Welcome to SpoilerHell - the new section on NewWorld’sEve, where I will review movies, games, comics, literature or whatever in NewWorld’sEve BrokenEnglish(tm).
Today I present you my thoughts on WANTED the comic book adaption by Timur Bekmambetov of NIGHT WATCH fame. Like this piece of one fine looking movie, Wanted is a free adaption of the original material and while changing a whole lot of the plot, most of the original atmosphere survived the rearrangements and cuts.
As this is SpoilerHell, I’m leaving my fazit (I don’t actually know if you English persons call it that, but I will throughout the series) here in the beginning of the article, so you can just stop reading, if you want to watch the movie without knowing anything about it:
WANTED (2008) is a very descent action flick with Wachowkiesque slo-mo sequences at the state-of-the-art. While delivering flawless over the top action, it fails in terms of story and will leave fanboys of the original comic books being pissed about the numerous changes to the plot. As entertainment with attitude it works though, so fans to visually stunning action movies with a strong B-Movie feeling like Shoot ‘Em Up or 300 may find themselves satisfied with it. 4/5
So, Wanted starts in of with a nice action / assassination sequence setting the tone for the rest of the traditional a-little-more-than-90-minutes and if you’re not grinning, smiling or laughing while the way of the final bullet is replayed, you ARE indeed watching the wrong kind of movie. Pussy. Next stop (scene) is our introduction to the then-wimpy main character which is the scene most close to the original in this movie. Like in the comic book, the director gave it a slightly satirical feel (sorry, I am European and American satire is even in its extreme form “slightly satirical” to me – which does not mean this scene is in any way an extreme form by american standards) which fits perfectly and allowes you to feel a little pity for the main character in his early form. You don’t have to, though, because he really is NOT the man back there. This main character is played by James McAvoy who makes his movie debut IN MY WORLD with this role (I haven’t watched any of his former movies or series and personally don’t care for it, because nothing of it sounds interessting to me. I read the list.) and plays in a very entertaining and convincing way with enough over-the-top-moments to make his role a comic character. Flawless I would say, even the stupid “I have to surpass my father”-part is enjoyable thanks to McAvoy. Really, is there any movie out there, where the whole “I did not know my father, but I want to make him proud” stuff is as extreme as here? But as this is part of the “story” of this movie, it isn’t really a problem, because I couldn’t care less about that in an action movie…
The rest of the cast is alright, every character has his moment, with my favourites beeing the fat, ugly slaughterhouse guy and the Russian (who has not enough screen time to get a real name I guess). The other “stars” of the movie are Morgan Freeman – who does not act at all, like in all newer movies he’s in (except for, probably, Danny The Dog) – and Angelina Jolie, who looks surprisingly beautiful in Wanted… I really hate that bitch and her whole “Super-Mom”-Image and never saw a movie in which I thought of her as eyecandy (the reason why I didn’t watch the Tomb Raider movies), but here she is – maybe because she acts like a bitch in here which fits perfectly? I dunno. And of course: she got beaten up and commits suicide (in a very stylish way) in the end, which was a really, really satisfying moment, watching her down at the floor with a hole in her head. That was the first time she gave me a hard-on. (just kiddin, but I really liked her dead)
I was also pretty surprised I didn’t realize Cross is Thomas Kretschmann when I watched his performance – which is a very good thing. He was alright, not the best character, but he was killed dramatically by his son, which is a fine thing considering the fact, that this boy was so obsessed with following his father’s footsteps – yes, I am talking about Wesley Gibson – Cross’s death scene is the turning point, in which Gibson (McAvoy obviously) finds out, he was used by these supreme assassins, in whose name he killed Cross. What a fucked-up sentence I wrote. As you are aware now, I am jumping back and foward through the movie, ’cause I am just writing down, what comes to my mind… is it hard to follow? I dont care.
The Fraternity as these assassins call themselves are some kind of killer-Illuminati, who kill anyone some mystique trouser-making-machine tells them to, thus saving the world for the greater good… yeah, its stupid. “Need story” anyone? Nope.
Most of the action scenes are great. This is actually everything you have to say about them. They are great. The whole slow-motion-effects are brilliantly shot and share the same humourous feeling, because NOT ONE of this scenes is even a little realistic. The movie kills all critic concerning realism in action movies by simply not trying to be realistic at all. Everything is over-the-top, completely impossible and most entertaining to watch. If you’re not into this slow-motion-action-sequences don’t complain, the movie will suck for you – however if you LIKE slo-mo, it could become one of your all-time favourite action movies. Watch the showdown where Gibson kills about 50 people in half-a-minute or so and you’ll be sitting (or lying as me) there stunned and happy, smiling for the rest of the movie’s ongoing plot, just for a last laugh at the dead Angelina Jolie and the thankfully amoral ending. This movie should have ended with a “Fin” – it would put the dots over the’i’ if you know what I mean (if not, fuck it).
Another Award for pure greatness is given to the semi-genius montage when Gibson went from looser to badass in five minutes. It’s one of the finest montages I seen in years and again: if you don’t like it, you’re just not into action movies. Sorry, but that’s how it is. Also, in this montage, I clearly see a reference to the Conan-Soundtracks by Basil Poledouris – the music just has this pathetic-barbarian feel to it, like the 80s Conan movies. In my world, I thought of Danny Elfmann honouring Poledouris for his gift to mankind… the Conan Soundtracks. By the way, most of Wanted’s music by Elfman is unrecognizable. One of his mediocre works in my opinion.
Another reference I liked very much was the reference to the Millennium series in the boring Angelina-Jolie-flashback, in which she tells Gibson why she is a true believer of the Fraternity’s stupid machine. The girl in the flashback looked like a slightly older version of Millennium’s Jordan and the house she lived in was even yellow and of course it fits perfectly with the freaked-out-serial-killer-theme of the flashback, as the only good series (the first one) of Millennium nearly exclusively covers serial killer stories. As of today, noone at imdb has added this to the “connection”section, that’s why I am a little proud of myself right now. (I watched the whole series, including the horrible 2nd and 3rd series, about two mounths ago…)(Of course I have not looked if someone at imdb-forums has posted the Millennium reference, because I will never read this forums again – retards and braindead zombies only!)
As for the movie’s songs, I must say, I hated that Trent-Raznor-Pussy-NIN-Song in the beginning but liked the “theme for Wesley” after he became the man, also I liked the inclusion of the Henry-Maske-Song at the assassination of that fat guy in the limousine. As there are Germans involved in the production of this film, I think this may be a reference, too. Rest was descent.
As I am no longer willing to write whole sentences, I will now start to point out flaws and favs in a list:
Flaws:
- Morgan Freeman’s non-acting
- father complex stupidity
- cheating girlfriend was not killed, neither the former best friend
- only mediocre Danny Elfman soundtrack
Minor flaws (not counting):
- Stupid background story
- not true to the original
- Angelina Jolie (normally a real flaw, but here’s okay)
Favs:
- Action sequences, all of them
- breakin the nose of the ex-best-friend running gag
- Seriously great montage
- lying in her own blood Angelina Jolie
- beating up Angelina Jolie
- beautifully bloody kills
- Morgan Freeman dies
- most people are dead in the end
Minor favs (not counting):
- mostly funny
- reference to Millennium
- when “Time To Say Goodbye” played, I saw Henry Maske get killed in my head – awesome!
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you like / can.
You read the first issue of “SpoilerHell” on NewWorld’sEve.
Peace and kill something
t-o-)