Wanted
Plot: Based on the graphic novel, The Assassins, the Fraternity is a secret society of assassins who have been killing for years. They recruit a man who looks like a nobody on the surface, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), but just like them, he has the ability to bend bullets. Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and Fox (Angelina Jolie) need Wesley to help take down a rogue assassin before they’re all dead.
Who’s It For? It’s violent, there’s eye candy, and most of it has to do with guns, so it’s most definitely a guy movie.
Expectations: I assumed McAvoy wasn’t the right fit, Freeman hasn’t made a good film in a while, and Jolie … yeah, she’s still got it. The previews gave me a hint of The Matrix and Fight Club and that’s not bad company.
SCORECARD (1-10)
Actors:
James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson: As soon as the voice over starts, I was worried. But that only lasted for a couple seconds. There is fantastic character development to where you openly root for, and get nervous for Wesley as he attempts to learn about his secret destiny. It could have turned into a bad imitation of Office Space or Norton in Fight Club, but McAvoy rises above. And yes, it was an adjustment to see McAvoy be the action star after films such as Atonement and Becoming Jane, but sans accent, he was great.
Score: 8
Angelina Jolie as Fox: Her character name might as well have been named “smokin’ hot.” Jolie is exactly who men want to be rescued by, and her hints of flirtation and kickassedness (it’s a word) worked to perfection. The only flaw was Fox’s back story was a bit predictable and didn’t bring me closer to her character.
Score: 7
Morgan Freeman as Sloan: Yeah! Freeman’s back. He’s a part of a good movie AND he didn’t bother us with a voice-over just because he can. Well done, sir. He did over stay his welcome as his first half is much better than the second, but none the less, it’s an improvement for Freeman, who definitely needed one. Can you tell I didn’t care for The Bucket List?
Score: 6
Talking: I already mentioned that the voice over worked and the dialogue in the office completely rings true if you’ve ever had to spend time in a cubicle. The film attempts to explain how the list of victims is chosen, and while it’s a little head-scratching, at that point you are already invested and allow the benefit of doubt.
Score: 6
Sights & Sounds: The opening action sequence is the perfect tease. Just the right amount of gun fire to keep us drooling for more while we learn about the mild-mannered Wesley. Sure, bending bullets is an evolution/copy from The Matrix, so?
Score: 8
PLOT SPOILERS
Best Scene: I will restate that it is the opening action sequence with Mr. X (David O’Hara) leaping out of the building to finish his job of killing. But I am also a sucker for training montages, and Wanted delivers on that front as well.
Ending: Ouch. Here is where the movie runs too long and explains too much. I would have loved something open-ended that would have made this film truly memorable. I few tweaks and it could have ended on the train.
Questions: My one huge problem with the film comes with Wesley taking down almost everyone at the Fraternity. The Matrix allowed us to have mindless violence because Neo had to kill everyone. Shouldn’t Welsey have found out if everyone was trying to double cross him, or perhaps there was just one individual behind the betrayal? Also, Terrence Stamp seems to be vying for Actor of the Year, with this being the second of six possible roles in 2008.
OVERALL
The phrase, imitation is the best form of flattery, has been said to death. But, since there is a lot of death in Wanted I figured I was allowed to break it out again. Simply put, this film is borrowed/created from Fight Club and The Matrix. It’s a poor man’s, but it’s not that far off from those great films. Solid performances across the board, but it would have been nice for Common to get a little more work. The first half of the film is definitely the strong suit and maybe I will be in the minority thinking the film should have left me hanging just a little instead of overstaying it’s welcome. It’s still early in the year, but for the best action film, it’s between this an Iron Man.
Score: 7 out of 10
Atonement
Fight Club – Blu-ray
Beowulf 3D
Chiwetel Ejiofor may join Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber in Salt
The Hobbit from Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro now out of courtroom
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This movie has 1) special effects and 2) guns. That’s where comparisons to The Matrix end. If that’s your point of reference for action movies, you shouldn’t bother reviewing them. And honestly, anyone who would refer to a Keanu Reeves movie as a “great film” needs to just sit in the corner and be quiet.
Yeah… I just can’t imagine that I am alone with thinking “Matrix” is great. The sequels were rough, which hurts the trilogy, not the original.
Comparisons …
Both are violent, R-rated sci-fi/action films.
Both Neo and Wesley lead unassuming lives.
Both Neo and Wesley are told they are the chosen one.
Both are paired up with an insanely hot woman and are lead by a black man with a fantastic voice.
The moment where Neo and Trinity enter the building to rescue Morpheus is very similar to when Wesley enters the Fraternity’s headquarters.
The bending of the bullet is a camera-technique created from the Wachowski brothers and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta known as “bullet time.”
That’s all I can think of right now.
Anything else I am forgetting?
I agree with Jeff, it is kind of like the Matrix in ways. . .but also very different. The movie was awesome though, plenty of action and Angelina Jolie’s ass. . . that’s worth the price of admission alone. Matrix IS a great movie, and anyone who thinks otherwise should go sit in the corner and blow their brains out. . .cuz their brain is obviously faulty anyways.
I was happy with the ending, ending it at the train scene would have been too early for me. The first half was the best part of the movie though.
The humor is pretty good, and the violence?. . .well it’s just way overdone and I loved it.
I also agree with Jeff. Fight Club and The Matrix both came distinctly to mind while watching Wanted. Plus, I agree that The Matrix is a great film – to my mind a sci-fi classic.
As for CC – “anyone who would refer to a Keanu Reeves movie as a “great film” needs to just sit in the corner and be quiet” – that’s just narrowminded, elitist BS and you’ve just flagged yourself as the one who should do what you espouse for people who happen to love a Keanu Reeves flick.
As for Wanted itself, I thought it was a load of poorly written rubbish that couldn’t hold it’s own mythos together and couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be over-the-top comic book film or a semi-serious action film sprinkled with humour.
The Matrix was able to explain its world and allow us to understand how the amazing feats depicted on screen were actually possible. Wanted couldn’t. Every over the top action scene just served to erode my suspension of disbelief until I stopped caring for anyone or anything in the film and was wishing it would end.
Fight Club had Chuck Palahniak’s (sp?) excellent writing to work with. Wanted seemed to want to be as clever and as droll but just couldn’t pull it off.
People always like to compare. Cars, movies, themselves….
There are some things in wanted that remind of Fight Club & The Matrix. Say what you want about both movies, but they’re both classics and therefore it’s almost impossible to top them.
As for Wanted, I agree it couldn’t decide between teams. Either be a comic book over the top action movie or be “realistic.” This movie tried to play neutral and lost on both accounts.
The camerawork was great. My problem with it is that it was actually too great. The bullet time, slow-mo, intensified stuff happened so regularly that at one point it gets boring. At first you’re “WOW” and after seeing another dozen of those feats you’re watching it with a blank face.
Also, the story has gaps. But hey, whatever. You can’t have it all.
As for the characters;
- I actually found Wesley to be irritating. At first, the entire “I spat back in the face of everything and everyone who ever did me wrong” was enjoyable. Afterwards he has so much confidence I was like “Who are you and what did you do to Wesley?” You can’t turn someone who has been stomped over by everyone all his life into an arrogant superhero in 1/couple of years. Old habits die hard. You think you’re nothing? Well, my guess is you will still feel that way 10 years from now.
- Angelina. Well. She rocked. She was damn skinny, but she pulled off the look without getting into the crack-ho category. She’s not the most beautiful woman in the world. I mean, there are lots of models and starlets that are prettier these days. But she has charisma. And that’s rare.
It’s like every man’s dream. Walking into your ex, she tells you what a f**k-up you are and how much better her new boy friend is, and suddenly, the Foxy lady walks in and kisses you in a way that makes the new boyfriend drool. Man, that’s like the ultimate revenge.
And just for that, the movie gets a 7/10 for me. It was flawed, but it was fun.
And Morgan Freeman using the F-word twice has got to count for something…
If anyone gives this piece of crap of movie a positve review then they should be banned from reviewing all movies for life.
Yes it is truly that bad.
From a fan of truly worthy movies like Fight club and Matrix.
Ok. First of all Wanted is not based on a graphic novel called The Assassins. It is loosely based though on the graphic novel “WANTED”. Second of all, when i say loosely I mean it. Under 10% of the novel is used in the movie. And not mentioning that the plot is entirely different. And for crying out loud, it is not a copy of Fight club of Matrix. Next time you do a movie review try to do your homework for a change.