The only movie I’ve ever actually walked out on was “The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter” when I was around four years old. The main reason being my enormous fear of the big flying “luckdragon,” I basically ran as fast as my little legs could carry me.
However, had I known the pitiful ending to the new testorene-packed action film “Wanted” earlier on, I would have ran just as fast.
While not of fear, the disgust, anger and confusion I felt at the end of this 110-minute movie seems reason enough.
The film, the first to be released in America from director Timur Bekmambetov, doesn’t promise anything spectacular or profound even with banner Oscar winners such as Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.
But I for one like a simple but fun plot with my mindless violence, and “Wanted” hardly delivers on this requirement.
The plot revolves around a bland and bored office drone (James McAvoy) who, unhappy with his life, is trained to become a part of a secret fraternity of assassins which is run by Freeman’s Sloan and includes Jolie’s Fox.
The assassins think of themselves as helping to make the world a better place yet, in one of the most ridiculous and anticlimactic twists in the entire film, their targets are supposedly determined by a magical loom.
Yes, you read that right … a loom. However, the “kill one, save a thousand” justification in the film seems too easy.
The special effects are advanced and impressive, but some of the action sequences caused me more nausea than “Cloverfield” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” combined.
Going back to the loom, “Wanted’s” story has too many twists and turns for audience members who are just there to witness some gore to mentally process.
Unfortunately, no combination of McAvoy’s, Jolie’s and Freeman’s respective acting chops can save this sinking ship.
The latter two barely perform above amateur level compared with their past award-winning perfomances (in “Girl, Interrupted” and “Million Dollar Baby,” respectively).
There is such a thing as too much, even in the realm of summer film blockbusters usually known to be the quintessential definition of excess.
In “Wanted’s” efforts to keep viewers shocked and awed throughout, they stretch themselves too thin and stretch the story too far.
There is too much blood, too many special effects, too many story loops, and far from enough substance to contain all this extravegent filling.