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WANTED.. all best bad action films you ever saw.
by HonestMan (movies profile)
Jul 12, 2008
16
of
26 people found this review helpful
"Wanted" is like all the best bad Hollywood action films you ever saw, complete with all the effects, grind, blood, grit, teeth and sex; with a kind of putridly lurid sense of bombastic energy. If the animé "Cowboy Bebop" was a live-action film, it would probably look something like this (need I mention, that that title is far, far superior to this thing).
The story is pretty much sub-standard media glop, but there's enough post-modern fanboy slickness, shady politics and heavy-handed macho movie mayhem to turn the head of any sex-starved teenage boy and to fuel enough testosterone to send some raving upcurrent wave of sensual energy to your next-door neighbor's grandmother. Whether you go for that kind of stuff or not is primarily not my responsibility or anyone else's of course... The question is, is it worth watching? Well, that depends on your definition of tension-inducing/channel surfing-syndrome film-making, courtesy of a bad day on the Michael Bay lot. I suspect this film will do well on the whole Blu-Ray sales thing. It practically screams late night guilty pleasure Pay-Per-View. What Wanted does well, it offers in spades. It has a handfull of silly innuendo, clever sexyness and blistering action to merit some kind of attention, however, what it doesn't offer is anything resembling a sense of honest fun, logic or even relevance. What it does have though is a clear sense of committment to pryotechnics, mayhem and sensation.
This Russian guy "Timur Bekmambetov" directed those somewhat aestetically pleasing to the eye, but rather silly 'Watch' pictures and he has a clear visual sense of rhythm. However, he has yet to put that crazy skill of his to good use on a decent story. If Hollywood can find a unique niché for this guy that doesn't neccessarily involve blowing stuff up, he may have a healthy 20 year career ahead of him in Hollywood, yet something tells me after the box-office receipts of this picture he won't care a wince either way.
The actors all seem to be having fun without smirking or hurting themselves too much. And if there's one thing going for Wanted (aside from that killer title) it's Jolie, who seems to exist in her own movie universe. She has such limitless appeal to all sexes, age groups and intelligence levels of movie goers (mainly for her continual attention to detail and casual grace and allure), that it seems almost beside the point to criticize her. She simply makes it look all way too easy, while at the same time keeping herself at a safe distance from reality. Now that's a star for ya.... |
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