Wanted movie review
Monday, January 5th, 2009
I missed seeing Wanted at the movies, but on the weekend I finally got around to catching it on DVD. I found it to be an entertaining action movie, however my gripe with it was that it had very little in common with the graphic novel of which it was supposedly based on.
Wanted, the mini-series written by Mark Millar, is in my top 10 favorite graphic novels of all time. It's funny, thought provoking and entertaining. With that said, the film version had a lot to live up to. Here's my review of the graphic novel Wanted.
Wanted, the film, follows white collar office drone, Wesley Gibson's transformation into one of the worlds top assassins, working for "The Fraternity" dispatching those that 'fate' determines need to be removed from the playing field. The Fraternity are a guild of assassins that have existed for centuries, that take their kill orders from a binary code printing loom. Why? I don't know.
I originally thought that I'd write about the differences between the film and the graphic novel. However, on reflection, I'm not sure that there's much point. Similarities between the two are few and far between. In that respect, the film was somewhat disappointing.
Like the comic, the film opens with the assassination of an assassin, and an introduction into the daily grind experienced by Wesley Gibson. His life is dull and repetitive, and will have you drawing initial comparisons to Fight Club. After the first 10-15 minutes though, the comic and the film head off in completely different directions.
I can understand that some elements from the comic would be difficult to pull off, without causing a panic at the censors office, but surely the core of the story could have been retained?
Why the film makers would decide to stray so far from the source material is beyond me, however I can say that one of the things that saves the film from being just another action romp with the of director Timur Bekmambetov. Bekmambetov is the man behind the Russian film adaptation of Night Watch, and the guy certainly has a keen sense of cinematic style. The other major positive for the film is that it features Angelina Jolie. Enough said.
Watched independently of the comic, the film is an entertaining pop corn flick. Compared to the comic however, it doesn't quite make the grade.
