theological thoughts and ramblings

this idea actually comes after discovering about the abuse hurled by the Westboro Baptist Church at....well at this stage almost everybody. 

the idea is simply this: what really is hell? why do should and shouldn't we go there? the ramifications and reasons are pretty intriguing to me at this point especially after discovering that the Westboro Baptist's own preacher can't really seem to give proper answers based on an interview by the BBC. 


Hell in all its glory.... 

from a broad stroke based on what i've gathered in my limited amount on earth and of a time as a catholic church goer many, many years ago, hell is this fiery, cavernous, dark and completely misery and terror inducing sort of place you would have to be a complete masochist to go to in the first place. the words fire and brimstone are almost always associated with hell because of the fire. the islamic koran's version of hell seems to be not terribly different, as are the chinese, japanese and even jewish versions. hell it seems, visually is always on fire, in a cavern, inhabited by devilish little things, ruled by a king and has an army of demons. 

however, it is the christian version of hell i am interested in this time around. the bible, as cited by most evangelical people and churches, indicates that one shall go to hell in a hand basket if they do not read it, adhere to its rules and live as a good christian should. in this world of neither black nor white, but color and grey shades, how would one determine what is good and what is bad? if there were really such fine, stringent rules set in place to begin with, why is there still so much hardship? that's really a question that begins to delve into sociology rather than biblical texts proper. 


the point of this. 

we all expire, eventually. some of us really don't want to go till we see the world burn proper, like me, but we would go anyway. the question then becomes what would become of us on judgement day? i think, we've all pretty much sinned at one point or another. Gandhi has been cited to have been something of a wife-beater prior to becoming India's national leader and hero and there really hasn't been what anyone would call an angel among men lately. so, heaven is definitely out of the question. 

but then i postulate. is hell really all that bad? i mean really? some versions of the bible state there is a place called purgatory and its function is sort of like a prison correction facility. force everyone into it for an indeterminate amount of time to be punished and then what? you would get sorted into heaven or hell again? well, actually because we were all sorted to head to hell, purgatory then becomes a sort of second chance into heaven. 

once you figure certain things out in life, you really do begin to question certain things that have been indoctrinated into us as children and perhaps teens. i don't think hell will be that terrible. for one, if the churches are all correct, and we are all indeed condemned to go to hell, this means we will all be reconnected again with the ones we've lost. friends and family joining you in the afterlife as one big, semi-happy group of souls. i don't think that's a bad thing then. you would also get all the lost musical stars and the greatest actors in the world down there because of their lifestyle that clashes with all that is good and supposedly holy. huzzah! 

but wait, wait, wait. what about the tortures? what about them? i doubt your soul would carry a nervous system to feel pain with, what with it being a mortal and bodily thing the soul leaves behind, so you really can't feel pain anymore. Another writer, whom i paraphrase this idea and notion from is Terry Pratchett who brings up this truly small but significantly thoughtful idea. so, actually then demons and devils that torment us, really can't hurt us in hell, because we can no longer feel physical pain. this is truly a big thing in my opinion because hell then doesn't become anything much more than monotonous rituals that while are supposed to convey pain, mean nothing at all other than contract devils going through motions satan or god set in place. 


ending thoughts... 

i don't think that i would actually really enjoy heaven. i like the fanciful idea of being among the clouds, flying. that gives a certain amount of freedom i think. but then you realize that once you really do make it up there. there really isn't all that much to do. the modern miracles these days are small, little things that make our fucked up bad days, something less and brighter to look forward to. i doubt these are done by angels because quite frankly i don't think they really give a crap about what we do in our lives, much like god in a sense. god's another issue but my stance is that if god truly does exist, then we are pretty much like an experiment for him in some way, add a little chaos here, some anarchy there; mix with order and a bit of hormones and we'll pretty much get the human race. 

anyway, back to the heavens. i like the idea of heaven as a vacation zone in the afterlife i think. its one of those places in the world that people would rather go for a holiday once in awhile than stay there for the rest of their lives. places like Bali or Tahiti, they're nice to look at and stay for a shortwhile but longterm it would probably eat at your brains. the thought of being an angel is something of a paradox for me. i mean sure, you get a pair of wings, good for mobility but must be a bother to clean what with all the feathers and you also get a nice halo which must be excellent for a night light or reading in the dark, but really nothing more. being an angel is a title, you really don't get any of the power associated with being an angel. 


i am actually much more comfortable in the dark i realized as i got older and older. a comforting sort of blanket, this darkness. heavenly light cannot exist without inky darkness, but i like it in the dark. the dark used to make me scared of the uncertainty and that a monster or murderer can sneak in. however, what i then realized is that because it is the dark, you were also able to utilize it against monsters and murderers as it provides a somewhat even playing field, everyone is blind in the night, humans especially. the light is sometimes too blinding in its intensity, much like religion in general. the forced indoctrinations and the relentlessly near pointless rituals, sometimes it just makes you want to find a nice nook to ease yourself into and disappear from sight while you contemplate why humans invented religion and still use it despite its flaws, or wonder why humans in general seem to be so stupid as a race. 


final point. hell is going to be generally warmer as opposed to being so cold higher up in the atmosphere. hell is going to have almost everyone i ever knew in it, so i really don't have to search all over the heavens for friends. lucifer is also probably a really cool guy at this point, because lets face it, he's been in hell receiving everyone who ever lived and then died, so he must have picked up some interesting things from people along the way. he must also be some host if he has to organize so many people and his own minions. 

author's notes
------------
i'm not saying i have embraced christianity or its direct response, the church of satan or become an antichrist. no, i haven't. i'm just trying to think about why people seem to dread hell when if we think about it, it may actually not be such a terrible place as the heavens to people like us is plainly quite unreachable. humans are by nature, evil creatures, but then almost everything is justifiable when you look it the other way around. i'll probably do some more in depth research and reading if this line of thoughts continue to entertain me.

A look at: Payday: the Heist

I understand that the game has been out for awhile now but bear with me. i've also decided to quickly review the game in what little free time i have now at the moment. let's get started. 

The Gist of it

right, so Payday: the Heist, not what you'd consider as an interesting name for a game but you would actually change your mind once you get your greasy mitts on it. For a start, there have always been a lot of games out there that have allowed you to play on the side that opposes the law and all things constitutional, however, no one really did think about actually making a game based on the concept of 'cops and robbers' more literally than Overkill. childish as the term cops and robbers sound, that actually sums up the game quite well. play as 1 of 4 robbers, each with different little quirks and characteristics about them and unleash hell on the cops who would try to stop you from getting rich quickly but not legally. 

the game fundamentally plays somewhat similarly to L4D in that your team mates are highlighted in green and it is technically an objective based survival shooter. assuming that you have decided to throw out a little rule book called 'realism' out the window, then this game is for you! you will be faced with quite possibly hundreds of police who will come in all shapes and sizes who will attempt to either cuff you, taser you or put so many holes in you, you'd win a swiss cheese contest. This is a rather refreshing game for those who have played too many military or zombie shooters because you basically now get the best of both worlds, a tonne of cops who shoot at you while being ridiculously easy to kill and they keep coming at you. 

The good stuff

Now, for the game mechanics. most people would notice that mainstream games typically employ the E button on the keyboard to allow your player to operate machinery or interact with just about anything. This game changes it to F as E is now a pistol-whipping melee button which happens to be rather well placed. the F button is a very important tool, not just because it allows you to interact with objects in the game, but it enables you to very quickly call a team mate who will be helpfully highlighted in radiation green. It is also terribly important in that it allows you to yell at hapless and rather brainless civilians or normal people, making them lie down on the ground as a firefight rages over their brainless heads. Press F again on a civilian lying down on the ground and you will tie up his or her hands with a cable tie, turning them into a hostage; useful as a bargaining chip if ever you find one of your robber colleagues taken down town by the police. 

Now, like an actual game of cops and robbers, the cops CAN tag out a robber in several ways: shooting him into oblivion, neutralizing him with a roundhouse kick or taser or simply waiting for the robber to screw up and then cuff him. for most of the part, the police are all too willing to shoot you into hell....or the police station in this case. should a robber find themselves taken into custody by the authorities, his colleagues if they are cunning or caring enough, may choose to take a hostage and swap the hostage for their friend back. a ridiculous proposition you say, but then again, you threw out realism already in any case. 

there is actually a more fun method of taking hostages; forcing a lawman to cuff himself, the ultimate thrill and humiliation to the police. simply damage a cop enough when they aren't attacking you and then yell at him as much as possibly till he wees himself and cuffs himself. bear in mind however, the standard cops have bigger brothers who won't piss themselves at all but will make you shit bricks instead. but we'll get to that later. 

As mentioned earlier the F button is of great importance, you need it get about anything done in the game. you need it to yell at thankfully invulnerable VIPs to get them into specific vehicles or places; you will need it to grab thermite, place drills, reactivate drills, set up C4 and very importantly yell at your buddies for help. 

Now there are a number of heists to play, in fact almost as many as L4D has, if not more. the best part is the massive variety in how each heist plays out. Each heist is first and foremost, different. however, what does ensure each heist is different is a system built into the game that makes certain things behave randomly. there is a mission which was shipped in their free update called No Mercy of L4D fame that enables players to actually interact with Bill for a short moment in the very same hospital that L4D's own No Mercy is set in... obviously your heist here has something to do with it. This interaction with Bill is completely random in nature as is where the civilians are stationed. Another heist which takes place on a bridge you will blow up has an armoured prisoner truck which may slide perilously close to the hole you blew into the bridge. 

The enemies themselves spawn about as randomly as the civilians who are placed in the maps initially. The enemies range from the simple men in blue, to normal SWATS, to bigger SWATS and then mercenaries based on the now defunct Blackwater security company (actually now called Academi). like L4D there are also 4 special SWATS to literally give the robbers headaches in some cases, they may also share some resemblance in certain areas. 

The Taser functions almost exactly like the Smoker from L4D in that he can stun-trocute a robber with a taser built into his M4 (AMCAR-15 in game), get electrocuted for 10 full seconds and you're down and out. Tasers are visible from their yellow-striped or wasp jackets and their very audible charging of their tasers. The Cloaker looks like a Splinter Cell rip-off but is actually a very clever implementation on the designers' part. Like Sam Fisher, if he manages to get close to you, he can KO and cuff you in a single kick as opposed to getting an elbow to the head from the back. Cloakers are easily noticeable thanks to their very visible green NVG, which for some reason, they also wear in the day time. Cloakers in a way function similarly to Hunters from L4D in that they can easily take down the lonesome robber quickly and suddenly if they are allowed to creep up on you or drop in suddenly. 

Now for the non-L4D special SWATS. any good metropolitan police department has a riot control section, so it is natural that riot shields would be deployed in a pinch. enter the Shield, quite literally. among all the special SWATs, their weapon does the least damage because it is in essence a full-auto beretta. However, Shields do as their name implies, soak up damage. the riot shield is made from metal and therefore in game terms, indestructible. nothing short of a grenade courtesy of the new update can kill a shield from the front. Shields take special maneuvering around to kill, usually the best idea is to team up with a team mate where someone acts as the lure and the other circles around. otherwise, it is still possible to kill a Shield by out turning him, or my personal favorite, running towards him, jumping onto and then over his shield behind him and blast away. Shields aren't a very serious threat until they are supported by other police who will then hide behind the Shield and take pot shots at you. there is a slight advantage to this though, kill the Shield and his riot shield will most of the time remain standing up straight and its still bullet proof; an ideal makeshift barrier, at least till it de-spawns. 

the final and most aptly named special SWAT is called the Bulldozer. In some way, the Bulldozer functions like L4D's Tank, being nigh difficult to take down and dishing out massive damage at close range. however, unlike the Tank which requires immense firepower to kill, robbers can choose to either do it like that or aim for his faceplate. Shattering the Bulldozer's faceplate renders his head vulnerable to headshots and his otherwise steady movements allow one just enough time to do serious damage or even kill the Bulldozer before being taken down by the Bulldozer's shotgun. a Bulldozer is easily one of the most recognizable special SWATs next to the Shield thanks to his bomb-disposal looking suit and large helmet...which houses his head with a white balaclava...making him look like a skeleton in a suit of modern armor. a scary opponent to face at any rate. 

the not-so good stuff  

Now, there has yet to be a game that is completely faultless and bug-free and Payday definitely isn't it. Payday does have a single player mode in which your co-robbers are AI controlled sods who are incredibly accurate but incredibly dumb. they follow you around dutifully enough and surprisingly stay still until needed in the Diamond Heist mission which is a big bonus mind you (play the game to find out why). enemy or police AI is reasonably good in that they will actively seek you out or liberate civilians and hostages whenever possible. the only issue would be their unusually low health but that can be fixed in the harder difficulties where they can and will overrun you. The issue here then is not the enemy AI but the display that you get when you do get shot. unlike CS or TF2 where a portion of the screen glows red and stays that way for a bit when you are shot from a certain direction, Payday flips out an orangey semi-circular strip that blinks once whenever you get hit from a certain direction, this simply enough time to respond adequately or determine where the shot originated from. 

Unlike L4D which kindly scatters weapons about the map, Payday allows you to customize your loadout prior to starting a heist. One might think, oh this isn't an issue, if a cop is carrying a nicer weapon than me, i can just swipe that. no, you can't. once you select a weapon set, you're stuck with it throughout and must rely on your team mates should you be carrying power weapons with little accuracy and long reload times. This isn't the true issue however. the main issue here is the unlock system. If anyone is familiar with a skill tree then they can understand how this works in Payday. in order to unlock new weapons, you would need to level up 1 of 3 perk categories: sharpshooter, assault, support and more recently added the technician. each of these perks grant specific passive effects and more kit for you to use in game. for instance, leveling the assault perk, makes all your weapons dish out more damage, gives you extra cable ties for hostage work and even gives you an ammo bag to replenish the ammo of yourself and your fellows. The issue then is the fact that it takes a long time to level up the perks and that there is a level or reputation limit which means you have to plan your leveling or look for specific weapons you want to unlock at the risk of potentially not being able to field the weapons or your skills to their full potential. this probably forces you to play games with other players with different specialties but then again, why make the technician perk a must-buy DLC? the technician perk should in fact have been free from the get go seeing as how it unlocks a class that can aid the team. make extra weapons for each class and put that in a DLC but don't lock a class and force people to pay for it. 

as with most multiplayer oriented games, team work is a very important factor, moreso when you are 4 bank robbers against hundreds of cops. unlike other games that allow you to use a set of in-game voice commands to yell at your team mates to get into specific positions or follow you around, you are left with the F button which if you hover your cursor over a team and press, makes your character yell at them to follow you....and that's all. voice commands would be good in that you can tell your team to keep an eye on hostages and civilians, tell them to engage the police, yell at them to run away and even yell at them to deploy a medical or ammo bag. a guaranteed fix to this is to get yourself a decent mic and yell at the human players yourself, but realistically only so many people can afford decent mics that don't shatter themselves in 3 months. voice commands, necessary but unavailable. 

as with any other multiplayer game community is also important. so far, payday's community is looking rather good in that they can be helpful....most of the time. i'm more likely to blame the free weekend for attracting so many unintelligent morons with no inkling of what to do at all despite instructions being spat out to them from both players and the game itself. this seems to persist to a degree like any other game. fortunately, unlike TF2, payday is a paid to play game, so the likelihood of a continuously large influx of inbreds is low. therefore, the community is still good and polite, friendly even as this is a PvE styled game... although the occasional fool who doesn't seem to understand english and doesn't know what they are doing will appear, then again, i live in asia and we're not exactly big on english or learning english. like i said, earlier, a small pinprick to be expected in all gaming communities. 

at the moment there are 4 robbers players can choose: british Hoxton (personal fav), american Chains, swedish Wolf and american Dallas. each of them have their own masks and there are multiple sets of masks to put on your robber of choice. this one isn't a large issue as the characters are all very well fleshed out with superb voice acting and each having a rather infectious personality of their own. this is minor pin-prick in that i would much rather like to see a bigger range of masks to choose from considering that this is a $14.99 game. 

verdict?

my final thoughts and verdict.... payday is definitely a good game to get. it has much potential to become much more than what it is currently, which is fine because unlike CoD and battlefield which suck at your wallets for each game released, Overkill does actually update their game and they do bring in some good things, much like Tripwire and their 'Killing Floor' game. however, payday is somewhat buggy according to long time players, though i mercifully have not yet experienced anything major other than long loading times. for its price however, i feel that the game should have included much more things to do. the initial 5 map will get boring after you play them for the 20th time although the randomness system....whatever its called does keep it somewhat interesting some of the time, staving the inevitable boredom and repetitivity somewhat. the heists themselves are quite entertaining although difficult to pull off without the right help as each mission has a bit of a story as well as a very interesting scheme. the game is filled with little references from movies and other games as well (i'll leave you to find those yourself), which is somewhat nice. However, the team mate AI is rather unbecoming in that they are slow to locate you and resurrect you. never mind that their aim is infallible, their inability to get to you sooner is an issue in itself. also mentioned earlier is the lack of ability to communicate quickly and effectively without a mic. the most you can do is point out if a special SWAT is coming in. on the plus side though, as a game, payday is like a refreshing fart in the middle of an overly overwhelming garden of tulips and strong smelling flowers. its new, its genuinely fun and it is an actual multiplayer game that works. i would recommend it though i would advise people to wait for a sale first because as the game is, it feels incomplete despite the superb voice acting and decent music score.


6/10, worth it in every sense of the word, but wait for a sale, it isn't worth its full price yet.

pros: 

- good voice acting
- characters with personality! 
- refreshing take on zombie and FPS shooter games in general, good concept 
- interesting and fun heists to play 
- relatively cheap in comparison to big studio games like CoD

cons: 
- very limited arsenal of kit and weapons 
- poor team mate AI that can apparently get lost in some maps (diamond heist)
- very limited number of maps to play on
- NO voice command system or quick message ability to communicate better (get a mic, but sometimes voice commands would work better, do you really want to listen to a 12 year old or a nasally nerd who thinks his e-peen is bigger than yours?)
- repetitive gameplay despite a system to keep it random (that only works for so long before you really do start getting bored) 
- limited number of masks to choose (minor thing, but the small things do count sometimes) 
- technician perk needs to be bought! (i understand the need for a gimmick here, but when you offer a new perk to be used in game, shouldn't it be free as an update? it's like asking a new born if he wants to learn how to walk) 

Dissecting Brave

So.... i watched brave last week and i feel compelled this week to dissect it to see what went wrong and what went right.

Spoiler Warning, unless you really want to know what i think about the movie.

The movie starts out like any other (pixar) movie. Establish the main characters, fast forward some years later and introduce the rest of the cast. It feels a little unfortunate at this point in time because i cannot tell what are the names of the important characters, even if they are side characters. The clan leaders are necessary for the progression of the story at this point, so really would like it if we were able to hear the names a little clearer. At this stage, not a big issue, might be just need to turn up the volume a tad.

As the story progresses, we understand that there is conflict between Merida and Eleanor, daughter and mother respectively. We also notice how much clout the queen has, or perhaps it is the other worldly powers women receive when they turn into mothers. whichever the case, a challenge is issued to the suitors from each of the 3 clans to determine who will marry Merida. The characters are all well established at this point, all their quirks are there. Probably the somewhat expected part was that Merida would win the challenge so that she could defy her mother's will. The manner is of course stylish and well executed.

Conflict between the clans and mother and daughter ensue with Fergus doing what he does best, making more of it by joining in even when he's supposed to diffuse it. Let's just flash forward to the part after Merida runs away and reaches the witch who for all intents purposes functions like Merida's moral compass. The witch with a seeming bear fetish is quite refreshing after Tangled's portrayal of the classic stepmother in all her ugliness. Like one of the witches from Hayao Miyazaki films but with more appealing head proportions. Pomp and witchery create a magical cake thingy which at first, doesn't look like a cake thingy; i blame the tongs used to bring it out from the cauldron. It genuinely does look like a superheated metal landmine.

Flash forwards to after Merida gets her mum to eat the cake thingy and Eleanor changes into a bear. This part here kind of bugs me a tad. i understand the need for there to be some sort of contrast with Eleanor's stuffy, uppity and decidedly chaffing prim and proper attitude but i think bears are a little overused. We've had Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2, Over the hedge and Brother Bear 1 and 2 just to name a few. Back to the Brave; so the brothers for some reason recognize their mother and are able to help smuggle her out of the castle. So, now Merida and Eleanor are forced to find a way to cure Eleanor. Conveniently, the witch has disappeared and leaves a relatively cryptic clue that most of us are able to decipher if we are savvy enough. Merida doesn't know what to do and so tosses everything into the cauldron. This part i liked. the frustration and desperation come out very nicely here. However, then comes the part i don't like.

Now that she is a bear, Eleanor must learn to adapt. She humorously attempts to. i think the gag here went off a tangent that i would have done personally in an animation project of my own, this means the gag doesn't work because of the exaggeration going on. That mama bear Eleanor set the table as a bear is already humorous enough, it went too far with her trying to use a fork and 'knife'. Saving grace was the poison berries and dirty water. The training of Eleanor begins with her trying to catch a fish. She fails. Merida shows her mother that her skills in the wilderness are, in fact quite useful.

After frolicking and the danger of being a bear are shown, Merida and Eleanor bear make their way to some destroyed ruins and meet Marduk the bigger, badder bear for the second time in the entire movie. This is the part that made me realize something is amiss. Tapestry. What does it have anything to do with bonds? There is either some sort of folklore i am unaware of or the producers made another error in judgement. Eleanor and Merida decide they must get back into the castle to fix the tapestry that Merida destroyed earlier on. And so, they go back.

the 3 boys have now turned into little bearlets aren't they cute? They are still little terrors regardless. This part is actually very important because this shows the reason Eleanor wants Merida to act like a princess, coupled along with the destroyed castle from before. This part is executed brilliantly. Actually, the entire castle part here is done quite well. All the characters behave as they should.... the funny part seems to be that Fergus did not notice his wife's absence for an entire day until he finally entered his room to discover the damage done by Eleanor getting used to her new frame. This is the only thing marring an otherwise brilliant scene overall.

Fergus locks Merida up for her own safety and again, the 3 boys prove to be quite useful in getting her out. Now, we reach the grand finale. Tapestry is stitched up, Merida rushes to help her mother who is being hunted by her own father and clansmen. Wisps leading her on, she arrives just in time and then... Marduk appears. Not sure what to say here really. i cannot figure out what's wrong with this part on a fundamental level. Marduk has to appear because he is the main antagonist. If he doesn't appear, Fergus will gut his own wife. Merida would not have had a satisfactory ending at all and the 3 boys would still be bears, not that it changes anything. It just seems so convenient for him to appear at the time... perhaps it is the lack of Marduk skulking around like when he did it the first time in the beginning of the movie, a palpable aura of fear.

They defeat Marduk, Merida and Eleanor come to terms and Fergus finally figures out Merida is not a crack pot after all. The clans leave satisfied. Happy ending, the end.

Now, i have listed several faults in the movie but chief among them is the use of wisps, the blue and very literal forest GPS device. i would rather they not have used the wisps in this manner, its very... deus ex machina. Characters get lost, a trail of blue little guys appear. The reason they appear is because of fate, supposedly. Not so much fun for the audience as we can roughly guess where the wisps will lead us. I have criticized much and now it is only fair i give a list of suggestions to maybe fix the thing.

Eleanor turning into a bear. Of all the creatures in Scotland to be used...a mother bear? Doesn't really suit Eleanor i think. I would rather she turned into a fox or a wolf perhaps. Eleanor doesn't look good stompy at all. She can rush about like a wolf or fox since those would be closer to her personality and yet still be brutish enough as an animal. Of course, it means Merida would have to teach her mother hunting instead of fishing, not a big problem at any rate. The cake that transforms Eleanor originally should not have glowed when it came out from the cauldron, or since its magic, maybe it should have floated out.

one thing i would really like to know early on. the names of the clan leaders and the 3 brothers. personally, i think its an audio issue. but if others agree with me that they didn't get to hear the names. then it's not an audio issue. Regards to the problem about the tapestry, i don't think Merida is that dense when she hears the words: "mend the bonds". of course, sewing up the cloth was probably a good idea considering Eleanor would be naked when she transforms back. Merida might have probably come to that conclusion early on when she hears it the first time, or Eleanor even. If they understood what it meant, were they both denying that their bond is broken? i doubt that is the case. if they knew, they would have gelled back together as mother and daughter proper from that moment on.

Not the entire film is bad, i liked it a lot actually considering that there has been a spate of pretty not so good movies out there as of late. The world they created for Merida is truly wonderful. its a place i think i would be quite at home with considering they drink and fight a lot; also, bagpipes. the gags with the 3 kids and the cakes are plenty funny and quite original, which is better because they hardly speak. All the characters are very well fleshed out including Marduk though his motives despite being explained as greedy and selfish, remain cloudy in my opinion. Out of all the characters, i especially liked Fergus. there's a man who knows how to raise children and have fun doing it at the same time. i would give the film a 6.5 out of 10.