Shawn's Wanted Review

2008 Movie #71 - Wanted

Fuck...yeah. That sums it up right there. I was all geared up for this movie and it was exactly what I wanted it to be. I essentially wanted something along the lines of Shoot 'Em Up in terms of just crazy over the top action with no regards for reality in any way. That's exactly what I got. This movie is an ass kicking that I was happy to receive.

The biggest complaint people have/are going to have with this movie is the fact that it is ridiculously over the top. In fact this movie can't even see the top any more because of how fucking far over it it is. There isn't a single aspect of this movie that is grounded in realism. To those who critique this I say...fuck off. Lighten the shit up! Just relax, enjoy the movie an dhave fun or I will take your eyes away from you! AWAY FROM YOU!!!

The movie is non-stop too. From beginning to end this thing pretty much never lets up. There's a few pauses here and there for story but even those quieter moments are stylized as hell. Speaking of the story I was actually pretty impressed with it. I wasn't expecting much, just enough to string each of the action sequences together (pretty much just like Shoot 'Em Up, a movie that didn't even need to attempt a story in my opinion) but what they provided was actually pretty good. The Loom stuff was a little stupid but whatever, I can accept that. Like I said it's not like anything else makes sense either.

The acting is good. Morgan Freeman makes up for the Bucket List by playing a surprisingly large badass, something the man needs to do a lot more often because damn is he ever good at it. Angelina Jolie....well really who cares how her acting is, you get to look at her so I'm sure most people will be satisfied. James McAvoy was someone ho wasn't even on my radar before this movie, having not seen Atonement but he does well here and is believable as someone who could start out a loser but then turn into some sort of crazy badass of proportions I don't even think can be accurately measured.

I've pretty much already made the point about the action but damn it the action is so good that if I didn't give it it's own paragraph it would find me and kick the shit out of me. All the action is just top quality, with my personal favourite being a run through a warehouse near the end of the movie that has some of the most creative gunplay I've seen since....well Shoot Em Up but still. I could watch that scene every hour for the next 16 years and be perfectly ok with it.

It's about damn time an R rated action was not only released, but did really well and was fucking awesome. Hopefully this is a sign that the floodgates are open because as you know from my rant a few months ago, this is something I've been waiting for to happen for quite some time now. See this movie...I'll fucking know if you don't.

**** 1/2 /5