Wanted

Someone told me that Wanted made them want to have sex. Just in general, not with anyone in particular. It made me want to by a gun and use that gun in a kickboxing class. It was better than the Indian Jones debacle and just as satisfying as Iron Man - maybe not critically (whatever that means), but in terms of how much enjoyment I got out of it or how connected to the film I was. Crazy fun and totally self aware, Wanted was a blockbuster with some pizazz accompanied by a one-two punch. For every effective and awesome scene there is an equally flabbergasting retarded one (you know, the whole good versus evil thing) but in the end it’s completely watchable and a pretty good ride. By pretty good, I mean see it in the theater.

As a warning, when I say bad, I mean it. Really bad. Not bad like that was a weak moment but wow, whoever wrote that scene really loved Smokin’ Aces. About three quarters through the film I envisioned men in a board room going, “And then let’s put them on top of a building, for the scenery and such. And then, better yet, lets have it be in the middle of an earthquake, because being an assassin alone isn’t quite dangerous enough. This will give them a chance to be calm in the face of shaky circumstances. And then, no this is perfect, we can have the building turn into a robot that moves about the city while they fight it out. Yea. That’s perfect”. My thoughts exactly.

None of that happens in the movie, but it could have. My theory is as such: If you like action, action that doesn’t take itself seriously, think Hot Fuzz or Hellboy, you’ll really get into this film. Now, this kind of lonely man of honor flick is not be confused with a Nicolas Cage explosion of hilarity, you laugh with Wanted, not at it. There is a Karate Kid feeling to it for the first half – a good old fashioned wimp to ass-kicker story that also involves a fly. And it pokes fun at complacency, Office Space owns this market, but it works and gives the audience and James McAvoy and nice boost .

Wanted is good for:

• Cheap Dates! It’s second run now (I paid three dollars to see it but would have paid ten). Make sure your lady or man likes action though. Otherwise rent The Notebook.
• Dudes. I don’t know when dudes go out with other dudes to see movies but this would work for that.
• Movie geeks. It teeters on the edge, but it’s just smart enough to be art house trash. You know, Cronenberg style.