Wanted

Joining the large amount of movies making the transition from comic book to the screen comes the highly anticipated Wanted. This is one comic book adventure however that is strictly for adults only, from the trailers that were used to promote the movie I really had no idea exactly how adult the movie would turn out to be.

 

Ex British TV star James McAvoy takes on the leading role as Wesley Gibson a loser who is seemingly on the wrong side of depression at all times, bullied by his employer, betrayed by his girlfriend and best friend; things really are at their lowest for Gibson. When Gibson heads to the pharmacy for anti-depressants he is approached by the stunning Fox (Angelina Jolie) who tells him the father he never really knew he had died the day before, and that the killer is in the very building. Gibson is immediately thrust into the bizarre world of the Fraternity a sort of underground agency that assassinates people who could affect the way the country operates.

 

What really threw me off about Wanted was the considerable violence that the movie contained, McAvoy spends much of his time upon entering the Fraternity in a bloodied state, nothing to do with enemies, and this state is enforced by the people who are on his side. For a big budget Hollywood movie that covers a genre without really becoming a “genre” movie, Wanted is very out of sorts with other movies of its type. This being said I cannot say I have seen the Wanted comics, but it seems that the transition from comic to movie has resulted in the movie being a heavily toned down version.

 

There were aspects of the movie I loved and aspects I hated, Gibson’s revenge on his boss, and best friend turned love cheat is something that I found most pleasing, there is nothing like seeing the bad guys get their comeuppance in seemingly normal circumstances, giving someone in a similar situation the opportunity to live in hope of one day getting their own upper hand, although I would not recommend the methods that Gibson uses.

 

What for me was the problem with the movie, is that after Gibson gets his training in pain management from The Exterminator (a weird sort of pest control guy), The Repairman (who does the reverse) played by award winning Hustle star Marc Warren, and meat and chopper freak The Buther; the story just sort of peters off into a load of old nothing. I’d go as far as to say that the movie becomes completely hollow, with no real rhyme or reason to the events and their outcome.

 

Angelina Jolie’s “Fox” rests just the wrong side of bland, her character is completely one dimensional, not only do you really not get to know much of Fox during the movie, neither do you care. There is almost this hidden sub-plot of potential romance between Fox and Gibson, but in order for this to work effectively you need to feel love for both the characters, and apart from the storyline involving Fox and her origins, you get to know little more about the character than when she first appears on screen.

 

Morgan Freeman’s character of Sloane has potential, but this is ruined by the considerably rushed movie finale. While the character of Cross is just a sort of hazy blur, a revelation about the character develops about 20 minutes before the movies climax, but again rather like Fox you really don’t care, there is not enough development to make this a suitably poignant moment. Then there is Terrance Stamps character Pekwarsky the only character other than Gibson who has any real potential, but his role is limited to the best part of five minutes, coming and going like a silent breaking of wind.

 

I really didn’t get Wanted, and that needs a little explaining; I got the story I just did not understand it’s purpose; a movie so incredibly adult, but built with a child’s mind. Having gone over the top with the violence, and wowed us with the phenomenal and very different special effects; the third part is the story which to be honest might not have enough legitimacy to entertain a five year old. Why was everything so horridly rushed? Why did none of the secondary characters get any chance of development? And why with the exception of effects and cast did the movie look so terribly low key, rather like it’s star James McAvoy had not actually progressed from what is a pretty standard low budget British movie, how on earth can a movie look so good quality and so low beat at the same time?

 

I guess after this you’ll not be surprised to hear that I don’t recommend seeing this movie. When it turns up somewhere that seeing the movie costs you nothing, like a television screening or a free DVD rental then maybe, just maybe it might be worth your attention, but don’t expect to be as impressed with the movie as you possibly were with the trailer.