Wanted - the 'are you a wolf or a sheep' review

Wanted (18)

Dir. Timur Bekmambetov

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


It's a choice, that each of us must face:

…remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate…

…or take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have inside…

As a massive fan of the Mark Millar and J. G. Jones graphic novel (which really put the ‘graphic’ into the novel) upon which this is loosely based, I’ve been anticipating Wanted ever since it was announced. It’s the story of chronic loser Wesley Gibson (the excellent James McAvoy), a downtrodden hypochondriac whose girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend and whose lardy boss at his dead-end job lives to make his life hell every single day. Could this Wesley actually be the son of the world’s greatest ever assassin? Might he have an intrinsic killer instinct and be blessed with unnatural ability to curve bullets in mid flight? Yes it’s another one of those geeky heroes who get their wildest wishes fulfilled plotlines but here it is played out as the ultimate balls-to-the-wall action overload.

Wanted should be your first choice this summer for violent high octane, seriously over the top adventure. Timur ‘Daywatch’ Bekmambetov directs the insane pulse pounding action channelling the spirit of Fight Club, Die Hard and The Matrix all at the same time!

From the second that the scales fall from Wesley’s eyes and he enters a world of fast cars, big guns and a badass new girlfriend / mentor named ‘Fox’ (a stunning Angelina Jolie), you can do nothing but buckle up and enjoy the ride. The superhero / villain plot of the graphic novel has been ejected and replaced with a real world secret society of assassins who ‘kill for Fate’ back story. This actually works really well but might disappoint some fans of the Millar original. Anyway, Wesley undergoes a brutal training regime in order to hone his killing skills - his eventual target a rogue assassin named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) who murdered his father.
Morgan Freeman is on hand as Sloan – leader of the Fraternity who employ this roster of killers and the crunching action builds up to a supremely satisfying climax.


"Jolie as 'Fox'... by name and nature!"

Scenes where the hero has two guns and takes on a host of enemies can be awesome such as in The Crow or Equilibrium but Wanted sets a new benchmark with a truly jaw dropping gunfight. And this comes hot on the heels of the spectacular fights, car chases, assassinations and general devastation delivered throughout; basically this is stupid set-piece action heaven.

Wanted puts McAvoy in the big league for leading man roles and blows the competition away in terms of hardcore action entertainment… bring on the sequel ASAP!!

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

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööö (8)
+ Top draw wish fulfilment on many levels

Tasty Action: öööööööööö (10)
+ You won’t see better gun action all summer!

Gratuitous Babeness: öööööööö (8)
+ Jolie has never looked better or been cooler

Mind Blight / Boredom: ööö (3)
+ Cracks along at a great pace

Comedic Value: öööööööö (8)
+ There are some decent funnies

Arbitrary final rating: öööööööööö (10)
Essential viewing for graphic gunplay action fans!!

Liable to make you:
"quit your job, become an assassin, live by your own rules…"

DM Poster Quote:
“the answer to that big fat void in your life… is WANTED"



"did I prefer the graphic novel? sure - but both are great (and different)..."

sample dialogue:

Fox: I knew your father.
Wesley: My father died, [pause]
Wesley: the week I was born.
Fox: Your father died yesterday in the rooftop of the Metropolitan Building. He was one of the greatest assassins who ever lived.

And the other one is behind you...

P.S.
Wow, just seen The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw's review - talk about a sheep, sorry, a guy with a different and obviously valid opinion...
Guardian gets the wrong end of the comic book stick_review

Warhawk - review

"I feel the need, the need for PS3!!"

"On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world.
They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: Warhawk, err, sorry - TOP GUN."

Warhawk (PS3)

Incognito / Sony

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

There is a unique feeling that only gamers who have experienced the all out thrill of a no holds barred Warhawk death match against 31 other tooled up killers have felt… It’s a primal, hair raising, endorphin rush – adrenalin overloading your sensory perception, your reflexes heightened and a wild animal bloodlust pounding through your veins… All around you bullets fly, rockets whiz and grenades explode, tanks are pounding the area with their heavy shells, jeeps rake your position with machinegun fire, then from nowhere comes the fearsome sight of a WarHawk jump jet coming over the rise, before you can react there are ground to air missiles being launched at you backed up by large calibre chain gun fire. You’re blown into the air from the multiple impacts – a warrior’s death, a noble way to go – but just another point to the pilot of the Warhawk!

I’m not kidding when I tell you that WarHawk is the future of multiplayer online warfare. It all looks stunning from the air or the ground, run, drive or soar across the various battlefields the words ‘jaw dropping’ do not adequately convey the sheer wonder of the graphics which boasts unprecedented draw distances and gorgeously violent battle effects.Freedom is the name of the game – you can play it however you want, take a mate or two or three online with you in cool split screen action. Or go for glory alone in a ranked game and reap the benefits of rank progression, which allows for new options of customisation to open up – for example if you fancy fighting in a Viking helmet, it’s there to be unlocked… The PS3 has been in need of a decent companion to Resistance Fall of Man’s online shooting antics and Warhawk delivers the best multiplayer shoot ‘em up fun yet.

Warhawk is a multiplayer only game but it wasn’t always that way, there was going to be a single player campaign but when it looked a bit sub par – Incongnito took the bold decision to go all out on the making the online game experience the best ever. And it is very impressive, even with masses of players in different vehicles all going at I’ve not noticed any lag. The weapon list is currently basic pistol, knife, grenades, assault rifle, sniper rifle, mines and the always-good rocket launcher. Warhawks have their own air to air and air to ground weapons power ups – plus a sneaky invisibility and useful chaff option. modes. Death Match, Team Death Match, Capture the Flag, Zones and Dogfights – those are the your options.

If you’re at all a fan of shooting, flying or just blowing things up – you need Warhawk in your life. More maps, vehicles and weapons are coming in the form of downloadable content via PSN – which will give the already highly addictive game an even longer lifespan.

Darkmatters rating: ööööö (5/5 a superb 'must buy')


"take your mates online with you on a single PS3!"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Older... darker..?

Just had to share this piece of superb Birthday 'art' from my oldest, darkest friend - MIKE - he's the guy who goes ahead of me each year pathfinding what it feels like to be older... then about a month later I follow him, this year, into pre-middleage (36)...

Here's his words of wisedom... "i thought i might leave with this depressing thought, brought home to me from the film rumble fish, and delivered in world weary style by Tom Waites:

'Time is a funny thing. Time is a very peculiar item.When you're young, you're a kid, you got time.Throw away a couple of years, a couple of years ...It doesn't matter. You know? The older you get you say,'Jesus, how much I got?...35 summers left,' think about it.'
Statistically, we have 43 summers left. I doesn't sound like much when you break it down like that. makes you think. enjoy."

It does make you think...
makes me think that I need to finish Darkmatters (2 weeks from manuscript deadline now)

and while you're waiting - he's my review of new French horror Sheitan (SATAN):

"Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? Oh you have… Um, bet it wasn’t in a rural French chateau populated with a volatile mixture of freaky insane family members, gorgeously hot and seductive nymphets and a mentally jovial caretaker who might have sold his soul to the devil? Oh, you did?Hhhmm, who’d have thought? Well in that case you should check out Sheitan (Satan) – the latest French horror blast which walks in the bloody slasher footsteps of Switchblade Romance and Ils but brings the horned beast to the party too… I’m pretty sure that if the devil exists he’ll have been amused watching Sheitan as this cinematic orgy of... click here to read the rest over at FRANK THE MONKEY

Darkmatters: H O M E