Darkmatters Review: Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers (18)

Dir. Harmony Korine

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“…God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

As a Christian, I have to admit to being surprised but not altogether freaked out when Spring Breakers opened with a passage from the bible - 1 Corinthians 10 v13 – as above. But this is a good indication that there may be more going on in this movie rather than the surface level reaction of it being an exploitative ‘babes n gangstas go wild’ adventure.

This is the tale of young Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Cotty (Rachel Korine), and Faith (Selena Gomez) – four best friends with differing worldviews but one thing in common - they all live together in a college dorm and are too poor to go and party on Spring Break.

"Don't try this at home..."

Faith is the ‘good girl’ of the bunch, a Christian who is encouraged to pray for her wilder friends and it seems with good reason because the other 3 girls decide to raise the funds for their trip by robbing a diner – using fake guns.

Initially the crime seem to pay off as the four pals get to experience the crazed hedonistic pleasures of Spring Break, where the young congregate to drink and party hard. Things go a bit wrong when they are all arrested at a drug fuelled party but at their sentencing rapper "Alien" (James ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ Franco) pays their bail and promises them the thrill and excitement of his underworld dealings.

"prize for least clothes worn in a film in 2013 goes to..."

But Alien has a nemesis in the form of gangster Archie (Gucci Mane) who was once his best friend but who now sees Alien as a threat to his crime empire. And when one of the girls gets shot in the arm, all bets are off as to how far they will go to experience a spring break they will never forget…

Director Harmony Korine is a controversial figure – he wrote the film Kids back in ’95 which caused a lot of outrage. In Spring Breakers he delivers a crazed, hyper-stylized glimpse into the depths of the human soul and the vacuous, dangerously subversive nature of living the so-called ‘American Dream’.

Despite it’s biblical start, this film is packed with swearing, nudity and a very violent climax, Spring Breakers is definitely not for the faint of heart or easily offended but it still manages to be a compelling, iconic modern day cinematic fable that deserves attention.

"murderous distraction"

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

öööö - Wish you weren't here?

4 – Strong, OTT stuff

Awesomeness öööö – sunshine, style, sexiness and cold blood

Laughs öö – not much but a few funny bits

Horror ööö  – quite grim

Babes ööööö – an over abundance

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - look beneath the surface

Darkmatters Review: Defiance

Defiance (PS3)

Developed by Trion Worlds

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

"Is that a Firefly in you pocket? Or are you just pleased to see a new Sci-fi / Western hybrid hit the gaming and TV viewing worlds?"

Defiance is something potentially very very cool. It's a game (PS3, PC, 360) but it's also a TV show... And the two are linked!?

I've not seen the TV show (it hits UK on the 16th April) but the good people over at io9 have seen first three episodes of Syfy's biggest gamble to date, the half-futuristic neo-Western, half-MMO game Defiance. Was it worth the risk? Can Syfy resurrect the sci-Western without stepping in a big pile of "Firefly did it better?" Read their first impressions here: IO9 Defiance Show Review

Shooting stuff in videogames is fun - call it any way you'd like - and Defiance brings a myriad bounty of weapons, armor, and special abilities that in true MMO style evolve with experience...

"ugly - but about to die!"

Yes that means you can make a custom character - to play as either human or alien (there are 4 choices to begin with), modifying your look to become a unique citizen of the Defiance world.

Fight to survive in a consistently evolving environment with promised regular content updates and dynamic events. Play on your own, or join tens of thousands of simultaneous live players in a futuristic San Francisco Bay Area that’s a fully-realized open world...

Trion Worlds' Defiance the game is set in a scorched future post apocalyptic Earth. You are a Vault Hunter, oops sorry I mean Ark Hunter who somehow makes it through the intro starship crash in a pod.

"Brrrrmmm!! quad biking is the future"

Anyway, Ark Hunters have been brought along with the military to try and find and salvage 'Arktech' - the advanced tech and use it to try and rebuild Earth. So far, so Borderlands or Rage or many other games but Defiance is fresh because it brings the MMO with guns to consoles and it looks and plays superbly on the PS3!

So step this way for some serious Player versus Environment (PvE) fun. Defiance offers a large amount of content straigh off the disc missions to do with tracking down other survivors from the crash, helping the military who are immediately under attack (due to them being seen as invaders) -basically a tasty sized open world to explore, grind out some leveling, notch up some side missions, challenges (with leaderboards) and generally the opportunity to shoot a hell of a lot of stuff... Defiance is great with a co-op buddy too, especially as there are some maps and missions created just for co-op.

Having said that, you can happily play Defiance solo and never engage with those around you - although having allies doing the same mission as you can be a great help when there are a mean bunch of supermutant enemies on the prowl.

"multiplayer gets frantic but is rock solid on PlayStation Network"

The RPG element of game is all about ticking off goals in order to get xp and credits so you can get better weapons and EGO powers / perks (this game's magic-esq enhancements). You can choose one major EGO power to begin with such as cloaking / overdrive fire power / rush speed burst etc - which allows you to pick a style of play. Sure you can respec afterwards for a cost, but this variety could well lead to wanting to play through with different spec characters.

It's yet to be seens how the link between game and TV show will work but I have tried the Player versus Player (PvP) option called 'Shadow War' where players fight to claim control of territory, and this is satisfyingly large scale because as more people join the battle, the larger the area of combat becomes. A lovely touch is being able to use vehicles too - which are up there with games like Starhawk or Battlefield in terms of altering the balance of power if you become adept at drving them.

So after only a few days of play, I can say that Defiance is potentially the best MMO I've experienced - hats off to the team behind this... I'll see you online I'm Cleric20.


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

ööööö - Defies expectations to be a best game of 2013 contender!!

5 – MMO shooters have never been this slick or satisfying!

"The driving in Defiance is a bit MotorStorm - hence the pic"

Darkmatters Review: TRANCE

TRANCE (15)

Dir. Danny Boyle

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


You are feeling warm, secure and totally at ease...

Everything is going your way, this is a good day, a day when you might want to experience a quality thought provoking thriller...

When you finish reading this review, you will think about going to see TRANCE, and chances are that if you do go and see it, you will enjoy it very much!

So far, so good - but how far do you trust your current perception of 'reality'?

Do you know for sure that you're doing things of your own free will?

What made you decide to read this review?

Are you sure you haven't been hypnotised and that you are acting out the 'suggestions' planted in your mind?

"look into my eyes..."

Welcome to the world of TRANCE. Danny 'Trainspotting' Boyle's new mind bending heist-em-up which tells that tale of young Simon (James 'Welcome To The Punch' McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer, teams up with a criminal gang to steal a Goya painting worth upwards of £25million.

Simon is ideally placed for this inside job as he is trained in what to do if any attempt is made to steal a high value object during auction - his is the duty to bag the painting and get it to the quick drop time delay vault.

"be careful who you trust"

But the heist doesn't go exactly to plan and after suffering a blow to the head during the heist Simon awakens to discover he has no memory of where he hid the painting. This isn't great news for the heavy duty crims he is in partnership with and they decide to try and 'help' him remember by pulling out his finger nails..

But neither physical threats and actual torture can get Simon to talk, so the gang’s leader Frank (Vincent Cassel) hires hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario 'Sin City' Dawson) to delve into the darkest recesses of Simon’s psyche.

As Elizabeth begins to unravel Simon’s broken subconscious, the lines between truth, suggestion, and deceit begin to blur.

"you will post this picture on twitter..."

This is just the tip of an Inception sized iceberg where plotlines melt and timelines jump, before long the rug will have been pulled from beneath you several times but never in an arbitary way,

TRANCE works really well on many levels. It packs action, sex, violence, art, hypnosis, betrayal, love, greed and trust into its twisted hyper-real production.

Boyle directs with flair and the cast deliver, especially McAvoy who is great in the lead role. Prepare for a freaky thrill ride that grips to the bitter end.

This is one to see and discuss with your friends...


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

öööö - get inside the mind of a criminal

4 – Boyle delivers a fine thriller

Awesomeness öööö – nothing is what it seems

Laughs öö – a couple of funny moments

Horror ööö  – gets a little nasty in places

Babes ööö – Dawson goes shaved full frontal

Spiritual Enlightenment ö - suggestable?

"pretty as a picture"

Darkmatters Review: St George Blood And Martyrs

St George Blood And Martyrs

Akin Akinsiku and Joe Sparrow

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Is there history coded in the famous legend of St George and the Dragon?

Did you know that in around 300AD when the Roman empire was busy persecuting Christians in some areas whilst adopting their faith in others and at some point there was a serious shift in perceptions... As they said in Mad Max - one man can make a difference!?

St George was potentially that man and in this cool street art / Manga style graphic novel the Patron Saint of England is imagined as a Roman career soldier who converted to Christianity and who changed the course of history as a result...

"Akinsiku style"

If you've read The Manga Bible by the awesome SIKU you'll be pleased to know that the art talent runs in the family as St George Blood And Martyrs is by his brother Akinsiku...

The artwork is fresh, stylish and compelling - and the collected tales, myth and legend are mixed well so that you come away actually having a better idea of how the fabled St George got his place in history.

This is an inspiring book, which should be picked up by those who like thier information delivered in graphic novel format.

But what about all that dragon stuff? Well, according to the 'Golden Legend', the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be found. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sadra. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.

The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease...

Yeah - believe what you want of that but it's a great story (whatever the origins)!

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

öööö - The blood of the Saint runs wild here

4 - Recommended!

Darkmatters Review: G.I. Joe Retaliation

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (12a)

Dir. Jon M Chu

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Let's move! The world ain't saving itself!”

Q. How do you go about making a sequel to a big budget but entirely shallow action movie based on a range of plastic figures?

A. Break out a serious amount of heavy duty weaponry, throw in extra swords, ninjas, nanotech machines, buxom females and mix it up with Bruce Willis and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson trying to out macho each other!?

Yes, the unstoppable ‘Hasbro’ toy franchise machine (see Transformers, Battleship and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra for the billions of dollars made from their film tie-ins to date) blast back onto the big screen with G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

"there's fire coming out of my ears!!"

Director Chu and the writers of Zombieland go for broke with bigger scale action carnage, insane CGI assisted firefights and cartoonish characters or ‘Joes’ who are sworn to protect the good ol USA at any cost.

Everything is machine tooled to excite your inner 12 year old – I know this because whilst I found it all averagely fun and totally stupid, my 12-year-old son proclaimed it to be “The best film I’ve ever, ever, seen!”

"best film ever!?"

Pick of the dim-witted but eye-pooping action set pieces is a cool ninja-em-up battle that sees goodie Joes ‘Snake Eyes’ (Ray Park) and ‘Jinx’ (Elodie Yung) out to kidnap the Cobra master swordsman ‘Storm Shadow’ (Byung-hun Lee – who has possibly the most ripped abs ever to grace the screen) high up in the mountains of Japan. It’s breath-taking stuff that as ninjas clash swords mid death defying leap between peaks which brought yelps of delight and disbelief from the audience in the screening I was in.

"a left over transformer gets used in G.I. Joe 2"

The Rock is brought on board to lead the Joes when they are double-crossed and most of them taken out after an impostor takes over the White House. Johnson is good value and sparks well off the rest of the cast. Bruce Willis does his usual grizzled tough guy smirking and gets to crack a few good one-liners.

Adrianne Palicki is on hand as Joe ‘Jaye’ – the eye candy of the crew as although her whole plot is about her wanting to be taken seriously in the military, her main ‘action’ scenes are ones where she must dress skimpily and use her pneumatic figure to distract men!? Not one for the feminists out there.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the very definition of a fast food action flick, tasty and enjoyable whilst watching but of no lasting substance or real value.

"pick a Joe"

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

ööö - do you want fries with that?

3 – better than the first one

Awesomeness ööö – it's like action figures come to life!?

Laughs öö – inadvertantly funny throughout

Horror öö  – not too grim at all (considering the bodycount)

Babes ööö – Palicki is a whole lot of woman

Spiritual Enlightenment ö - limted!?

"reporting for duty sir!"

Darkmatters Review: Utopia

UTOPIA (18)

Dirs. Marc Munden, Wayne Che Yip & Alex Garcia Lopez

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“There are lots of grades of hurt that we can do to a life and we have the will to inflict them all!”

Fear The Network…

Could a random bunch of graphic novel loving geeks be our last hope in the face of a massive, deadly government conspiracy that will affect every man, woman and child on the planet?

"time to die..."

This is the awesome premise of UTOPIA… A mismatched group of people come into possession of an original manuscript of a cult graphic novel ‘think Alan Moore’s A Disease of Language’ in his most twisted - only a bit darker’. This tome is rumoured to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century and the group soon find themselves targeted by a shadowy and seemingly unstoppable organisation known only as ‘The Network’.

"Where is Jessica Hyde?" - "Where is Jessica Hyde?" This is what stone cold serial killing Arby (Neil ‘Kill List’ Maskell) wants to know – Arby is one of the scariest characters ever brought to the screen. Anyone who crossing his path is pretty much dead be the women, children, old, young – he’s a force of nature with a gun, just without a moral core.

"look at the amazing colour use in scenes..."

It seems that ‘The Network’ is an organization that has existed since the Cold War – they are the ‘world police’ behind the so much more than I’m at liberty to say here… Think food chain tampering, bio-weapons, racial purification, bird flu etc. etc. You might want to look at the ingredient list of erm, well, everything you eat!?

And how does the infamous ‘Mr. Rabbit’ fit into all this?

The cult graphic novel called "The Utopia Experiments" is the heart of UTOPIA, but just what are the secrets it holds?

"be careful where you shop..."

In UTOPIA Dennis Kelly has written something absolutely compulsive, terrifying, addictive, brutal and altogether wonderful…Television is in a golden age, with HBO dropping megatons like Game of Thrones but over here the Brits are doing their bit with the likes of Black Mirror and now UTOPIA.

Credit to the whole cast, the cracking production design and a conspiracy plot that will change the way to watch the news or use the Internet for the rest of your live…

For anyone who’s ever enjoyed conspiracy shows like State of Play but mixed with cult classics such as Twin Peaks and zinged up with a Tarantino esq dialogue. As a Christian, it is fascinating to see ‘what ifs’ about global conspiracy because goodness knows there are enough about the Church!? And there are some great moral questions here about whether it’s right to kill some to save many etc…

"the team"

I can’t recommend You’ll want to watch all 6 episodes in one go (as I did) but most of all, you’ll want to find out just ‘Who is Mr Rabbit?’

"UTOPIA - nothing is safe"

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

ööööö - A stone cold classic thriller for our times

5 – it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you!!

"Anna Madeley"

Darkmatters Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (15)

Dir. Don Scardino

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

"Welcome to the amazing world of magic."

What happens when magicians lose their magic touch?

Is it better to burn out of fade away?

"The new magical super-hero team!"

Meet ‘The Incredible’ Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and his friend since childhood / partner in magic Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) – they are the most famous magicians in Las Vegas Strip – proffering old school magical illusions but little innovation. Things are going ok (apart from the fact that they are being driven apart by Burt’s ridiculous ego…

Everything changed when a new guerrilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) blasts onto the scene with outrageous body mutilation stunts that get him his own TV show and cult following…

Is this the end for Burt and Anton?

"I want you to check my magic balls"

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a fun film for sure, which will make you laugh out loud as well as tug on your heart-strings because it has a wonderful deeper undertow of emotional variance.

Worth a look for Carell and Carrey fans especially.


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

ööö1/2 - funny business that works well

3.5 – not a classic but good effort

Awesomeness ööö – Carrey rocks some awesome moments

Laughs öööö – yes a comedy that is actually funny

Horror ööö  – don't try this at home

Babes öööö – worth getting wild for Olivia Wilde

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - the power of magic

"Olivia Wilde - brings the looks"

"see my magic fan!?"

"Idiana's magical butt?"

Darkmatters Review: Jack The Giant Slayer

Jack The Giant Slayer (12)

Dir. Bryan Singer

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (also reviews for Luton News, Biggleswade Chronicle, Bedfordshire Citizen etc)

"Fee, fi, fo, fum…ask not whence the thunder comes, for between heaven and earth is a perilous place, home to a fearsome giant race, who hunger to conquer the mortals below, waiting for the seeds of revenge to grow...”

Got that? Yes, here comes another fairytale-em-up with a monstrous budget, heavy-duty special effects and a cool cast.

It’s time to face the threat of some seriously nasty giants who want to grind our bones to make their bread, with X-Men and Superman director Bryan Singer calling the shots.

In this retelling of the classic story, Jack (Nicholas ‘Warm Bodies’ Hoult) is a farm boy in the uncomplicated kingdom of Cloister. King Brahmwell (Ian McShane) rules the lands and life is generally good, but everyone lives with the fear that the giants of their legends might not actually be so mythical.

Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) gets into a spot of bother in a marketplace where Jack happens to be watching a troop of dramatic dwarves led by the excellent Warwick Davis retelling the giants myth in a vaudeville style.

"Royale Princess - wants to be Batman!?"

Jack stands up for the royal hottie and it becomes clear that these two are meant to be together. Alas, he is not of royal blood so can never be her beloved.

This doesn’t stop Jack getting his magic beans moist one rainy night when Isabelle seeks shelter at his farm and before you can say ‘Fee, fi, fo, fum’ a hulking CGI beanstalk has whisked the princess up to the kingdom of a race of giants led by the nasty two-headed Fallon (Bill Nighy).

Cue rescue attempt from a band of knights plus Jack who include the noble Elmont (Ewan McGregor), his man at arms Wicke (Ewan Bremner), and Sir Roderick (Stanley Tucci) who is Isabelle’s shifty betrothed who may have something sinister on his mind.

"Note the 'Gollum' like extra head!?"

The film shifts in to full on adventure mode with a winning mix of humour, derring do and a full scale giant assault which has shades of Lord Of The Rings or Narnia.

I went not expecting much, having been only mildly impressed with the big budget reboots of Snow White or Hansel and Gretel, but came away impressed because Jack The Giant Slayer is a decent family adventure that delivers more fun-per-moment than the recent Oz The Great & Powerful.

So even if you feel let down by other offerings in this genre, this is one fairy tale worth taking a look at on the big screen..


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

ööö1/2 - not the 'Fee Fi Foe Fumble' it could have been

3.5 – to be enjoyed by your inner 12 year old

Awesomeness ööö – battles especially are great

Laughs ööö – reasonably funny

Horror öö  – not too grim

Babes ööö – Eleanor Tomlinson gives good regal

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - believe in myths

"Eleanor Tomlinson - cute smile!"

Darkmatters Review: StarCraft 2 Heart of the Swarm

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

Developed by Blizzard

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

StarCraft II was a kind of big deal for Real-time Strategy Gamers the world over when StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty hit hit back in 2010. This was a major leap forward compared to the original StarCraft – everything was bigger, slicker and more engrossing. So when it was announced that the StarCraft II universe was going to be a trilogy of new games, gamers got excited to see where the series would go next…

Now Blizzard bring us Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm which builds on the great space warfare epic saga with the battling races including the Protoss - technologically advanced species with mental powers / weapons, the Terran - human exiles from Earth and the Zerg - a super-species of assimilated life forms with a hive-mind. These three distinct and powerful races now clash again in this fast-paced real-time strategy expansion.

Heart of the Swarm has a very different feel from Wings of Liberty – especially the single player campaign that tells the tale of Sarah Kerrigan (from the last game) who has become the ‘Queen of Blades’ who can control the Zerg through her thoughts. Hero of Wings of Liberty Jim Raynor is thrown into her path and sets out to free her from the testing lab where she is being held. But before this unlikely alliance can be agreed Dominion forces attack and they are separated again – the Dominion claiming that Raynor has been captured and executed.

"Get your hive mind on this scale!!"

Cue a frantic battle which sees Kerrigan regaining her Zerg form and using the hive army to bring revenege on the Dominion and all who stand in her way. The single player campaign is formed of nice bite sized missions, which are cleverly used to tell the story in chapters which allow for twists and turns to the plot.

If you’re a fan of StarCraft you’ll find yourself hooked in to the story which has gravitas in its own right but also set ups the final part of the trilogy: StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void which is planned.

Of course the single player campaign is only one element because Blizzard are one of the leading online multiplayer creators *cough* World of WarCraft and Diablo *cough* through Battle.net, which is one of the best online platforms to date. StarCraft II already has a vibrant online gaming scene and Heart of the Swarm brings a host of new features and units to the table. This is now pretty much the ultimate competitive real-time strategy online gaming with tightly balanced new units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race.

Yes it all looks great (if not massively better than the last entry) but the new units and cut scenes rock impressive graphics and depending on the horsepower of your PC or Mac there are lots of visual effects and flourishes to enjoy.

"Queen of Blades!?"

Another winning feature is the full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience.

There is so much here to make Heart of the Swarm a ‘must buy’ for any RTS game fans – don’t see it as a cash in extension, no, rather embrace your inner Zerg and enjoy a massively polished new chapter of one of the best games out there!

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

ööööö –  serious RTS space warfare perfection

 5 – Heavy duty fun, especially online!

"does my hive look big in this skin-tight outfit?"

"arrghh - she's real!?"

Darkmatters Review: Welcome To The Punch

Welcome To The Punch (15)

Dir. Eran Creevy

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“When you take him down… you take him down hard!”

Britain steps up to the world cinematic stage with this gorgeously shot, stunningly crafted crime tale that very firmly puts style over substance, and delivers a Heat-esq almost epic.

From the very first scene of London by night, you’re in for a jaw dropping high definition visual overload, the like of which has simply not been seen on screen – everything sparkles in a cold, crisp brilliance – and when the camera soars through the city streets, watching a heist getaway and ensuing chase sequence – you can feel every cinematic bone fibre of your body reacting to witnessing something a bit special.

"Don't call me Tumnus!"

James ‘The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’ McAvoy ditches his Narnia and brings his Sweeney as maverick but good cop Max. Max has a score to settle with criminal big-wig Sternwood (Mark Strong) who shot him in the leg during a high-stakes heist. But fate sees Max given the chance to potentially bring Sternwood down after his son is shot and is being treated in a London hospital. Will Sternwood bite on the bait of trying to free his son from a soft target location and might there be a bigger, nastier conspiracy going on behind the scenes?

The story about Max’s obsession with Sternwood is pure British Heat but alas Creevy hasn’t quite got the intricate plot and strong dialogue that Michael Mann had – so whilst Welcome To The Punch rocks visually and packs some great action, it doesn’t resonate at a level to make it a classic. I’m not dissing Brit director Creevy though as he deserves credit for pulling off such an accomplished film on a medium budget through some very high production values and a decent bunch of actors – all of which makes you feel like this could have been something really special if the dialogue and character development was better.

"not happy families"

The emotional pull / love interest is a weak point in Andrea Riseborough as Sarah, Max’s partner who isn’t given enough to do except ask dim questions that help fill in exposition about the gun-running / political plotline. Welcome To The Punch certainly references from the best with films like Infernal Affairs, Heat and last year’s Sweeney remake all prominent. This is a new breed of British crime thriller which moves the genre on from the ‘Guy Ritchie’ / Essex Boys years.

There are some really great scenes on offer though, my picks have to be the opening heist, a great nightclub shootout and an absolutely unforgettable living room nerve shredding stand off that all goes very wrong.


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

ööö1/2 - Heavy duty style, watchable lite-thrills

3.5 – Welcome To The Punch is definitely worth a look!

Awesomeness ööö – some great moments

Laughs öö – not very funny

Horror öö  – not too grim either

Babes öö – not much eye candy

Spiritual Enlightenment öö - punch your inner revenge temptation

"Andrea Riseborough"

God of War: Ascension - REVIEW

God of War: Ascension (PS3)

Developed by Sony Santa Monica

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Before he was a God, He was a Man…”

The ultimate bad-ass videogame character Kratos is back in God of War: Ascension to redefine the entire Hack N' Slash Action game genre!

Praise the Lord for PlayStation 3 which does deliver the most wonderful exclusive games and GOW:A is a stunning prequel to the popular God of War video game series.

This is the seventh God of War game and it brings serious vengeance in the form of muscle bound Kratos who is understandably miffed at the death of his wife and child… Seems he was tricked by Ares into murdering the only people he ever loved… Now you get to wreak bloodshed on an unprecedented level and none will stand before you – not even other PS3 players. Yes tGod of War: Ascension brings eight-player online multiplayer to the series and it’s absolutely wonderful!!

Ascension packs plenty of new gameplay mechanics to the single-player campaign including a refined ‘prompt-free’ button input system which makes the ‘minigame’ sections a whole lot better.

"Big guy in the back wants a word with you..."

I was a little dubious about the multiplayer section (the single player is every bit as slick and satisfying as God of War III – which was epic itself - totally epic). COD style building up your character through XP, trying and upgrading different weapons, armour, magical powers is freakin awesome and totally addictive!!

You get to align yourself to Zeus, Ares, Poseidon, or Hades and earn their favour to unlock new customization options for your multiplayer gladiator. It is the very definition of just want to get one more level / weapon / upgrade / magical item etc…

Packing delicious combat mechanics including a new ‘rage bar’, nicely balanced weapon selection – grapple is superbly refined too

Graphics are jaw dropping as is the accepted norm for this series and it really shows that the PS3 is still king of the current generation! The soundtrack is probably the best GOW game yet and for the dedicated single player fans you can replay the plot with a new game ‘plus’ option.

"Mmmmm - tempting"

If you’ve ever enjoyed a videogame – especially if you like Call of Duty online play (just with big-ass swords rather than guns) – this is a must buy… Kratos deserves your worship.

Oh and by investing in this – you get early access to the amazing look ‘The Last of Us’ thrown in for free!?


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

ööööö –  stunning and impressive, a superb package on every level

 5 – This is a god you need in your videogame life!! 

I. AM. KRATOS... well, sort of...