Review: Wanted (LAFF)

Wanted

Opening Date: 06/27/2008

STUDIO: Universal

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge

Choose your destiny.

Opening Statement

Under a gorgeous full moon, the Los Angeles Film Festival kicked off tonight with a picture that unceremoniously shoves Jon Favreau’s Iron Man aside and grabs the summer box office by the balls. I’m referring to director Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted, a mind-bending roller coaster ride who’s inherent replayability will draw audiences into the theaters in droves.

Facts of the Case

Wesley Alan Gibson (James McAvoy) is a schlub. He’s mired in a career he hates, his girlfriend is schtuping his best friend, and he’s suffering massive, uncontrollable panic attacks. But just when things look like they can’t get any worse, the universe throws Wesley a sucker punch, when a mysterious woman (Angelina Jolie) shows up in the drug store to save him from an unforeseen assailant. It seems our reluctant hero is descended from a long line of assassins, born into a secret society. The only problem is, one of their own has gone AWOL and begun vengefully picking off the rest, beginning with Wesley’s father. With our hero’s head on the block, it’s up to this reclusive cabal — lead by the intensely driven Sloan (Morgan Freeman) — to take in said schlub, unlock his full potential, and set him loose to destroy their former colleague (Thomas Kretschmann).

The Evidence

Wow… I saw the film hours ago and the buzz has yet to wear off. If you are averse to brutal violence, gun play, and cruelty to animals, Wanted isn’t your bag. For everyone else, strap yourselves in for one hell of a ride.

Bekmambetov taps into something universal here — our innate unhappiness as human beings. When has anyone not felt shat upon or treated like cattle to the slaughter, wasting our lives on unimportant bullshit because that’s what we’re supposed to do? Whether it be our families, partners, children, co-workers, or friends, our lives rarely seem under our own control; playing out each day very much like the last, like hamsters on a treadwheel. Wanted is a call to revolution, to break the bonds of our mundane, unfulfilled existence and do something important with our time, whatever that may be. Okay, so it’s fictional, but the empowering message is still the same…

“It a choice, Wesley, that each of us must face: to remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate, or take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have locked inside, with a key you already hold.” –Sloan

Based on the six-issue Top Cow comic book series by writer Mark Millar (Marvel’s Civil War) and artist JG Jones (DC’s Final Crisis), the screenwriting team of Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan — who gave us the remake of 3:10 to Yuma and The Fast and the Furious sequels — have taken a rather bombastic superhero vs. supervillains tale and grounded it in modern day reality. Jettisoning much of the original storyline, one might fear this to be a stale studio blockbuster with lots of flash and no substance. Thankfully, it’s not. The story takes interesting twists and turns throughout its 110 min runtime. Most work, some fail miserably, but by the time the picture ends, you really don’t care, because you’ve been taken places and seen things we’ve never experienced on film before. And that’s what the motion picture business is all about; something far too many studio executives and creative types have forsaken in their quest for big box office returns.

Russian-born Bekmambetov, the man who gave us Night Watch, Day Watch, and the forthcoming Twilight Watch is nothing short of visionary. His use of sound, light, and movement are so striking, it conjures sense memories of being in a movie theater for the very first time, where everything is a discovery. For example, I don’t recall a film where the character’s faces played such a dominant role, which puts a huge burden on the actors. They must be completely invested in the scene; actively listening, emotionally available, and presenting maximum exposure of the eyes to the camera at all times. These are three things drilled into us as actors and each is fully exploited here. Just focus in on James, Morgan, or Angelina at any given time and you’ll see what I mean. You can see and feel the mind churning behind those eyes.

James McAvoy does an exceptional job with a character that could very easily be ruined in the hands of a less gifted actor. He’s not perfect, and those moments stand out like sore thumbs, but the overall journey Wesley takes is what we’re hooked into. Morgan Freeman is as cool as ever, with some great one liners that are sure to wind up on t-shirts. And I’ve realized what it is about Angelina Jolie that’s so mesmerizing. She’s not drop dead gorgeous, but she’s so connected with who she is and what she’s capable of, that the character she’s portraying leaps right off the screen. It’s goddamn sexy and you can’t help but be drawn in. Even Terence Stamp, another actor who knows himself to his core, steps in for a brief yet effective role.

But the film is not without its flaws. Wanted does demand a healthy suspension of disbelief and an ability to forgive several story transitions that just don’t play. One of the most egregious is Wesley’s transition from doubt-filled trainee to prime time player. It’s awkward and forced, as if the screenwriting trio said “We need to pick up the pace here. Let’s plug in a Rocky-esque montage.” And yet, while that scene doesn’t work, once we’re onto the next sequence, you’ve already forgotten about it; which is one of the greatest compliments you can pay a film. We are so invested in these characters from the very beginning that we’re able to forgive missteps that would take us out of most any other filmgoing experience.

And what an experience this is. Props to Danny Elfman who rocks a score so seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the film there are times you don’t even know it’s there. Kudos to cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen who blends what he learned on Transformers and Transporter 2 into a Matrix-like world that’s even more believable than what the Wachowskis boys offered up. Part of this is due to its location shooting. I love the way Bekmambetov uses Chicago as a living, breathing character. Granted, this may be due in part to my trading my beloved hometown for the benefits of Southern California, but this is without question the best the city has looked on the big screen since Andy Davis directed The Fugitive. And special credit to editors David Brenner and Dallas Puett for never letting us rest too long between action set pieces. This is one film that will exhaust and energize you at the same time.

Closing Remarks

Raising the bar on the summer movie scene, Timur Bekmambetov and his team have delivered a guaranteed crowd pleaser. There’s part of me that sincerely hopes Universal will allow this picture to stand on its own and not attempt to milk a franchise out of it. But, regardless of what happens down the road, Wanted is a rock-em sock-em good time that’ll leave you grinning from ear to ear.

The Verdict

9/10

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