SYNOPSIS:
Wesley Gibson is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac,
with a humilitating boss and a cheating girlfriend. His life
is going nowhere!
Wes discovers that his estranged father has been brutally
murdered - and finds himself thrust into joining a secret
society of assassins called The Fraternity. During his training
at the hands of a skilled mentor called Fox, this once office-bound
wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity.
But with his first assignment, Wes finds out that the only
thing more difficult than ending the lives of others is summoning
the courage to take control of his own!
MOVIE REVIEW:
How do you rate a movie if it oozes more style than substance?
You might find yourself in such a dilemma after catching "Wanted".
The
trailer sells it as a hardcore action flick for the boys.
And well it didn’t disappoint with all the flashy weaponry,
gravity-defining car crash sequences, pain-inducing cuff fights
and feature the hottest woman on the planet, Angelina Jolie
who receives top-billing.
Based
on a Top Cow comic release by Mark Millar, "Wanted"
is about an ordinary office worker, Wesley Gibson (James McAvory
from Atonement) who found out under rather bizarre circumstances
that he is actually an offspring of a renowned assassin who
was recently killed by his counterpart, Cross. Gibson must
join a mysterious assassins’ society called Fraternity
to avenge his father. I can’t tell you how much difference
between the original material and the adapted screenplay as
I never read the comic.
But
right here in the movie version, Angelina Jolie plays the
sexy and skilful Fox who acts as a mentor to McAvory’s
character while Morgan Freeman is Sloan, the head of Fraternity
who as usual portrays his character as convincingly as a seasoned
conman even you know he is mouthing some gibberish lines onscreen.
Director
Timur Bekmambetov who hails from Russia and helms the widely
popular "Daywatch" and "Nightwatch" is
rather at ease coordinating the chaos and his knack for visual
is unbeatable. Given a Hollywood’s budget, Bekmambetov
proves his ability to seamlessly intertwine the CG and practical
effects take for example a prolonged car chase when Gibson
first encounters Fox after a shootout in a supermarket. All
I can say is Bekmambetov is the only other guy besides the
notorious Michael Bay who can give a generic ‘car chase
sequence’ a facelift.
No
doubt Bekmambetov is a showman, for every questionable plot
turn, he distracts it by upping the visual kinetic display.
The process of turning Gibson from a wimp to an expert in
the field of assassination is unbelievable but entertaining.
The spotlight is on McAvory’s character and other cast
members like Jolie, Freeman and Thomas Kretschmann (Cross)
are there to convince the audience to buy into the absurdness
and indulge in this massive escapism campaign.
While
there’s a slight twist to the whole mayhem towards the
end (whether you buy it or not), "Wanted" lost its
footing with all those ridiculous mumbo-jumbo about The Fraternity
society although visually it scores a perfect ten.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
Behind-the-scenes is a 7 minutes feature
that showcases how the stunt team rigged the whole car chase
and stunts in downtown Chicago.
A
Set Tour features Rapper Common (he plays the gunsmith
in the movie) who shows us the huge movie set built in Prague
which stood in for the Fraternity headquarters.
Trailers
for Burn After Reading, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Mummy:
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Forst/Nixon round up the DVD.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Presented
in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1, the visual is a feast to
the eyes. Sometimes it has a gritty feel perhaps intentional
by the filmmakers. With a thumping soundtrack, gunshots and
explosion, the Dolby Digital 5.1 is a must to exhibit the
strong bass and dynamic ambient effects in the surround.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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