The Simpsons Movie - competition

The movie is out and causing mass global hilarity check review here: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/simpsons-movie-review.html

- so how would you like to bag some exclusive Simpsons Movie merchandise (which you can't buy in the shops)?

Enter the Darkmatter Simpsons Movie competition:


In the movie Homer gets a beloved pet pig and turns him into pet superhero 'Spider Pig' (he does whatever a spider pig does)...

To win some stuff - tell me another cool Simpsons pet superhero that Fox might want to consider for a sequel

e.g. Blinky the three eyed mutant super fish...


Email to: superpets@simpsons-fan.co.uk

Editors decision is final, the funnier / cooler the superpet, the better the prize!

(Prizes include Simpsons watches, lunchboxes, squirt games, kids T shirts and straws... UK residents only amigos)

The Simpsons Movie - review

The Simpsons Movie (PG)

Dir. David Silverman

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s been a long time coming and anticipation is high for the big screen debut of Springfield’s finest yellow family…The writers have had years in which to distil the very essence of all things Simpson, polish up their best jokes and whip up a scenario which will take us into unexplored territory – beyond the 30 min TV show timeframe…
Blasting off with possibly the best Itchy and Scratchy episode ever, The Simpsons Movie hits the ground running at a breathless pace. Quality laugh out loud jokes come thick and fast – it’s great stuff and you won’t want to blink for missing a visual gag or reference. The first half an hour is without doubt the best Simpsons antics I’ve witnessed.
There’s no shortage of drama either as President Arnold Schwarzenegger authorises unthinkable action to be taken against the residents of Springfield – thanks to the selfish stupidity of just one man… I won’t spoil the plot for you as there is precious little of it, this is really Homer’s odyssey. Witnessing the trials and tribulations of the bald yellow one, which sees the fabric of the Simpsons family stretched to breaking point is something quite wonderful. The longer running time however does mean that the joke ratio seriously drops off in the second half but if you’ve ever had love for the citizens of Springfield, you’ll still savour each moment.
The iconic artwork and characters look great on the big screen. Animation wise it mostly keeps the TV show’s 2D style but mixes in some impressive 3D computer generated scenes that make for real cinematic spectacle.
You’ll certainly see things that would never have made it into the television version - that’s what makes this a gold plated ‘must see’ movie and easily the funniest film of the year so far!
Most characters get a brief moment of focus, but it this is at heart the story of father / son bonding set against an apocalyptic vision peppered with cameos and even a new scene stealing superhero… Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s um, ‘Spider-Pig’!!
Yes, altogether now: ‘Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig - does whatever a Spider-Pig does. Can he swing, from a web? No he can't, he’s just pig - look out! He’s the Spider-Pig!’
Run, don’t walk to check out this pure yellow class A entertainment – D’oh-nt miss it!!

Out of 5 you have to go with a quality 4.5 (see it, love it, see it again)...

Darkmatters ratings:

Action ööö – plenty of zany stuff
Laughs ööööö – classy and very funny jokes here
Horror ö – mild tension?
Babes öö – equal opps for yellow babes!?

Overall öööö1/2 (necessary entertainment!!)


"the mob closed in on Nikolai and his less positive review (http://bina007.blogspot.com/2007/07/simpsons-movie.html)"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Firehouse Dog - review

Firehouse Dog (PG)

Dir. Todd Holland

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Advice to follow on discovering that Firehouse Dog is on at a cinema near you:

1.Raise the alarm by locating the nearest 10 year old and shouting ‘FIREHOUSE DOG’ at them…

2. Call the cinema and find out the show times, this will let them know that you are on the case.

3. Do not take any personal risk. You may attempt to extinguish the will to go and see this film by using suitable distraction equipment (PlayStation 3’s are particularly good because it has wireless controllers and will not present a trip hazard for your escape route – should you find yourself irresistibly drawn to the cinema).

4.If you do find yourself witnessing Firehouse Dog, leave the cinema after the showing in the proper evacuation procedure…

Yes, Firehouse Dog is exactly what you’d expect – a family friendly ‘cute dog helps kid with issues’ schmaltz fest which is sure to ring the bells of dog and Firemen lovers everywhere.
So it must suck then yes?
Well, I really thought it was going to when I agreed to take my 10-year-old son to see this, but now I have to report to you that Firehouse Dog isn’t actually that bad. No, it isn’t going to win any Oscars or make anyone’s ‘top 10 films of the year list’, what it does though is deliver mildly amusing and generally positive entertainment.

Lonely and disenchanted young Shane (Josh Hutcherson) finds Rexxx – a loveable Irish terrier who he thinks is a run of the mill lost dog but who is a hotshot doggie film star / stunt dog. You might have seen him in The Fast And The Furriest and Jurassic Bark!? Anyway, Shane’s dad (a decent turn from Bruce ‘Déjà vu’ Greenwood) is a down on his luck Fire Chief who leads a gutsy but useless team of firemen known as Doghouse… You probably won’t be surprised to know that Rexxx is soon adopted as the new Doghouse mascot but can he really help Shane save the city against a rampant arsonist too?

Firehouse Dog is a fair enough child-pleasing flick, hard to fully recommend but equally hard to dislike too much either, packed as it is with plenty of preteen angst and some genuinely funny / action moments. However I’d only urge you seek this if you’re physically adverse to transforming robots or The Simpson’s, both of which are hitting the big screens in the UK this week!?

Out of 5 you have to go with an OK 2.5 (watchable if you've nothing better to do)...

Darkmatters ratings:
Action öö – some fire stuff
Laughs ööö – slapstick and fart jokes
Horror öö – a little tension or peril
Babes ö – Nothing much here

Overall öö1/2 (woof...)

Die Hard 4.0 Competition Winners...

'Pick your favourite from the prizewinning entries below...'

My favourite:

‘Yipee-ford-KA’
Mr C. Unwin

Most 'wrong':

'What would Princess Di do in this situation?'
Miss R. McKeown


The other winners:

'Keep your head down, it's another woman driver'
Mr D. Painting


‘I know I parked it around here somewhere’
Mr D. Lane


‘the borrowers took a wrong turn on the way home’
Miss N. Kemp


‘I said take the flyover not….oh, shi…’
Mr D. Golding

‘Brucey plays keepy-uppy with a car’
Mr J. Richardson


'Look like the car is needs a new catalytic converter'
Mr D. Hopal

God: 'And this is for the whole ten yards...'
Mr T. Wade


'Michael Bay sends one of his transformers to see off his summer blockbuster competition'
Mr S. Wade


‘When John McClane was born the only person who cried was the doctor. Never slap John McClane’
Ms M Bina


“You can have a play with my gun in a minute, but right now I think we need to get out of the way of that yellow speeding car!”
Mr S. Middleditch


‘No, get up, let's keep waltzing!’
Mr R. Brunton


‘One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb WHOAAH nevermind!’
Mr M. Brooks

Read my review of Die Hard 4.0 here:
http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/die-hard-40-review.html

Darkmatters: H O M E

Transformers - review

Transformers (12a)

Dir. Michael Bay

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The summer ramps up for some serious heavy metal action – as the human race finds itself at war against a technological civilization far superior to our own… The enemy can take any shape, they could be anywhere but if you want a clue I’d take a long hard look at any passing cars, jets or utility vehicles…
Michael ‘Bad Boys’ Bay pulls out all the stops to bring the much-loved robotic action figures to living, breathing, butt-kicking glory and he does it with unrestrained aplomb. Aided and abetted by an army of special effects technicians from ILM (alas not the Institute of Leadership & Management that I work for but uber CGI boffins Industrial Light and Magic).
Long term sci-fi fan Steven Spielberg is also involved and you can tell that masses of love and attention have gone into making this… But does it work?
Oh yes!! This is distilled cinematic wonderment, the effects are absolutely mind blowing, the action delivers big time and the humans, well, they get to try and keep up with the massive metal show stealing transformers.
The robots are undoubtedly the stars – the heroic Autobots and the dastardly Decepticons, who find themselves here battling over a powerful energy source called the Allspark. Don’t worry too much about the plot and I certainly wouldn’t advise seeking too much character development, what Transformers does is bring an inordinate amount of walking, talking hardware to the party. At its heart, this is the simple story of a boy and his first car, just turns out that this car is actually a super advanced robot from another planet and it goes by the name ‘Bumblebee’. It’s not long before the hills are alive with the sound of heavy assault weaponry, the crunch of metal exoskeleton and the loud kaboom of multiple explosions. And when the action kicks off there’s nothing that can touch Transformers for sheer kinetic thrills. You’re inner 12 year old boy will fully appreciate that you’re witnessing something that simply wouldn’t have been cinematically possible up until now.
This really is a ‘must see on the big screen’ tale of good versus evil and I foresee many millions of action figures being sold to a new generation of robot fans. Remember, the freedom to enjoy lowbrow action packed nonsense like this is the right of all sentient beings... Go and enjoy, there is more to this than meets the eye!

I’ll leave the final words of this review to the noble Optimus Prime himself: “We live among earth’s people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret... waiting, protecting.”

Out of 5 you have to go with a crunching 5 (Everything you hoped it would be!!)...

Darkmatters ratings:

Action öööö – stomping robotic destruction overload
Laughs ööö – yes there's some very funny bits
Horror öö – some tension and peril
Babes ööö – Megan Fox is very very yummy...

Overall ööööö (repeated viewing essential!!)


"very cool redesign for the Autobot leader Optimus Prime"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - PS3

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - PS3

Published by EA Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Dark and dangerous times lie ahead, especially if you own a magical PS3 because just as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix bursts into cinemas, Harry handily makes his PS3 debut.
But can the boy wizard conjure up a spellbinding next generation experience or are we destined to put this on the shelf of ‘games who must not be named – because their so useless’?

So Harry is now a 5th Year and is faced with a new set of challenges - teen angst, trying to look cool in front of girls and a spiteful new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher intent on making his life a misery. Plus there’s still the evil Lord Voldemort who is growing more resurgent with every passing book.

Order of the Phoenix expands the action in places to let you control not just Harry in his main task of recruiting fellow students to become “Dumbledore’s Army.” This guerrilla group of magical freedom fighters need to be taught some butt kicking spells in order to defend themselves against the Dark Arts – ready for the upcoming wizard war (read the last book to see how that’s going to turn out…).
Other playable characters include Fred and George Weasley in a madcap flying episode, Sirius Black in a confrontation with demented Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy and perhaps best of all, the chance to step up and become Dumbledore for a one on one bout of magical smack down with Voldemort at the climax.

Yes there’s mission specific quests a plenty but what sets Order of the Phoenix apart from all previous Harry Potter games is the freedom to simply explore and enjoy the wonderful digital playground of Hogwarts itself which is massive and packed with magical secrets to fund and rewards to unlock. Interaction has been stepped up with virtually everything you come across able to be affected by your arsenal of spells. And because there’s no timer ticking down or hard locked main mission you are free to enjoy the many alternative tasks, games and discovery challenges at your leisure. For hardcore Harry Potter fans this is gaming nirvana – for casual players this accessible ‘sandbox’ approach should put Order of the Phoenix on your radar even if you don’t know your muggles from your quidditch pitches.

Control is nicely mapped to the SixAxis which can be used as a Wii like motion sensitive ‘wand’ for casting spells. In fact the gesture-based spell casting system soon becomes second nature even if you choose the more traditional right analogue stick method of control.

Graphically Order of the Phoenix is incredible on the PS3, the characters have all the traits of the film actors and Hogwarts is a thing of beauty. Hats off to the production team for sense of wonder that will hit you as you stumble across some previously missed area – only to pause and take in the glorious architecture or blazing sunlight filtering through the ancient windows.

If there are any issues to be had with Order of the Phoenix, it has to be said that the voice tracks can begin to get on your nerves (especially Hermione as she nags you to do something or other) but even this adds to the authenticity so is only a small hiccup in what is otherwise a pretty flawless execution of Potter’s world.

There are some wicked little mini games to be found too including gobstones - a kind of marbles sim, exploding snap which tests you hand eye reactions and best of all – Wizard Chess which is addictive in itself.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a classy addition to the PS3 software catalogue and shows that film tie ins, if made with enough love and effort, don’t have to be mindless cash ins. There are hours of fun to be had here filling your Room of Rewards, and if you’ve seen the film and read the book, playing the game should be high on your ‘things to do’ list!

Darkmatters rating:

Overall öööö ('Wand' -erful stuff !)

Link to my review: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/harry-potter-and-order-of-phoenix.html

Darkmatters: H O M E

Matt Adcock meets Harry Potter

Matt Adcock meets Harry Potter (plus Ron and Hermione)

It’s not everyday that a mere muggle like me gets to meet a famous young wizard and his two best pals (another wizard and cute young witch)… But Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) are in London promoting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – the 5th film in the block-busting series.

Matt: Hi guys, so how would maybe advise a young actor or actress who was hoping to star in a long series of films like the Harry Potter for instance?

Dan: Wow!

Emma: Yeah, that’s so hard to answer. I think if someone had said to me, you know this is what it’s going to be like, whatever…a) I wouldn’t have believed them and b) you just, I don’t know, you just can’t…

Dan: …you just can’t imagine it till your there.

Matt: So as we approach the last book being released – have you thought about how would you like the story to end?

Dan: Well, none of us know how the stories are going to end, but y’know, I don’t have any specific theories because I know that whatever we can sit here and sort of talk about, Jo’s going to come up with something far more interesting or exciting than anything we could ever predict or imagine.

Emma: I don’t know, there’s this theory that Hermione is going to die and that’s just, I really didn’t have that in my plans for what she would achieve. I kind of want to see her in another country protesting for the rights of house elves or just generally making the world a better place. Hopefully y’know being married to Ron and having lots of beautiful babies? That’s the plan anyway.

Rupert: I don’t know really, it’s really hard to say. Everyone’s got there own little idea, but I’m not sure really I think if Ron had to die it wouldn’t be so bad because it’s the last one as well, which is alright!

Matt: Not long to wait now, so when you get the book will you all just go straight to the back of the book or will you read it the whole way through?

Dan: I’ll certainly be reading it the whole way through. My grandmother does that and it’s a terrible habit.

Emma: It’s really hard. I can say now, I’ll read it page to page, be really good and everything but it’s hard to say.

Rupert: I’ll be very tempted to have a little flick at the back to see if I’m still there. But I don’t know…

Matt: Do you like the Harry Potter games and merchandise?

Rupert: Yeah, definitely. It’s really weird yeah, all the merchandise is quite strange and now they’re getting more realistic, especially the games. They’ve even got my voice on it now so it is quite weird, yeah.

Emma: There’s a classic. I was in Waitrose the other day and along one of the shelves was something like Hermione’s Magic Muffins. There was actually a recipe with my head on one of those sticky things you put on top of a cupcake. I was like ‘that’s a new one!’ Brilliant. I mean, honestly, every time round there’s something new.
And with that they have to go. There’s so much that we could talk about – the actors are all chatty and obviously enjoyed reprising their roles. I’d urge you to check out the new film because for me it was by far the best of the series to date…

Read my review of the film here: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/harry-potter-and-order-of-phoenix.html


Darkmatters: H O M E

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - review

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (12a)

Dir. David Yates

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


Official Notice from the Ministry of Magic – authorised by Professor Dolores Umbridge.

Listen muggles, it has come to the attention of the Ministry of Magic that there is a dangerous new film being distributed – it is entitled Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix… The film depicts many things that we at the ministry are most concerned about and most worrying of all; it seems to indicate that the evidence of the Dark Lord's return is incontrovertible.

What bothers me most personally is how I am portrayed in the movie by Imelda Staunton as a meddling duplicitous kill joy – constantly trying to hinder the true hearted Harry Potter and his misguided friends who have allied with that old fool Dumbledore.


"Things at Hogwarts are worse than thought"

Other concerning elements in this undeniably powerful and admittedly exciting tale, include high jinks by those darned Weasley kids, detailed depiction of Hogwarts school rules being broken and an overt scene of teenage Harry having his first kiss – what is the world coming to?

Then there’s the breathtaking climactic battle which is something else altogether! They actually show Voldermort and his Death Eaters facing off against Harry, his meddlesome school friends (who call themselves Dumbledore’s Army) and the do gooding Order of the Phoenix. Don’t be fooled by the amazing special effects, the valiant stand by the heroes in the face of certain doom or the spellbinding edge of the seat action, this is deviant propaganda…


"pucker up and say 'Mmmmmmpphhhh' "

One thing that I can commend is how the Director - David ‘they have so much faith in me that I’m also directing Harry Potter and the Half Blood-Prince’ Yates keeps the dark sense of foreboding that has been building throughout the films and the books.

Yes on balance I can see how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may well catch up many in its ‘spell’. Some will no doubt say that this is the film where the Harry Potter franchise steps up and delivers fantasy action and adventure on a previously unprecedented scale.

In fact all the actors certainly appear to be having a fantastic time especially the newcomers to the series like Helena Bonham Carter as the unbalanced Bellatrix Lestrange and Evanna Lynch as the loopy Luna Lovegood. Harry and his mystical pals seem to be right at home in their well-worn roles too (see the Matt Adcock’s interview with them if you want to get the low down).

Remember, the Ministry of Magic has certified this film as being ‘too spine-tinglingly fun for muggle consumption’ watch at your own peril!!

Out of 5 you have to go with a magical 5 (yes Potter shots and scores with his best film yet!)...

Darkmatters ratings:

Action öööö – Die Hard with wands at the end!
Laughs ööö – mostly Weasley induced
Horror ööö – grimness and darkness to be found here
Babes ööö – Yes they're cute, yes they're still too young...

Overall ööööö (A remarkable achievement - highly recommended)


"look at that poise, that style, that vicious little minded woman!!"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas - PS3 Review

"How the Overlook Hotel might have been - with guns!?"

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

PS3 version

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The only good terrorist – is a dead terrorist… So if you’ve a PS3, now is the time to sign up for some terrorist extermination with Rainbow Six Vegas which takes what was one of the Xbox 360’s top shooters – packs in the additional content that they had to pay extra for – and hits the ground running. In a word ‘must-buy’, erm, damn it, that’s two words…

This is the real deal in terms of tactical run, gun and blow the enemy the hell away… Counter terrorist assault work looks the absolute business on the PS3. Vegas sparkles in neon light, supplemented by the high velocity muzzle flashes of the massive firepower being wielded by both the Rainbow 6 team and the many many cunning terrorist scumbags.

Logan Keller is your man (he’s the leader of the main three-man team which you control in the single player mode). Now I’ve played some FPS’s in my time, personal favourites include Black, Timesplitters 2 and Halo, but I’ve never really got into the Tom Clancy games. Ghost Recon was a passing fancy for me a couple of years back but after some great personal recommendations from trusted sources I just had to get Rainbow Six Vegas and boy am I glad I did!?

After a quick blast through dusty Mexico (which looks terrific in dusty shades) you trace the terrorists to the high rolling casinos of Vegas. And faster than a Britney Spears spur of the moment wedding you’ll find yourself knee deep in shell cases and dead bad guys as you traverse the gamblers paradise. It ends up in a full-scale assault on a James Bond Villian’s Lair-alike in hidden in a hydroelectric dam.

Now it’s all very well being a special unit commando armed to the hind teeth with shiny heavy assault weaponry (which you can customise with various options in both single and multi player modes) – but – what you really need to know about in this game is how to use cover. If you run into confrontation situations in Vegas, like some psyched up Rambo wannabe, you’ll be very dead, very soon. What you need to do is fight in a controlled and measured way, scouting out positions of cover, which you can dive behind when the hail of automatic gunfire comes your way. So it’s run, dive behind slot machine, pop head out, whip it back in as two baddies open up on my position from behind the craps table, reload my carbine (with extra capacity magazine), take deep breath and jump up targeting controlled bursts of hot leaden death at the two bogeys. They go down in crimson sprays of blood amidst the splinters of the casino’s décor. I move forward and signal to my two team mates to cover me as I slip my snakecam under the next door, using the motion sensitive SixAxis to scan the corridor ahead.

One nice touch is the ability to stay behind cover and just use your rifle to fire off a blind burst of gunfire which may or may not hit your target – but will cack them up a bit! Another cool feature is being able to rappel down the sides of buildings or out of helicopters – this changes the whole scenario in multi player mode because it means that trying to cover a stairwell could be futile if you enemy is flanking you by going out the window and abseiling down the wall! Most of the well-designed levels have areas that are accessible in many ways – this means you can try out various strategies and keeps you thinking about how you’re going to approach each mission.

There are two difficulty levels available - choose ‘normal’ and you’ll be able to take a couple of shots before collapsing in a shameful heap on the floor. If that’s not enough of a challenge then pick ‘realistic’ and you’ll be introduced to a life expectancy, which is one good shot away from the afterlife. These allow for you to break yourself in on ‘normal’ level before working up to an adrenalin tension overdose with ‘realistic’ – which kind of lives up to it’s name (he says having never actually been in a life and death high velocity gun battle) but you get the idea… You’ll die time and time again but you’ll also vow to not make the same mistake again and get back out there and kick their little terrorist asses!!

This is a big factor when playing cooperatively either split screen or over the PlayStation Network. I am working my way through story mode but once I discovered ‘terrorist hunt’ (which as the name suggests lets your team loose to hunt down some badass terrorists) – I found that I couldn't drag myself away... it is the most addictive multi player shooting game experience I’ve had the joy of playing!!

Damn – there’s lots more I could mention, like the way you can unlock cool new armour and outfits in order to play dress up in multi player mode, but I’m gonna leave a few things for you find out for yourself because this is a seriously highly recommended investment…


Darkmatters rating:

Overall ööööö – kill, kill, kill (pause to admire the scenery)



Darkmatters: H O M E

Die Hard 4.0 Darkmatters Competition

"John McClane is loose in the UK now... "

DIE HARD 4.0 is in cinemas across the UK now and the lovely people at FOX have got some cool Die Hard stuff you can win.

Here's the deal - just email a fun photo caption to this shot from the film to: darkmatterscomp@diehard.co.uk

and for extra points / booty add your favourite line of Die Hard dialogue...

Sorry but this is a UK competition only (Darkmatters Editor will decide winners on merit).


"your funny / cool caption goes here!"

Here's the stuff on offer - various combinations, best prizes for best answers!!

"Alas beer not actually part of the prize - just the mini vest"

Read my review of Die Hard 4.0: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/die-hard-40-review.html


Yipee-Ki-Yay Darkmatters: H O M E

Die Hard 4.0 - review

Die Hard 4.0 (15)

Dir. Len Wiseman

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The name’s McClane, John McClane and if you find yourself at the mercy of seriously tooled up terrorists – I’m the guy who can sort it out. Outnumbered? Facing impossible odds? Armed only with a handgun and cheeky smirk?
Trust me, that’s how I like it…

I must declare an interest here, Die Hard is one of my all time favourite movies, and yes I even loved the sequels – so it was with a hallowed anticipation that I venture to Leicester Square to witness Die Hard 4.0. It’s been 20 years since Bruce Willis redefined the term ‘action film’ when he burst onto our screens as the regular guy cop in his trademark white vest who just happens to have the guts to face down a small army of terrorists. A lot has moved on in the subsequent years and the big question is – can Die Hard still deliver in our world where terrorist incidents are harsh realities of life for many and a very real constant background threat for us all?

The answer is an unequivocal ‘Yipee-Ki-Yay!!’
Die Hard 4.0 is a massive adrenaline charged, feel good slice of wanton action escapism. The terrorists might have changed (dodgy high tech style Timothy Olyphant and his high velocity weapon packing crew are out to rob all of the US by hacking the country’s entire computer systems) but they still haven’t learnt to factor in detective John McClane getting involved. The plot sees McClane assigned to pick up young computer hacker Matt (a decent supporting turn from Justin ‘Jeepers Creepers’ Long) and before you can say ‘look out for the hit squad with automatic weaponry’ Matt and John are up to their eyeballs in trouble. Throw in possibly the best ever cameo in a film - by none other than Kevin 'Clerks' Smith and your in for a very good time!

The action levels in Die Hard 4.0 set new standards in what I like to term ‘tasty action violence’. Nobody does gunfights, car chases or using everyday objects as makeshift weapons quite like Willis and 4.0 doesn’t hold back on the fisticuffs either. Yes it goes seriously over the top in a big way, but rather than lose the viewer, director Len ‘Underworld’ Wiseman manages to pull off a cracking balancing act – anchored in the fact that even in the face of advanced digital tribulation, McClane is still the analogue solution.

Potentially the most stupid but also the most exciting film of the year – be sure to check in your disbelief as you pick up your popcorn, then sit back and enjoy the white knuckle ride of your life.

Bruce has swept pretenders aside and proves that he is still the ‘go to guy’ for outstanding butt kicking action in a vest…

Out of 5 you have to go with a thrill inducing 5 (a great slice of action nonsense)...

Darkmatters ratings:

Action ööööö – Die Hard films deliver the best action around
Laughs ööö – still got some killer quips
Horror öö – not too grim, but doesn't whimp out
Babes ööö – Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maggie Q should keep you going!

Overall ööööö (Yipee-Ki-Yay my friends...)





Enter the Darkmatters Die Hard 4.0 competition here: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2007/07/die-hard-40-darkmatters-competition.html

Darkmatters: H O M E