Rating:
2.5 out of 5
Short version: Wanted tries oh so hard to be the next Matrix, but despite insane amounts of action, falls short.
Screen Rant’s Wanted review
No doubt I’ll be taking a lot of heat for this since it seems that across the board, Wanted reviews are glowing and effusive in praise. I’ve seen many comments to the effect of “it was trash, but I loved it anyway.” While I certainly wouldn’t call it trash, it also failed to win me over.
Now don’t get me wrong… Pardon the pun, but going in I really wanted to love this movie. I didn’t go in with any thoughts that it would be high art or deep drama - just a cool popcorn flick. But even in popcorn action movies I can only suspend my disbelief so much.
There are minor spoilers related to the very first scene in the film below.
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The film opens with a very cool sequence, which had me quite excited to see the rest of the film - an assassin arrives at an office about 20 or so stories high, and commences to have a gunfight with some other guys on the rooftop of a building across the street. It’s a really cool scene which demonstrates the assassin’s proficiency as he starts taking them out one by one. Suddenly they get the upper hand and he heads back down the hall and launches himself forward apparently at superhuman speed. From there we go from cool to ridiculous.
This is the scene where he breaks through a plate glass window face-first as seen in the trailer, and this is where I started scratching my head - instead of falling, he continues to fly forward, apparently on momentum. Then while still moving forward with no drop in elevation, starts shooting at his enemies. Really, I thought this was going to be some sacrificial scene as he eventually starts to drop, especially from the reverse force of firing his guns… but no. He seems to drop and them magically appears on the rooftop behind the baddies.
This left me wondering: Am I watching a superhero movie or a movie about incredibly ninja-level skilled assassins? This was a question that was never fully answered, and the fact that Wanted takes place in the real word made much of what happens in the movie hard to swallow.
From there we meet anxiety-ridden, cubicle-dwelling Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy). His life is in a rut - he’s in a dead end job, broke, has a foul-mouthed, overweight harpy for a boss, and his best friend is having sex with his girlfriend. How such a loser managed to score such a good looking girlfriend is beyond me. Anyway he runs into “Fox” (Angelina Jolie) at a mini-mart, where she tells him his father just died and was a master assassin, right before saving his life from another assassin who seems to be out to get Wesley.
(continued…)
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64 Comments
Just what I thought!!
I agree Vic with the Matrix ripoff, it looks so comical. That opening scene sounded halarious.
This review confirms everything I could read into the trailers.
I don’t know why some folks believe you have to watch a bad film to have a “correct” opinion on it. «Morons.»
I won’t be seeing this movie, anytime in my lifetime.
I take it you never read the Mark Millar comics? That opening scene is almost directly out of the books. The point is that these people ARE in fact superhuman.
Vic
Any word on when the Wall-E review will be up?
So sometime this weekend.
Vic
Taking a big risk here…
Vic will prob like WALL-E more than wanted.
Just a vibe.
I’m with Vic on this, action movies have been slipping lately. The only one I’ve liked this past year was Shoot ‘em Up. just because it made fun of all the others.
P.S. word on the street says James Mcavoy might be our next Bilbo Baggins
Thanks, Vic.
Too bad about not getting a review screening. How do they judge which critics are “worthy” of getting them?
If this is written just for the fans of the comic it probably wont be very good.
it should be accessible for EVERYBODY!
Vic
So those non fans of the books should just rent “The Mechanic”?
Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent and Jill Ireland. Now that one is worthy of a retro-review.
Boy you are an Old Man. :-).
Naw just kidding,I liked that film too.
Vic, I just saw Get Smart and it was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in theatre. Luckily aside from my 3 friends there were only 2 other ppl in the 550 person theatre tonight. Maybe because its Thursday, but its never that empty in the summer. I did see more people going to see the Hulk (adding to my hope of a sequel).
There were very few funny scenes, most of it was corny, awkward and stretched out. It’s about a 15-20 minute movie in 2 hours of hell. I missed some of the last parts of the movie falling asleep luckily, lol. I can’t even begin to list all the horrible scenes, from the washroom shit trying to get his cuffs off with a crossbow for 15 minutes…when he has a friggin knife! Or the awesome 10 minute parachute gith which ended in a kiss to the bad guy…wow! argh, im glad Wall-E is out tomorrow.
I’m so confused.
Hulk gets 3.5…then Get Smart gets a high 4, then this gets 2.5… I’m guessing that means I’ll love Wanted, lol.
SPOILER WARNING
I was impressed that the writers had the guts to use to so old fashioned “I am your father” trick.
Well, movies ARE subjective, lol. You probably will like Wanted, then.
As far as the crossbow/knife scene in Get Smart - that was the whole point of the scene.
BTW, I upgraded my Hulk review.
Vic
Funny you bring up the Matrix, cos isn’t that what they said about the director’s last movies (Night Watch/Day Watch)? Didn’t they call them the like Russian ‘Matrix’ or some other BS comparison?
I don’t care, I will suspend my disbelief for just about any action movie (including ones starring Charles Bronson, since he is indeed the Man).
Come on, it can’t be as bad as ‘Equilibrium’…
Yeah, sounds about right. I was never impressed with the idea of this movie, and it looks like I was right.
Thanks for the review, Vic. I had already pegged this as something I was going to wait for DVD to rent. Gotta save my pennies for “Hancock,” Hellboy 2″ and “The Dark Knight.” This movie isn’t even on my radar.
Naw, 790 call it like you see it! No denying the facts…
Thanks the Old Man, I appreciate your support !! and I liked The Mechanic, cool film one of Bronsons best.
Let’s face it.
“Equilbrium sucked”
Right on Teresa!
Damnit, the Equilibrium bashing has begun again! To arms!
Ok, so I did like Equilibrium, and I did think the action scenes cool and everything. But one big problem, and this has been really hammered into me by recently having a look, much regretted, at others like Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux.
So here it is: if I see one more movie which has some ultra cool character killing all the henchmen without a scratch, no matter how many there are and what weapons they have, I’m gonna freak! It can work now and then, but come on, to really get with a character we need them to suffer.
When someone attacks the evil HQ and carves through countless nobodies and then tears apart the top baddie, and has barely broken sweat, well who cares?
If this movie is more of the same, if, then not for me.
Hell, the Matrix only truly worked once.
who was it who said the other week Wall-E would dominate the box office and I said no because Wanted was coming out same time??
I saw Wall-E last night for the late show. It was empty. My brother saw the evening 7pm primetime showing, less thanhalf full. All four Wanted screentimes sold out! I don’t know if that’s just because its the long-weekend in Canada and the audience is shifted, but Wall-E got owned here, lol.
I saw Wall-E, it was good but not great, the movie was no longer that fun after it got to the interaction with fat-humans part and every robot everywhere having personalities. It got kinda boring then. The movie should of made Wall-E kinda one-of-a-kind because he has emotions but they never got into that at all and never explained why Wall-E is the only bot left.. I’d say 3.5/5 I guess, it’s not a movie I’d watch again.
I’m sure we’ll disagree on it.
Vic
Rob,
*spoiler alert*
Actually, it was implied why Wall-E is the last one left. The clean-up program was abandoned and Wall-E was simply the last one still functioning after 700 years. Eventually even he would have run out of spare parts taken from his fallen brethren and broken down.
I honestly feel like I need a second viewing to properly judge the film. It contained a great deal more than I was expecting and the “Pixar” moment (lump in your throat) didn’t really hit full force until one particular scene late in the game. I didn’t realize I had connected so thoroughly to the story and characters until that point, so I think I definitely need to see it again.
Spot on. I disliked the film too. But you really want to know something? I *haven’t* read the graphic novel, but I know of it. A commenter above said something to this effect “it’s in the comic, you’ll understand it then”.
Wow. That must be the first time where a film based off a comic book or graphic novel is adapted to the screen and a major story device from the comic is changed and no one seems to notice. Remember folks: in the comics: super-villains rule the world; in the film: they are assassins, having their own personal Minority Report.
*spoiler*
I did find it interesting that when two “targets” come up, the two square off on a train and indirectly cause the deaths of a good hundred people or so. Given the Fraternity motto, it makes sense. But then…despite this, the only reason why the names were chosen isn’t because of ‘kill one, save a thousand’ but rather just a cover up.
Thanks a lot.
And yes, this film was alright, nothing great. I’m also tired of CGI bullets (in addition to “he won’t kill you because you’re his son”- but it won’t stop him from *shooting at* him, now, will it?) which are inexcusable in a Steven Seagal DTV film, so why is cool in a high budget theatrical film with better actors? Why do filmmakers love speeded up frames? Why are filmmakers in love with slo-mo shots where a character can do a gazillion things when, if it were a normal time, it would amount to under a few seconds?
Now that I have seen it myself, I so disagree with your review, Vic.
I found myself halfway through Wanted remembering this review and I thought
What movie did he watch?” How did you not understand these people had powers beyond that of normal humans? How did you really think this took place in the “real” world?
As for the person who totally misstated my position (Darren seeley) I never said “it’s in the comic, you’ll understand it then.” I suggested that Vic never read Wanted or he would have had a frame of references for the unnatural action sequence that begins the film. Remember, I HADN’T SEEN THE FILM YET.
Now that I have? I do not understand how a person who has seen any action movies in the last 40 years *didn’t* get what is going on. It was blatantly obvious that these people had preternatural powers and not one word or panel of the comic was required to understand it.
That is my $0.02. I thought the movie established it’s own set of rules immediately and those rules were pretty clear.
To each his own, bro. I don’t understand how superpowers allow people to (literally) bend the laws of physics regarding the trajectory of bullets.
And someone made an excellent point above regarding the 100’s of people that died during the train wreck - so much for “kill one, save a thousand.”
Best,
Vic
My fears regarding Wall-E have been realized..Pixar..*&%*&%^&%*&!!! They think they are invincible and this movie along with the last proves it…Jersey..I told ya man!!
According to Friday estimates on BOM Wall-E 23 million and WANTED 18.7 million..Looks like wanted will beat expectations and Wall-E will match or fall just below expectations..hmmmmm…
I don’t think it’s bending tha laws of physics in as much as they are warping the fabric of reality and thereby negating the effects of time…
Vic, what kind of movie did you intend to see the night you saw Wanted? This is not Sense & Sensibilities or Atonement.
I think it would be a much better sell to say this movie was the next Fight Club, than the next Matrix. In fact I saw Fight Club just a couple months back, with the friend who saw Wanted with me. Some of the same language about the drudgery of the routine world was found in this movie.
I loved how words would sort of jump off the page–especially in the supermarket shootout. Too bad that surreal motif was rather isolated.
In fact, why not dwell on that theme? Why is it that the office cubicle is depicted as an evil and emasculating slavery, a dreamkiller and ballchopper? Why does that theme keep coming up? Why do we respect an amped up killer more than a faithful old laborer (you know, the “working American” that every presidential candidate wants to know they care about them.)
Vic:
I totally agree that the deaths during the train wreck violate the “honorable” aspects of the story we were told. You get no disagreement from me on that.
As for the bending of bullets…so you accept that a man can irradiate his body, turb large & green and gain both size and mass, but altering the flight path of a bullet is too much to take? Hey, like you said, to each his own.
Still love the site and will be a loyal reader. I know I can count on you to tell me what you think of these things. Hard to find that these days.
No Vic you misheard that it is actually
“kill one thousand to save one”
or at least that is my story and I am sticking to it!
Greenknight333 I believe you just contradicted yourself with the laws of physics comment.
^
Jc in Chicago, I think the matrix connection is very blatant.
You have the Trinity character played by Jolie, she’s going after Wesley who’s Neo, and the leader of the group is Freeman who represents Morphius,,, “join us?”.
Throw in the bullet-time effects and story elements, that’s The Matrix - the machines.
I don’t see any significant connection to Fight Club?
Classic Hollywood plagiarism.
^
Kill one to save a thousand, goes out the window if you don’t care about colateral damage.
Who’s to say who lives or dies anyway.
All those people on the train, one of them could have changed the world.
Greenknight333 if you were joking sorry that went right past me.
Jokes on me. Haha.
Actually that the laws of physics don’t apply at all was my point 790 in that they are seeing things happening outside of time and space..where the three basic laws of physics no longer apply and we are reducing it to something being changed radically by being observed and therefore the outcome being manipulated by the observer. …More Quantum mechanics than Newton’s laws…This is relevant in the sense of cause and effect and once you observe something from a consciousness point of view you intrinsically alter it’s behavior and make it act the way they want it to which is basically what they try to do in the movie..Not sure if that will make sense to anyone but it makes sense to me.
Besides…it was a decent popcorn flick kind of like Shoot em Up….Just kill everyone and make no apologies…
Yeah I get what you mean Greenknight and its even more of a Matrix ripoff then I thought.
Yeah I don’t like the cast so its a no go for me.
So to those who are comparing this to the comic, I don’t think it’s entirely comparable. I haven’t seen the movie yet, just read the comic, but the film isn’t even based on the comic.
At all.
It’s actually the original story Millar planned for the comic, but ended up changing.
Regarding comparisons between this and the Hulk, for example - in pretty much every superhero movie that is not blatantly science fiction (Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Superman, X-Men, etc.) the heroes themselves have special powers, but the laws of physics still apply for the most part.
As far as I know, no one in “Wanted” had the ability to telekinetically cause a bullet to travel in a circular path within the confines of a small room and have the mass/momentum to not only do that but continue on through multiple human heads.
Best regards,
Vic
S.Matt ,
If its based on the original concept then its still based on the comic.
Wall E took in about 65 million dollars this weekend.
and Wanted 51 million .
Action films will always do well.
but family films like Wall E are the bread and butter of hollywood .
Parents will always need family fare to take their kids to.
I have to agree with Vic 100% on this.
His review is spot on!
On a random side note - I just realized that I met Mark Millar about 10 years ago at a comic signing. I forgot about it and by accident came across his autograph yesterday inside a graphic novel.
Strange?!
Niall
I know millar saw the film recently,
any word on his opinion?
There ought to be a rule that anyone who hasn’t seen a movie, is only allowed one comment. Especially on specific scenes others who saw the movie have brought up, so all he or she has to go on is secondhand impressions. That is so bogus. At least Vic and others have seen the movie before they slice & dice it. Give your reason for not seeing it, and then maybe ask a few questions but don’t be lampooning a movie you haven’t seen.
Was that a rant? Do I qualify?
I support non-personal film bashing.
Sometimes its very entertaining to read.
Me too 790!
I cant imagine why!
Its all subjective like Vic brings up but I love to bash films that I think could be better or that just suck period.
(Hey this isn’t communist china).
Let’s face it ALOT of fans like Wanted and ALOT of fans spit on its grave.
Notice that Iron Man, and Hulk have very few negative remarks, no why? Cause there good movies.
Wanted is a subjective film in that it has problems some overlook them others expect better.
If your a Wanted fan don’t expect 100% of others to agree…
That’s all.
I saw it yesterday. I would say it was 3 out of 5. Mostly, I had a problem with the F-bomb being overly used, especially by Freeman (it just didn’t seem right Freeman saying it). I have liked films that use the F-bomb and some of them used it alot, but for this film, it just didn’t work on some of the occassions. I went in expecting law-defying feats but like Vic said, a bullet going through, at least, 4 peoples cranium without loosing momentum? No, doesn’t work. What should have happened in that scene was the person should have fired the same number of bullets as the number of victims.
I thought McAvoy did a good job as the nobody-turned hero-type. I thought they didn’t have to show his best friend having sexual congres with his girlfriend (and definately didn’t have to show it twice). I did like the scene where McAvoy is going through the room shooting up everyone (this was shown in the trailer so it’s not a spoiler) but I won’t devulge how he was able to use more bullets than his gun was able to hold. The way the loom was used I also liked.
I went to see this last night. Its pretty decent, not amazing, but worth the watch. There was some good shoot out scnenes but apart from that I got bored and predicted a large amount of the outcomes.
I knew I should have read this review before hand, but at least it stopped me from working for a good 3 hours.
Man, did the third act fall apart?!? It played more like a video game than a movie or graphic novel.
Something that doesn’t really bother me in most movies bothered me here, is the bystander body count…
***SORTOF SPOILER***
particularly the train.
and all the fate crap took things a little too far.
The movie is really a poor-man’s Matrix.
On the training of the main character, 6 weeks (or less), I can buy that it didn’t take long for him to learn to use his ‘natural abilities’, but is one of his natural abilities to not be shaken up by death? Understanding it’s your duty or fate is one things, but all-out enjoying it (when weeks before he didn’t even want to shoot at an already-dead corpse)is a little psychotic, and unsettling
Well, as someone here has already pointed out, movies are subjective. I for one liked Wanted very much, even if it seemed to be a rip-off of Matrix. It all depends on tastes in the end, just because some people liked it and some didn’t doesn’t make it a good or a bad movie.
Yeah, I figured this was going to be a “love it or hate it” kind of movie.
Vic
Alexius;
We can’t let you off that easy…
Are you a Jolie / McAvoy fan or a gun to-tin Texan?
We want your defense
come on, gives the details….
Comes to no surprise to me. I’m an avid shooter so it isn’t too surprising that I did not want to see this movie. I will spend 100% of the time laughing out loud at the stupid things they do with firearms in the film and the general way they handle firearms. But even given that, I tried to watch the trailers while trying to ignore the stupidness with curving bullets in flight and sniping people with a handgun, and the rest of it was still way too stupid looking.
My friend saw it, and told me how he killed the last guy (I don’t care, he knew I wasn’t going to watch it anyhow), and we laughed about it for quite sometime. Jumping cars, handgun sniping, curving bullets, Angelina Jolie, stupid gimmicky poses with firearms… yah, no way I would have enjoyed this movie.
Equilibrium is as crazy as I’m willing to go, but it’s only because that movie did it with style, and Christian Bale handled himself very well. The “style” in this movie is far too gimmicky. I’ve seen far too many movies with bullet time, shooting while flying through the air, etc. etc. And while curving bullets is definitely new, it isn’t cool like the Gun Kata is…
Guess what they are going to make a sequel! My eyes about popped out of my head reading that one..
How did Wanted do in the box office? If it did well enough you can expect a sequel.
Vic
Took in double what it cost world wide, so I guess your right. Just hope nobody out there thinks they could do those things with real guns and bullets.
I hope nobody is dumb enough to believe that. And no you don’t need to know anything about firearms. Simple physics will tell you that is ridiculously impossible. But then again, I think he uses his mind to do those things, so it has nothing to do with physics… I think… But if that’s so, why bother swinging the arm at all? Just shoot and curve it right? Why bother shooting at all if he can control objects, he should just sling any object to kill people… I don’t know, makes no sense to me, so I’m not going to try to explain it…
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