Blu-ray Review: Wanted

By Ron Henriques on December 4, 2008

Though it stayed under the production radar over a year before it was released, 'Wanted' sort of came out of nowhere and became a smash hit at the box-office.  It opened against Pixar's latest, 'Wall-E' (the blu ray of which I will be reviewing soon) and managed to give that juggernaut of a film a run for its money.  The curving bullets gimmick wasn't the only factor that made the film popular amongst audiences, but its sense of style and refusal to take itself too seriously.  On top of that, despite the absurdities of the story, it's just a fun movie.
 
Just how far can bullets really fly?  In the world of the new film 'Wanted' not only do bullets reach their targets over incredible distances, but reality is completely thrown out the window.  That's okay if the world turned out to be dreamed up by a computer like 'The Matrix' series, which Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov lovingly copied in his previous fantasy films 'Nightwatch' and 'Daywatch'.  For his American debut, Bekmambetov makes the mistake of establishing rules in a world where anything is really possible.  As interesting as it sounds, all of this is a little too familiar: A computer nerd not only discovers his true heritage, but that he has the unique ability to control the directions of bullets and does so with the help of a beautiful new partner and a philosophical black man as a mentor.  Sounds like we are right back in that artificial world controlled by greenish computer code, but I assure you that's not the case.

'The Matrix' was indeed a comic book film, but unlike 'Wanted' it was an original story inspired by various ideas.  This film takes its inspiration from Mark Millar's brutal comic series about a mild mannered office drone who becomes an assassin.  British native James McAvoy is quite likable and convincing as an American living a boring existence lost amongst the various cubicles at an insurance company.   McAvoy's life gets turned upside down when a skinny girl, who looks like Angelina Jolie, rescues him from a mysterious assassin.  She too is a trained killer and it turns out so was his father as he learns that the man who abandoned him at birth was one of the world's top assassins.

As the leader of a group of assassins known as "The Fraternity", Morgan Freeman reveals to McAvoy that his father was murdered the day before by the same man who just tried to kill him, rogue operative Thomas Kretchmann.  For hundreds of years the group has preserved the balance of power by eliminating various targets with their unique skills.  McAvoy not only shares the unique abilities of his father to slow down time in his mind or curve bullets, but has the potential to be an even greater assassin an Freeman invites him to join up.  All that's missing are sunglasses and an offer to take the red or blue pill.

McAvoy agrees to take the red pill from 'The Fraternity' and under the tutelage of Jolie and various others, undergoes rigorous training that will desensitize him to violence and pain.  He's also schooled in the art of gun and knife play and after your typical training montage is not only ready to kick ass and avenge his dad's death, but looks well oiled, tanned and buff like a Levi' jeans model.  The question remains that though 'The Fraternity' appear to be dealing out their own brand of justice, has McAvoy chosen the wrong side to fight on?

Like the comic, 'Wanted' has an intriguing set-up as well as an entertaining visual style. Bullets not only suddenly burst in slow-motion through the heads of their targets, but the scene rewinds to show us where they originated.  The CGI gags, don't just involve bullets, but in comic-book style they include acrobatic moves by speeding cars as well as one satisfying moment where McAvoy shatters someone's face with a computer keyboard and the flying keys spell out "F*ck You" in mid-air.  The filmmakers made the mistake of keeping the set-up of Millar's comic and throwing out the rest which is a shame. It would have been a gutsy move on their part to produce a film with completely immoral characters where the main protagonist became an assassin not to improve the world, but embrace violence for his own selfish needs and maybe one day rule it.  The whole assassin angle sounds cool, but there are just too many silly elements to top it off.

Freeman and his gang get their list of targets from a binary code found in the weaving of a fabric produced at their textile factory headquarters which is as stupid as it sounds.  Forget about his ability to slow time, curve bullets or shoot the wings off of flies, McAvoy also seems capable of superhuman strength and surviving a plummet down a mountain in a wrecked train car.  Plus the guy can hit a target from a great distance that feels like the length of Manhattan.  Reality has been completely thrown out the window, yet we're given Freeman in 'Easy Reader' mode to explain the physics of all these acts through boring exposition.

Despite feeling that 'Wanted' is stupid, ridiculous, over-the-top and an insult to my intelligence, I was surprised to find that I walked out of the film wearing a stupid grin.  Maybe laughing at the film more than with it left me entertained or maybe I was amazed that Bekmambetov was given so much money for his American debut and fashioned such an eye candy video game. 'Wanted' is basically 'The Matrix' with extra violence, insane visuals and a nonsensical story.  But they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Video: For a film that employs a heavy use of CGI, it's impressive just how realistic 'Wanted' looks on home video. This AVC encoded hi-def transfer features imagery that nearly leaps of the screen.  A great deal of this pic was shot at night, yet there's richness to be found in the shadow detail in scenes that are often lit by street lamps.  The skin tones of the actors isn't as harsh as you'd expect either.  You can see more than just individual beads of sweat on the hot bodies of McAvoy and Jolie.
 
Audio: LOUD! And I mean that in a good way.  For a balls to the wall DTS Master Audio soundtrack its surprising there is no distortion to be found in the mix.  Sure there is more than a great deal of bass, atmospheric sounds and surround effects of more than the occasional bullet whizzing past your ear, yet the dialog is not only clean, but mixed just right.  File this in your demo section for home theater material.
 
Extras:

BD-Live Features: This is a feature that will revolutionize blu ray and the home theater community. With Video Commentary, various featurettes found on the disc are pieced together to create a nifty Picture-in-Picture track. Scene Explorer is a familiar gimmick done better where in addition to the action on screen you can simultaneously view storyboards, pre-visualization footage and concept art.  Motion Comics doesn't hold much interest, but Profiles features pop-up text concerning individual profiles of the film's many characters.

There's also an alternate opening for the film presented in HD that takes a look at the history of "The Weavers" and the creation of the Fraternity, that may be a major selling point for fans.  It's a handsome edition to the story but gives it the feel of the video game 'Assassin's Creed'.

I was a little pissed that director Timur Bekmambetov didn't provide an audio commentary even though I know his English is limited.  For a filmmaker who leaves such a strong signature on his films, I still wanted him to elaborate further on his process than the nine minute Through the Eyes of Visionary Timur Bekmambetov, which is presented in HD.

In addition to that featurette there's also the surprisingly informative Cast and Characters (20 mins)  which is not just a bunch of talking head interviews with the actors, but delves into the construction of the story, the production itself and the visual effects.

Bringing the Graphic Novel to Life takes a look at the changes made from Mark Millar's original comic book miniseries and though it's a worthy examination the nine minutes it runs for feel rather brief.
 
Production Featurettes is divided into three effects featurettes that run a total of twenty minutes: "From Imagination to Execution", "The Art of the Impossible" and "Stunts on the L Train".
 
Motion Comics (14 mins): is the type of familiar feature we've seen before where they cut and paste images from Millar's comic and slap on some rather poor voice over.
 
The Making of Wanted: The Game (10 mins): Your basic traditional fluff piece for a game that doesn't look as interesting as the movie.
 
Digital Copy: I must admit this gimmick is starting to grow on me. I've already downloaded this on my laptop to watch at work and for those with an iPod or iPhone this is the perfect action movie to make a part of your library.
 
'Wanted' is definitely no classic action movie and doesn't hold a candle to the many films that defined the genre, but it's a kick-ass piece of entertainment and the blu ray release makes for more than just good demo material.

Source:Latinoreview

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