Review – Wanted
- Ethan Cole
Not sticking to the source material of the comic in some respects may seem like a detractor – but the original concept as a movie will almost never be made in Hollywood (until they could think of a way to sell it and play it safe). The changes: no superheroes, no super villains; now there’s just The Fraternity (assassins), the people they kill and some other useless cunts that make up our everyday lives.
The base premise remains the same – white boy runt of the litter in a dead end job is revealed to be the son of the best assassin; brought into the fold by Fox – revealing his father was recently killed. What follows: training, excellent action set pieces and no fucking (unless you count the annoying bitch girlfriend and his ‘best friend’).
Director Timur Bekmambetov crafts a visual treat without succumbing to the bullshit lowest common denominator of blip-editing or using multiple cameras – and the movie is constructed in the editing bay. The editing here is slick; augmenting the natural flow of the action. The film never stagnates; a solid pace. Additionally, geography is well established; despite all the kinetics there’s never a sense of loss – a problem that’s far too evident in many a recent movies. It’s refreshing here; as not only is it evident in the action, but in setting scenes.
The action sequences are phenomenal, featuring the best adrenaline pumping shootouts since The Blade Trilogy – the run and gun contains a rare exciting momentum, and despite the fast cutting it still communicates what’s going on – finally an action scene done right. Even with the fact green screen and cg work are evident; the pure energy expressed is enough to propel the material into the realm of hyper-reality; pure vicarious enjoyment. Whether it’s running atop inner-city trains cars or a train hanging perilously off the side of the smashed bridge; there is more excitement and suspense here than in a Spielberg movie (if you blocked it out: Lost World, Indy 4). Not to mention this is the best use of bullet-time styled effects in a long while; it actually serves a purpose here – rather than showing off some fancy effects.
The showdown in the final act is a highlight a truly satisfying R-Rated shootout that’s lacking from this pussy-pg-13 era of political correct pansies. The final confrontation however, is a bit of a let down – summed up in a more epilogue style that leaves one to wonder if there’s an alternate ending the studio wasn’t happy with. It works fine, but almost seems like the movie was running a bit too long so material was trimmed. Additionally; the standoff prior consisted of some WTF anti-logic for the main players – but it’s no different from any other action flick; except here the director doesn’t pussy out on action/violence. It’s one of those scenes that functions on absurd logic – particularly here where things are a blatantly retarded [SPOILER] assassination targets are decided by binary code naturally woven by fate into cloth… right… [/SPOILER] but it’s Fox who ties the concept together; weaving the final actions seamlessly into place; a nice tidy package. [SPOILER] However the final standoff could have been something truly epic – given the action scenes prior where they can intentionally intercept bullets with bullets; one could only imagine the potential escalation of this scene with the top players; a bullet orgy; a scene that could have shit all over The Matrix. Further it could have fortified Sloan’s importance; upon stepping in and stopping the action, bellowing a command. Perhaps it was a budget issue… the studio should give them some extra dough to make it a real special edition DVD/Bluray [/SPOILER].
The production design too, echo’s this; entailing of great sight gags; amusing and not totally in your face, like an American sit-com’s concept of a pun. Further the film possesses a natural quality; in some ways it feels grounded in an 80’s action flick sort of way, with the look of the film feeling natural, a refreshing change from the Hollywood-hard-light-plastered-gloss. As such, the sets bear a dirty urban quality that evocative of a reality, yet the film achieves that comic book heightened sense without being completely retarded; it operates in it’s established reality almost effortlessly. Side notes: CPR performed correctly (with straightened arms) – unlike some supposedly more ‘realistic’ movies. A nice touch is the crossbow hanging like a crucifix – a nice touch.
The sound design is fantastic; amping up the suspense and action. The sounds of the beating heart are used to great effect. And whilst I couldn’t give two shits about that style of anal-retentive singing for the track that has lyrics about “future”-something (whatever…) it’s a good selection for the tempo – making for an excellent transition/matching sound with the train. Danny Elfman’s score; exciting – complimenting the action and the quieter scenes; it’s distinct with a hint of familiarity that’s far from the mundane copy-pastes that was Spider-man.
Again Angelina Jolie is used to sell the movie; she’s more prominent than in Beowulf, and far less annoying – though looks borderline anorexic; surprising the recoil doesn’t snap those wrists. She gets the job done – though is replaceable. Perhaps if she was replaced with some other actress we’d have got a filthier fox [spoiler] and maybe even seen the upskirts in the first car chase sequence [/spoiler].
James McAvoy gives an excellent performance as Wesley; able to hit the two elements of a beaten down weakling, to the high of aggression – all imbued with a plausible energy that resonates true to the character.
This is an awesome dive into movie Millarworld, here’s looking forward to the next one. And whilst some idiots will be trying to curve bullets; I’ll be trying to lure rats with peanut butter and semtex.
Rating: 7.9/10
Cumjackulation Rating: 9.0/10
(ratings explained)
this is what should happen to you cunts who
talk on mobile phones in the movie theater