|
There's a discussion thread in CD about this but I thought it needed a Film Dump thread just for reviews, if not mods feel free to delete. Wanted tells the story of a anxiety ridden, cowardly, miserable, corporate accountant thrust into the world of a secret society of assassins after his father, one of the assassins, is murdered. I'll admit I was pretty excited about this movie after reading a bit more about it and seeing the Russian trailers. The action in this movie is top notch, including car chases, shootouts, knife fights, and bullet-time. The narration by McAvoy's character wore on me a bit, as the movie tried to hard to be "in your face" with his monologue, mainly by using various expletives in a very forced fashion. In fact, my biggest complaint about this movie is that it's essentially a copy of several other films, mainly Fight Club, The Matrix, and a dash of Equilibrium thrown in there, with the same style as Night Watch, without that annoying music. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but McAvoy's rants about his life sound like a 14 year old watched Fight Club to many times then tried to act pissed off about everything. The Matrix bits were really the source of the whole 'curve the bullet' thing as well as the jumping out of skyscraper windows as seen in the trailer. Basically it's a combination of controlling your bodies adrenaline level giving you super human speed, reflexes, and an imperviousness to pain. That combined with a whole "there is no spoon" philosophy of physics and the main characters have somewhat of a superpower. The story is pretty standard fair, with a hint of the supernatural. I wish they would have explored that a bit more but it never really was. It also included a few twists but you'll see them coming from miles away. Overall the movie was very good popcorn fun and worth a watch just for the effects and action sequences. The movie was loosely based on a comic but apparently doesn't stick to the source material very much, aside from the basic premise. Good action flick, worth a watch if not a purchase for the inevitable deleted scenes, and those great slow motion exit wounds. 4/5 Pros: Great action, nice effects. Cons: It's really just a combination of several other (good) movies, but lacks any originality or big twist that sets it apart.
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2008 05:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:29 |
|
|
This movie is easily the most roll-eye-tastic film i've seen in the past 6 years. From the start to the finish, it felt like a bad anime. 1. Self-pitiful, whiny protaganist who suddenly turns super-powerful, but is still a little bitch. Joins a "guild of assassins". 2. Has a completely far too long training montage that lasts at least a third of the movie. It is capped off with him saying something ultimately meaningless and pretentious like "I don't know who I am" and then they all take this as extremely deep and meaningful. 3. Is completely devoid of any comedic relief except two half-hearted attempts and one unintentionally hilariously long close-up. 4. The plot twists were laughably cliche. "BUT HE WAS UR FATHER!!!!" 5. Bending bullets by increasing your heart rate. Ok. I mean, I'm all into immersion and I honestly not the kind of person to say "no way that can't happen in real life" in a movie theater, but the pseudoscience in there is hilariously wrong. They try to explain it far too much and it ends up sounding lame. 1/5 Pro: It's like a porno; Skip past the lovely plot and go to the action, which is decent. Cons: Horrible, horrible plot. Everything about it gives me a headache.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2008 09:16
|
|
|
Entertaining but thats about it. 2/5 Pro's: Interesting setup, Angelina Jolie, some cool parts Con's:"Curving" a bullet with the way you flick your wrist is just stupid, but would have made for some cool action if it had been used in an equilibrium like way rather then the few times it was used just lavishish slomo on the viewer. Not making use of a gunfight premise to have more then two good gunfights. Not having a kill all the assassins gunfight as promised, instead just kinda killing the entire cast for "deeper meaning"
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2008 03:04
|
|
|
sNacKp!pE posted:my biggest complaint about this movie is that it's essentially a copy of several other films, mainly Fight Club, The Matrix, and a dash of Equilibrium thrown in there, with the same style as Night Watch, without that annoying music. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but McAvoy's rants about his life sound like a 14 year old watched Fight Club to many times then tried to act pissed off about everything. Pros: The action is so over-the-top ridiculous that it's actually fun. Cons: McAvoy's ranting is just dumb and out-of-place. The closing line made me cringe. Oh, and LOOM OF FATE! - WTF?. 2/5 ImDifferent fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jun 29, 2008 |
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2008 19:17
|
|
|
I was pretty excited for this film based on the trailers. The action sequences are top-notch, just like they let on. I knew going in that story was going to take a back seat to action but drat. This movie's plot is retarded, and you could see the twist coming from a mile away. I almost bust out laughing when it turned out that they were all taking their orders from a giant sweater. McAvoy was fine except the OP is totally right about his monologue sounding like a teenager who watched Fight Club one too many times. My only other gripe was his American accent. It sounded really forced. There's no reason his character couldn't have been Scottish, so why make the guy do a lovely American accent the whole time? The profanity was really forced and brought the whole flick down (except for Morgan Freeman's: "Shoot this mother-fucker." That was just brilliant). The action sequences totally delivered though. They don't blow them all in the trailer so you'll see some things you aren't expecting, which is really refreshing in today's Hollywood where you usually get the entire movie in 2 and a half minutes in the trailer. Final Review: 2/5 Lots of flash and guns can't hide a poo poo script.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2008 01:17
|
|
|
I love the Transporter movies and Crank is seriously awesome. I went in expecting over the top craziness that would entertain me for days. I watched and loomed over new trailers as they came out. This movie was a huge let down for me. I was not expecting this movie to have any attempt to be serious. I was expecting a combination of Transporter and Shoot Em Up and instead was given The Covenant and The Matrix. The beginning of the movie reminded me of one of the many bad scenes from Ultraviolet. My brain was completely shut off but the movie kept trying to turn it on for actual criticism. I was totally prepared to leave the theater happy with the fact that I got my money's worth from all the action. To me it felt like there wasn't enough. The story was generic and easily predictable. 1/5 - I don't believe one bit that they had to come up with a story to just be a filler for the action. That ruined the movie for me. Common was loving useless!
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2008 18:13
|
|
|
Holy christ, you guys weren't lying. The whole "Fight Club" poo poo was absolutely retarded, they copied everything from the red stapler to the office manager's birthday cake to the goddamn Ikea furniture. The action scenes were good - but the plot was the most ridiculous piece of god awful poo poo I've ever seen. C4 exploding rats, and "assassination target providing fabric," I'm looking at you. The "twist" was also incredibly stupid and transparent. I'll say again that I liked the action sequences but after seeing early reviews for this movie my expectations were WAYYYY too high. Pros: Angelina Jolie, slow-mo exit wounds and decent action sequences Cons: Everything else, especially the plot 2/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2008 17:58
|
|
|
Having seen Daywatch and Nightwatch, I didn't go in expecting high art. I knew I'd get a convoluted story that may or may not make sense, but some incredible visuals. I was not let down. The action scenes were enjoyable, and nothing about the story or acting made me enjoy the movie any less. I rate it a 4/5, but as I said, don't go in expecting high art, and check your knowledge of physics at the door. If you do this, you get an enjoyable, fun movie.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2008 20:23
|
|
|
I walked in with no real expectations, knowing nothing of the plot whatsoever. I learned that Angelina Jolie still has a great rear end, and that Hollywood action films cannot get enough of their most overused effects (bullet time). Morgan Freeman is getting tired of being casted as the lovable, elderly black man. He's ready to call out some Motherfuckers. Plot wise? This is a Summer Hollywood action flick. One look at the movie poster and you know you aren't watching it for the compelling story, so it's hard for me to be critical. There's not much to say, however, the action scenes reminded me way too much of better Kung Fu movies, such as Hero. The scenes inside the office seemed way too reminiscent of Fight Club and Office Space. Comically gory, lame dialog, predictable plot twist, but god drat do they make Angelina Jolie look good. 2/5 See it if you're drunk, maybe. Jedah fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Jul 2, 2008 |
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2008 01:52
|
|
|
I did not want to see this, and came out of the theater blown away by one of the best action movies I've seen in years. This thing is like the Matrix, without getting too bogged down in pseudo-philosophical bullshit. It mostly sticks to the action, and there's a lot of action, and it's all bad rear end. The plot twist is pretty obvious from the beginning of the film, so they do not waste a lot of time on the OMG! revelation; just enough for the slower members of the audience to get it. Then they're off to the races again. Oh, and the soundtrack is excellent. edit: StrikerObi posted:Morgan Freeman's: "Shoot this mother-fucker." That was just brilliant). I meant to say this, so I'll just quote him. 4/5 Keshik fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Jul 2, 2008 |
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2008 08:03
|
|
|
On Monday, I emerged from a matinee showing of the Escapist. I was one hundred per cent sure that I’d just seen the best film of the first half of the year, going by US release dates. Wanted may just fall short of the ingenuity and hence the magnificence of Wyatt’s debut, but there’s no doubting that – in a poor six months of film – Wanted is its nearest contender. The plot sees James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, an accounts manager living in relative obscurity with no aim in his boring life. His girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend, his boss oppresses him, and his father walked out on him when he was less than a week old. When he’s abducted by Fox (Angelina Jolie) and lead away to be taught as an assassin, he meets the leader of an organization a thousand years old named Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Their objective? Kill one to save a thousand. Wanted’s main intention is to be a kick-rear end action movie, an intention that it upholds down to the letter. Not only does it feature some fantastic action set-ups, including a train wreck that you simply have to see to believe, it also remains innovative in a genre where everything seems to have been done a thousand times before. I’ve heard this film likened to the Matrix, which is an observation based on the fact that the action is, well, good. Other than the quality and the slow-motion, there’s really nothing in this comparison, because Wanted makes its own way. It works on a grander scale than the Warchowski Brothers’ 1999 fantasy, and relies more heavily on weapon work rather than hand-to-hand combat. It’s different on almost every level, and – maybe – better. It also has blood. Lots of blood. The story also deserves praise, because often an action film can simply become a series of action set-ups held together by strands of what they call plot. Wanted does not suffer from this problem, instead, it spends as much time developing the plot as it does sending McAvoy spinning over buses in super cars. Here, Wanted manages to banish a problem with many other comic adaptations, in that it does have a well-built villain with an actual reason for being there. In this years comic book adaptations so far, we’ve had villains who don’t explain their motives, and are thrown together in the last fifteen minutes in order to give us a big fight in the pay-off. Wanted, however, builds its villain up from the beginning, almost in a separate but simultaneous subplot as the hero. Therefore, when push comes to shove and bullets begin to fly, we actually care about the person who is going to be receiving them in addition to the one who fires. Wanted is, in essence, a big dumb action movie, but it does hold some themes that can be taken away from it. I read, recently, Angelina Jolie liken this film to current political issues, in particular the theory that killing one can save a thousand. It doesn’t work that deep. Really, the main theme that re-occurs is that we should all get up and do something with our lives. Wanted works best when it juxtapositions from the mundane into the extraordinary, taking our fears that one day our safe, repetitive lives will be flipped on its head and that we’ll have to actually do something different. What Wanted tells us is that this isn’t a bad thing, and that change is – sometimes – an exciting process. However, when Wanted sets out this thesis in black and white, breaks down the fourth wall and begins to preach its virtues to us, it does turn into a little bit of a sermon. But regardless, at least Bekmambetov has a few ideas that are above the usual plain of an action movie. The performances are patchy at best. James McAvoy struggles through the first half hour, his accent being a little off and turning into a ham on more than one occasion. However, when he finds his feet, he turns it around, and for the last hour in particular he delivers an assured and believable performance. This is a neat bit of casting, because I don’t think there would be any arguments in that McAvoy is not your typical American hero. Indeed, you could say that Bekmambetov has gone down the Tobey Maguire root, and cast someone who is more believable as the alter ego as they are as the hero. When McAvoy is thrown into the Fraternity, it has a fish out of water aspect that makes for an interesting subplot. Angelina Jolie is acceptable, but she’s not really given much to do apart from act as eye candy, but she has enough of an aura about her to pass for the generic ‘strong woman’. Morgan Freeman, on the other hand, is incredible. Whether he’s delivering magnetic speeches about the future of humanity or telling his thugs to ‘shoot this motherf***er’, he’s a class act, and a believable one. Freeman has improved with age, and Sloan is the perfect character for him; someone who has been through enough crap to know how the world of his profession works. Sound familiar? But Timur Bekmambetov is the true star of the show, particularly during the action sequences. He manages to find neat and innovative angles and shots that allow a perennial view of all of the action (and if such a shot doesn’t exist, he’ll just show you the whole thing twice). He directs the CGI shots with great skill too, especially when bullets fly great distances through the air. You’ll probably only be staring at the bullet itself, but take a look around it and Bekmambetov has crafted a lived-in universe below it, one that we never get to see. Again, he’s blending the mundane and the extraordinary to great effect. He also paces his film well, sending us on a roller-coaster ride through a movie that has no pause for a bathroom stop. The only problem that he has is with his impulsive use of slow-motion, which, while showing us the action in a clear format, becomes a little annoying after around the fifteenth usage. The score, too, is fantastic, blending soft rock and classical to give modern-yet-stylish view of the world. But pretending that Wanted is a flawless film would be a silly thing to do, because it certainly has its fair share of pitfalls. First and foremost, there’s a problem with the characters. Despite good performances, our actors aren’t really given anything to do in terms of developing a personality, and thus the characterization is pretty thin on its feet. McAvoy’s Gibson is a down-and-outer with no objectives. Sloan is the wise old father figure who Wesley never had growing up. And Fox is... well, a fox. Other than these clichés, the characters are defined by their actions and the action rather than any underlying motives or thoughts. Gibson’s drive is ignited towards the last twenty minutes, and finally we’re treated with a touch of character, but it does seem like a matter of too little too late. Even worse than the characterization, though, is that every single one of the twists is predictable. Of course, I won’t go too far into this, because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but Wanted telegraphs its ‘shock moments’ so that any long-lasting effect is lost. And, because of this, Wanted can only be classed as an above average action film. But hey, that’s all it really wants to be. Verdict Wanted may not be a four hour opus on the human condition, but it’s bloody good fun. 7/10.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2008 12:15
|
|
|
In an time where it seems like the only way you make a R rated action film is to cast Jet Li or Jason Statham, it's nice to see some new faces. Going into the film I had seen the trailer one time, and decided to live in a vacuum about the film so I would have no expectations. It worked, While yes there seems to be a similar feal to movies like fight Club and Matrix, is that really a bad thing? "You're movie is too similar to a classic, so it sucks" To me drawing inspiration from Classics is a sure fire way to make a good film. Nothing is borrowed directly from those films but you definitely get a feel like this is all familiar, and that to me is one of the strengths of the film. You're seeing something you've seen from a new perspective and I personally found it refreshing, the action scenes seemed like they took 2 parts matrix and 1 part Hard boiled and came out with some sort of Frankenstein of cool. The final battle especially is a clear beneficiary of this model. The acting is ok, but better then standard Rated R Action films if for no other reason then the inclusion of Morgan Freeman, who trumps the likes of Stallone and Willis in the cool and acting factors. Angelina Jolie is a horrible skank, who actually manages to not ruin a film for a change and look attractive and Mcavoy is not bad as your standard conflicted antihero. The plot while laughable at some parts and stupid in others with large plot holesif he was living across the street why not just talk to him after his first night with the Fraternity or right after the opening sequence? and while some will forgive this because it's an action movie, I have trouble doing the same. Saying a movie is allowed to have plot holes just cause is stupid sloppy and lazy. The Effects are standard, nothing jumps out and says "Hi I'm revolutionary, sup?" but nothing says "Hi, I was done by a no talent hack" either, mediocre would be a good way to describe them. The action scenes are excellent, easily the best of the summer, and looking on the Calender, could be the best of the year forward, simply put the action sequences are not to be missed and an entirely new beats, they make you want to sit there and watch more bad story to see the next one. Bottom line, without expectations you can find yourself in an enjoyable action film, if you get caught up in the hype and build this up too much in your mind you'll be disappointed, and if you read reviews and miss this when it's in the theater you'll also be disappointed, while it may look ok on some peoples set ups, it really does benefit from the big screen. Pros:Superb action scenes "shoot this motherfucker" Fox's cool tattoos Cons: Story's not winning any Oscars, neither will the acting, though better then the norm for genre Score 4/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2008 18:28
|
|
|
Fantastic pure action movie. If you're expecting a rich detailed plot, you're an idiot. Plot is not important here. If you expecting any type of realism out of this movie, please watch the trailer again. They don't try to make sense of the whole curving bullet thing, so you're free to just sit back and enjoy. Pros: Great action, Angelina Jolie (I have the perfect place for her to put those lips), likable and relatable main character Cons: With a bit more plot this could be an instant classic. As is it's just a good mindless action flick. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2008 22:23
|
|
|
AFewBricksShy posted:Having seen Daywatch and Nightwatch, I didn't go in expecting high art. I knew I'd get a convoluted story that may or may not make sense, but some incredible visuals. Indeed, after seeing the mediocre-bordering-on-crap Nightwatch, followed by the terrible Daywatch, I expected Timur Bektambektobotobetkamotov to go completely nuts with the budget and stuff the film with zero plot and a lot of exploding windows. I too, was pleasantly surprised. This movie's CGI (bullet curving aside) does not stand separate from the rest of the scene and scream "BEHOLD I AM CGI !". It feels as real as completely unreal real-life stunts can feel. Basically, this movie is no late Star Wars. The CGI is not complete bullshit, like the weightless Peter Parker in Spiderman 1. It looks and feels like real scenery, realistically integrated with live people. It does NOT look like the ridiculous green-screen dinosaur chase from "King Kong". The fantastic larger-than-life sequences are more imaginative than your average Matrix rip-off. There are some really cool shots in that movie. In addition, this movie does not feature a confusing plot. The plot is understandable, and provides for plenty of excuses to blow poo poo up and cut flying bullets in half with a pair of knives. 4/5. monsterland fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jul 29, 2008 |
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2008 10:26
|
|
|
Decent popcorn movie but still nowhere close to being a action movie classic Pros: - A few decent lines - A few good and creative action scenes Cons - The lead actor didn't make a interesting character - Decent CGI but nothing you haven't seen before in other movies like the Matrix - Plot is not that compelling and neither is the story development - Tons of lame plot twists final: 3/5.5
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2008 17:05
|
|
|
I personally loved this movie. Dark Knight aside, This was the best movie I've seen in a while. The action was constant and I thought was entertaining. The whole "curve the bullet" thing may seem a little weird, but I liked it. It had Angelina Jolie in it too which is relevant to my interests. Taking kill orders from a loom though and calling it fate seemed very awkward, they could have done something more interesting. If this movie was a little longer, I think it could have been better. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2008 12:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:29 |
|
|
Made me want to curve a bullet into my skull. and apparently, if this movie teaches me anything, it is entirely possible to do so... or something Angelina's rear end couldn't save this pile of poo poo. <1/5 Fog Tripper fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Oct 15, 2009 |
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2009 02:37
|
|
