Wanted
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann
Rated: 18 (UK) / R (US)
Release Date: June 27, 2008

There are a few words I flat out cannot use to describe this movie: subtle, conservative, reserved, delicate”¦ this is the kind of terminology you use to describe the bouquet of a fine wine. However, words I can use include funny, thrilling, insane, awesome, loud, brash”¦ I could go on”¦ but then I’d have to start checking out thesaurus definitions of “bonkers.”

Wanted is the U.S. debut movie by Night Watch and Day Watch director Timur Bekmambetov, based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones. Just to clarify, I know nothing of the reference material (yet”¦ I’m going to buy the book now though), but in case you’re worried about how faithful the movie is to its origins, have a read of this recent interview with Millar, and set your mind at ease.

The movie introduces us to Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a mild-mannered office worker that’s scared of his boss, and doesn’t even do anything about the fact that his “best friend” is screwing around with his girlfriend.

This all changes in spectacular fashion when he’s caught up in a gunfight with the mysterious “Fox” played by Angelina Jolie. As it turns out, Wesley is the son of “one of the greatest assassins who ever lived” and finds out that he is one of the few people in the world that can make his heart beat at 400bpm, allowing him to be faster, stronger, and generally badass. This is just the main premise however, as the “Fraternity” recruit Wes to hunt down a rogue agent intent on bringing down the organisation, headed by the benevolent Sloan played by Morgan Freeman.

Guinness World Records
Gamer’s Edition 2008
Editor-in-Chief: Craig Glenday
Guinness World Records Limited
Cover price: $19.95; Available now

With the recent record-breaking feats of Grand Theft Auto IV, I was made aware of the existence of a gaming edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, and happily given the opportunity to review it — I say happily because I do actually have a wry grin on my face while I flick through it at this very moment.

After overdosing on GTA IV and developing calluses on my thumbs, I decided to relax and flick through this book — and for my friends and I (all gaming geeks I might add), Guinness World Records – Gamer’s Edition 2008 is the ideal coffee table book and has seen regular use whenever we’re hanging out.

The first thing that immediately strikes you about the latest Guinness book is that it’s definitely not dull, with a big emphasis on visual input and an eye-catching design — the cover being an almost luminescent shiny green, and the colour-coded category layout and (roughly) 20% of each page comprising of images.

Dark Sector (Xbox 360)
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature
Developer: Digital Extremes/D3 Publisher
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Price: $59.99 Released: March 25, 2008

Do you by any chance remember the 80’s movie Krull? You know the one — the prince goes to save the princess (and the world) with the aid of flying horses, a Cyclops, and Liam Neeson? Ok now have you ever wondered what a game of it would be like if there was more gore, guns, telekinesis, and game dynamics ripped from Gears of War? Well now you don’t have to.

Dark Sector is a fairly new release from the same developer as DS and Xbox Live hit Puzzle Quest, Infinite Interactive, in what appears to be the studio’s first crack at the adult gamer market, and they’re not doing too badly it seems”¦ and to be fair if you’re going to emulate a game, Gears of War is a great choice.

The game follows the story of angst-ridden emo Hayden Tenno (voiced by Michael Rosenbaum – Smallville‘s Lex Luthor) who suffers from congenital analgia — a condition that does not allow him to feel pain. He is employed by the CIA as a “cleaner” and is sent on a mission where he gets infected with a biological weapon — this mutates his right arm covering it in a H.R. Geiger-esque metallic substance which enables him to grow a three-bladed glaive weapon at will, among other things.

“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?”

You step through the ancient tomb slowly but surely, making sure not to step on a single crack — you’re being careful not to set off the inevitable slew of booby traps as you make your way towards the plinth sporting the Aztec-like idol. As you get close you prepare a bag of sand purposefully weighted to match the idol, although you remove a handful as you get a closer inspection of the relic.

As you gingerly move the idol, you slip the bag of sand in its place quickly, bracing yourself for the imminent death trap”¦ that doesn’t come. You give a wry smile as you turn around and swagger out of the room, until the sound of the grinding stone trap mechanism quickly wipes the smirk off your face, and the sandbag recedes into the pedestal. Uh-oh.

Yeap! Dust off that bullwhip and leather jacket”¦ because Indy is back!

The LEGO series of video games for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii have done extremely well so far with the LEGO Star Wars series. The perfect blend of action, puzzles, and humour made sure they were a hit with all age groups, as well as adding enough in-jokes into the games to make movie geeks chuckle with glee.

And this is what will make LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures a hit — the series already being family-orientated, action-packed, and genuinely funny throughout, a LEGO outing on all major consoles is marketing genius.

It would seem that Niko Bellic’s car-stealing, carnage-creating antics have resulted in the book being thrown at him — that book being the Guinness Book of World Records, with Grand Theft Auto IV stealing not one, but three records in the process!

Grand Theft Auto IV was released on April 29, 2008 for XBox 360 and PS3 and has since gone on to break the following three records:

– Biggest Entertainment Release of All-Time
– Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours
– Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours

These three records can be added to another for GTA IV, which holds the accolade of being the most expensive game ever developed (a reported cost of US $100 million). The game took over three and a half years to create, with a development crew of over a thousand… I’m sure Rockstar will agree — money very well spent.