383. The World's End

Title: The World's End
Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Year: 2013

Summary: Alcoholic Gary King persuades his estranged schoolfriends Peter, Oliver, Steven, and Andy, to complete the "Golden Mile", a pub crawl encompassing the 12 pubs of their hometown of Newton Haven. The group attempted the crawl as teenagers, but failed to reach the final three pubs, including the World's End.
In the second pub, they are joined by Oliver's sister Sam, whose affections Gary and Steven fought over in school. Gary is refused entry to the third pub, having been barred as a teenager, but drinks beer left on a table outside. In the toilets of the fourth pub, Gary picks a fight with a teenager and knocks his head off, exposing him as an android. Gary's friends join him and fight more androids. Realising the town population has been replaced with androids, they decide to continue the pub crawl so as not to arouse suspicion.
At the seventh pub, Gary, Sam and Steven get into a fight with androids impersonating Sam's twin friends. At the eighth pub, androids impersonating girls from their youth attempt to seduce Gary, Andy and Peter, while Basil, a local known for conspiracy theories, explains the details of the android invasion to Steven. At the ninth pub, the group's old schoolteacher Guy Shepherd encourages them to be replaced by androids.
Andy notices that Oliver's birthmark, removed with laser treatment, has re-appeared, and realises he has been replaced with an android; he damages him. Another fight breaks out and the group scatters. Gary and Sam escape and Gary tells her to leave for her safety. The remaining friends accuse each other of having been replaced by androids, but prove their humanity with scars and tattoos the androids lack. The androids capture Peter, but Gary is determined to finish the pub crawl. At the World's End, Andy confronts Gary; he realises that Gary recently attempted suicide and clings to his goal of completing the Mile due to his sense that he has not and cannot achieve anything else in life.
As Andy tries to stop Gary from drawing his final pint, they discover a hidden chamber and reunite with Steven. A disembodied alien entity, the Network, tells them that the android invasion has been responsible for the technological advances in telecommunication over recent decades as part of a first step to joining a galactic community. It offers them eternal youth by becoming androids, but they refuse. Gary persuades them that humanity is too stupid to join the aliens; exasperated, the Network abandons the invasion. Sam arrives to drive the group out of Newton Haven as it self-destructs.
Some time later, the destruction of Newton Haven has triggered a worldwide electromagnetic pulse that destroyed all electrical power on Earth, setting humanity back to the Dark Ages. The remaining androids have reactivated and are mistrusted by surviving humans. Andy's marriage has recovered, Steven is in a relationship with Sam, and android versions of Peter and Oliver have returned to a semblance of their former lives. In the ruins of Newton Haven, the now-sober Gary enters a pub with the android versions of his younger friends and orders water. When the bartender refuses to serve androids, Gary leads his android friends into a brawl. 

382. Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Year: 2013

Summary: In the future, humanity is preparing to launch an attack on the homeworld of an alien race, called the Formics, that had attacked Earth and killed millions. The Formic invasion was stopped by Mazer Rackham, who crashed his F-35 Lightning II into a Formic queen ship at the apparent cost of his life. Over the course of 50 years, gifted children are trained by the International Fleet to become commanders of a new fleet for this counterattack.
Cadet Andrew "Ender" Wiggin draws the attention of Colonel Hyrum Graff and Major Gwen Anderson based on his aptitude in simulated space combat. They order the removal of his monitor, signifying the end of the cadet program.
Ender is then attacked by Stilson, a student he defeated in the combat sim, but Ender fights back and severely injures him. Ender confesses his grief to his older sister Valentine but is harassed further by their older brother Peter.
Graff arrives to reveal Ender was being tested and is still part of the program. Graff brings Ender to Battle School and places Ender with other cadets his age, but treats him as extraordinary, thereby subjecting him to being ostracized by the others.
Among other studies, the cadets are placed in squads and perform training games in a zero gravity "Battle Room". Ender quickly adapts to the games, devising new strategies older students have not yet seen.
Graff reassigns Ender to Salamander Army, led by Commander Bonzo Madrid. Bonzo, believing that Ender is inept due to his size and fearing Ender will cause the squad to fail, prevents him from training with the rest of the squad. Another cadet, Petra Arkanian, takes Ender under her wing and trains him privately.
Bonzo becomes aware of this but does not take any action against Petra; he instead orders Ender not to train with her. Ender secretly persuades Bonzo to let him train, arguing this will increase Ender's chance of being accepted into another squad.
In the next match, Bonzo orders Ender to do nothing during the match, while the rest of the Salamander Army fights another team. However, seeing the team losing and Petra in trouble, Ender comes to her aid and helps the Salamander Army win. After the match, Bonzo is humiliated by the other students and threatens to kill Ender if he embarrasses him again.
Meanwhile, Ender plays a computerized "mind game" set in a fantasy world, which aims to present difficult choices to the player. In one situation, Ender creates an outside the box solution to overcome a seemingly unsolvable problem. Later, he encounters a Formic in the game, and then a simulated image of Valentine entering the ruins of a castle. Inside, he finds another image of Valentine, but as he nears, it turns into an image of Peter before the game ends. These are noted as unusual additions to the game, which is seemingly being altered by Ender's interaction with the computer.
Graff promotes Ender to leader of his own squad, made from other students who have gained Ender's trust. They are put in increasingly difficult battles. In a surprise match against two other teams, including Bonzo's squad the Salamander Army, Ender devises a novel strategy of sacrificing part of his team to achieve a goal, impressing Graff.
Bonzo attacks Ender in the bathroom after the match, but Ender fights back, and Bonzo falls during the struggle, seriously injured. Distraught over this, Ender prepares to quit Battle School, but Graff has Valentine speak to him and convince him to continue.
Graff takes Ender to humanity's forward base on a former Formic planet near their homeworld. There, Ender meets Mazer Rackham, who explains how he spotted the shared-mind nature of the Formics to stop the attack 50 years prior. Ender finds that his former squad members are also here to help him train in computerized simulations of large fleet combat; Rackham puts special emphasis on the fleet's Molecular Detachment (MD) Device that is capable of disintegrating matter. Ender's training is rigorous, and Anderson expresses concern they are pushing Ender too fast, but Graff notes they have run out of time to replace Ender.
Ender's final test is monitored by several of the fleet commanders. As the simulation starts, Ender finds his fleet over the Formic homeworld and vastly outnumbered. He orders most of his fleet to sacrifice themselves to protect the MD long enough to fire on the homeworld. The resulting chain reaction burns over the surface of the planet, killing the entire population. The simulation ends, and Ender believes the test is over. Then the commanders restart the video screens, showing that the destruction of the Formic homeworld was real, and Ender had been controlling the real fleet this time. Despite Graff's assurance he will be known as a hero, Ender is furious, as he feels responsible for the annihilation and believes everyone will remember him as a killer.
As Ender struggles with his emotions during sleep, he recognizes one of the Formic structures nearby that is similar to the ruined castle from the game. Believing it is trying to communicate with him, Ender races out towards it. He follows the path shown by the game and encounters a dying Formic queen. The Queen acknowledges Ender's role in the genocide of her race, and that he simply wanted peace in the long term and forgives him. The Queen gives Ender a Queen egg that it had been protecting.
With the war ended, Ender is promoted to Admiral, given a small ship, and left to his own devices. In a letter to Valentine, he confides that he is going into deep space, determined to form a new Formic colony with the queen egg. 

381. I, Frankenstein

Title: I, Frankenstein
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Year: 2014

Summary: In 1795, Dr. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster, a soulless creature patched together from corpses, and then rejects it, disgusted with what he has made. In a fit of rage, the creature kills Victor's wife Elizabeth and Victor chases it to the Arctic to get revenge, but succumbs to the weather. The creature buries his creator in the Frankenstein family crypt and is then attacked by demons before being rescued by the gargoyles Ophir and Keziah, who bring it before the gargoyle queen Leonore and their commander Gideon. Leonore explains that they were created by the Archangel Michael to battle demons on Earth and protect humanity. They name the creature "Adam" and invite him to join them, but he declines and departs after being given heavy, baton-like weapons to protect himself, as more demons will come after him. The weapons allow him to "descend" demons (destroying their bodies and trapping their souls in Hell) as they have the symbol of the Gargoyle Order carved on them.
Throughout the centuries, Adam fends off the demons that pursue him. During a modern-day confrontation at a nightclub, a human police officer is killed. While Adam is summoned by the gargoyles once more, the demon Helek reports that Adam is alive to his leader, the demon-prince Naberius, who is disguised as billionaire businessman Charles Wessex, and his right-hand man, Dekar. Wessex has employed scientists Terra Wade and Carl Avery  to conduct experiments with reanimated corpses, and sends a group of demons led by his most formidable warrior, Zuriel, to attack the gargoyles' cathedral and capture Adam so he can unlock the secret to giving life.
Before Leonore can punish Adam for the police officer's death, the cathedral is attacked and Adam convinces Ophir to release him. In the ensuing battle, a number of gargoyles, including Ophir and Keziah, are "ascended" (returned to and trapped in Heaven) while Leonore is captured and brought to an abandoned theater. Gideon is instructed to bring Adam as a trade for Leonore; Adam interrogates a demon and gains the same information. Adam having escaped, Gideon descends into the vaults and takes Victor Frankenstein's journal, which was taken off of Adam's body the night they found him. He exchanges the journal for Leonore, as it contains the secrets of the experiment. Once Gideon departs with Lenore, Adam attempts to recover the journal, but is prevented from doing so as several demons attack. Descending them, Adam then follows Zuriel to the Wessex Institute, where he learns that Naberius plans to recreate Frankenstein's experiment and use thousands of reanimated corpses as hosts for souls of the descended demons. The demons will be able to return from Hell if they have soulless bodies to possess. Adam retrieves the journal and escapes and later confronts Terra before they are attacked by Zuriel. Adam manages to "descend" Zuriel.
Adam warns the remaining gargoyles of Naberius' plan, agreeing to give them the journal if they get him and Terra to safety. Leonore agrees, but sends Gideon to kill him and retrieve the journal. After a violent fight, Adam is forced to "ascend" Gideon and then decides to burn Frankenstein's journal and destroy its secrets before the gargoyles come after him. Adam evades them, leading them to the Wessex Institute where they join battle with Naberius' demons, descending Dekar early in the fight. While the battle progresses, Adam ventures into the Institute to rescue Terra, who had been kidnapped by Naberius to put the next stage of his plan into process after he killed Avery. Naberius takes his true demonic form and activates the machine. Naberius overpowers Adam and tries to have one of the demon spirits possess him, but Adam proves immune as he has grown his own soul. As the gargoyles attempt to stop the reanimated bodies, Adam carves the symbol of the Gargoyle Order on Naberius, sanctifying his very body and utterly destroying it, descending Naberius alongside all the other demons in his army, and causing the entire building to collapse.
Recognizing Adam's bravery, Leonore rescues him and Terra and forgives Adam for Gideon's death. Adam retrieves his weapons. After bidding farewell to Terra, Adam departs to begin an immortal quest to protect the humans of the world and hunt demons for selfless reasons, the attitude that had earned him his soul in the first place. In doing so, he embraces his role and his true name of "Frankenstein". 

380. Divergent (01)

Title: Divergent (01)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Year: 2014

Summary: In a futuristic dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave) and Erudite (the intelligent). The remaining population are the Factionless. At the age of 16, they undergo a Human serum albumin-induced psychological aptitude test which indicates their best-suited faction, though they are allowed to choose any faction as their permanent group at the subsequent Choosing Ceremony.
Beatrice Prior was born into Abnegation, which runs the government. Her father, Andrew Prior, serves on the ruling council along with the head of Abnegation, Marcus Eaton. Beatrice takes her test with a Dauntless woman named Tori Wu as her proctor. Her results show the rare quality of equal attributes of multiple factions, meaning she is a Divergent. Her divergence includes Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. Tori records her results as Abnegation and warns her to keep the true result a secret, saying that because Divergent can think independently the government cannot control them and they are considered threats to the existing social order.
The next day at the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice's brother Caleb Prior chooses Erudite. After some indecision, Beatrice defects to Dauntless. These choices draw attention to Caleb and Beatrice as most Abnegation choose to stay in their faction. After the ceremony, Beatrice meets Christina, Al, and Will, three other initiates from other factions who also chose Dauntless. Christina and Al are from Candor, and Will is from Erudite. The initiates' commitment and fearlessness are immediately tested, and Eric Coulter, a brutal Dauntless leader, makes it clear that anyone not meeting Dauntless' high expectations will be expelled from the faction to become Factionless. Beatrice is the first to volunteer for a leap of faith from a tall building into a dark hole, landing in a net. When Four, a transfer initiates' instructor, asks her name, she shortens it to "Tris" leaving her Abnegation childhood behind.
Tris initially struggles in Dauntless training, ranking far below the cutoff after the first evaluation, but with Four's help slowly improves. Eric matches her against her nemesis;— Peter in a fight. Tris is soundly defeated and wakes up in the infirmary. Informed that she will miss the most important test, Capture The Flag, Tris leaves the infirmary and joins the other initiates, secures her team's victory, and makes the final cut.
In the next phase of training, the initiates face their worst fears in psychological simulations. Divergent are resistant to serums and simulations, so Tris excels at these tests, solving them in peculiar ways, but Four warns her to solve the challenges as a normal Dauntless would in order to hide her abilities.
Tris visits Caleb. She tells him that Erudite is planning to overthrow Abnegation and become the ruling faction. He doesn't believe her. On her return to Dauntless quarters, Tris is attacked by Al, Peter, and Drew before being rescued by Four. The next day Al pleads for Tris' forgiveness but she refuses, calling him a coward. He later kills himself by jumping into "The Chasm" rather than live with the shame.
To prepare her for the final test, Four takes Tris into his own fear simulations, where she learns that he was Tobias Eaton, the son of Marcus Eaton (her father's colleague). After the simulation, they kiss. Tris then passes her test and is officially initiated into Dauntless. The Dauntless, including Tris and Four, are injected by Dauntless leadership with a serum supplied by Erudite which is supposedly for tracking, but is actually for mind control.
The next morning, the Dauntless prepare to execute Abnegations by the orders of the Erudite and the Dauntless leadership working with them. Divergents are unaffected by the mind control serum. When the mind controlled Dauntless army are preparing for Abnegation execution, a confused Divergent reveals himself by asking everyone what is happening and is shot immediately by Eric. Witnessing this Tris blends in with the army to avoid suspicion. On the train, she carefully makes her way next to Four. She stands next to him and after a few seconds he reveals himself as a Divergent to Tris for the first time by holding her hand and she is relieved. While the Dauntless move to raid Abnegation, Tris and Four separate from the group and attempt to locate Tris' parents. Eric is suspicious of Four and tests him by pointing his gun at Four. Tris breaks their cover and points her gun at Eric. Their identities as Divergents are revealed to the Dauntless leaders and they both get captured. Four is taken into custody while Tris is ordered to be executed. Her mother Natalie appears and liberates her. Tris now knows that her mother is also Divergent. She tells Tris her father's whereabouts and that they have to get back to them immediately. Tris kills one of her friends, Will, and is really affected by the fact that she had to kill her friend to survive. Unfortunately, her mother is soon shot dead as they flee. Tris has to leave her mother's dead body to save herself from being killed.
Tris finds her father in hiding with several Abnegations, including Caleb and Marcus. The group sneaks into Dauntless headquarters, where Tris encounters Peter and forces him to lead them to the Erudite's control center. Her father sacrifices himself in a shootout, and Tris goes in alone to find Four, who is now under stronger mind control designed for Divergents and attacks her. Using her knowledge of his fears, she manages to wake him from the mind control and the two enter the central control room, where Erudite leader Jeanine is about to have the Dauntless army execute the entire Abnegation faction. Tris uses a sample of the mind control serum on her to force her to cancel the program. The group escapes the compound and boards a train out of the complex.