Darkmatters Review: Fame

Fame (PG)

Dir. Kevin Tancharoen

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

ONE WORD SUMMATION: Remembermyname

“Baby look at me, and tell me what you see. You ain't seen the best of me yet, give me time I'll make you forget the rest…”

Fame is back retooled for a new generation and much to my wife’s disgust – without a legwarmer in sight… The basic plot is the same, take one group of variously talented dancers, singers and actors, track them over their four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts and watch as their dreams either come true or crash and burn.

It’s kind of like X-Factor boot camp but without the judges, and with less convincing ‘talent’.

"Kherington Payne... looks amazing"

The film stands and falls on the personalities of the students we get to follow and that is where the 2009 version doesn’t match up to the 1980 original. First up we have cute but wet Jenny Garrison (Kay ‘Ellen Page lite’ Panabaker) who is struggling with being horribly repressed. She falls for Marco (Asher Book) who is a talented singer but doesn’t take life seriously. Then there’s Victor Taveras (Walter Perez) who is a wannabe producer who falls for supernova hot but aloof blonde dancing sensation Alice Ellerton (Kherington Payne). There’s also a token Hannah Montana graduate in Anna Maria Perez who plays ditzy Joy, and ‘rent a tortured soul’ Kevin Barrett (Paul McGill) who is odds on not to make it to his dream.

Finally there’s Denise Dupree (Naturi Naughton) who is the real deal, packing a voice that Beyoncé wouldn’t be ashamed to call her own. Denise is trapped by her parents who won’t support her dreams of singing and want her only to focus on classical piano forte. Oh almost forgot Malik Washburn (Collins Pennie) as the stereotypical angry black guy from the street…

Each student strives for personal glory but who has the talent and will to succeed? Because as the original film told us, fame costs, and right here is where they start paying – in sweat.

It takes a while to get going however, and unfortunately for the viewer most of the characters and entirely forgettable (which is ironic given the ‘Remember my name’ lyrics to the title song…).

Tancharoen directs this ensemble piece with a detached feeling but in parts it looks excellent – the stand out scenes being Payne’s sizzling dance production to Sam Sparro’s Black and Gold and Naugnton’s two big songs.

At the Luton opening night I caught this at we were also treated to an impromptu pre-credit dance display by a local dance troop, looks like there’s still a lot of Fame hungry youngsters out there!

Darkmatters final rating of: ööööööö (7 – updated but not better than the original)

Darkmatters quick reference guide:

Action 6 (dance happens...)

Style 7 (nice gritty feel)

Babes 8 (Kherington Payne is off the scale sexy when she moves, not so much when she talks)

Comedy 5 (not funny enough really)

Horror 5 (fear this only if you have a fear of performing arts)

Spiritual Enlightenment 5 (life had both ups and downs)

"one more time... let's hear it for miss Payne"

Darkmatters Review - Gossip Girl Series 2

Gossip Girl Series 2, part 1 (DVD Set)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

"Gossip erm ‘Girl’ here - your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite. And who am I? That's one secret I'll never tell. You know you love me. xoxo, Gossip Girl"
That voice over running is a warning… A warning that you’re about to witness the most addictive (and fastest growing) series on TV. When sent the second series of Gossip Girl to review – I have to confess two things: 1. I have never watched any of series one and didn’t even know anything about the show and 2. I immediately thought ‘this is going to be girly tosh of the highest order’ – then I watched it. Whilst confessing here, I can also say that I fully intended to just watch the first episode and let loose my damning appraisal on the back of that limited exposure. But then I watched it and now after watching the entire first half of series 2 in an eye melting 12 episode-a-thon I’m the show’s biggest fan!

Think ‘The O.C.’ on sexy drugs, with better characters, sexier babes (Leighton Meester and Kristen Bell are nuclear hotties) and the guys aren’t bad either!?
Okay, so following what I’ve been reliably told (by my new Gossip Girl pals) was a devastating finale to Season 1 where Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Dan Humphrey (Badgley), ended their season long relationship – now things hot up even more.

"Mmmmmmmm..."

If you want quality drama, sex partner swapping, scandal and rampantly awkward love triangles played out with teenagers then run, don’t walk to your nearest DVD retailer and grab Season 1 and this stellar follow up first 12 eps of Season 2.

As a parent of a wannabe teenager (he’s 12) I think Gossip Girl has also given be some invaluable insight into drug problems, abandonment, bulimia, self-esteem issues etc. So it’s not all just watching hot young people making out – honestly!?

Here’s some plot tasters - Blair (Meester) returns from her summer trip to Europe with a charming new boyfriend, named James (Patrick Heusinger), and it turns out he’s like a total English Lord!? Meanwhile Serena is still struggling to get over her breakup with Dan takes a liking to a young lifeguard. Meanwhile, Nate gets involved in a steamy relationship with an older woman, named Catherine whom is married.= and Rufus is still on tour with his band… You get the idea.

Gossip Girl is the perfect storm of cute cast, sexy behaviour and serious bitching – wrapped around the lifestyles of the rich and soon to be famous. Highly recommended viewing, just don’t be too surprised if you get utterly addicted – gotta go and track down the latest episodes now!





"Kristen Bell... yummy yes!?"

Arbitrary Darkmatters final rating of: ööööööööö (9 - trashy and superb in equal measure)

Darkmatters quick reference guide:

Action 6
Style 9
Babes 8
Comedy 7
Spiritual Enlightenment 5

Emily Browning - Babetastic in Sucker Punch

"Emily on release in the UK April '09 - Uninvited"

Emily Browning is a fast rising actress who wowed audiences is Lemony Snicket a couple of years ago... http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2004/12/emily-browning-and-co-stars.html

This month she'll be back on the big screen in The Uninvited which looks okay - better news is you can see her in the absolutely babelicious cast of Sucker Punch... see them here

"Emily Browning is going to be BIG"

Sucker Punch is Zack Snyder's follow up to the excellent Watchmen - raising pulses in 2011.

Here's miss Browning looking very very good:


"cute"


"Yep - she's a hottie"

"next to be seen in what's being called 'Alice in Wonderland' with machine guns!?"

"check the blonde look"

"brings the pain"

"girls in underware - that's pants!?"

Check out Darkmatter top ten film babes 2008 ...

Top movie babes 2008

"Annasophia Robb"

"Amber Heard...mmmmm"

The list is up - hosted at the great and wonderful FILMSTALKER...

Check it for your self by clicking here: http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2009/01/stalkers_top_ten_2008_matt_adc.html

Here are some of the upcoming talent to keep an eye on:

"Miss AnnaSophia Robb... looking good in bikini for new film 'SoulSurfer'"

"Dakota Fanning before her Twilight 'red eyes' period"

"Elle Fanning also looking good!"

"unknown redhead with filmstar looks!"

Other babe links:

Leighton Meester

Keira Knightley

Film Review - The House Bunny

The House Bunny (12a)

Dir. Fred Wolf

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Here’s the year’s contender for ‘most gratuitous but joyous overuse of hot pants in a movie.’ The House Bunny is pretty much a retread of many US college comedies from Animal House to Mean Girls – just with added scantily clad Playboy dumb-blondeness. It’s a one-joke flick that seems to give the message that in order to succeed in life as a woman, all you need to do is be sexy and show a lot of skin.
So we have hot Playboy playmate Shelley (Anna ‘all four Scary Movies’ Faris) whose ambition in life extends only to be a centrefold in the infamous magazine. But her kit off dream is rudely taken from her when after turning 27 (which they say is 59 in ‘Bunny Years’) she is forced to vacate Hef's sexpot mansion. Homeless and clueless in equal measure – Shelley is reluctantly taken in by a desperate bunch of nerdy college misfit females who face eviction from their sorority house for not being able to recruit enough ‘pledges’. Can the Bunnygirl sex up the minging weirdos of Zeta House who include the actually cute but made to look rough Natalie (Emma ‘Superbad’ Stone) and man hating Mona (Kat ‘Charlie Bartlett’ Dennings)? Also in the party of unfortunately socially challenged college girls are full body brace wearing Joanne (Rumer ‘daughter of Bruce’ Willis) and pregnant Harmony (American Idol contestant Katherine McPhee who gets to ruin the end credits with a rubbish song).

"which look do you prefer?"

Faris shows a genuine talent for good natured comedy, delivering semi risqué material with an innocent Goldie Hawn vibe backed up by a killer Farrah Fawcett like figure which gets shot from every conceivable angle in eye watering close up. Along the predictable path to saving the day, Shelley also has time to try and woo old folks home manager Oliver (Colin ‘yes my dad is Tom’ Hanks). Then of course in true Revenge of the Nerds style there is the nasty middle class rival house fronted by a preppie sweater-wearing bitch.
But is The House Bunny for you? That depends entirely on your tolerance for sweet-natured sexiness, women in skimpy outfits and dippy college comedy bonding, complete with pratfalls and the occasional actually rather wry observation. It’s mostly a stupid, vapid, sexist money-spinner but try as I might to find serious fault with this, I found it hard and came out smiling having been amused.

"the House Bunnies take to the street..."

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10 but '-' is bad whereas '+' is good):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööö (5)
+ No braincells were hurt in the making of this movie

Tasty Action: öööö (4)
+ Not a great deal here

Gratuitous Babeness: ööööööööö (9)
+ Wow, fit bunny fun ahoy...

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööööö (5)
+ Blonde and dim but watchable

Comedic Value: ööööööö (7)
+ Should make you laugh out loud a couple of times

Arbitrary final rating: öööööö (6)
Far better than you might expect

Liable to make you:
"appreciate Playboy Bunnies as humans with feelings...

- just kidding LOL"

DM Poster Quote:
“vapid bunny hot pant frenzy"

Sci Fi Babes are back... Heroes vs Terminator

Sci Fi has never looked so good

So as Heroes Season 3 hits the UK and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles follows shortly... the question everyone needs to ask themselves is - which babe would you choose?

Exhibit A: Claire Bennet...

"also known as Hayden Panettiere"

In the third season of Heroes - Claire is found by Sylar, who may or may not be her uncle. He cuts open her skull and examines her brain. This allows him take her ability to regenerate; however, a side effect is that she loses the ability to feel physical pain.

"she's one cheerleader worth saving!"

or

Exhibit B: Cameron Phillips...
"she looks cute but she could kick your butt"

Cameron Phillips (Summer Glau) is a former Skynet Infiltrator, class T-OK715, from the apocalyptic future of 2027, reprogrammed by Tech-Com leader John Connor.


"here's one we made earlier... just not quite finished"

Cameron's programming enables her to mimic human emotions and behaviours but she's also programmed with the knowledge of martial arts and other hand-to-hand combats. She has an affection to art and music such as Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor and ballet. Cameron is programmed to protect John Connor at all costs...

VOTE NOW:

Claire or Cameron

More about Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Some bonus Hayden Panettiere...

How about a third option - AMBER HEARD??

Much Ado About Lauren - the 'summer comedy smash hit from Luton' review

Much Ado About Lauren (12a)

Dir. Dave Jenkins

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s a timeless tale – boy next door meets and falls for pretty girl, pretty girl likes sporty floppy haired hunk better, but enough about my younger life – this is also the plot for Luton’s first blockbuster big screen epic… Okay so the plot isn’t a million miles away from a million other movies but Much Ado About Lauren, isn’t like those other movies. This Bedfordshire odyssey hails from the unique brand of filmmaking that can be readily identified as a ‘Wade Bros production’ – yes they of the weird and wonderful short You Tube hit film franchise The Woods. Here thanks to a witty script (by Dave ‘yeah I also directed this’ Jenkins), spirited performances from a talented young cast and a massive dose of feel good magic, Much Ado About Lauren comes out swinging as this year’s surprise summer teen comedy hit.

At the sold out Cineworld charity premiere this week Much Ado About Lauren punched way above its zero budget in terms of entertainment, delivering some classic scenes of mirth infused with real teen pathos as it charted the story of love’s often rocky path through a modern high school. Shot on location in and around Luton the film stars the widely tipped future Hollywood leading man Simon Wade (think Daniel Day Lewis but blonder and younger) as the unlucky in love Greg. But just as school playwright Greg finds shapely new girl Lauren (Abi-Louise Murray) to be the answer to his youthful fantasies, she only has eyes for the meat-headed school rugby captain.

What’s a young chap to do? Especially when he has a cute but completely demented stalker fan (pure over the top comic class from Sophia Guinchard) tracking his every move… Add to the mix a show stealing turn by elder sibling Tom Wade as his on screen slacker brother ‘Lenny’ – deserving of his own spin off road trip movie surely and even older Wade brother Paul as a compromised drama teacher, stir in some goofy friends and splice with heart warming antics… Before you can say the words ‘cult comedy classic’ you’ll be laughing, crying and singing along to the catchy soundtrack – probably all at the same time. The cast all give 110%, the cinematography is crisp and the special effects budget well used (there wasn’t one)…

All in all Much Ado About Lauren is a roaring success that bodes very well for future flicks from Jenkins and / The Wade Bros. Luton can stand up and be proud of this fine slice of school yard heartbreak comedy – the world should take note!

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10 but '-' is bad whereas '+' is good):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööö (7)
+ Quality writing and production all round

Tasty Action: öööööööö (8)
+ Eye watering set pieces are great!

Gratuitous Babeness: öööööööö (8)
+ Special mention to Gillian Van Der Merwe whose ‘babeblicious’ cameo is awesome

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööö (3)
- Zips along without a dull moment

Comedic Value: öööööööööö (9)
+ Side splittingly funny in places

Arbitrary final rating: ööööööööö (9)
Respect is due to the Wade Bros!!

Liable to make you:
"Wish you back in high school"

DM Poster Quote:
“Nothing can prepare you for the ultimate adventure... love"

Charlie Bartlett - the 'Kat Dennings is lovely' review

Charlie Bartlett (15)

Dir. Jon Poll

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The rapturous crowd are calling for me, I step into the spotlight and the anticipation is palpable. An expectant hush falls so I deliver my maxim: ‘Hi, my name is Charlie Bartlett and if there's one thing I want you to remember tonight, it's that you are not alone.’
Charlie Bartlett (Anton ‘this kid is going to be a major star’ Yelchin) might only be 17 but he’s wise beyond his years in such a cool way that can only really happen in movies (see Rushmore or Heathers for more proof of this).
So rich kid Charlie has been expelled from every private school in the State – not through failing grades but due to his somewhat ‘less than legal’ side ventures such as manufacturing and selling quality fake Ids for his fellow students. Now he faces a tougher challenge in having to fit in with the distinctly less privileged kids of Western Summit High – a lesson that hits home hard on his first day as he is happy slapped and dunked in the toilet by school bully Murphey (Tyler Hilton).
But Charlie is a resourceful chap and before you can say ‘useful plot device’ he has not just won over Murphey (by cutting him in on his selling prescription drugs to classmates racket) but also captured the heart of the Principal’s daughter (the awesome and rather lovely Kat Dennings). What follows is a riot of superb teen antics, laced with real emotion and held together with an irrepressibly fun script. Robert ‘Iron Man’ Downey Jr. is excellent as Charlie’s nemesis Principal Gardner and although ‘High School angst’ is a well-trodden cinematic path, Charlie Bartlett manages to be hip, savvy and altogether better than you might expect.
Director Jon Poll shows that he’s at home directing (after earning his shot by editing films such as Meet the Parents and Austin Powers). But with his straight talking / from the heart student consultation service (backed up by the prescription drug dealing) Yelchin makes Bartlett into a cinematic icon who can stand with pride alongside the likes of Juno from earlier this year. The future is bright for this young leading man – with parts in Star Trek and Terminator 4 lined up, I’d even be up to see some more Charlie Bartlett action if as Murphey tells one of the kids he’s filmed himself beating up ‘I'll see you in the sequel!’


"cute couple"

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööö (7)
+ Heartfelt teen musings

Tasty Action: öööööö (6)
+ Some cool scenes but its more drama than crunching fight movie

Gratuitous Babeness: öööööööö (8)+ Kat Dennings is very very delicious!!

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööööö (5)
- Some people haven’t taken Charlie to heart

Comedic Value: ööööööö (7)+ Very funny in places!!

Arbitrary final rating: öööööööö (8)
+ Essential viewing for anyone who is / was a teen!
Liable to make you:
"hug a hoodie – well if it’s Kat Dennings at least! (see below)"
DM Poster Quote:
“People like you are the reason people like me need medication…"

"Kat Dennings -gorgeous and talented!"

Southland Tales - the 'world ends with a bang' review

Southland Tales (15)

Dir. Richard Kelly

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

After a serious week of bible study and generally getting into a metaphysical space wherewith to commune better with God… at a place called SPRING HARVEST based in Butlins no less in Skegness even… I can tell you right away that the heady mix of spiritual teaching, dangerous water flumes, nasty junk food and chav accommodation left me ready to have my mind blown wide open in a new and dangerous way…

So I called to the Lord for a film to watch and lo, He did answer – He answered in a mysterious way… by meeting me in Morrisons and guiding me to their limited new DVD release section and in an act of unsurpassed divine wonderfulness – there it was that I found Southland Tales. This is a film that I’d wanted to see for some time (being a big fan of Kelly’s Donnie Darko) and having had my curiosity peaked by the critical mauling that it received at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

Did the Lord really want to speak to me through a film about a Porn Star named Krysta (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who might be psychic, a confused missing actor (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) and a rift in the time space continuum which may be responsible for multiple individuals and the end of the world? – it did indeed seem so… and this despite the intellectually challenged gibbering shop assistant who forgot to put the DVD in the case so I had to go back and slap her about a little for her mistake…
So I leapt into the incomprehensible, self-indulgent, fairly long but not too long universe of Southland Tales... It was a everything I had hoped and feared and more. There’s no easy way to describe the plot so I’m not going to bother, there is so much packed into it though - ice cream vans packed with weaponry for sale, a crazy large zeppelin and assorted military vehicles powered by a new energy source ‘fluid karma’, guns that can shoot around corners, TS Eliot and American politics, Justin Timberlake reading the book of Revelation whilst manning a huge computer controlled gun emplacement… A killer soundtrack which notched up some of my all time favourite tracks like Wave of Mutilation [UK Surf Version] by The Pixies backed up by other quality artists like Jane's Addiction, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Killers.



The film is amazing, a megaton sensory explosion of ideas and the film isn’t even the end or should I say beginning? You see Kelly being such a cool guy – a guy after my own heart / Darkmatters vision… He’s only gone and created 3 graphic novels which form prequels to the film, filling in delicious details of the three days leading up to the events of the film itself. The graphic novels (known as ‘Two Roads Divide, Fingerprints and The Mechanicals) are excellent – written by Kelly and illustrated in some fine style by Brett Weldele… worth getting even if you never watch the film!

Revelation 22:5 - For It Will Never Be Night Again, And They Would Not Need Lamp Light Or Sunlight, For the Lord God Will Be Shining On Them... And They Shall Reign Forever and Ever...

– see that Spring Harvest stuff sinks in!!



"Sarah Michelle Gellar... as a porn star? crumbs..."


DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööö (9)
- Amazing and strange, awesome and mind melting, like nothing ever seen before

Tasty Action: öööööööö (8)
- Enough sporadic violence and tension to keep you on edge

Gratuitous Babeness: öööööööö (8)
- Sarah Michelle Gellar is still hot

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööööööö (7)
- Never dull but it might blight your mind!!

Comedic Value: öööööööö (8)
- Very funny, darkly comic , superb really

Arbitrary final rating: ööööööööö (9)
- The world ends with a bang... You won’t want to miss it!

Liable to make you:
"pray for more from this talented writer / director"

DM Poster Quote:
“America takes a nuclear overload in the butt - nothing will be the same"

Click here to read: When Matt met Sarah Michelle Gellar

Darkmatters: H O M E

Never Back Down - the 'Amber Heard rocks' review

Never Back Down (15)

Dir. Jeff Wadlow

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s a little known fact that film reviewers are often secret martial arts experts – me, I am an adherent of the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). This is a combat sport where there are no holds barred, except eye gouging, biting and low blows. Sure the rigorous training regime is a bind but you should see my ripped abs!?

Seems I have much in common with the sexy young people of Never Back Down’s high school in Orlando, Florida where loveable bad boy Jake (Sean ‘the new Tom Cruise’ Faris) has had to move. On his first day he meets the comically named Baja (Amber ‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane’ Heard) who is the super hot girlfriend of school bully / MMA champion Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet).

Director Jeff ‘Cry Wolf’ Wadlow delivers a violent fantasy teen drama where everyone looks good, all the time, even after a serious beating. Never Back Down basically takes the Karate Kid plot and injects it with the O.C. lifestyle and some bone crunching Fight Club style bouts, plus more bikini clad babes than you’ll ever need to see.

Jean Roqua (Djimon ‘Blood Diamond’ Hounsou) takes on reluctant mentoring duties and the sweaty training montages come thick and fast. All of the characters are rock solid clichés including slightly chubby best friend Max (Evan Peters), annoying tennis protégé younger brother and mother who doesn’t understand why her son feels the need to fight… But in any film with the tag line ‘Everyone has their fight’, fighting isn’t really optional even if the non-fighting or training sections of screen time are mostly filled with YouTube clips, flash cars and partying babes. Speaking of babes, Amber Heard really is something special, I’m thinking a possible ‘American Keria Knightley’; you can see her later this year in ‘The Informers’ – the big screen treatment of the cult Bret Easton Ellis' novel.

Never Back Down is not big or clever and however much it proclaims that “fighting isn’t the answer”, you know that it will end with a one on one fight brutal enough to send a warning message to bullies the world over.
What more can I add except to quote the fabulously named ‘Baja’ who says at one point: "Walking away and giving up are not the same thing." Fortunately neither of those options appeal much to heroic but misunderstood Jake and it is a pure guilty pleasure watching the fireworks go off!

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööö (7)
- Limited thinking required, except if it is 'wow look at her' or 'ouch, that's got to hurt!'

Tasty Action: öööööööö (8)
- The fight scenes are seriously crunching

Gratuitous Babeness: ööööööööö (9)
- Amber Heard is a goddess

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööööö (5)
- Limited dullness but some very stupid scenes

Comedic Value: öööööö (6)
- Funny in parts, even when it's not meant to be!

Arbitrary final rating: öööööööö (8)
- All adrenalin rush fights and good looking teens...

Liable to make you:
"take up MMA"

DM Poster Quote:
“don't be a pussy... sometimes you have to fight!"


"Amber Heard - almost wearing a dress!"

"Amber looking good in GQ magazine"

See more of Amber Heard here:
Amber Heard -New Film Hottie

Darkmatters: H O M E

Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles

"I was hoping for one of these Terminator models for my B'day!!"

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Pilot)

Director: David Nutter

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

I've always been a big fan of the Terminator films (I even kind of enjoyed the weak part 3), you know I can still remember the balmy afternoon that my school pal Mike and I stumbled across the original 18 rated masterpiece on VHS back in 1984 – yep we were 13 and to us this was the best film ever made…

Fantastic special effects, a decent script – especially the Terminator’s response repertoire – and kick ass action violence… these things can have a lasting positive impact on young lads whatever the media currently says!?

So it was with a sense of hope that I approached the Sarah Connor Chronicles, hope boosted by the fact that it starred Lena ‘300’ Headey in the SC role and one of my major film actress crushes Summer ‘Firefly and Serenity’ Glau as sexy new terminator ‘Cameron’.

The pilot plot is something like this: Sarah Connor is on the run with her 15-year-old son John from another Terminator (who looks like a bargain ebay version of Arnie) from the future and still trying to stop the rise of the machines. The mother / son antimachine warrior duo turn up in a small town in New Mexico where school class hottie Cameron turns out to be a protection orientated terminator – handy huh!?

There are the obligatory doofus FBI agency hacks are on their trail and it all kinds of kicks off nicely!! The effects are good, the acting passable and the plot nicely tied into the first two films.

I’m already completely in love with Cameron too – so will be watching avidly as the series grapples with the problematic timeframe / plot of fitting in between T2: Judgement Day and T3: Rise of the Machines.

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10):

Endorphin Stimulation: öööööööö (8)
- Fanboys rejoice, this is delivering sublime Terminator action thrills.

Tasty Action: ööööööö (7)
- Sets off at a good pace, let’s hope it can go the distance...

Gratuitous Babeness: ööööööööö (9)
- Summer Glau is a hottie!

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööö (3)
- Creaks a little but think things will hot up.

Comedic Value: ööööö (5)
- Enough throw away occasional funnies.

Arbitrary final rating: öööööööö (8)
- A worthwhile sci-fi joy!!

Liable to make you:
"Start saving for your own future Cameron model terminator!!"

DM Poster Quote:
“Nice night for a walk, eh? Especially with this hot little terminatrix!”


"secret terminator weaponry extends to having a cute butt!"


"Those machines certainly judged their cup sizes nicely!"

Vote for Cameron? or choose Heroes Cheerleader Claire: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2008/10/sci-fi-babes-are-back-heroes-vs.html

Darkmatters: H O M E