Spoiler Advisory: Due to the nature of this novel, which is part of a series it is possible that minor or moderate spoilers might be mentioned. Please read this review at your own caution. Thank you.

Summary:

From the scribe of the awesome ‘Nagash The Sorcerer’ and ‘Malus Darkblade’, author Mike Lee this year delivers his first Horus Heresy novel and sequal to ‘Descent Of Angels’.

As news of Horus’s treachery spreads, the Great Crusade grinds to a halt as the primarchs and their Legions decide where their loyalty lies – with the Emperor, or the rebel Warmaster Horus. In this sequel to Descent of Angels, the Dark Angels too face a time of testing.

Arriving in the Tanagra system, Lion El’Jonson and a force of Dark Angels set about defending the system’s main forge world which is key to the Warmaster’s plans to overthrow the Emperor.

Meanwhile, on their homeworld Caliban, Luther and the rest of the Legion feel abandoned by their primarch. Civil war erupts as the planet strives to break from Imperial rule, and the Dark Angel Space Marines are thrown into a deadly conflict where all that they know and trust is thrown into doubt.

Read Preview: Fallen Angels PDF. Extract

Character Development:

Lion El’ Johnson, Primarch of the Dark Angels Space Marines Legion, Johnson’s true allegiance is shown as we finally learn of his true ambitions and motives.

Luther, Master of Caliban, the onetime mentor and best friend of Lion El’ Johnson has become full of resentment and grief due to having been “betrayed’ by the Lion himself. During his “exile” on Caliban, he has become gradually more in doubt of his allegiances and reserved, keeping himself in self-isolation, consorting with texts that should have been left unread.

Brother-Redemptor Nemiel, the once brash and near-mutinous young knight has now become a fully pledged battle-brother and Chaplain of the Dark Angels under the Primarch’s command.

Brother-Librarian Zahariel, slayer of the last of the Calibanite lions, having now achieved the rank of Librarian and become majordomo to Luther himself, just like the many Dark Angels on Caliban, Zahariel too is growing increasingly dubious of his allegiances and questioning his Primarch’s motives.

The Bottom Line:

The prologue chapter continues exactly after where Descent Of Angels finishes off and jumps 53 years later into the Great Crusade. Author Mike Lee gives light to many previously un-answered questions regarding the division between Lion El’ Johnson and Luther respectively and the reasons for the eventual birth of the Fallen Angels and Caliban’s destruction. Despite Mike Lee’s above average writing skills, Warhammer 40,000 fans will surely notice that at certain moments the Space Marines’ behaviour was unusual. Specifically during page 188, where we see Dark Angels literally jumping at shadows. Space Marines’ mental conditioning makes them immune to fear and will never jump at shadows. They will act cautious in enemy territory but will never be on edge. That being said, Fallen Angels is a great addition to the Horus Heresy series and breathes new life in the history of the Dark Angels.

Score: 7 out of 10

For Fans Of: Space Marines, Sci-Fi Military Action, and Starwars.

Note Of Interest: Fallen Angels and other professional collectibles can be purchased from Maltacomics, Sliema at competitive prices.

Spoiler Advisory: Due to the nature of this novel, which is part of a series it is possible that minor or moderate spoilers might be mentioned. Please read this review at your own caution. Thank you.

Summary:

Fantasy author Richard A. Knaak (Dragonlance, World Of Warcraft, Diablo) returns to the Warcraft fantasy universe and delivers the much awaited sequal to his Warcraft novel debut ‘Day of the Dragon’

Krasus — known to some as the red dragon Korialstrasz — senses the malice of Grim Batol rising once more to threaten those he holds dear. Determined this time to confront this evil by himself, he is unaware of the quests that will draw others to Grim Batol and reveal the monstrous truth that could not only herald their deaths, but usher in a terrible new age of darkness and destruction.

Read Preview: Night of the Dragon Extract

Character Development:

Krasus\Korialstrasz, the ancient and powerful dragon of the red dragonflight, returns and his love for all things living is as strong as ever. That being said, there were many a time where he acted somewhat unwise. One would almost say he took things for granted and this feels wrong due to the fact that the great red dragon was always one of the wiser characters.

Kalec\Kalecgos, the young dragon of the blue dragonflight and fresh from the loss of his love, has become brooding and depressed. Kalecgos’ is not only upset by losing Anveena but also by his lord Malygos’ more recent stance on mortals and their handling of magic, one he disagrees with. Thus adding further insult to injury and fueling his now more rebellious attitude. Author Knaak clearly portrays this appropriately in the conversations shared by Kalecgos and Korialstrasz and during scenes where both Dragons have to work together. Kalecgos, more often than not, acts begrudgingly in assisting Korialstrasz.

Iridi, a Draenei priestess, is definitely the best written character throughout the whole book. Richard A. Knaak shows us that all bets are off with this priestess as she surprises the readers constantly with her unorthodox abilities and character defining moments.

Rhonin, Human husband of Vereesa Windrunner and once mage student of Krasus, has now become the leader of the Kirin Tor and the father of two half-elf twins.  The addition of Rhonin in the novel mostly felt as an unnecessary accessory and was basically there to try and please “Day of the Dragon” fans.

Vereesa Windrunner, Elven spouse to Rhonin Draig’cyfail, has now become Ranger General of the Silver Covenant. That being said, since the birth of her children, Vereesa has become rather complacent in her duties as she grew to enjoy the family life and reveled in her children. That soon changed as her children became endangered and she instantly reverted back to her Ranger ways, setting off to hunt the new danger that has threatened her family.

Zendarin Windrunner, an ambitious Blood Elf mage, unfortunately for Zendarin his ambition to gain more magical power was equal to an addiction of cocaine. A very two-dimensional character which could have been so much more especially when considering the famed bloodline he comes from.

The Bottom Line:

The much awaited sequal to the hugely successful and positively reviewed “Day of the Dragon” turned out to be quite the disappointment and is by far the weakest novel in the Warcraft franchise. Night of the Dragon’s story is your typical (and quite boring) good versus evil classic scenario and barely adds to the general storyline of the franchise.

The only reason to read this novel is if you’re a Warcraft fan and would like to know the current affairs of the black dragonflight in the present timeline of the Warcraft universe.

Score: 5.7 out of 10

For Fans Of: Warhammer Fantasy, Dragons, Forgotten Realms

Note Of Interest: Warcraft toy figures and other professional collectibles can be purchased from Maltacomics, Sliema at competitive prices.

Summary:

Young film director, Mcg (We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle), delivers the much awaited sequal to 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and provides us with one of summer’s bigger movies and the best film in the director’s catalogue to date.

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale) is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row during 2003. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

Visuals:

The film paints an excellent portrait of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles using multiple hues of grey and brown. Providing a realistic setting of bleakness and dirtiness that a nuclear ruined wasteland demands.

CGI effects and quality are far from mediocre. With the combined effort of over 250 Visual & Special FX specialists using software developed by none other than Industrial Light & Magic, their efforts worthy on par with recent CGI glory films such as Michael Bay’s Transformers, if not better.

Sound:

As with most modern movies, it is near to impossible for a movie to portray a lesser sound quality with today’s technology let alone a Halcyon Company produced movie. This film comes with a solid Dolby Digital, SDDS and DTS fueled sound mix, but unfortunately the soundtrack of the movie fails to pull through.

Veteran composer Danny Elfman (Batman Returns, Wanted, The Kingdom, Spiderman 3), definitely has his moments but Terminator Salvation isn’t one of them. Salvation’s score lacks the punch and feel that the soundtracks of the first 3 movies have. That being said, Danny Elfman manages to redeem himself somewhat towards the end of the movie particularly the songs composed for the factory scene and epilogue.

The Bottom Line:

This picture is by far Mcg’s best work to date and a superior sequal to the much ill-received Terminator 3. Boasting a solid cast of well known names such as Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood and Michael Ironside but special mention must go to Aussie new-comer Sam Worthington. Sam’s astounding performance surprised most by outshining Bale for more than the better half of the movie and now, more than ever, cinema fans can’t wait to watch Worthington’s next major role in James Cameron’s Avatar.

The movie’s plot is the next logical step in the overall Terminator storyline and will surprise many a fan with a shocking revelation towards the end. Add dozens of well-shot action scenes, a strong cast and one of the best cameo appearances in film history and you’ve got yourself a winner. Terminator Salvation is one of this summer’s better flicks and a movie not be missed.

Score: 6.5/10

For Fans Of: Transformers, I, Robot, The Matrix

Note Of Interest: Terminator Salvation toy figures and other professional collectibles can be purchased from Maltacomics, Sliema at competitive prices.

Summary:

Director Ron Howard (Cinderella Man, Frost Nixon) returns in full-force with the eagerly awaited and much-less controversial sequal to 2006’s Da Vinci Code.

Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and The Terminal) once again reprises the role of Dan Brown’s signature fiction character, Dr. Langdon, professor of Religious Iconography and Symbology at Harvard University.

Despite his notorious relationship with the Church, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to Rome to decipher the clues to a catastrophic conspiracy. The Pope has died, and before conclave can begin to determine his successor, the four preferitti (primary hopefuls for the papacy) are kidnapped. An ominous threat of their hourly demise, along with the complete annihilation of Vatican City, is issued as an elaborate revenge scheme for a persecuted group known as the Illuminati. With their meager time limit steadily counting down, Langdon, accompanied by beautiful physicist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), must travel throughout Rome to unravel the carefully hidden signs that will lead them to a terrifying adversary, a harrowing discovery, and the shocking truth

Visuals:

Atoning for The Da Vinci Code’s cardinal sin – thou shalt not be visually boring – thy sequal amends this. With dozens of beautiful aerial shots, the well-shot ‘God Particle Creation’ CGI scene and an explosive finale in a scene that will be studied by CGI FX admirers for months to come. A Visual Effects team of over 200 staff were employed for this movie and it clearly shows that their work wasn’t for naught.

Sound:

As with most modern movies, it is near to impossible for a movie to portray a lesser sound quality with today’s technology let alone a Sony Pictures Produced movie. This film comes with a solid Dolby Digital, SDDS and DTS fueled sound mix, while special mention definitely goes to the soundtrack of the movie.

Long time composer Hans Zimmer (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai, POTC: Dead Man’s Chest) returns once again to compose the score for the second Dan Brown novel based movie but where he failed to deliver a dynamic and epic soundtrack for the first movie he redeems himself astoundingly for Angels and Demons. This film’s score delivers all that was missing in the soundtrack of its predecessor and much more. Expert violinist, Joshua Bell (Defiance) also contributes to an already impressive soundtrack and performs many of the violin solos found on the score.

Memorable tracks include: ‘160 BPM’, ‘God Particle’ and ‘503’.

The Bottom Line:

A far superior flick to The Da Vinci Code, that being said, the story of Angels and Demons is less interesting. This film’s plot is more of a cat and mouse suspense thriller, where the mouse is always a step ahead from the cat and the true mastermind is hiding behind closed curtains. Gone are the numerous anagrams and symbology moments that made its predecessor the more interesting conspiracy story and providing much food for thought for the film’s spectators.

Despite this, Angels and Demons is a far more mature movie, has a stronger cast of actors and is definitely more entertaining and will be appreciated more by the masses and Dan Brown fans.

Score: 6.5/10

For Fans Of: Suspense Thrillers, Religion Vs. Science Arguments, Conspiracy Theories.

Summary:

When Horus the Warmaster rebelled against the Emperor, the ensuing civil war nearly destroyed the Imperium. War raged across the galaxy, pitting Space Marines against their battle–brothers in a struggle where death was the only victor.

The best-selling Horus Heresy series returns to us with its 10^th novel. Unexpectedly it isn’t a full-blown novel but rather an anthology of short stories set during the Horus Heresy time arc and written by some of the better authors Black Library has under commission.

Since all of the stories are independent, I will review and break down each story independently as well.

Read Preview: Tales of Heresy PDF. Extract

Blood Games by Dan Abnett (Gaunt’s Ghosts, Titanicus, Legion)

The story takes place shortly after ‘The Flight Of The Eisenstein’. Word of Horus’ treachery has finally reached the Emperor and Terra is being made ready for the forthcoming civil war.

Dan Abnett starts the story with a hunter on a mission, whose goal lies in the Emperor’s Palace. Over the course of several weeks he strides towards his objective, using stealth, taking on various identities, using unconventional methods and outdistancing his pursuers. Will the hunter succeed?

Finally the much loved and equally mysterious Adeptus Custodes get some story time. Dan Abnett artistically portrays the Emperor’s Custodians satisfyingly and adds a bit of shine to them, taking some of their mystery away.

Towards the end of the story it feels like some scenes were cut out in order to stick to a word limit, making it somewhat difficult to follow the plot. In spite of this it is a fine story overall with a few wicked twists.

Wolf At The Door by Mike Lee (Nagash The Sorcerer, Malus Darkblade, Fallen Angels)

Finally we get to see Black Library Veteran Mike Lee joining the Heresy crew and weaves a short story about hypocrisy and tyranny.

Having just brought the planetary system in compliance with the Imperium, Wolf Lord Bulveye and his 13^th company Space Wolves receive orders to muster with the rest of their legion to travel to Prospero. However, Bulveye and his marines discover a human colony on a nearby world and attempt to make contact.

It was good to “see” Space Marines using unconventional tactics and covered in mud. Lee gets the Wolves fighting hit and run battles and shows that even the famed super human strength of the Astartes is breakable. We also get to see a well known Xenos race play a major role.

Scions Of The Storm by Anthony Reynolds (Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple)

The story takes place straight after the time Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers Space Marine Legion, spent a month in self-isolation brooding over the Emperor’s reproach.

Anthony Reynolds continues to deliver us more Word Bearers goodness, by delivering a solid tale regarding the corruption of the Primarch Lorgar and his marines.

You really get to feel the depth of emotion and a sense of dread from the actions and reactions of Lorgar and those around him. This is a tragic example of how the best of intentions can transform into twisted results of the exact opposite.  Reynolds also portrays the Word Bearers in a much better way than ‘Battle For The Abyss’ did and some well-known characters appear throughout the tale.

A solid read that is somewhat spoilt by being slightly overbalanced in terms of the combat passages. There were other elements that could have used further investigation.

The Voice by James Swallow (Flight Of The Eisenstein, Red Fury)

James’ tale is set shortly after ‘The Flight Of The Eisenstein’ and revisits the Sisters of Silence ordo.

The Black Ship Validus is stranded in the warp and a second ship is sent to investigate the derelict spacecraft.

Fans of ‘haunted ship’ stories should feel right at home with The Voice as the creepy atmosphere sparkles.  James Swallow elaborates more on the Sisters of Silence and the Pariah Gene.

The author delivers quite an interesting tale with an impressive ending but the story feels out of place as it doesn’t shed light on anything directly related to The Horus.

Call Of The Lion by Gav Thorpe (Angels Of Darkness, Malekith)

Gav Thorpe, author of the all-time classic ‘Angels of Darkness’, brings a well-known Space Marine to the Horus Heresy series even though the story is set during a time well before the Civil War struck.

The main plot throughout the story is Astelan’s disagreements with the newly appointed Chapter Commander Belath. Astelan is a Terran born marine and Belath is a marine, native to Caliban. Gav Thorpe further delves into the differences and incompatibilities between the Terran born and Calibinate Dark Angels.

The story suffers from the same affliction of James Swallow’s ‘The Voice’. Despite being a somewhat entertaining tale, it doesn’t shed any light whatsoever on anything directly related to the Horus Heresy. The story felt more like a small tribute and nod of respect towards ‘Angels of Darkness’.

The Last Church by Graham Mcneil (Fulgrim, Heldenhammer, Warriors Of Ultramar, I, Mengsk)

The Last Church is set before the 31^st millennium, a time where the Unification Wars were taking place on Terra and where religion was being replaced by scientific thinking and facts.

Black Library Veteran, Graham Mcneil returns with another stunning Horus Heresy tale (Is there no stopping him?). Uriah, a terran priest, debates his faith with a stranger who goes by the name of Revelation.

Throughout the whole short story, you can’t help but sympathize for Uriah Olathaire and the power expressed within this tale.

The Last Church is definitely the anthology’s magnum opus as no fault can be found with the tale and the reader will be left with a dire need to read more fascinating 40K stories that only contain dialogue. Mcneil clearly portrays that the Warhammer 40K universe is still a rich and entertaining world without depicting a single round bolter shot.

After Desh’ea by Matthew Farrer (Crossfire, Junktion)

Matthew Farrer’s short story is set shortly after Angron’s abduction by the Emperor. Angron is enraged beyond extreme: he has been named Primarch, and his home planet Desh’ea has been conquered, in the course of which his own “brothers” and comrades have been butchered. Khârn, Captain of the 8^th Assault Company, dares his Primarchs’s rage in an attempt to reason with him.

Matthew Farrer paints us a good portrait of the Primarch Angron. Grief filled and resentful, Angron is lashing out and killing all that comes within his rage. At times, he’s too Hulk like which is a pity as Angron is far from that but all in all still a worthy representation of the World Eater’s Primarch. The story also sheds light on how Khârn later becomes his master’s equerry and how the name of Angron’s Space Marines Legion came into existence.

The Bottom Line:

Just like most short story anthologies, Tales Of Heresy has its faults but in the long run it is still a worthy addition to the Horus Heresy series.  Kudos goes out Graham Mcneil, Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. Their stories deserve special mention.

Score: 7/10

For Fans Of: Space Marines, Sci-Fi Military Action, Religion Vs. Science Arguments and Anti-heroes.

Spoiler Advisory: Due to the nature of this novel, which is part of a series it is possible that minor or moderate spoilers might be mentioned. Please read this review at your own caution. Thank you.

Summary:

From the author of the awesome ‘Galaxy In Flames’, Ben Counter returns with the fifth book in the Soul Drinkers series. Soul Drinkers are a Space Marines Chapter once loyal to the Imperium but have been betrayed by factions they once fought to protect and declared as heretics! In reality, none are more loyal to the Emperor of Mankind than the Soul Drinkers.

Hellforged begins with an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet investigating an unmapped veiled region of space, stumbling upon the Soul Drinkers’ vessel and a destructive aerial conflict between the two.

The wounded Soul Drinkers warp out of the space battle, going deeper into the region only to be followed shortly after by the Mechanicus’ fleet. Then we watch both parties as their vessels warp smack dap right in the middle of a Necron Invasion!

Read Preview: http://www.blacklibrary.com/pdf/hellforged.pdf

Character Development:

Chapter Master-Librarian Sarpedon is as two-dimensional as ever and more often than not we see the lesser ranking Soul Drinkers being the more interesting Astartes (Captain Luko, Techmarine Lygris, Apothecary Pallas come to mind). That being said Sarpedon still has his moments, albeit a few.

Chaplain Iktinos is still hiding his true motives and his relation to the Black Chalice but it’s with great regret that I admit that, author Ben Counter doesn’t continue this plot point throughout the whole book. There’s only a mere mention of Iktinos’ ties with his unidentified master and nothing more. Soul Drinker readers who wanted to know more about the Chaplain’s hidden agendas and the Soul Drinkers’ relation to the equally mysterious Black Chalice shall be greatly disappointed. It was the best story element since the fourth novel of the series ‘Chapter War’, and many expected that more would be revealed in Hellforged.

The Bottom Line:

Ben Counter delivers yet again a well-descriptive, fast-paced action but a surprisingly largely unintelligent Soul Drinkers novel.  If it weren’t for the very unexpected ending, Hellforged wouldn’t have continued the Space Marine Renegades’ story whatsoever, though the epilogue constructs the first stepping stones that lead to the Soul Drinkers eventual demise or redemption. Let us just hope Mr. Counter pulls off a better  6^th and final novel of the series (TBA 2011+).

Score: 4.5/10

For Fans Of: Space Marines, Terminator, Sci-Fi Military Action, and Anti-heroes.

Summary:

In the grim medieval fantasy of Warhammer, the Templars of Sigmar are feared above all others. These near tyrannical agents are tasked with hunting out evil throughout the Empire, using whatever means they find necessary in order to destroy those foolish or ignorant enough to ally with the Dark Powers.

Long-time Black Library author C.L. Werner exploits the subject to the fullest and provides us with a solid read of a Witch Hunter’s career through the eyes of Mathias Thulmann, counted amongst the most zealous and persevering Sigmarite Templars.

The Witch Hunter’s omnibus comes in a whopping 761 pages and opens up with an Author’s Note and continues providing the reader with 3 short stories and 3 full blown novels which are all inter-linked and arranged in chronological order.

Mathias Thulmann and his shady mercenary companion Streng are sent to investigate murders in a remote community, where they uncover the bizarre killings of a brutal serial killer whose identity will eventually lead to a difficult journey to uncover the dark grimoire ‘Das Buch Die Unholden’.

Quite a few plot strings are tied together from one story to the next as all the protagonists and antagonists seem to be on the prowl for this evil spellbook in one way or another, thereby establishing the story’s main theme. Due to this, all the stories link to one another flawlessly, which creates a completely seamless omnibus.

Read Preview: http://www.blacklibrary.com/pdf/mathias-thulmann.pdf

Character Development:

Thulmann starts out as your typical fantasy action hero, cold two-dimensional individual, smiting evil wherever he goes and always ready with a smart catchphrase. Throughout the book our protagonist starts sharing his thoughts with the reader which breathes life to the character as we learn about his thoughts and moral values and his doubts regarding the methods used by other Templars of Sigmar. He also sheds light upon dark events in his past and his family, shows that even the unlikeliest of protagonists could grow into a well written and more vivid character as the reader sympathizes more with Thulmann as the story progresses.

Streng, the mercenary sidekick doesn’t develop further than being a dirty drinker, hits on women, enjoys torture and has his own special view of “honour”. He’s mostly in it for the gold crowns and little else.  But you can bet your money that this is the point of the character as he fits brilliantly into the Warhammer Fantasy’s dark world view. That being said, I found it ironic that one of the minor antagonists, whose name I won’t divulge to avoid spoilers, is more fleshed-out than Streng throughout the series of stories.

The Bottom Line:

Part Dark Fantasy Action and part Detective Story, the Mathias Thulmann series provides enjoyable fantasy action with moderate intelligence. Special mention must go to the character Ehrhardt, a Black Guard of Morr, who assists Mathias Thulmann in retributing the enemies of the Empire with a large Zweihander sword. Fans of Final Fantasy’s Sephiroth or Devil May Cry’s Vergil should feel right at home with his two-handed sword strokes and bad ass moments.

Score: 7/10

For Fans Of: Eisenhorn/Ravenor, Anne Rice, Monster Slayers and Buffy if she had male genitals.

Summary:

After 3 decades of slashing through comics, issue after issue, the celebrated Marvel Comics’ character finally gets his own flick as we once again watch Hugh Jackman reprise his signature role in the explosive flick X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The movie starts with half-brothers Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) & Victor/Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber) fighting through the ages in one of the most beautiful and well-shot opening scenes ever to grace our screens. It depicts both characters’ early careers, taking part in no less than four major wars. Watching Sabertooth running on all fours & leaping on a Nazi Pillbox killing all inside sent shivers down my pants.

Flash forward 25 years later, towards the end of the Vietnam War, we see our peculiar soldiers briefly imprisoned due to insubordination and given a way out of jail by Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston).

Stryker recruits Logan and Victor to serve in his Weapon X team, a top-secret black ops unit consisting of mutants Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), teleporter John Wraith (Rapper Will.i.am), technopath Chris Bradley/Bolt (Dominic Monaghan), gun-totting David North/Agent Zero (Daniel Henney) and Fred Dukes, who will later evolve into The Blob (Kevin Durand).

When the team’s activities become too extreme and morally dubious for Logan, he quits the team, a move that ticks off his brother everlastingly. 6 years later we see Logan living in rustic serenity with his beautiful girlfriend Kayla Silverfox in Canada, where he makes an honest living working as a lumberjack.

When former Team X members start getting executed, Colonel Stryker tracks down Logan to warn him. But things are much more than they seem and Wolverine is brought back into the fold.

Visuals:

The action scenes in the movie were terrific and well-designed. The scenes in which Deadpool & Gambit star in were definitely some of the better points but the chase & finale against Weapon XI were some of the greatest action sequences to grace cinema screens in recent years and will be talked about, amongst fans of the genre, for months to come.

Visual and special FX were done by several high class FX vendors, further emphasising on the fact that if you want to at least try to impress the masses you need a collaboration between several FX and CGI specialists to provide a solid standard.

Sound:

As with most modern movies, it is near to impossible for a movie to portray a lesser sound quality with today’s technology let alone a Fox Produced movie. This film comes with a solid Dolby fueled sound mix, while special mention goes to the soundtrack of the movie.

The music was composed by none other than film soundtrack pioneer Harry-Gregson Williams (Kingdom Of Heaven, Man on Fire, Metal Gear Solid). Wolverine bestows some of the better songs ever written by this long time composer and fits admirably with the film’s themes and scenes.  Memorable tracks include: ‘Logan through time’, ‘Wade goes to work’, ‘Agent Zero comes for Logan’ and ‘Deadpool’.

The Bottom Line:

Despite the numerous harsh reviews this movie gained and the few plot holes the script has which definitely didn’t work well with the X-Men comic purists, I still think this is the best X-Men film representation yet. The scenes which involved Deadpool and Gambit were potentially show-stealers despite being short on camera time, the film’s different but more realistic approach to Wolverine’s accident which lead to his amnesia and the few plot twists which really shone towards the end. I believe Wolverine is one of the better flicks to be released in 2009.

Score: 7.5/10

For Fans Of: X-Men trilogy, Hugh Jackman and comic book based movies.

Summary:

Russian-born director Timur Bekmambetov, the visionary force behind Night Watch and Wanted, returns with the explosive sequal to 2004’s cult hit.

Nightwatch agent Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) continues his efforts against Zavulon (Viktor Verzhbitsky), the dark lord of the Daywatch, who has taken Anton’s son Yegor under his wing in order to reinforce his advantage in the uneasy truce between the factions. Desperate to get his son back, Anton searches for the fabled Chalk of Fate, a mystical item that can change the past of whoever wields it but Anton’s mission complicates when he is framed for murder of a Dark Other – an act which could break the truce – just the excuse Zavulon needs to fulfill his ambitions and schemes to use Anton’s alienated son to re-ignite the centuries old war.

Visuals:

The Bluray version of the movie offers 1080P HD resolution and the production team made it a point to make this is one of the better benchmarks to watch Bluray quality at its very best. Having clearly been influenced by the big budget movies of Michael Bay (Transformers, The Rock, The Island) and the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix, V For Vendetta), Bekmambetov knows that sometimes you need to take things over-the top to capture the interests of the masses and he has does this via several set pieces and jaw-dropping action scenes that have to be seen to be believed. Roughly 20 visual effects vendors were utilized for the 800 shots using visual effects. It took about a year to complete the visual effects and Daywatch amazingly shows that it was a year well spent. Starting from the extensive cinematography used for the scenes depicting Tamerlane’s campaign in 1300s Central Asia and ending with the glorious money shot where Bekmambetov literally razes Moscow in a scene that will be studied by CGI FX admirers for years to come.

Sound:

The Bluray version of Daywatch features 5 audio tracks; English, French, German & Russian all powered by Dolby DTS sound (the audio technology used in most mainstream DVDs) but the crème de le crème is found in the original Russian audio track fueled by Dolby’s Lossless True HD technology, offering bit-for-bit of uncompressed sound reproduction identical to the studio master thus providing a tour de force of audiophile heaven. Sound quality doesn’t get any better than this. I mean it.

Yuri Poteyenko provides the movie with an energetic soundtrack that incorporates dozens of solid pieces from the industrial music genre which blends in well with the film’s mythos and small touches of present day cyberpunk influences.

The Bottom Line:

Despite the interesting plot points and intriguing script, there were times where the story lost direction and it is imperative that one must watch Night Watch before as a lot of terminology regarding the mythos isn’t explained in the sequal thus making less sense to first time viewers of the Day Watch. That aside, it is a far more visually stimulating and a mature piece than its predecessor which makes it difficult not to be impressed by Bekmambetov’s Day Watch.

Score: 7.5/10

For Fans Of: Night Watch, The Matrix, Mature Fans of Harry Potter