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Quint greatly enjoyed the unapologetically R-rated actioneer WANTED!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I was watching The Daily Show on Monday and they had James McAvoy on. Jon Stewart told him that WANTED was a movie that should suck, but doesn’t.
I thought then and there that I couldn’t really explain it any better than that.
To start, Timur Bekmambetov’s NIGHT WATCH was hugely hyped and I found that when I got to it (yay iffy imported DVDs) that it looked great, had a good style, but I could give a shit about the story or the characters. It’s a hollow movie to me. I heard DAY WATCH was more of the same, so I haven’t gone out of my way to watch it. I’m sure I’ll see it at some point, but I’m not all that excited for it.
My immediate thoughts upon exiting the theater after WANTED was that this was NIGHT WATCH with a story. A ridiculous story, but a story nonetheless.
I’ve heard the film bears no resemblance to Mark Millar and JG Jones’ comic book. I can’t speak to that. I purposefully avoided reading it before seeing the movie knowing full well (thanks to the early buzz on it) that if I fell in love with Millar’s book then I’d be pissed when I saw the movie.
The movie is absolutely goofy, it’s fucking ridiculous, but yeah… it’s really fun and everybody really looks like they’re having a blast. I’m a big fan of James McAvoy, have been since I first saw him in a little seen dramedy RORY O’SHEA WAS HERE (although I think I might have seen BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS before, however it was RORY that made me really go, “Who’s that guy?”) and he really hits this leading action hero guy role with zest.
You know the movie from the trailer… fish out of water learns that he has inherited a special talent that allows him to be a master assassin. Take Ron Livingston from Office Space and give him the ability to shoot around corners and you have an idea of where we are.
The twists in the movie are obvious from the end of reel 1, but that doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable.
What’s great about this movie is how unapologetically R-rated it is. It’s been a long time since we saw a balls-out fun crazy R-rated huge actioneer.
You have bullets ripping through every part of the human body, some nice knife work, inventive cursing, a crazy-hot Angelina Jolie ass-shot, Morgan Freeman cursing up a storm and my favorite character in the film known as The Butcher.
A guy by the name of Dato Bakhtadze plays the role, looking like a cross between Guillermo del Toro and Mark Boone Junior (the crooked cop Bale hangs upside down in BATMAN BEGINS) decked out in a Leatherface outfit. He teaches McAvoy knife-work and constantly calls him Pussy. I don’t know why, but the way he delivers the line… whispering and taunting… cracked me the fuck up. He’d also draw out the u… “Puuuuusssay…” like Cheech in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.
Besides how easily the plot twists can be anticipated, the only other criticism I had was with McAvoy’s voice-over work. It felt overly enthusiastic, like he was narrating a toilet paper commercial half the time.
Other than that, I was happy. It’s definitely an audience pleaser, with crazy action sequences that are easy to follow and not muddled.
Count me happy that we have a retarded fun unapologetically R-Rated big budget studio action film out again. Like Mr. Stewart put it, this movie should have sucked, but with the casting, Bekmambetov’s kinetic eye for action and the undeniable fun charm the movie exudes it doesn’t.
Maybe I’ll change my tune after reading the original graphic novel and seeing what could have been. I don’t know. But as of now I had a great time at the movies with this one.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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I loved the comic unlike most comic nerds and wasn't really looking forward to the movie but with the nice buzz its getting a might just check it out.
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Thanks, Quint.
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I don't care.
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Why just ass? I mean they have Angelina Jolie, go for it.
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Rotten 'tweens are ruining all the movies for us.
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Quint, you said the film is unapologetically R rated but do the FX make it cartoon violence or is it harder hitting than that?
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This movie looks simultaneously terrible and awesome. I am expecting somewhere in between the two extremes. Hopefully that will be enough to have fun at this one. If anything, NEW PIXAR MOVIE COMING OUT!!!
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And when did the combination of anorexia and tattoos become sexy?
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With Wall-E and Wanted coming out.. this looks like a good weekend to go and catch a flick... hopefully thats the case, cuz I will be seeing both movies...
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last weekend sucked..
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Homer: Who are you?
Sea Captain: The sailing instructarrr... And on movie night I run the projectarrr. Only PG, nothing Rrrrr, Yarrrr. -
from that movie species.
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she looks like the broad that was the alien??
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Can I take it that there is no Mr. Rictus or references to goat sex in this movie? Though if you didn't read the comic, you won't know what I'm talking about anyway.
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I heard Rictus is only mentioned and shown briefly as a corpse..
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Yep.
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I don't think you have to worry about falling in love with the comic. It's like a horrible accident with fatalities. You want to look away but you just can't. No matter how appalled you are by it, you just keep turning the pages out of sheer morbid curiosity.
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A corpse, eh? Well, it's better than nothing I guess. Too bad. Rictus could have been the best villain ever put on screen.
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that most of Millar's comic was excised and just the premise was used. Otherwise this would have starred Eminem and Halle Berry. And the whole supervillian thing felt tacked on in the comic, anyway. And I doubt the movie ends with *SPOILER* "This is me fucking you in the ass!" or whatever.
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GET SMART came out five days ago, and there's ALREADY a direct-to-DVD spinoff starring the two lab nerds... I don't know why this disturbs me but it does...
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Can you tell us if Rictus appears as a corpse?
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has an eating disorder? She looks like she weighs 95ibs. I don't believe it either that this film is any good.
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angles and w/ her wardrobe you have major problems. Her playing an assassin for it seems like the eighth time, i.e Mr. Smith, Tomb Raider, etc. Or at least a dark person. When she doesnt play either of those two types of roles her films bomb. Beyond Borders, Good Shepherd, A mighty Wind, et al.
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I remember the name, but I couldn't tell ya' anything than that.As to the violence, yeah it is pretty cartoony, but when these guys are hurt it looks and feels like they're hurt, especially McAvoy. He does not escape any of the confrontations unscathed.And yes, Jolie is absolutely too skinny, but the shot in question shows us one of two (or would it be three?) parts of her body that is still curvy.And Wall-E is everything you want it to be. Absolutely great... can't write any more... for some reason Disney's being super strict with the embargoes.
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looking forward to this eye pr0n
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a fan of the comic and is it worth a purchase?
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nice to hear that about Jolie and Wall-E lol
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Jun 25, 2008 8:16:45 PM CDT
The action is this movie is 2 rediculous to take serious!
by ganymede3010
Nothing takes me out of a movie faster then seeing a man doing the unbelievable stunts that the trailer depicted. Like when McAvoy slams on the gas pedal, and engages Jolie's car and uses it as a ramp to turn his car upside down so he can assassinate this target through the sun roof. That's beyond fucking stupid, I'm definitely skipping this turd.
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What happened to the third movie?
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don't like that waif bullshit. Or to be honest starving themselves. It happens time after time. Example after example. Why did Jolie get famous in the first place? She had a full figure and curves. Now? She looks like she's from one the countries of a baby she's adopted.
I know that's there is a lot of pressure to stay thin but they always go too far and end up f'ing up their allure and appeal to men. -
Thank God for this movie. I've never seen Angelina naked before. This is the chance I've been waiting for!!!
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angelina jolie looked the best in cyborg 2
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9 out of 10 ladies shave their love muffins these days. Has American cinema caught up with this important trend yet? Seems like we always get the forest.
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Quint.
I *really* hate it when a reviewer says something along the lines that 'the actors look like they are having fun in the movie'. I'm looking at you too Richard Roeper.
Who give a flying @#$$ if said actor looks like they are having fun? How does that possibly affect my enjoyment of the film? -
for not being able to show the cool parts in the trailer.
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This looks pretty similar.
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I guess it has something to do with the fact that the general moviegoing public knows Freeman primarily as the gentle narrator type, and it'll be shocking to them etc. Who knows.
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is hot - no two ways about it. Skinny...medium sized...shit, she could probably pack on all the weight Harry loses and she'd still be sex.
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Because since its R no one in the world will be old enough to see it. IDK. Whatever this looks awesome, no shit monster. The comic was awesome, this at least sounds like it took a big part of the story, just no super hero part. Man what movie do I want to see at midnight tomorrow? Wall-E or this, all my friends are boners who go to bed at like 6PM so I'll be flying solo.
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Score mention Quint. Hopefully its better then anything he's done since Planet of the Apes. POTA his last memorable score, not good just memeroble... anyone know the Spiderman score??? No didn't think so. Man just as I thought all would be right with the movie universe an R rated action movie that doesn't suck and a Pixar movie coming out in the same weekend... then my TV pooped out the trailer for the fucking new PG Eddie Murphy movie. Fucking PG? Shit the news articles about Eddie Murphy are not even rated PG.
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Seriously, I would "like" to say Angelina doesnt look good when shes extremely skinny, to set a good example to little girls about anorexia or something. But to be completely honest, she still looks like one of HOTTEST girls on the planet. Sure, she may look better with curves, but shes still EXTREMELY attractive. If you say she looks "horrid", your either lying, or YOU ARE GAY.
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soooooooo fucking bad, I mean the just complete utter, unbelievable bullshit bad. I'm talking worse than THE MARINE and SHOOT EM UP.
I mean come on..shoot the wings off of flies? Curve the bullet?
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I totally fucking agree. I hate the CGI overuse. Unless you can pull it off like T2 or T3 and not use it in EVERY action scene. But it's just so mind numbing.
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...are gay. Get real. If you even had a girlfriend or a wife you know you would leave her in a heartbeat for a night with Ang.
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This is how Live Free or Die Hard should have been. A balls to the wall R-rated actionfest. Way to go on screwing that all up.
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http://allstars.pp.ru/lenta/index13/ob_angelina_jolie.jpg
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Jun 26, 2008 2:52:03 AM CDT
"the crooked cop Bale hangs upside down in BATMAN BEGINS"
by windowlicker74
is that supposed to be a joke? nobody even fucking knows this guy
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http://www.realnipples.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/angelina-jolie-breasts.jpg
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/08_01/jolie2BIG1008_228x648.jpg
Now you tell me, she's sexy looking like that now and I"ll say that you're the one that is gay. -
throughout the movie?
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Seriously. Those arms. But it's worth noting that she is a mother and a peace activist and working out 4 hours a day is not happening. And to the guy who asked why women starve themselves when men like them natural... um, she has Brad Pitt already whipped! They don't do it for men. It's their own messed up body issues.
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not the broad, but the alien in full fucking form
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Saw Wanted last night, and it really was so much fun. so many superb set pieces throughout the movie. So refreshing to see a balls out 18 (I’m from the UK) action movie, and what was even better was the showing I went to see was sold out, so I had to go the later one, and even that was packed out! Maybe the studios will realise that doing R rated/18 may very well create a narrower audience, but that audience will be far more concentrated, and faithful!
Damage_Inc: Rictus did turn up as a corpse. I don’t know the books (going to read it now though!) but he turned up having been killed by Cross from an ‘impossible angle’ apparently.
Full credit to McAvoy as well, took me a while to get used to him with an American accent, but other than that pulled off the role a treat.
Windowlicker: he really does look the guy from batman, the fat cop guy. You’ll get it when you see it.
As for Jolie, anyone here honestly saying they wouldn’t if she offered it is kidding themselves, seriously…
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However, most here would settle for far less than Jolie if offered. Ha!
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That being said, I would go watch this movie if I was certain Morgan Freeman was going to be eaten by the main antagonist. On screen. With an apple in his mouth.
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I can't believe people like this. It's not even a good popcorn action movie. You have one ok action scene near the beginning and that's it. The film never gets going and is full of brief vfx moments that try to pass themselves off as action scenes and frankly it's boring. I also think that the film needed at least another half an hour to flesh out the story and characters which are hollow and uninteresting.
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Jun 26, 2008 6:50:37 AM CDT
I heard that Jolie lost all that weight when her mother died.
by nodiggity
Got really depressed and didn't feel like eating. Not a matter of "body issues". She used to look skeletal, but I think she's slowly coming back to normal. And a lot of you, being fatsos yourself, are a wee bet too forgiving of fatso girls, methinks.
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I totally agree about Nightwatch (cool looking but hollow as hell) and I also agree about McAvoy's VO work. I suspect it's the accent thing that throws him (Ewan McGregor also sounds weird when he does American) Anyway, I'm officially looking forward to WANTED. Good job.
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with the most violent full-frontal NC-17 awesomeness ever seen!
I've read that the Russian cuts of "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" are superior to the international/American cuts. Or, for this english-speaking film (his first?), will Timur Bekmambetov make an inferior Russian cut?
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Flies are symbolic in Night Watch and Day Watch. And in the trailer for Wanted, part of the guy's training is shooting the wings off of flies. Is this gonna be Timur's trademark cliche?
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He seems like a really cool guy. I hope this movie doesn't just disappear in a week because he's so good in everything! Strange weekend when this comes out against Wall*e.
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Jolie was the hottest creature on the planet in her Gia days but she's gotten way too skinny. But if she ever asks me out, I'll consider it.
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Can't wait to see the movie... We need some more Hard R Action flicks like this.
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But I am glad that they changed the story of the novel for this movie. While I do agree that changes to a story are sometimes bad (League of Extraordinary Gentleman), but they can be good (V for Vendetta). In this case, I didn't like "Wanted" as a graphic novel... well I should say I didn't like it after a point. When I first started reading it I thought it was amazing, the main character was completely identifyable.... however after his "change" he became completely unlikable, and that ruined the story for me. I LOVE villians in stories, because what makes a really effective villian is the fact that they don't think of themselves as that... that was the problem with Wanted because for the most part, all the Villians were just Evil for the sake of it.
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This woman is NOT SEXY.
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His scores to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride were splendid, and Charlotte's Web was lovely.
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She apparently got too thin because she was depressed after her mom died. And she lost a lot of weight. She's never been as thin as she is in "Wanted". But I think she realized that and won't go back to that size.
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I don't see anyone complain about Harrison Ford or other actors who star in the similar types of films. It's not Angelina's fault if people only accept her when she is a hot sexy killer. She did this movie in between A Mighty Heart and The Changeling. I think that is a pretty diverse slate for her. She is one of the few who have survived the Best Supporting Actress Oscar curse.
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But I did love Nightwatch, don't get me wrong.
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The people responsible for it cannot apologize too much.
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are excited because you are fathers and you're going to take your children to see it. I love dedication to craft and a good story as much as the next guy, but I don't peruse the children's section of Barnes and Nobles searching for a fucking AWESOME book about bunnies playing in the rain.
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There are some children's movies that are worth seeing.
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Yeah, this may be a crap movie, but I'll see it. It's probably the only R rated movie out this summer that has mass audience appeal. And for that it might be getting some credibility. Hell, people liked Miami Vice a couple summers ago just because it was an R action movie. Anyway, I'll see, it, I won't expect much and I'll be happy to have some real violence and hard R entertainment for the summer.
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I'm still trying to figure out how James McAvoy got roped into this one. Maybe he just wanted to see Jolie tattooed and near naked (who wouldn't?).
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Give me a comic book movie with costumes any day, leaving out the costumes and Fox's booming body for Angelina's supermodel waif look will cost this movie points in my book.
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HAHAHAHA I loved it with Sacha corrected Warren Betty at some award show for saying it wrong.
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How can Morgan Freeman be the poor man's Samuel Jackson? And when did it happen that everyone decided that Samuel Jackson is a good actor?
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after they saw Pulp Fiction back in '94.
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Jun 26, 2008 7:44:34 PM CDT
Oh, and why the fuck should a film apologize for being rated R?
by jackie boy
I'm sick of seeing that "unapologetically" shit.
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Good first hour. The ending left a lot to be desired. Also SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER what the fuck were the writers thinking with that ending and wasting the potential for a sequel featuring Jolie and Common? That was the dumbest shit they could have ever done. END SPOILERS. Anyhow the movie is good. But not worth 10 bucks. Its a matinée at best. Or even a DVD rental. Because there is enough here that is cool, but not enough to make it so enthusiastically cool that would make me want to pay to see it again. But it wasn't terrible. Just terribly average towards the end. Could have been great.
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Clearly Eminem wasn't available. But the whole Dad not being dead thing is never explained properly in the book, that really pissed me off. Sorry if you haven't read it but honestly, borrow, don't buy. Not worth anything more than a quick read. Movie seems to have almost zero in common as there are no superheroes and I doubt he kills for fun.
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Mr. Beaks' review should be the featured one.
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