I recently signed up for the Amazon.co.uk rental service after seeing that it allows you to rent box sets as well as regular new releases. You get six DVD’s a month and for my first 6 I choose to rent the complete first series of crime drama The Wire.


Inspired by Executive Producer David Simon’s two books, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighbourhood, The Wire follows both the police and a major drug operation within the city of Baltimore.


On the cop’s side the focus is on hard drinking, soon to be divorced, Jimmy McNulty (right) played by Dominic West. Despite his love for self-destruction McNulty is what is referred to as “good police” and does the job in order to right the wrongs. If only it were that simple. The Wire’s major plus point is its realism, and in reality police forces are interested in their figures and statistics staying on top and their individual political agendas.


Frustrated by this bureaucracy McNulty surpasses the sacred chain-of-command and visits a friendly Judge in order to start a major case against drug kingpins Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell(left). In doing this McNulty manages to make powerful enemies within the department, including his vindictive boss Bill Rawls.


From the dealers side the story follows recently demoted drug lieutenant D’Angelo Barksdale (right), nephew of boss Avon. When you first meet D’Angelo he is beating a murder charge after his uncle intimates a witness in the case. When the same witness if found dead days later D’Angelo is overcome with remorse. The interesting thing about this character is that is a smart young man who is in the wrong business, but the business is all he knows. Uncle Avon (left) offered him a good paying job as a dealer and a killer and where he comes from that is a prominent position of power.


VERDICT
The Wire is in my mind the finest television show of it’s kind ever written. Playing out like a televised novel no charicter out of the twenty plus cast members is ignored. Gritty, realistic and eye opening the show rejects the concept of good vs. evil a shows a world where circumstance and desire drive the people that inhabit it.

The first thing that concerns me about reviewing WE3 is how to assure you that the premise is not as ridiculous as it looks.

Sure I could tell you that the Washington Post (They that took down Nixon) called it "Realistic and Relevant." But this is my review not theirs.

The story revolves around three animals, a dog, a cat and a rabbit all have which been cyberneticly enhanced to become next generation weapons. As one character explains: -

"Our rabbit biorg was designed and trained to deliver mines… think of the dog as
a small tank, the cat, a lethal stealth machine"

As I said – it might sound beyond possibility but in reality scientists have already began this kind of research and have even developed remote controlled rats which utilises the rats neurological system.

Aside from the sci-fi aspect Morrison (in my opinion a truly gifted writer with what seems to be a boundless imagination) states that his inspiration for the story was The Incredible Journey – the classic Disney film. In the movie two dogs and a cat trying to find their way back home after being lost. Though the goal is the same in this tale the story that unfolds is a terrifying and explosive battle between the animals and their former masters.

After several successful missions in the field the men in charge of Project WE3 have decided that the time has come to fully utilise the new technology using animals bred for combat rather than the strays that make up WE3. Upon learning of their intended ‘decommission’ the animals’ only ally within the project, their trainer Dr. Roseanne Berry, sets them free. The army soon throws everything they’ve got at WE3 hoping to contain and execute the confused and deadly creatures before they can reach a populated area.

The action is incredible and with Morrison’s writing and Quitely’s stunning detail you can almost feel every slash, bullet and explosion on the page. Most unexpectedly Morrison also finds believable voices for our heroes giving the reader a connection and true empathy and sympathy for them.

VERDICT
WE3 might not be a reality any time in the near future but with a little suspension of belief you’ll find yourself enjoying an action packed, ultra violent, fascinating and oddly touching story.