Movie Review: Wanted
For those of you thinking of going to see the movie "Wanted," save your money. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but I am going to talk about general overarching themes, characters, and principles in the movie, so if you want a clean slate to see the movie,
The premise is simple, and covered adequately (if not fully) in the previews: Normal guy gets picked up by assassin group, and there is much action.
This is fine; simple, and a bit overdone, but fine. The more fully the plot and basic premise of the movie unfolds, however, the more unbelievably cheesy (stupid, even) it becomes. It takes vastly overdone cliches and beats you about the head with them; it tries to play cat's cradle with plot twists and fails immeasurably, and worse... it tries to be serious about it. But the basic premise isn't ever too important in what boils down to an action movie for the sake of action, so...
On to the characters:
The main character isn't likable. He's actually really an asshole, and throughout the movie, I found myself left cold by his motivations, his decisions, and his reactions. He didn't prove himself to me throughout the movie. He wasn't a hero (even a Byronic one), which is fine. I don't need a hero in my movie - if he's an ordinary guy doing the best he can and fucking up along the way - but you can respect him, can see why he does the things he does - I actually find that a lot more interesting than your standard hero with a messiah complex.
The problem is that they tried to make him accessible to the "common man," but somehow got confused about what that constitutes. His character supposedly underwent great changes and perspective shifts from the beginning of the movie until the end; it was sort of set up as a coming-of-age story, only with a protagonist who's much older, and much more beaten down than a young adolescent would be. But most of his misery is self-inflicted, which makes it very difficult to sympathize with him. I found myself catapulted years into the future, when I'll undoubtedly be a crotchety old woman, yelling, "Damn kids! We had self-respect in my days, I tell you. None of this wishy-washy mamby-pamby shit." Needless to say, that's not a good mindset to be in when watching an action movie.
It doesn't help that I found his voice to be entirely irritating. He doesn't talk so much as whine, and his inflections remind me of the way kids talk, when they're in those dangerous first stages of a tantrum and begin with: "It's not fair!"
As for the other characters... there were no stand-outs. We didn't get glimpses into their lives, hints of their motivations, nothing. You are, apparently, supposed to be too busy caring about the leading man to give much of a damn about anyone else.
With the exception of Angelina Jolie's character, of course. She's coldly sexy, calculating, and obviously a very important person. She's trusted, capable, and quite hot. We do get a bit of background on her, and it makes her a more interesting, stronger character. We even get a brief glimpse into the compassionate person she could have been. No, she's not entirely accessible to the audience (largely because her experiences are so different), but being able to understand her reasoning, and respect her for it, makes her a good character. The only one in the movie, actually. (Not an amazing character, mind. Just a decent one.)
And in stark contrast to the leading man, she doesn't whine about her lot in life, blame others for it, or try desperately to gain approval. She's comfortable with the person she is. The main character is unhappy, whiney, and confrontational; largely, he has only himself to blame.
On to the action scenes:
The first one sucked and honestly made me blink and go, "Wait, I paid money for this?" It is the kind of hokey that the Matrix and similar films have delved into. The action scenes fly in the face of all that is logical and physics-compatible, and splat onto the windshield of mildly lame, and yet intriguing. The first one is complete bull, as I've said, and a couple in our row actually left in the middle of it. The following ones are a bit better, and the climactic one? Decent, and yet because of the character, I found I couldn't care.
When big things going "boom!" doesn't make me care, there's a problem. I like action movies. Lots of bullets, sweat, explosions, and a whole heap pile of frantic movement. It appeals to me. This probably means I'm a very base creature in touch with my inner caveman who goes "Oogh, oogh!" at the pretty fire, but I'm ok with that.
For an action movie with a plot that stretches my willingness to believe in the world in which it takes place, and characters who only occasionally manage to capture my attention, they should have gone all out on the action scenes. They didn't.
In all, the movie failed almost utterly. It had only one redeeming quality, and that's the audience's ability to play out events five, ten years into the future and imagine how the plot, etc. must mature after the end of the movie. It's one of the few movies I feel drawn to search out good fiction for; this is largely because the movie left me unsatisfied, but also because the movie left room for figuring out how a sequence of events might occur after the final scene.
Apologies for the excessive analyzing. At its core, it's actually a very simple kind of movie.
The premise is simple, and covered adequately (if not fully) in the previews: Normal guy gets picked up by assassin group, and there is much action.
This is fine; simple, and a bit overdone, but fine. The more fully the plot and basic premise of the movie unfolds, however, the more unbelievably cheesy (stupid, even) it becomes. It takes vastly overdone cliches and beats you about the head with them; it tries to play cat's cradle with plot twists and fails immeasurably, and worse... it tries to be serious about it. But the basic premise isn't ever too important in what boils down to an action movie for the sake of action, so...
On to the characters:
The main character isn't likable. He's actually really an asshole, and throughout the movie, I found myself left cold by his motivations, his decisions, and his reactions. He didn't prove himself to me throughout the movie. He wasn't a hero (even a Byronic one), which is fine. I don't need a hero in my movie - if he's an ordinary guy doing the best he can and fucking up along the way - but you can respect him, can see why he does the things he does - I actually find that a lot more interesting than your standard hero with a messiah complex.
The problem is that they tried to make him accessible to the "common man," but somehow got confused about what that constitutes. His character supposedly underwent great changes and perspective shifts from the beginning of the movie until the end; it was sort of set up as a coming-of-age story, only with a protagonist who's much older, and much more beaten down than a young adolescent would be. But most of his misery is self-inflicted, which makes it very difficult to sympathize with him. I found myself catapulted years into the future, when I'll undoubtedly be a crotchety old woman, yelling, "Damn kids! We had self-respect in my days, I tell you. None of this wishy-washy mamby-pamby shit." Needless to say, that's not a good mindset to be in when watching an action movie.
It doesn't help that I found his voice to be entirely irritating. He doesn't talk so much as whine, and his inflections remind me of the way kids talk, when they're in those dangerous first stages of a tantrum and begin with: "It's not fair!"
As for the other characters... there were no stand-outs. We didn't get glimpses into their lives, hints of their motivations, nothing. You are, apparently, supposed to be too busy caring about the leading man to give much of a damn about anyone else.
With the exception of Angelina Jolie's character, of course. She's coldly sexy, calculating, and obviously a very important person. She's trusted, capable, and quite hot. We do get a bit of background on her, and it makes her a more interesting, stronger character. We even get a brief glimpse into the compassionate person she could have been. No, she's not entirely accessible to the audience (largely because her experiences are so different), but being able to understand her reasoning, and respect her for it, makes her a good character. The only one in the movie, actually. (Not an amazing character, mind. Just a decent one.)
And in stark contrast to the leading man, she doesn't whine about her lot in life, blame others for it, or try desperately to gain approval. She's comfortable with the person she is. The main character is unhappy, whiney, and confrontational; largely, he has only himself to blame.
On to the action scenes:
The first one sucked and honestly made me blink and go, "Wait, I paid money for this?" It is the kind of hokey that the Matrix and similar films have delved into. The action scenes fly in the face of all that is logical and physics-compatible, and splat onto the windshield of mildly lame, and yet intriguing. The first one is complete bull, as I've said, and a couple in our row actually left in the middle of it. The following ones are a bit better, and the climactic one? Decent, and yet because of the character, I found I couldn't care.
When big things going "boom!" doesn't make me care, there's a problem. I like action movies. Lots of bullets, sweat, explosions, and a whole heap pile of frantic movement. It appeals to me. This probably means I'm a very base creature in touch with my inner caveman who goes "Oogh, oogh!" at the pretty fire, but I'm ok with that.
For an action movie with a plot that stretches my willingness to believe in the world in which it takes place, and characters who only occasionally manage to capture my attention, they should have gone all out on the action scenes. They didn't.
In all, the movie failed almost utterly. It had only one redeeming quality, and that's the audience's ability to play out events five, ten years into the future and imagine how the plot, etc. must mature after the end of the movie. It's one of the few movies I feel drawn to search out good fiction for; this is largely because the movie left me unsatisfied, but also because the movie left room for figuring out how a sequence of events might occur after the final scene.
Apologies for the excessive analyzing. At its core, it's actually a very simple kind of movie.