2008 Woodie Awards
'Wanted,' though entertaining, defies reality
Moniqa Paullet
Issue date: 7/3/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
"Wanted" is a 110-minute test of suspension of disbelief.
For anyone else who was, like me, fooled into thinking it would be a serious action flick, it does, in fact, have all the cheese that can be expected of a comic book movie.
Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, is an accounting manager and a general nobody who hates his humdrum life. One day while filling his standard prescription at the pharmacy for anxiety medication, Fox, played by Angelina Jolie, confronts him to tell him the father he never met was a top assassin in an ancient secret society who was recently taken out by a rogue member.
Being unable to stand another day of his miserable life, Wesley joins the society to find out who he is, to avenge his father and to carry out Fate's will, which is dictated by a mysterious and unlikely prognosticator.
Though the movie posters focused only on Jolie's tattoos and lovely face, the film itself keeps Wesley's character as the true protagonist with Fox as his trainer and sometimes partner.
Where Wesley's internal monologues and incessant use of self-deprecation fail to be humorous, the inhuman stunts of bullet-curving and shattering every law of physics into a million little pieces surpass hilarity.
For anyone who ever wondered how many haeds a single bullet can pass through, the answer is: all of them. As wuxia is to kung fu films, so "Wanted" is to action films.
Keeping up with the fast camera changes and sudden slow-motion transitions during stunts is a bit tricky, but the car chase scenes were impressive in spite of that, or at least that's what the director led me to believe.
The boss battles near the end were certainly a surprise, though it's hard to say whether that's a good thing. Fair warning: the climax is not for the rodent phobic.
Though the plot has no relationship to the comic the film is based on, "Wanted" is entertaining, if a little awkward in its attempted combinations of humor and ludicrous action.
For anyone else who was, like me, fooled into thinking it would be a serious action flick, it does, in fact, have all the cheese that can be expected of a comic book movie.
Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, is an accounting manager and a general nobody who hates his humdrum life. One day while filling his standard prescription at the pharmacy for anxiety medication, Fox, played by Angelina Jolie, confronts him to tell him the father he never met was a top assassin in an ancient secret society who was recently taken out by a rogue member.
Being unable to stand another day of his miserable life, Wesley joins the society to find out who he is, to avenge his father and to carry out Fate's will, which is dictated by a mysterious and unlikely prognosticator.
Though the movie posters focused only on Jolie's tattoos and lovely face, the film itself keeps Wesley's character as the true protagonist with Fox as his trainer and sometimes partner.
Where Wesley's internal monologues and incessant use of self-deprecation fail to be humorous, the inhuman stunts of bullet-curving and shattering every law of physics into a million little pieces surpass hilarity.
For anyone who ever wondered how many haeds a single bullet can pass through, the answer is: all of them. As wuxia is to kung fu films, so "Wanted" is to action films.
Keeping up with the fast camera changes and sudden slow-motion transitions during stunts is a bit tricky, but the car chase scenes were impressive in spite of that, or at least that's what the director led me to believe.
The boss battles near the end were certainly a surprise, though it's hard to say whether that's a good thing. Fair warning: the climax is not for the rodent phobic.
Though the plot has no relationship to the comic the film is based on, "Wanted" is entertaining, if a little awkward in its attempted combinations of humor and ludicrous action.
Be the first to comment on this story