Wanted (2008)

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman

Primary genre: Action

Secondary genre: Thriller

Back in 2008, this Mark Millar adaptation’s marketing was capitalizing heavily on Angelina Jolie’s action chops, bullet time related effects and hyper-stylized action sequences. Featuring an intriguing cast, “Wanted” became an unexpected success.

Best described as a hybrid of “Fight Club” (1999) and John Woo’s “The Killer” (1989), there is not a lot of substance to be found here and the story is employing at maximum capacity all the traditional clichés of the underdog empowerment. While there are some twists present, “Wanted” feels more like an excuse to have excessively OTT antics that defy the laws of physics rather than presenting three dimensional characters.

Besides being visually distinctive (“the blond”, “the black”, “the spanish”, etc) the actors do not have any solid material to work with while key moments feel rushed and disallow the exploration of dramatic depth. The lack of an interesting villain is also one of the film’s major flaws since the stakes are relatively low for a film full of super assassins. There are attempts with its Tyler Durden inspired commentary for something deeper but these fall through the cracks of an anemic plot that does not give its characters much to do. Hints of an intriguing world of assassins that hides in the shadows (although how shooting someone from the top of a city train is stealthy is beyond anyone’s guess) remain unexplored even if the film’s logic and rules are too silly to feel authentic or believable (there is almost no respect for collateral damage particularly towards the end of the film).

Timur Bekmambetov rose to fame by adapting the Russian novel “The Night Watch” in a feature film (2004) demonstrating that Russia can deliver exquisite visuals with remarkable results outside of Hollywood. However, with his English speaking debut (as it is to be expected with foreign filmmakers), it is evident that he does not have the creative freedom he seemed to enjoy before. His handling of the action scenes is blunt (more on that later), relying heavily on cool looking slo mo shots with obvious CGI. Although there are a couple of memorable visuals, these are not enough to keep the audience invested. It does not help that Bekmambetov seems quite keen to move to the next event hectically.

Surprisingly the actors are the biggest strength here. James McAvoy was not a full household name back then, an odd choice to lead a mainstream action film but he seems more than capable to pull this off. Angelina Jolie, who let’s be honest is the main attraction, an all tattooed and full of attitude badass is the perfect choice for Fox although her painfully skinny frame makes it hard to believe that her punch can have any impact. Besides these two, “Wanted” keeps throwing good actors at you with Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp and less-screentime-that-he-deserves Common (among others) who all try to bring some gravitas to a material that is clearly beneath them even though they fail to have a particular scene where they can showcase some genuine talent.

Furthermore, what looked really cool back in 2008 does not translate well a decade (and more) later. It is obvious that most of the action is CGI-ed, which is a shame considering that John Woo (who is clearly an influence on this) made “Hard Boiled” all the way back in 1992 practically. A car chase at the streets of Chicago has vibrant and weightless CGI vehicle models hoping around and any subsequent shootouts and fights have too many close ups and shaky cam that prevent to understand the geography or enjoy the mayhem. Even the much awaited climax ends faster than you would have expected, almost in a too easy note. Despite the utilization of some cool slo mo that showcase how bullets can curve around a target, “Wanted” is a blunt action film that unfortunately pales in comparison with films from the same era (“Hellboy II: the Golden Army” (2008) and “Death Race” (2008) come to mind).

Despite all its nifty (and trying too hard to be cool) visuals and a charismatic cast, “Wanted” is an empty spectacle with shallow characters that does not even entertain in the action department. Perhaps those who seek to switch their brain off might have a good time but when you have sillier and more enjoyable action flicks at your disposal, why choose this one instead?

Disappointing Hollywood debut

+some cool visuals

+Solid cast

+Jolie is great

-Clumsy direction

-Boring action sequences

-Too much CGI

-Shallow characters

-Lack of an interesting villains

-Low stakes

-Hasty pace in key moments

-Underused cast