Darkmatters Review: Limitless

Limitless (15)
Dir. Neil Burger

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

I’m told that the average movie goer only uses 20% of their brain when experiencing a film.

‘Limitless’ however brings experimental drug NZT to the table - a drug that allows people to use the full 100 percent of their mind for films or absolutely anything. Recorded side effects however include scorching of the pleasure receptors as a result of witnessing such a delirious action thriller head-trip.

Imagine the possibilities if your whole brain was yours to command? How about being able to remember in detail everything you had ever seen or heard… and be able to implement that knowledge effectively at will. E.g. If you need to know how to fight – the moves from every action film and computer game you’ve experienced will be yours. Want to learn a new language? It’ll take you about a day. Looking to write a novel? Four days maximum for a masterpiece…

"Don't do drugs kids!"

This is the world of Limitless from director Neil ‘The Illusionist’ Burger. It is the tale of struggling writer Eddie Morra (Bradley ‘The Hangover’ Cooper) who gets dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie ‘Sucker Punch’ Cornish) for being a chronic loser.

Everything changes however when Eddie is offered NZT - a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive thanks to it freeing up 100% of his brainpower. Within days he has shot to the top of the financial world, making millions on the markets and his new high profile draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro).

Things get out of hand when the brutal side effects of NZT kick in and jeopardise Eddie’s new untouchable ‘limitless’ lifestyle. Then he discovers that people will do anything to get their hands on the drug and that his life is in danger.

Limitless brings a delicious dark vibe that echoes David Fincher's zeitgeist riffing Fight Club. The idiom from Spiderman that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is lost on Eddie as he recklessly parties with his new found powers.

The cinematography is excellent – all blue-grays when Eddie is pre NZT (or when he comes down) and lovely golden glow when the drug is in effect. If there is a weak point it is probably De Niro who sleepwalks through his part but Limitless blasts along at such an agreeable rate that you’ll be tripping too much to be brought down by one poor performance.

Limitless is an awesome thrill ride that you should seek out and get a hit of ASAP!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööööö

(5 - open your mind!)...

Awesomeness öööö – take the blue pill

Laughs ööö – dark humour
Horror ööö – some violence and blood ingestion!

Babes ööö – fancy a Cornish pastie?

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – if God gave us brains, why not use em?

- - -

Second opinion - try Hollywood Reporter who said: "He’s a mega-brain on steroids, a Superman for the Information Age. He is also a comic reflection of a cultural shift in American perceptions of masculinity that is beginning to value a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs more than a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James."

"Miss Cornish - smart man's g/f"

Darkmatters review - Watchmen

Watchmen (18)

Dir. Zack Snyder ‘300, Dawn of the Dead’

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Rorschach's Journal: March 8th 2009: I find myself in the future – somehow a film has been made depicting the incredible events that occurred back in 1985 when this city was afraid of me. It had reason to, I had seen its true face. The streets were extended gutters and the gutters were full of blood. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder foamed up about their waists and all the whores and politicians looked up and shouted 'Save us!'

And I whispered

'no'.




Welcome to the end of the Superhero movie as we know it. Zack ‘300’ Snyder has brought the once deemed ‘un-filmable’ landmark graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons to the big screen and nothing will ever be quite the same.

Watchmen is a nuclear powered behemoth of thought provoking superhero action, breathtaking visual flair and gut churning violence. I was prepared for bitter disappointment because the original comic boasts such a deep vein of rich intermingled sub plots, fantastical imagery and mind bending intellectual concepts – how could it be possibly be effectively captured in just under three hours of screen time? But to my delight and amazement Watchmen delivers on the big screen better than I dared hope. The sheer dedication and flawless attention to the source material is admirable, the vivid way that the original pages have literally ‘come to life’ in jaw dropping high resolution makes this a bona fide visual masterpiece.

For those seeking wham bang no brain action, this isn’t going to be for you because whilst there are some excellent action scenes, this is film that requires brainpower for maximum appreciation. Watchmen is a truly adult themed thriller, set in an alternative 1985 where Richard Nixon has won a third term as president and the Cold War has taken the world to brink of nuclear Armageddon.

After an excellent scene setting credit sequence we witness the murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a mercenary / hero with dubious morals and a taste for carnage. His death sets one time colleague Rorschach, a masked vigilante (superb turn from Jackie Earle Haley) on the trial of whoever might be looking to execute masked heroes.
Writer Alan Moore said: "I suppose I was just thinking, 'That'd be a good way to start a comic book: have a famous super-hero found dead.' As the mystery unravelled, we would be led deeper and deeper into the real heart of this super-hero's world, and show a reality that was very different to the general public image of the super-hero."

The complex tale includes back story elements of the other ‘Watchmen’ including the only ‘actual’ superhero Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a naked, glowing blue skinned powerful being created in a science-lab accident. Manhattan is a walking talking weapon of mass destruction – used by Nixon to win the Vietnam War almost single handedly, but whose humanity seems to be retreating. Then there’s Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) once Rorschach’s partner, a tech genius who sports a Batman like array of gadgets and wears an owl caped outfit.
Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) on the other hand is Earth's smartest man, who also boosts amazing reflexes and Silk Spectre II (Malin ’27 Dresses’ Akerman) who wears a mean skimpy latex outfit.



You’ll need to pay attention to keep up with the twisting plot elements as the storyline delights in pulling the rug from under the viewer. Don’t go expecting a simple spoon fed structure or a traditional blockbuster ending – we’re in serious end of the world territory here.

Some of the original graphic novel has obviously had to be cut – there will be a soon to be released DVD animated companion of the Tales of the Black Freighter pirate story within the story sub fiction. And we can only hope that there will be additional scenes restored for the rumoured Director’s cut Blu-Ray too.

Then there’s also a Watchmen downloadable PSN game (which from the demo I’ve played allows you to beat the living daylights out of convicts as either Nite Owl or Rorschach) and some tasty free Watchmen items in Home to nab. But most importantly to get the most from the movie, I can only really recommend that you swot up on the original graphic novel. It is the must read authoritative Old Testament without which we might never have had The Dark Knight’s New Testament…

Highly recommended, an intelligent choice for those who can handle extreme violence, superhero sex and challenging thinking. Repeated viewing essential.




Arbitrary Darkmatters final rating of: ööööööööö (9 - Excellent)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 9, Style 9, Babes 8, Comedy 7, Spiritual Enlightenment 8

Film Review - He Was A Quiet Man

He Was A Quiet Man (15)

Dir. Frank A Cappello

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“You may ask why I did what I did. But what choice did you give me? How else could I get your attention? All I wanted to do is exist in your world. Just one person, would take time to actually see me. Help me find a way out.” Bob Maconel.

Bob (Christian Slater) was a quiet man, the office geek, the anonymous cube dwelling loser who nursed a deathwish about his work colleagues. This is the guy who sits across the street from this skyscraping workplace and fantasises about it blowing up, who actually carries a gun to work in his lunchbox with a view to blow a good number of his fellow workers away (egged on by his psychotic goldfish).

Welcome to a kind of Fightclub part 2, a world without rules, a frantic rollercoaster into the mind of a demented worker drone… Surreal and unnerving in equal measure, He Was A Quiet Man is a fantastic, amusing, satire / romance / thriller which digs under the calm surface tension of workplace bullying and wish fulfilment random violence leading to redemption. I mean who hasn’t at some point thought about blowing their co-workers away in a blaze of hot lead? Oh, you hadn’t, um, yeah well, it’s just a turn of phrase… Like when Bob says:

“There comes a time when the diseased and the weak must be sacrificed to save the herd.”

Slater is excellent here sporting an un-fetching receding hairline, chronic porno star moustache and a convincing clammy demeanour. He wants to be loved but he hasn’t got a chance with the pneumatic hotties in his office, especially as his male co-workers are loud, contemptible scumbags. One day the bald freako in the next booth beats Bob to the punch and starts to massacre everyone in the office. Bob is saved ironically because he was bending over to pick up a dropped bullet, and when he stands up is able to blow the killer away thus becoming an immediate hero. Suddenly Bob’s promoted to the role of Vice President for Creative Thinking, given a company car and executive privileges, life turns around so fast and so completely that it just might tip him over the edge. Also as a result of his hero status Bob gets to know Vanessa (Elisha Cuthbert) who took a bullet in the spine and is left paralysed, he steps up to become her new boyfriend / carer and things will never be the same for either of them…

The cinematography is superb, the flashes of surrealism are well judged and overall this is reality check for those who think Dilbert cartoons aren’t based in reality.

Even if you don’t think this sounds like your cup of tea, you should really check out the trailer for this mind blowing, challenging and altogether excellent movie… It’s a masterpiece and features some fantastic music – especially Robert Cosio’s ‘For You’… track it down here on my myspace page if you get chance.

He Was A Quiet Man is an odd film and certainly won’t be for everyone. But for me its gate crashed my top twenty films of all time and if you know the kind of stuff I like (Pi, Fight Club, The Crow, Die Hard, True Romance, Dark City, The Matrix etc) and think along the same lines then seeing this film should be the next thing you do!!