Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageWanted (2008)
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Russian fabulist Timur Bekmambetov (‘Nightwatch’, ‘Daywatch’) must have spent a lot of time watching the ‘Matrix’ films before embarking on this action caper. James McAvoy is a nervy, stifled office lackey who is one day asked to join a secret fraternity of assassins by a heavily tattooed Angelina Jolie. Why? Because he possesses the innate ability to curve bullets with his mind, of course.Based in the back room of a textile factory, the team receive orders to kill via the coded weavings of a magical loom. So far-fetched is all this (the threat of an army of exploding rats has already been made) that when overseer Morgan Freeman delivers the line ‘We call this… the Loom of Fate’, you won’t bat an eyelid. It’s already the lingua franca.
This is cinema for people who slow down at car wrecks: Bekmambetov takes pleasure in showing us a bullet slowly boring in or out of the cranium while taking great care in sculpting the resultant swirl of CG blood. McAvoy is reasonable in his first action lead, but offers a tin-eared approximation of the US accent that comes across less like the middle-class salaryman he is and more Jewish New York cab driver (think Bob Hoskins).
There’s an eccentric otherness to the film which just manages to sustain the interest, but whether Bekmambetov’s talents lie in filmmaking rather than gaming or comics is debatable.
Author: David Jenkins
User reviews of this film
-
- Taylor said...
- Posted on Jul 03 2008 17:56 Bad mix of comic cliches, special effects, animal cruelty & weaving.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Valerie Livina said...
-
Posted on Jul 03 2008 16:57
Dear COWINSPECTOR,
I go to watch all new films, because I love cinema. But I do not like the current trends in the cinema and the films which are all the same, commercial production. I just hope there will be a better period soon.
Best.
V. - Report as inappropriate
-
- Pass remarkable said...
- Posted on Jul 03 2008 16:29 Switch brain into nuetral and go see. Great entertainment! Lots of positive vibes from others as we walked out of the cinema. As good as it's trailer -which is rare these days............
- Report as inappropriate
-
- keith said...
- Posted on Jul 03 2008 11:49 pretty poor, mint effects but very lacking in a good story line!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- COWINSPECTOR said...
- Posted on Jul 02 2008 13:56 Valerie :Lavina - if you knew that there would be no good films until the end of the year, why did you go to this film. Mad Cow disease has kicked in early this year.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Lainey said...
-
Posted on Jul 02 2008 13:32
This film is HORRENDOUS!! Got dragged along bymy sisters boyfriend and will never ever trust his judgement again. I thought a film with Morgan Freeman and James Macavoy in it had to be good - I was wrong. Terrible plot, exploding rats, loom of fate, need I say more?
Don't bother - I nearly walked out. - Report as inappropriate
-
- HEMAN said...
- Posted on Jul 01 2008 14:37 PansyBoy Usman thought this was goood. It is rubbish. the director of this film is shamless.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- moviemaniak said...
- Posted on Jun 30 2008 15:18 the best ever!! Matrix is a legend now Wanted is no.1
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Valerie Livina said...
-
Posted on Jun 29 2008 23:24
Folks, last November I warned that while Jupiter in detriment in Capricorn till the end of 2008, none of the new films would be really deep and enjoyable.
http://vlivina.blogspot.com/2007/12/enchanted.html
I am trying hard to find something good, but there is nothing. Only special effects, boredom to extreme, all repetitive and second-hand (and even McAvoy and Jolie cannot change that). Where are the movies like 300 or Enchanted? Wait until Jupiter will come to better dignities... I tell you: January of 2009...
V. - Report as inappropriate
-
- Madison said...
- Posted on Jun 29 2008 19:30 I'm really saddened that an actor as talented as James McAvoy has got involved a film that glamourises horrific graphic violence. How is seeing people shot in the head entertaining? Naively I was seduced into seeing this film by the Matrix-style special effects in the trailor but had to walk out of the screening within 15 minutes. I reallu hope the fee Mr McAvoy received was handsome enough for him never to have to make another film like this ever again.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- kaf said...
- Posted on Jun 29 2008 19:25 brilliant the best film ive ever seen loved it cant wait 4 the dvd
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Carleen said...
- Posted on Jun 29 2008 17:59 Magical loom and bending bullets with his mind? What movie were you at? As far as I could see it was no more magical than a flick of the wrist for bending the bullets. Far fetched ideas? Seriously, isn't this what the movies are about? If we wanted lack of imagination we would be watching more American Idol, now that's far fetched that anymore from here could or should be a rockstar. Time to get a new job I think.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Casey said...
- Posted on Jun 28 2008 16:34 well what can i say...this film was excellent.I was constantly focused.i loved the action in it and just every thing bout the film.i think the casting was really good and they couldnt have pick any one better to play any of the parts.definately a film to see.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- hello said...
- Posted on Jun 27 2008 20:03 well i liked it
- Report as inappropriate
-
- IMMIGRATIONCONTROL said...
-
Posted on Jun 27 2008 18:18
Usman - you got a passport yet? You are a Wanted man.
You like looking at young men in films? go dude! - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Rated: 18
Duration: 110 mins
UK Release: Jun 27 2008
US Release: Jun 27 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now