must be unlocked by scoring enough kills with that weapon. After you’ve done that once, any weapon you find in a future playthrough with that trait has it automatically unlocked (and upgraded, once you’ve unlocked those). This adds another element to the risk-reward equation: sometimes you’ll have to decide whether you want to keep a weapon with great traits that’s helpful in the moment, versus tossing it in favor of a new weapon with a promising new trait that needs to be unlocked. That can definitely be worth the sacrifice in the long run.

Exploration Exhaustion

However, one of the key aspects of the roguelike genre that Returnal does not nail is that nagging feeling of “just one more run.” That’s because a run through Returnal lasts way too long, plain and simple. To paint a picture, I’ve put in 42 hours into Returnal so far, and in those 42 hours I’ve only died 25 times. That’s not a weird flex, or me saying that this game is easy, because again, it’s absolutely not. It’s to illustrate that if you’re going to get anywhere near the end your run is almost always going to be at least about two hours long, which is exhausting. It also means you have to clear your schedule when you sit down to play, because there’s no saving your progress at any point in the run. Until you’re done with that run you cannot play any other game, you cannot fully turn the PS5 off (only put it in rest mode, which is risky in of itself), or do anything else that closes the application. And obviously, you’d better hope that it doesn’t crash – that happened to me on two separate occasions and halted two runs where I was more than an hour deep.

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Runs last so long because of the fact that there is very little in the way of permanent progression outside of traits, and because of the way temporary progression on individual runs is handled. For instance, weapons don’t drop based on how deep into a level you are; instead, you build up a Weapon Proficiency meter by killing enemies and finding items that add to the meter. So, for example, if my weapon proficiency meter is at 5, weapons will drop with a power level of 5 or, with luck, slightly higher. Attempting a later level when your weapon proficiency is at too low a level takes an already hard game and makes it absolutely ridiculously difficult. So, if you want to make a real attempt at succeeding in Returnal, you have to grind.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=If%20you%20want%20to%20make%20a%20real%20attempt%20at%20succeeding%20in%20Returnal%2C%20you%20have%20to%20grind."]And that really slowed my momentum. Unlike with other roguelikes such as the Spelunky games, Dead Cells, or more recently, Curse of the Dead Gods, I was never eager to jump back into another game after a death. I needed a break.

The good news at least, is that the actual act of exploration in Returnal is done extraordinarily well. Every level is a sight to behold, whether it’s the dark, gloomy, and alien vibe of the Overgrown Ruins; the Doom-esque feel of the Crimson Wastes; or the ancient mechanical atmosphere of the Derelict Citadel. It helps, too, that there’s a great variety in the challenges of the many rooms. Despite the procedural generation that keeps Returnal from becoming too predictable, enemies and environmental elements always feel deliberately placed – especially the grapple points that allow you to put distance between you and especially dangerous foes, deadly pits that punish careless movement, and loads of secrets lying in wait.

Controller Chaos

While Returnal is not a PS5 graphical showcase on the level of say, Demon’s Souls, it still looks really good and runs at a mostly consistent 60fps, though it does dip every now and then ever so slightly in certain spots. Where Returnal does show its “new-gen” chops is in the ways it uses the DualSense controller. Barring Astro’s Playroom, this is the best usage of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers so far on the platform because it actually makes a difference in how you play. Sure, it’s cool to be able to feel rain drops on the controller, but what’s even cooler is having that added element of sensory feedback to let you know when your alt-fire is off cooldown in the form of a very specific feeling rumble in your controller.

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And while it takes a little bit of getting used to, I grew to love being able to aim down sight (ADS) by holding the left trigger halfway, and then pressing it all the way down to quickly go into an alternate fire. The triggers gave me just the right amount of resistance to the point where I never mistakenly pressed the trigger all the way down when I meant to ADS or vice-versa. And hey, if you don’t love it, there’s a classic control scheme that just keeps ADS on L2 and maps alt-fire to the R1 button, or you could just map the controls however you like.

There are also daily challenges which give you an opportunity to compete against other players for a high score under set conditions, which is a neat diversion and feels particularly fitting as a score-chasing arcade-style mode in a Housemarque game.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve played Returnal for about 42 hours, but I actually rolled credits at around hour 18. Everything since then has been working toward uncovering a secret ending, finding all of the 80 xenocyphers hidden throughout the six levels, and trying to find as many lore-dropping audio logs as I can. Needless to say, there’s a lot of meat on this bone, and completionists will find plenty to keep them busy for quite a while.

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Things Heard & Seen Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Things Heard and Seen debuts exclusively on Netflix on April 29. [poilib element="accentDivider"] By now, Netflix has created its own subgenre of digestible thrillers that nuzzle into the public discourse for a moment until they release a new one the week later. Not quite B-movies (though Velvet Buzzsaw came close), there is still a level of camp to Bird Box, I Am Mother, and even the hilariously bad Secret Obsession starring Brenda Song that draws people onto Twitter to ask, what the hell did I just watch? Especially in times like these, it’s almost a bonding experience. Things Heard & Seen starring the Oscar-nominated Amanda Seyfried (Mank) and perpetual scary creep James Norton (Happy Valley) is not one of those movies. Based on the novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage, the supernatural drama follows a young family of three picking up their comfortable life in 1980s Manhattan for a decrepit dairy farm in the fictional upstate town of Chosen, New York. Catherine Claire (Seyfried) is a prominent art restorer with a debilitating eating disorder that is giving up her illustrious career to allow her husband George (Norton) a chance to pursue his own as an art history professor. Unfortunately, the first 25 minutes of the film are packed with so much exposition it felt like forever before we even made it out of the city. The dialogue starts off excruciatingly unoriginal, which is a surprise coming from a writing and directing team like Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (American Splendor). When a friend of Clare’s points out that she’s a “big city girl with your dream job” about to give up everything she’s worked so hard for, Clare rationalizes that George has “made some big sacrifices” for her. What sacrifices, exactly, we never learn. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflix-spotlight-april-2021&captions=true"] Eventually, they do make it to the home George purchased without consulting his wife. It clearly needs a lot of work, but “look at these bones!” In case you didn’t know, that’s scary movie 101 for “this house is haunted as hell.” After a rough start, the Things Heard & Seen finds its footing for a moment when it stops telling us about the Clares and we get to see the couple as they truly are: fractured and toxic. While Catherine is haunted by the presence of potentially malevolent spirits, George dismisses her concerns with condescending jokes and patronizing concerns that make it easy for herself and others to doubt her experiences. As Catherine looks into the home’s sordid history and attempts to forge relationships in town, her husband becomes increasingly controlling and erratic. The more she learns about the house, which has seen its fair share of abhorrent men, ill-kept secrets about its history and George’s own past lead Catherine to question everything he’s ever told her. The tension builds as his glossy veneer tarnishes completely and we’re left with the true villains of this story: mediocre men with PhDs in gaslighting. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=worst-reviewed-movies-of-2021&captions=true"] Still, Seyfried and Norton’s layered performances don’t make up for a messy attempt at creating a supernatural allegory for the trauma of emotional abuse. Unlike the 2020 Blumhouse thriller The Invisible Man, which uses the genre to amplify the horror of being trapped in a relationship with a charming abuser, Things Heard & Seen distracts from its most compelling moments with hokey séances and frankly boring lore. One bright spot of the film is a sardonic college student played by Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things) who breaks down George’s facade even as she partakes in their illicit affair. “You think because I f*** you, I’m fooled by you,” she asks him. “My dad made a fortune defending them: thieves, conmen, psychopaths. And they all got off because that’s the way the world works for men.” If Pulcini and Berman followed that thread instead of attempting to tie everything into their convoluted mythology, Things Heard & Seen might have made a bigger impact. When things do eventually hit their unexpected climax, the filmmakers struggle to deliver any specific point. The spirits that inhabit the farm act as counterparts to its living inhabitants, but it’s hard to tell if George was ever influenced by a higher evil when he was so unforgivable to begin with. Catherine was damned well before she moved into that haunted house. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-horror-movies-on-netflix&captions=true"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3xFX4xN
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The Mitchells vs. The Machines Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The Mitchells vs. The Machines premieres Friday, April 30 on Netflix. [poilib element="accentDivider"] It's both fortune and folly that the new animated adventure The Mitchells vs. The Machines is a Netflix Original. The blessing is that this delightful, energetic, and clever film is easily accessible, and affordable, for most everyone and the curse is that it's a gorgeous work that would benefit from a big-screen experience now that it's becoming more normalized to go to theaters. (The film, previously titled Connected, was originally produced as a theatrical release from Sony.) From director and co-writer Mike Rianda (Gravity Falls), and executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), The Mitchells vs. The Machines takes after the best of Lord and Miller's previous hits, providing a dazzling, inventive, and heartfelt adventure through a robot apocalypse. Yes, nothing can quite deliver mirth in the face of absolute global ruin like a Lord and Miller project. A vibrant mix of different animation techniques, including some of the innovative stylings from Into the Spider-Verse, this raucous family romp smoothly switches between 3D, 2D, and real-life imagery in a manner that helps tell the story, distinguish between worlds, and show the inner workings of characters' minds. It's overflowing with action and noise but it never feels disjointed or messy. It's a spot-on blend of character, plot, and silliness. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/28/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-official-trailer"] The over-arching messaging about how "screen time" is causing rifts in families, and a decline in overall society, is a touch, well, out of touch. Where The Mitchells vs. The Machines is more effective, though, is in portraying the broader generational divide between parents and kids. People may focus on the Boomer vs. Millennial aspect of the film -- though that's not accurate since it's actually older Gen X vs. Gen Z -- but at the heart of everything is just the all-too-common split that happens in families and the lack of clear paths toward understanding and reconciliation. Obviously, it's blown absurdly out of proportion and turned into a giant maelstrom of metaphoric mayhem as the online realm rebels against the entire world and dooms everyone, but the gap between patriarch Rick (Danny McBride) and daughter Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is still a grounding force that always tethers the outrageous goings-on to a relatable, familiar situation. Outdoorsy, computer-illiterate Rick has grown apart from Katie, who's always been into quirky online filmmaking and is now on the precipice of heading off to a faraway film school. Nature vs. Cyber, or pragmatic vs. creative, is an easy go-to for this awesomely animated road trip, though it can certainly speak toward bigger themes of sexual orientation, gender identity, and overall self-realization that have sadly proven to rip at the seams of families. When Rick can't "understand" Katie, there's a little more going on than "she just wants to post videos to YouTube and I want her to learn to drive stick." It still works as an unsaid throughline, though the film would have been even better with small amounts of deeper exploration. There's also a side subject involving Instagram envy, even mom-shaming if you're wondering how many relevant online ills can be unfurled in the course of a few hours. Katie's mom, Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph), is practically paralyzed by the idea that her family's offbeat and imperfect and doesn't live up to the yogalicious clan next door (funnily enough, voiced by John Legend and Chrissy Teigen) and it actually prevents her from being able to actively address her own family's larger issues. It breaks her down to where she can usually only play peacemaker. And yes, all of this is tucked deftly inside a whirring, buzzing buffet featuring rampaging robots -- and Oscar-winner Olivia Colman hilariously voicing a rogue A.I. called PAL. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-gallery&captions=true"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3u2bp5i
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