Sam Peckinpah, John Woo and the Wachowski Brothers walk into a bar… Ryan and I went to see “Wanted” yesterday. As always I ask if he liked it, he says yes. He asks what I thought, and I say “It was ridiculously good.", and then I laugh! “Wanted” is a non-stop ballet of gun-play, blood spray, and “no way”! But it’s all good, really good, and it all works, sometimes surprising, sometimes cliché, sometimes just plain fun to watch.
READER BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Based on the Top Cow comic series by Mark Millar & JG Jones, the film has:
Massive set pieces - the train crash will make your head spin.
Crazy chase scenes - knowing how they did the Viper/Pet Food scene made it that much more entertaing.
A new twist on bullet-time - giving an up close view of the soon to be flesh tearing projectile, even retracing it’s flight path to show the ridiculous shot the trigger man just made.
Brilliant and darkly entertaining humor – computer keyboard to the face anyone?
And a fraternity of assassins fronted by “how can you not trust him” Morgan Freeman and the über tattooed and (wait for it…) naked Angelina Jolie who recruit James McAvoy into their secret society.
All of this and more are “woven” together by Timur Bekmambetov, a Russian director best know for "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" (neither of which I’ve seen but will now be seeking out).
The two main characters of the film are Wesley; the poor shlub office drone that needs desperately to take control of his life. He is an alternate universe Peter Parker for the gun-totin’ “Fraternity”. The Fraternity are assassins that have spent the past thousand years killing those that are chosen by fate for termination. And that made me wonder how fate could have missed, say, Hitler? But it’s best not to over think this plot device, especially when we get to the end of the movie.
And there’s Fox (‘What is that? A call sign? Like Maverick in Top Gun?’) played by Angelina Jolie, as the tragic figure with the haunting childhood who has turned her traumas into a gun-blazing, knife fight filled, blood bath therapy session. This is the Jolie that the boys like, a pouting, smoldering, melt you with a look, ass kickin’ goddess.
Fox helps Wesley discover who he is and helps train him to become the Jedi his father was... wait, sorry. BUT, she does help him harness "The Force" within him and with the help of a sadistic "Jedi Council" sets him on the path of the life he was destined to lead. Of course by the end of the film Wesley has become “the man” and surpasses his father (don't we all, am I right boys?).
But there are a couple of twists on the roller coaster ride too, and I’ll tell ya, having not read any reviews or spoilers, I was surprised by the outcome of the climactic gun battle.
The score by Danny Elfman is also a surprise. It’s a robust, hardened, re-telling of some of his greatest work. He also delivers great rock tunes (with lyrics!) that I immediately added to iTunes.
If you’re a fan of ridiculously entertaining, over the top, the good guys win, action flicks then this film is for you. Just be warned, there’s sex, there’s guns and there’s plenty of salty language to go around. WANTED, is rated R (duh), and gets a B+ from this fan.
WANTED Links:
Wanted Movie Site
Wanted Comic Site
Director Links:
Timur Bekmambetov
Sam Peckinpah
John Woo
Andy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski
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