Wanted
The trailers for this film didn't really do a lot to spur my interest in any massive way, but they did give my curiosity a little bit of a kick in the right direction. Not only did bending bullets seem like an absolutely absurdly interesting concept, but the promise of Angelina Jolie's bare arse on screen was the worm that caught this fish. Before all you keyboard straddling cock bags start questioning me, I know shes had it all out before in Gia, but a nude Jolie is like Christmas in many ways. Yes, you've seen it all before, but you still look forward to next year.
I decided to check it out, and I found myself greeted with the best action film to come from Hollywood in years. And just to rub it in, its made by a Russian.
Timur Bekmambitov is the gifted director of Night Watch and Day Watch, easily two of the most clinically insane films in cinema history, and Wanted doesn't let down the family.
The film starts as it means to carry on, with a brutal gunfight. Five minutes in and you've already had as many headshots, a man running fast enough to rile Wile. E. Coyote, and an improbable building jump ending in disaster for a couple of generic henchmen. This first scene sets the tone of the film, and you know from that point on that your going to be fed some seriously mental shit.
The story revolves around a hapless nobody called Wesley (played by James McAvoy), who's a down and out, cynical, world weary sad act. A droning worker bee in a hive of inferiority. Wesley works in an office with his 'anorexic boss', has a best friend thats sleeping with his wife and no money to get him through each day. That life is thrown out the window when he discovers he is a potential member of a secret society called The Fraternity, which is made up of the worlds deadliest assassins. McAvoy is surprisingly good as Wesley, and manages to pull off the whole Tobey Maguire thing quite well, he really draws you into the character and his situation. You feel really good for him when he snaps and fights back at his boss, and even more so when he twats his supposed best friend in the face with his ergonomic keyboard. A good example of the style of the film is when the keyboard connects, we enter slow motion, and the dismantled keys spell out the words 'Fuck You' in the air. I dont know about you, but i think it takes a great mind to come up with something as deranged as that, and still present it so stylishly.
After boarding the bus at Absurdville, we make our first stop at Lunatic Central. The Fraternity's base of operations. The base is actually a fully operational textile mill ran by Sloan, the current leader of The Fraternity, played with ease by Morgan 'I'm In Everything At The Moment' Freeman, who has a considerable amount of experience with this type of character. He plays the wise old master with gusto, and hardly breaks a sweat in getting across the right image. The mill acts as a hub for all the assassins to plan and train for action, and as a place for our hero Wesley to hone his particularly impressive skills. He gets beaten to a pulp to build his pain threshold and resilience, monkey knife fights with a butcher and bends bullets around carcasses of meat (and im not just talking about Jolie.)
As the montage is reaching its inevitable conclusion, Morgan Freeman decides that its time to unleash the big guns and really push the boundaries of disbelief.
He takes Wesley into a room housing a large loom and speaks the now immortal and iconic words:
'This, is the Loom of Fate'
Most of the audience simultaneously shouted 'What?' or choked on their popcorn, and suffice to say there were more than enough people humming the Twilight Zone theme tune. I was one of them. I'm sorry, but the idea of a 'loom of fate' is just plain, old fashioned Manson-Family-style crazy. I dont care who you are, where you're from or what you do. You could be the fucking Chupacabra for all I care, I would still defy you to give me one plot explanation crazier than a loom that tells you to kill people.
Aside from that, the film was very, very enjoyable. There were some amazing gunfights, exciting and unique car chases, the use of CGI - though sometimes overpowering - was ultimately necessary and executed well. One thing i will say though, is that it still doesnt feel right to hear Morgan Freeman swear, and even when hes angry, it still sounds out of context and awkward. That said, when he does swear it blindsides you and makes you laugh your tits off. The film has some extraordinary set pieces aswell, such as the final fight in the warehouse. You get everything in that one, including rats that explode. Rats that EXPLODE for Christ's sake.
So, Is It Shit?
You'll only find it shit if your either a fucking moron or a vegetable. As long as you go into the screening expecting a logically-challenged adrenaline-fuelled bi-hourly binge of violence and craziness, you wont be dissapointed. The ten year old boy in you will be smiling all the way home.
Go and see this film now, Bekmambitov should rightly be crowned the new King of Cool. Tarantino seems like an amateur in comparison, and can only wish his films were as stylish as Wanted is.
The trailers for this film didn't really do a lot to spur my interest in any massive way, but they did give my curiosity a little bit of a kick in the right direction. Not only did bending bullets seem like an absolutely absurdly interesting concept, but the promise of Angelina Jolie's bare arse on screen was the worm that caught this fish. Before all you keyboard straddling cock bags start questioning me, I know shes had it all out before in Gia, but a nude Jolie is like Christmas in many ways. Yes, you've seen it all before, but you still look forward to next year.
I decided to check it out, and I found myself greeted with the best action film to come from Hollywood in years. And just to rub it in, its made by a Russian.
Timur Bekmambitov is the gifted director of Night Watch and Day Watch, easily two of the most clinically insane films in cinema history, and Wanted doesn't let down the family.
The film starts as it means to carry on, with a brutal gunfight. Five minutes in and you've already had as many headshots, a man running fast enough to rile Wile. E. Coyote, and an improbable building jump ending in disaster for a couple of generic henchmen. This first scene sets the tone of the film, and you know from that point on that your going to be fed some seriously mental shit.
The story revolves around a hapless nobody called Wesley (played by James McAvoy), who's a down and out, cynical, world weary sad act. A droning worker bee in a hive of inferiority. Wesley works in an office with his 'anorexic boss', has a best friend thats sleeping with his wife and no money to get him through each day. That life is thrown out the window when he discovers he is a potential member of a secret society called The Fraternity, which is made up of the worlds deadliest assassins. McAvoy is surprisingly good as Wesley, and manages to pull off the whole Tobey Maguire thing quite well, he really draws you into the character and his situation. You feel really good for him when he snaps and fights back at his boss, and even more so when he twats his supposed best friend in the face with his ergonomic keyboard. A good example of the style of the film is when the keyboard connects, we enter slow motion, and the dismantled keys spell out the words 'Fuck You' in the air. I dont know about you, but i think it takes a great mind to come up with something as deranged as that, and still present it so stylishly.
After boarding the bus at Absurdville, we make our first stop at Lunatic Central. The Fraternity's base of operations. The base is actually a fully operational textile mill ran by Sloan, the current leader of The Fraternity, played with ease by Morgan 'I'm In Everything At The Moment' Freeman, who has a considerable amount of experience with this type of character. He plays the wise old master with gusto, and hardly breaks a sweat in getting across the right image. The mill acts as a hub for all the assassins to plan and train for action, and as a place for our hero Wesley to hone his particularly impressive skills. He gets beaten to a pulp to build his pain threshold and resilience, monkey knife fights with a butcher and bends bullets around carcasses of meat (and im not just talking about Jolie.)
As the montage is reaching its inevitable conclusion, Morgan Freeman decides that its time to unleash the big guns and really push the boundaries of disbelief.
He takes Wesley into a room housing a large loom and speaks the now immortal and iconic words:
'This, is the Loom of Fate'
Most of the audience simultaneously shouted 'What?' or choked on their popcorn, and suffice to say there were more than enough people humming the Twilight Zone theme tune. I was one of them. I'm sorry, but the idea of a 'loom of fate' is just plain, old fashioned Manson-Family-style crazy. I dont care who you are, where you're from or what you do. You could be the fucking Chupacabra for all I care, I would still defy you to give me one plot explanation crazier than a loom that tells you to kill people.
Aside from that, the film was very, very enjoyable. There were some amazing gunfights, exciting and unique car chases, the use of CGI - though sometimes overpowering - was ultimately necessary and executed well. One thing i will say though, is that it still doesnt feel right to hear Morgan Freeman swear, and even when hes angry, it still sounds out of context and awkward. That said, when he does swear it blindsides you and makes you laugh your tits off. The film has some extraordinary set pieces aswell, such as the final fight in the warehouse. You get everything in that one, including rats that explode. Rats that EXPLODE for Christ's sake.
So, Is It Shit?
You'll only find it shit if your either a fucking moron or a vegetable. As long as you go into the screening expecting a logically-challenged adrenaline-fuelled bi-hourly binge of violence and craziness, you wont be dissapointed. The ten year old boy in you will be smiling all the way home.
Go and see this film now, Bekmambitov should rightly be crowned the new King of Cool. Tarantino seems like an amateur in comparison, and can only wish his films were as stylish as Wanted is.
