I guess I should start off by saying Angelina Jolie is really skinny in this movie. Now that that's been said, I'll add that I wasn't initially too hyped to see Wanted. Don't get me wrong I still wanted to see it, after all Timur Bekmambetov is one of the masters of color when it comes to film making (Check out Day Watch and Night Watch). On top of that I pretty much want to watch every movie ever made. I even went to see Halle Berry in Catwoman. WOOF! Anyway, after seeing the first trailer like a billion years ago my interest slowly decreased as time went on. I was thinking about the film less and less. After reading some good reviews and getting a phone call from an exuberant SX0T saying how awesome the movie is and that I should check it out right away, I did just that... and this is what I thought.

The Rockin'

The movie is just that, Rockin'. The movie surrounds Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, who is plucked from his pathetic office job to follow in his fathers footsteps as an assassin for a group know as "The Fraternity". Let me tell you, not only is Berkmambetov the master of color, the guy is a master of action as well. One of the biggest complaints I hear about the movie 300 is the over use of slow-motion during the action sequences. While in 300 they may have over used this technique a little, Wanted thrives because of said technique. The use of slow-motion allows us to read every inch of detail from the selected sequences portrayed in slow-motion. We see broken glass, heightened facial expressions, blood splatter, basically everything Berkmambetov wants us to take note of. There are car chases, shoot 'em up sequences, and some of the slickest special effects we've seen yet.
I have to give credit to the writing along with the amazing action sequences as to why the movie was so rockin'. The attention payed to the back story of The Fraternity is great. The back story is a unique one that has a lot of mystical and religious undertones about destiny and blind faith. And that's just the back story! The plot of the film is full of twists and surprises to keep you engaged the whole way through.
Some other fun elements include-
- The Konstantin Khabensky cameo (Night Watch, Day Watch)
- The fact that I wonder if McAvoy got voice lessons from Achton Kutcher
- Mice
- Time To Say Goodbye by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman playing during an assassination
- Breaking the 4th wall
- Morgan Freeman's Language


The Not So Rockin'

Only because I have seen some of Berkmambetov's other work, I would like to have seen more play with overly saturated colors like we see in Night Watch and Day Watch. Since those movies involve vampires and Wanted tries to ground the movie in reality (slightly), I can't fault him for that much. Plus its nice to see that he is stretching his wings and giving us something new. But, his amazing sense of color is what I miss most. Other than that the movie has very few faults.

The Overall

This movie is a pleasant surprise. I had no idea that it was going to be one of my favorite movies of the summer. The cast was great, it's action packed, has slick special effects, a rockin' story, and it's definitely capable of being watch again and again. DVD purchase for sure.

Plus, below I posted a live performance of Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman sing Time To Say Goodbye.

Here is my review for the recent action flick Wanted. I should start by saying that before I had seen the Red Band Trailer for this film, I had no real interest in it. I would have seen it, but I wasn't super pumped or anything and had never even heard of the graphic novel that the film is based on. The cast I thought was excellent, but I couldn't really get a sense of what the film was about and it just felt kinda Matrix-y to me. After seeing the Red Band Trailer, my view totally changed and I was pumped as hell to see this film. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.

The Awesome

Let me first off say that James McAvoy was ridiculous, but in a good way. The film has a semi cheesy plot and some semi cheesy moments. But he pulls them off. I absolutely loved the cinematography happening in this film. If you have seen Night Watch/Day Watch (director Timur Bekmambetov's other films). You will recognize some similar elements (shaky cam, color effects, blurring, slow-motion etc.). All of the effects in the film were generally above average. There were only a few things that felt kind of out of place. The rest of the cast was great and we had some interesting characters also. The mythos behind the whole assassin group is explained in enough detail to actually care (something I was worried would get ignored). The action delivers on so many levels in this film. It features some of the greatest action sequences that I have seen in quite some time.

The long training sequences brought up in this film are awesome and give you exactly what you want to see. I feel like nothing in this film is hidden from view. You want blood - check. Fighting - check. Ridiculous Action - check. It delivers on almost all levels and even offers some humor. Quite a few parts that made me laugh. Morgan Freeman has a line that destroys the world. I also like that there are a few times that address you personally as a theater goer or as an audience, usually just a line of dialogue or two, but it is fun.

I was shocked when I found out Danny Elfman did the score for the film because it is not his typical fanfare of music. During the credits I was finally able to tell that it was him who was responsible for the original songs in the film.

The Not So Awesome

Not too many complaints about this film. If I had to be kind of picky I would say that some of the other assassins played a relatively small and insignificant role that could have been made a bit more interesting. I would also say that there are a few effects that seem a little off. Once again, this is all being picky. There are also a few moments of the film that still resemble The Matrix sequences a bit too much which kind of takes me out of the film when they occur. Also I hate the movie poster and think it deserved much better.

Overall

I have been hearing a few comparisons of this film to last years Shoot 'Em Up. Now keep in mind, I fully enjoyed Shoot 'Em Up. I think it is the first film to emulate a video game world (AND IT ISN'T EVEN A VIDEO GAME!!). The problem with this statement is that although there are some similarities in the action, Shoot 'Em Up lacked any sort of a deep plot development whereas Wanted delivers in both the action sequences and in having a plot that is interesting and motivated. I may be exaggerating just a bit, I would have to see the movie again. But I would say that this is my second favorite summer blockbuster movie so far this summer (Iron Man being my first favorite). I would advise you to see this film - ESPECIALLY if you are looking for a great summer blockbuster with enough action to keep you satisfied until The Dark Knight. As of this moment I would give this film a 9 out of 10.

Speaking of Tarantino and his Grindhouse fueled world, we have a new behind the scenes production featurette on a film Tarantino is "presenting" called Hell Ride. I made mention of this film a while back and it's good to see some footage now. I am pretty pumped for this biker film.

A trailer for Joss Whedon’s (Firefly, Buffy, Serenity, Astonishing X-Men etc.) 36-minute three-part SCi-Fi internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has hit the interwebs.

Neil Patrick Harris stars as the title character, a low-rent supervillain who’s trying to impress the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to (Felicia Day of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), defeat his nemesis, superhero Captain Hammer (played by Firefly’s Nathan Fillion) and gain entry into the Evil League of Evil. Whedon penned the musical with his brothers (Zack and Jed Whedon) during the writers’ strike earlier this year.

No news on when the full thing or webisode installments will drop.

Check it out.