Wanted
Directed by Tim Bekmambetov
Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie’s soapy butt cheeks aside, Wanted is gleefully absurd the first half of the film and lost in the second half. It might have to do with the fact that the film (based off, absurdist-auteur, Mark Millar’s comic series) takes ice cream-sized scoops from the first 2 issues of its source material. The sarcasm and the disdain for compromising are all there, but when it’s left to its own faculties the movie can’t keep up with the books snarky resourcefulness. This probably has to do with the studios decision to green light a comic book property only one issue in. I won’t get into the whole “Assassins vs. Superheroes”-thing, but I will point out that what first starts off as Fight Club-styled revenge fantasy turns into Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle halfway through.
Through an irritating voice narration, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy, not Eminem), paints a mural of his pathetic life. His girlfriend cheats on him, his boss verbally abuses him, he has no money in his checking account and he’s a hypochondriac. But when Wesley’s, estranged/hitman, Pops gets popped, his dying wish is to have his son take up the reigns and seek revenge on his behalf.
This is all quite amusing, even when cars start flipping over buses like Hot Wheels, but when the film starts initiating its own twist and turns it grows tiresome real quick.
I had the same problem with, director, Bekmambetov’s other films, Daywatch and Nightwatch. Those two films ran on wasted energy, as well. Even if his imagery is quite impressive (I liked the bit with the keyboard and the bits with the long-distance bullet), Bekmambetov starts to rely on over-the-top visuals too much. It makes the film impossible to relate to when it tries to squeeze in melodrama between Wesley and his Father. It also makes it impossible to care about the twist which seem like wasteful exposition.
Directed by Tim Bekmambetov
Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie’s soapy butt cheeks aside, Wanted is gleefully absurd the first half of the film and lost in the second half. It might have to do with the fact that the film (based off, absurdist-auteur, Mark Millar’s comic series) takes ice cream-sized scoops from the first 2 issues of its source material. The sarcasm and the disdain for compromising are all there, but when it’s left to its own faculties the movie can’t keep up with the books snarky resourcefulness. This probably has to do with the studios decision to green light a comic book property only one issue in. I won’t get into the whole “Assassins vs. Superheroes”-thing, but I will point out that what first starts off as Fight Club-styled revenge fantasy turns into Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle halfway through.
Through an irritating voice narration, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy, not Eminem), paints a mural of his pathetic life. His girlfriend cheats on him, his boss verbally abuses him, he has no money in his checking account and he’s a hypochondriac. But when Wesley’s, estranged/hitman, Pops gets popped, his dying wish is to have his son take up the reigns and seek revenge on his behalf.
This is all quite amusing, even when cars start flipping over buses like Hot Wheels, but when the film starts initiating its own twist and turns it grows tiresome real quick.
I had the same problem with, director, Bekmambetov’s other films, Daywatch and Nightwatch. Those two films ran on wasted energy, as well. Even if his imagery is quite impressive (I liked the bit with the keyboard and the bits with the long-distance bullet), Bekmambetov starts to rely on over-the-top visuals too much. It makes the film impossible to relate to when it tries to squeeze in melodrama between Wesley and his Father. It also makes it impossible to care about the twist which seem like wasteful exposition.
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