Wanted:: Movie Review

Jul. 11 5:54 AM by NuyoRiqueña

**SPOILER ALERT**

Ever go to a movie that feels like it would be a kick-ass video game (if it was done right, of course) because of the non-stop action that just above the line of reality story and special effects? I can't say I had either until I saw Wanted. Not only was the beautiful Lara Croft, er, um, Angelina Jolie a bad ass assassin but her acrobatics in this movie put Tomb Raider to shame.

The movie has a story told many times before. Bored and pathetic young man finds out he is the son of one the world's greatest assassins and is recruited into the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins that started a thousand years before. These world class assassins get their contracts from a secret loom, yes loom, a large contraption used to weave cloth. Sound a little over the top? It is, but it is also loosely based on the widely popular comic miniseries by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.

What works in the comic or video game world seldom translates when put on screen. While very loosely based on the comic series, the movie did what all summer blockbusters should, amped up the action and special effects and made you talk.

Honestly, the plot was a bit weak. The idea that the imperfections in a woven cloth are really some archaic binary code that can be translated into a name, that name is the mark. The explanation was briefly passed off fate or destiny. Angelina Jolie's character Fox even explains how her mother and father were murdered in front of her and she later finds out that the murderer's name had come up and the Fraternity assassin second guessed the mission; this story is meant to convince Wesley that what they do is meant to be. Like I said, a bit predictable, a bit weak. But we do not go to these types of movies just for the story.

Curving bullets, fantastic gunfights and live action car-fu are seemingly non-stop in this movie. The way one of the assassins broke through the glass on the top floor of a skyscraper and killed several people in mid-air before landing hundreds of feet across to the other building was truly unbelievable. The way Fox contorted her body on the train, in the car and later in the train was sexy. Then we add the very austere and wise Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and the strong, silent and sexy Gunsmith (Common) and you have no shortage of reasons to keep your eyes on the screen.

The attempt at a twist at the end was mildly suspenseful. I figured out that the man they claimed was Wesley's father was not really dead but rather the one allegedly trying to kill him at about the halfway point. I didn't see him dying at the hands of his son as he makes the revelation to Wesley (think "Luke, I am your father"). Admittedly, I didn't see the mass murder-suicide at the end either and I give them an A+ for creativity (I will leave the "how" unspoiled). There is also a little Easter egg in the last few minutes where the names of Mark Millar and J.G. Jones show up. The other little egg, the end line "What the fuck have you done lately?" I laughed. I also found out after that is the same way the comic ends.

Wanted was action movie fun, it is why we watch this genre of movie. It is extremely entertaining and worth the money.

This one gets an A.

Comments

I think it was only Fox's father that was killed, and the rest of her family was forced to watch. Anyway I loved the movie as well, the best action flick I've seen in a while. The gun fights were awesome, like the scene in the train where Wesley and his father's bullets would collide in the air - awesome. I didn't expect the twist at all, but I thought it great. I don't know if it'd make a good game though, it just doesn't seem like it would to me.

I laughed at the end too. ;P Great review NuyoRiquena!

this movie was awesome. and morgan freeman said motherfucker. that shocked me.

Mole Hill Jazz Club

The movie was pretty good. I just wish they had been a little more faithful to the original material but I can see why they didn't. The Graphic Novel series was really dark. The main character on the Comics went from a nobody to a murderous, psychotic a-hole but that's what makes it interesting. The original was not about assassins. It was about a war where Super Villains killed most of the Super Heroes and those few who survived had their memories wiped or were neutralized in some other way. The only memory people had of the heroes was through comic books. The Super villain Moran Freeman's character was based on held Superman's cape as a Trophy and at some point they drown Batman and Robin, if memory serves me right. They never mention their names clearly but they speak of Batman as "The detective" and the cape itself is unmistakable.

Regardless, it was a fun movie to watch on itself, regardless the source material or anything else.

Nevermind the beginning of the post. That was something else that has absolutely nothing to do with my post.

I need to read those Graphic Novels but I did like the movie. Mr. Freeman shocked the hell out of me too with that cursing! I never!

OMFG! I forgot all about the fact that Morgan Freeman swore and a bad one too! I gasped out loud. Classic.

**muah**

Me being a comic book fan could not take this movie seriously. It had pretty much nothing to do with the comic and just tossed in big stars(morgan freeman and angilina jolie)to sell the movie. I don't know why they didn't just stick to the comic book and work around that, but they just totally made a new story. Why do you think the comic movies that stay true to the comics make the most money??

If I were to take this as a average person just going to watch a movie then I would be entertained.

Awesome, a movie review, but i havent seen the movie :( i will see it today, i couldnt read the blog because of the spoiler alert but im sure that you did a wonderful job on the review Nuyo.

I thought it was a fun movie to watch because of all of the over-the-top action and special effects. It was a little like The Matrix in that respect. However, I thought the plot was quite weak. Both of the "twists" you mentioned I knew were coming. Admittedly I only realized they were coming a little bit before they happened, but when they came around I was still completely unsurprised.
Hearing Morgan Freeman swear was funny. It just sounded so weird coming out of his mouth I started laughing.

@Scarecrow: LMFAO! You are too much. Please go see it! :)

@NastyN8: I think I was able to like it for what it was because I never read the comic but I agree, it can be frustrating when the original story is good enough yet completely tossed away.

**muah**

I love Morgan Freeman. He certainly is incredible. I thought the entire last scene was great: the way it strung together everyone with the bullet (I loved when it went through the boss's donut). And that last line was pretty awesome. Makes me wish my dad was a secret assassin *sigh*

Morgan Freeman cursing really was one of the coolest things in the movie. The action and everything was very cool but when he cursed, everybody started laughing in the theater. That was the one thing I did not see coming.