Pure, visceral excitement
Image Courtesy of IMPawards.com
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Notable Cast: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Common, Konstantin Khabensky
It’s one thing to be able to craft a massive hit or two in your home country for a foreign director. It’s another to be able to go into another country’s system and craft one of the best films of the summer blockbuster season. That’s exactly what Timur Bekmambetov, who made two of post-Communist Russia’s biggest films ever in the first Night Watch series, has done with Wanted.
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a twenty something who has a pretty crummy life. His girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, who treats him like garbage. Everyone treats him like garbage, though, and he just takes it because that’s the kind of person he is: meek. Then one day a beautiful woman (Angelina Jolie) saves his life and everything changes, as he goes from meek cubicle worker to badass assassin almost overnight. With the guidance of The Fraternity, led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), Wesley is trained to be the world’s best assassin (in the footsteps of his father) in an attempt to kill the man who took his father’s life. Throw in some plot twists and a nice Deus ex machina plot device in the end and Wanted is the sort of ground-breaking film that made The Matrix a hit. And that’s the best comparison to make, too.
Wanted pushes the envelope in how an action should look and feel, as Bekmambetov takes the unique style he brought to the Night Watch franchise and develops it further for Wanted. A lot of the slow motion sequences he uses in Wanted he has used earlier but nearly as effectively; the action goes from zero to 60 quickly and Bekmambetov knows exactly where he’s going with them. He’s less of an actor’s director and more of a story-teller, sing the actors as chess pieces in his grand vision of a story. But it’s not the story that’s engaging. It’s the action. And the cast is pretty good, too.
It doesn’t hurt that a top flight cast has been assembled, as he has two Oscar winners (Jolie and Freeman) to go with several upcoming stars as well. Bekmambetov has a familiar face in Konstantin Khabensky, who was the lead in both Night Watch films and makes for some interesting conversations in the film that seem to channel the spirit of those films, and Bekmambetov wisely lets a veteran cast do what they need to do in the film.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Bekmambetov and the screenplay have taken substantial liberties with the story. It’s more of a story about a guy becoming more than he ever imagined than the story in the book, but it’s excessively entertaining nonetheless. The film’s centerpiece is the almost non stop action involving nearly every signature style of action. There are spectacular action sequences aplenty and Bekmambetov saves the most spectacular for the film’s finale. Mixing full speed action sequences with some inventive camerawork, it’s the type of film that aims for much higher than an ordinary action film.
Wanted grabs you by the throat and never lets go. It’s the class of the summer blockbuster season so far.
