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As a sequel, it surpasses its predecessor in every way. As a video game, it surpasses the very boundaries people thought allowable, and possible. The photorealistic effects, ingenious use of lighting and incredible colour palette mixed with a thumping and brooding soundtrack (Poets of the Fall) create the world of Max Payne. It is slick but incredibly violent and woven extremely taught; the love affair between Mona and Max if anything is simply beautifully told; and the storyline itself is conceptually impressive. Max Payne 2 is a game for mature players: and it will take multiple replays to fully understand the achievement set down by Rockstar and Take 2.

Spielberg and Cruise have a passion for movies. This is the first hurdle many critics fall at, and whilst this is an adaptation it is also a popcorn sales catalyst. Plot holes and mistakes so obvious to even the 12A kiddie audience seem justified by big bangs, thrills, spills, shocks, knocks, and aliens. Big. Aliens. It's true that the movie can be seen in three different parts, the first being a quick build up and focus on naturalistic abnormalities as the first Lightning and Bangs strike. The second and for the majority of the film a 'saving private Ryan' camera style as the Ferriers escape invading Alien tripods; forget the highbrowed crassness of Independence Day this is brutal realism and 'dead eye' surrealism working in a graceful harmony in some sort of sick and twisted kind of Goethian Nightmare. It surprises any expectations of the level of violence within its 12a context; some moments are genuinely scary, or at the least, heart pounding. Cruise then flicks into stand alone Heroic Cliché mode with the third and final stage; which seems abrupt, pointless, and shockingly deadpanned;though some literary purists might argue it is Faithful to Well's novel this is a movie which, despite its adaptation tag; is still a Spielberg and Cruise movie from which we would demand more and some serious anarchical ending working into the vibes that might echo a 21st Century Kubrick for example; with so much initial horse power behind it this movie falls at the last hurdle, throwing the audience off with a violent jerk of the director's wrist. Hell, it coulda had class, it coulda been a contender, it coulda been something. To all intents and purposes still an exceedingly good slice of Hollywood high powered product entertainment running a refreshingly different race from other 90's disaster movies. Worth the ticket price? Well's worth it. **** a- 88% 8.5/10

I owned 47 DVD's. What i needed to make number 48 was something truly exceptional; Hero was exactly that.

With respect, nothing in this Earth is perfect; 9.999 is about as close a rank i can give Hero. What i thought would be a re-run of 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' turned out to be an unbelievable experience that has raised the bar clean out of sight. A nameless warrior (Jet Li) is given time alone with the Great King to recount how he killed the three most deadly assassins in the land: Sky, Broken Sword and Flying Snow. With each story told the entire movie expands and contracts as multiple events eventually come together by the end, and what happens in between will break your imagination. The cinematography is something that inspires and amazes; you find yourself in awe that such beauty could be created on screen; the fights are expertly choreographed, directed and edited; the high wire methods allow for some of the worlds best fight scenes ever committed to screen. The movie creates it's own myth; shrouded in an invisible sheen of the stuff of legends. Some of the major army battle scenes force the viewer to go temporarily numb (Sky and Flying Snow take on the 3000 bodyguards as they launch their assault on the King's fortress/ the hundred thousand arrows ripping into a small calligraphy school as Li and Flying Snow try their best to shield Sky) What you see here is something you will find yourself watching over and over again, seizing the same amount of emotion that you did the first time, because no matter what, a Hero's spirit never dies.

9.9/10 ***** A* Buy the DVD and experience true brilliance.