Wanted
Let me preface this entry. I don’t really plan to write more movie reviews, but I thought this was especially necessary. For the last few weeks people have been asking me what I thought about Wanted. So I figure I’ll write it here, because I really do have a lot to say about this.
First, for me the movie was good, but not great; entertaining, but forgettable. Now I think most of my disappointment stems from the hype that preceded opening night. Angelina Joliee bending bullets sounded great, and many of the previews made it seem like this movie would have a great underlying theme of consumerism and monotony – very Fight Clubesqu, and I loved fight club. From the previews I was hoping that this movie would be the perfect blend of the Matrix (another one of my favorites) and Fight Club. But, the hype killed it for me – and the truth is hype can always make a good movie seem bad, and I think in this case that’s exactly what happened.
Second – was it just me or did the movie feel rushed? I really felt “uncomfortable” by the movies extremely fast pace in terms of progression. The movie could have been so much more spectacular if it was longer and delved into the idea of character development or even plot for that matter. And I understand that its suppose to be an action thriller, but that doesn’t mean you can skirt the most basic component of film. For a matter of fact I felt that if the movie was separated into three, into a trilogy, there would be much more time for creativity and purpose, but the way that it ended seems like that will not be happening.
On that note lets talk about the ending. Other than being quite childish, improbably, and outright silly, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Most of the audience can tell the direction of the movie; I guess a rule of thumb when dealing with secret societies, is that more often than not they are bad. Also, I’m just not a fan of the everybody dying part. And though its suppose to be one of those scifi shootem up movies, I cannot rationally understand how the ending was thought up. It seemed to be just another summer blockbuster that really felt unintelligible. It had so much potential, but it never got to quality I felt it could have.
For the two hours I sat in the theatre, I was really entertained, I might even watch the movie again, but this movie is nothing more than ultra-violent stimulus. Don’t get me wrong, if you are at the movies and don’t know what to watch (and you have already seen the Dark Knight) Wanted is a good choice, but it will be no classic. I leave you with this to think about:
“Never judge a book by its movie.”
-J.W. Eagan (Film Critic)
PS the beginning felt like a total ripoff from office space