#46: Wanted (2008) July 11, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Action, 2000s, adaptations, 3 stars, 2008 , trackback
Did you see the trailer for Wanted? Did you think the loopy, somewhat Matrix-y stunts — like bending bullets, driving cars into trains, and numerous others — looked cool? Did you want to see more? If the answer to these questions is “yes”, watch the trailer on loop a few times, because 85% of the film’s cool bits are in there.
The trailer is Wanted’s biggest problem by far. Those expecting to suspend their disbelief and be treated to an onslaught of ridiculous-but-cool CGI-aided action trickery may be disappointed, not because it’s not there but because they’ll have already seen all the best bits. Of course, two minutes of trailer can’t cover all of the action present in the film, but it certainly managed to contain most of the flagship moments. Wanted’s other major problem is its pacing. The “Wesley is an ordinary guy with a dull life” opening is stretched thin, the traditional “training montage” is actually most of the second act, and, by the time it’s remembered there was a proper plot too, all you’re left with are a few more recycled plot beats (most notably from a certain popular late-’70s sci-fi sequel). Those points aside, there’s nothing really wrong with the plot — it’s an above-average way of linking the action together.
It’s hard not to recycle in this genre, of course, but the only other place you’re likely to have seen most of the stunts is… the trailer! Ahem — or, Bekmambetov’s pair of Russian fantasy films, Night Watch and Day Watch. The prologue explaining about an organisation that has existed for thousands of years is certainly reminiscent of those films, though here Bekmambetov is stuck with text rather than a full-blooded flashback. Throughout the rest of the film he displays a noteworthy visual flair, and while I’m sure some prefer their action to be done ‘for real’ and not boosted by computers, there’s no way the crazy things he’s imagined could be achieved that way. I have no problem with the use of CGI personally, especially as the ludicrousness of its use here doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t.
The cast are all better than the material — not that anyone seems particularly bored or underachieving, just that the screenplay doesn’t tax them. Marc Warren is especially underused, with barely a line of dialogue to his name, though he is awarded a particularly gruesome death. While there’s nothing wrong with most of the elements that make up Wanted, then, it’s hard to escape the feeling that you’ve been cheated into paying to see all the stuff you already saw in the trailer with a few other bits slotted in. I spent much of the film presuming it would finish on an open-ended note, as the structure reminded me of films like X-Men and Iron Man: all set-up and origin story, with a perfunctory climax-providing enemy, done with an eye (or, indeed, both eyes) on a sequel. Wanted doesn’t really end that way, which in an age where the franchise is everything is admirable… apart from that the film leading to that ending still feels franchise-friendly.
If you don’t mind your action being computer-aided and as realistic as… well, a comic book… then there’s much to enjoy in Wanted. Except, you already enjoyed most of it in the trailer. Perhaps things will look brighter with a few years’ distance.
Comments»
[…] Shoot ‘Em Up is the film Wanted wants to be. It’s packed to bursting with utterly ludicrous — but, consequently, ludicrously cool — action sequences. It’s fast-paced, witty, and endlessly inventive. As the action genre goes, this is pure entertainment. […]
Wanted is the type of film that makes me feel like a conservative Christian middle-American parent who is disgusted by Hollywood’s immoral glorification of violence. I’m the same person who loved Ichi the Killer because of the way it elevated violence to a sort of beauty while studying it’s delirious effects; Wanted contained not a grain of intelligence, merely portraying a sickeningly vacuous male fantasy. Of course this is perfect for a film that takes the plot of a comic book and expands it into a 2-hour cinematic package: origin, training, etc. But this film more frequently resembles a video game (like so many other Hollywood CGI feasts these days) through it’s kinetic visuals and the obligatory final assault (involving the entrance to the castle, lower level minions on the ground floor, and a slow buildup to the ‘boss’ stage [only to find that the princess is in another castle]). And while a film like The Matrix (the first one) uses digital-driven time effects to propel the viewer into a fantasy world that questions the simulacra of every day life, Wanted seems to miss that step - leaving all flash and no brains.
The paradox of this film is that it is so incredibly fast - the action sequences are visually dazzling even to a cynic, and the plot wastes no time on character development, even using hot editing and off-kilter digital effects on the non-action portions of the film - yet incredibly slow, feeling about one reel too long. And the action sequences are of course retreads of the slow-motion effects popularised in The Matrix and the bullet’s eye view thing we saw back in the 80s with Evil Dead - a fast/slow dichotomy that works to exhilarating effect when done well, but starts to feel like repetitive here.
The originality, if there is any, lies in the way the Russian director has cast off any attempt at substance and just goes for the entertainment jugular (and I have seen some Russian music videos online that feel like companions to this movie). I am a great fan of violent films, speaking as a pacifist here, both cartoonish (as in Ichi, or Dr. Strangelove) and visceral (I always refer to Straw Dogs as an example of this because there is nothing better). This film falls between, in a mediocre middle ground. It’s nothing but a celebration of American gun culture, conveniently and completely removing society and the state from its equation. Even as a non-stop onslaught of explosions, bullets, and blood, it plays it safe - the graphic gore is so computer generated that it feels safe and distant, a series of pixels rather than any voice of actual pain. This lack of depth in the violence of course exemplifies the entire film; I watched it as a jaded, glossy-eyed victim, smiling through the choreographed murders and wondering how long it will be until films like this are overlaid with text/visual overlays - health status bars, captions, embedded video, etc. Greenaway of course was doing this back in Prospero’s Books but why not make the action film closer to a website (or video game) than the conventional, “untainted” film frame?