I've dreading digging into Wanted, the over-the-top, uninterested-in-reality or narrative mediocrity on its way from Universal. Don't even get me started on this film getting a pass, as it surely will, while the same supporters bitched about Speed Racer's visuals, who paid no attention to Daywatch and little more to Nightwatch, who don't care that the film doesn't really deliver on its Jolie promise, and are kind of pleased that it may be the bloodiest, nastiest movie released by a major studio... probably ever. (Of course, it is such a Tom & Jerry On Crack cartoon that the violence has no impact.)
But Anthony Lane, often too interested in amusing himself for me, hit it dead on in the first graph of his review.
What is it like being Timur Bekmambetov? No artist should be confused too closely with his creations, but anybody who sits through “Wanted,” Bekmambetov’s new movie, will be tempted to wonder if the life style of the characters might not reflect or rub off on that of the director. How, for example, does he make a cup of coffee? My best guess, based on the evidence of the film, is that he tosses a handful of beans toward the ceiling, shoots them individually into a fine powder, leaves it hanging in the air, runs downstairs, breaks open a fire hydrant with his head, carefully directs the jet of water through the window of his apartment, sets fire to the building, then stands patiently with his mug amid the blazing ruins to collect the precious percolated drops. Don’t even think about a cappuccino.
It's real simple. If you like that, you will like this movie. If you find it so slick that it becomes dull, you won't.
Bekmambetov is one of the Russian's who have spectacular technical skills, but nothing to say. Others, who also direct with a heavy hand, can say a whole lot, as I found with 4, a film I helped to a film festival jury win a couple of years ago. The film drove one of the other jurors insane with its painful weight and wild imagery with little explanation. But man, did it smash you in the soul. (This is where Bob Koehler would want me to mention Andrej Zvjagintsev... but really... you'd kill me if you actually like Wanted and then rented The Return on my recommendation.)
Wanted is more like the last of big budget porn, throwing around endless style along with massive fake boobs and enough smoke to choke a Scott. Guys still get off on it - guys can get off on anything that tells them it wants to get them off - but one simply has to wonder, "Doesn't anyone just f*** anymore?"
If you want to see a slightly more complex version of the same sweaty hyperactivity, get those Nightwatch and Daywatch DVDs from Searchlight. They'll appreciate it.
And before I go, one thing I oddly loved in this film was the idea of a restorative bath. Really, the idea of a bunch of people with a philosophy and differing skills... interesting... just not completed in the film.
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2008/06/wanted_fight_cl.html