See, I thought the blitzed out car chase at the beginning was awesome, but it didn't really keep its energy up and instead went into mostly narrative where it failed bad, Loom of Fate bad. The subway thing and the shootout at the end wasn't as fun as it should've been. If this movie had been at least 50% action instead of like 10%, I'd be a lot more inclined towards it.

Kick ass action movie. Jolie's smokin' too. Still deciding on a grade.


A-/B+

It's a horrible movie, but it's a ridiculously entertaining movie too. I have been debating whether to give it a barely positive or barely negative rating, but I really never came to like McAvoy's character much, or sympathize with his dilemma. However, as far as mindless, preposterous entertainment goes, this gets the job done, and I'd certainly be up for round two.

C+

The film was very stylistic and I could appreciate some of this from a purely technical standpoint. But other than that, this is a terrible film.

First of all, the film is boring and repetitive. It feels like the same thing is happening over and over again; just random collections of slow motion scenes, Matrix like sequences, all put together within a thin and often corny plot line. The "loom of fate" is the most ridiculous plot idea, and I didn't buy any character motivations surrounding it.

Secondly, the film is incredibly mean-spirited. It promotes, like no other film I have scene, the idea that in order to live a fun and good life you need to develop a machismo and become a hyper-masculine, physically dominating, chauvinistic alpha male type. The main character is essentially ridiculed and literally tortured in the film for not being "manly" enough (and at the time, done so by assumed "good guys"). The film is also teetering on misogyny.

Ultimately, I was left wondering why the film was made, as it had nothing good to say about anything beyond the superficies. And it wasn't even an original, engaging nor entertaining piece either.

Peace,
Mike

The thing was that I thought the visuals were somewhat disappointing or not as crisp as I would have liked. I was somewhat visually inventive, but not as much as I would have wanted when reading a plot synopsis. I thought the loom of fate as shown in the movie was quite silly. Fate in some form ok and could be a great concept, but how does the thing as shown in this movie display or explain anything? It doesn't deal with any ideas of what fate is or could be viewed as being.

The alpha male thing was excessive IMO, and I don't think it showed at all the different shades or other various qualities that could make for an 'alpha male', action hero, or leader.

I didn't like the story as much as I would have wanted, but I liked it overall as an action movie, and audiences also generally seemed to.

As to the Matrix comparisons, I didn't view it as such. There are more differences than the 100 80s crime thrillers to each other, or many family movies. It had a similar tone, but I think the comparisons indicate that there's been a lack of the sub-genre despite success.

5/10

Freeman does use the word fuck very often.

Thats all I will remember of this movie.

Gee, I'm surprised people here are being so cynical. I thought this film was a lot of fun. Sure, it's just like The Matrix or Fight Club, minus all the smarts. But even when all the intelligence is removed, there's plenty of style and creative action scenes to satisfy. I also thought that the over-the-top mean spirited comedy and machismo really worked in the film's favor of being a dissection of the modern action film. What a sadly underappreciated film!

I hate this movie with a deathly passion for one simple reason, it should have been soo good!
There is so much about this that I wanted to love. Regardless of what others say, it does have a relatively original style. You can notice elements from Matrix, Bourne, and half a dozen big action flicks in it, but they've never been compiled and used in the same format, and wanted actually does have some new ideas effects wise, and some new actions stunts that have never been thought of. However, the film undermines these by focusing on a very convoluted and ridiculous plot and using the effects as a background to convince its blockbuster focused viewers that its worth their money. Ironically, because of this, it hardly is. The movie had so much promise and could have been great if it had focused on the action and visuals, or if it had focused on the plot, ironed out the flaws, and given more development to the characters so that the plot seems important. Instead it tries doing all of these things and mostly fails.
Very sad considering how much promise the film entails, and considering you don't realize the failure until the last few minutes.
Still, it's rather entertaining despite all this and has a few scenes (the beginning with that guy that gets killed off right away, the train over the canyon, the training scenes) that are breathtaking and awesome.
I guess I'll shell out a 6.5/10, but it should have been a 9.

A movie should not be judged on its "potential" Everything can always be better.

Wanted had great great moments.

I disagree. When a movie starts out great, and promises to be great from concept, talent, and look, and than fails, it is that much more disappointing to a viewer than if it looked mediocre all throughout. And unfortunately, a movie most compete with the expectations it raises within the viewer, that's part of a movie. The quality of a movie can not be entirely seperated from the expectations it raises, and if a movie is disappointing rather than expected it will probably be thought of harsher for that disappointment. That's part of any product, book, cd, tv show, that's why it's best to not necessarily start with the best you have, because you get expectations up, and disappointing them is worse than just playing to expectations.

Not having read the thread but having just seen the film:

A grade of D.

None of the characters were really likeable, the violence was gratuitous, the concept was never realized fully, and ultimately, I hardly cared what happened. Fail.

Took me about seven years but I've finally seen Wanted.

I wish I had waited another seven years.

Sometimes going over the top means you go way too far over the top. And that's what the movie does. Anything that it has going for it, it drives it into the ground repeatedly.

I know I have to shut my brain off, but the whole curved bullet around the room bit at the end... yikes.

On the plus side, I did think James McAvoy pulled off the role. It's just too bad I didn't care about the character or anyone else for that matter. By the time the twist is revealed, I had already lost interest. Some of the action sequences are good, yet it does end up being too much as well.

I don't know. Excess can kill a movie, and that's how I feel about Wanted. A good movie is buried deep in there. Thankfully I needn't worry about a sequel.

**/****

Alright, grandfather.



You think you'll be better equipped at 67 years old to deal disappointment than at 60 years old?



You know it's a comic-book movie, right?

"The whole guy turning into a giant green angry creature is a bit... yikes"

Oh settle down you nitpickers. Although I did bring Algren and Chippy together for one thing: my stupidity. A beautiful moment.