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In the summer’s latest cinematic adrenaline shot, Wanted, director Timur Bekmambetov offers a little bit of hope for apathetic cubicle drones everywhere.
James McAvoy stars as Wesley Gibson, a complete nobody with a boring job, an obnoxious boss, and an annoying girlfriend who’s sleeping with his best friend. Every day, he just plods through life, feeling completely indifferent to the world around him.
But then, one night, everything changes. After he’s caught in the middle of a pharmacy shootout and a high-speed car chase, Wesley is brought to meet Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the leader of a secret society of assassins known as The Fraternity.
Sloan explains that Wesley’s long-lost father was a member of The Fraternity—one of the best, in fact—until he was killed by a rogue assassin named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). And since Wesley was born with his father’s abilities, he’s the only one who can stop Cross.
Though he’s reluctant at first, Wesley realizes that this is the chance he’s been looking for—the chance to be somebody. So he decides to join The Fraternity—and avenge his father’s death.
Packed with car chases and shootouts and all kinds of intense training montages, Wanted is an adrenaline junkie’s dream. The stunts are jaw-dropping, and the action is often shockingly brutal. It’s so intense, in fact, that, during those few low-action moments when you get a chance to catch your breath, you’ll feel almost as exhausted as you would if you were the one doing all the chasing and the fighting and the shooting. So if you like that eye-popping, Matrix kind of action, you’ll find plenty to love in Wanted.
When the dust clears, however, there’s still so much that doesn’t quite work. For starters, there’s the casting. While Angelina Jolie is perfectly cast as a gun-slinging badass, McAvoy just doesn’t fit. He may be perfect for period pieces and chick flicks, but he makes about as much sense in an action role as Hugh Grant would. Perhaps his accent is part of the problem—because sometimes (especially while he’s narrating) it seems like he’s trying so hard to master his American accent that he forgets to make his lines sound convincing—but he just isn’t believable as the average-joe-turned-ruthless-assassin. Freeman, too, is a strange choice for the wise yet hardened leader—and, at times, it seems as though the filmmakers had really wanted Sam Jackson, but they settled for Freeman instead.
Finally, while the story is intriguing—and it offers some even more intriguing twists (which you might see coming from a mile away)—the writers couldn’t seem to decide whether to make it serious or silly. Though the story’s comic book roots make it a perfect candidate for some quirky humor—and the non-stop thrills could make it a serious action film—it doesn’t really commit to either. And the odd bits of humor that are thrown in will just pull you out of the story and distract you from the thrills at hand.
But, then again, Wanted isn’t about the story as much as it’s about the action and the eye candy—and it definitely provides plenty of both. And though it has its share of flaws, it’s still slicker and sexier than the average shoot-‘em-up.
DVD Review:
While director Timur Bekmambetov’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s edgy graphic novel, Wanted, had some issues with its casting and its inconsistent tone, there’s one thing that it definitely got right: the action. Wisely, the film’s two-disc special edition DVD release plays up on the film’s successes. Many of the features focus on the action: the stunts, the special effects, and the visual effects. They’re short and fast-paced—and, in most cases, they’re nearly as action-packed as the movie itself. Even the 20-minute feature on the cast and the characters seems to fly by, thanks to its behind-the-scenes footage of stunts and fight training.
The extras also take a closer look at the Wanted franchise—from the original graphic novel to Bekmambetov’s vision for the movie to the making of the upcoming video game. If you look closely on the last page of the Special Features menu, you’ll also find an Easter Egg that leads you to a special code to unlock unlimited ammo in the game.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature on the DVD, however, is the one that I’ve been unable to explore. On the main menu, there’s a hidden option, called “Code of the Fraternity.” This feature requires a secret binary code—which I haven’t managed to crack.
The features on the Wanted two-disc special edition DVD release are exactly as they should be: action-packed and effects-heavy. Fans of the film (and the graphic novel) won’t want to miss these high-energy extras. And even if you’re like me—and you couldn’t get over the film’s nagging flaws—the extras will remind you of everything that you still managed to love about it. In fact, after watching the features, you might even like the movie just a little bit more than you did before.
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