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Wanted (2008 film)

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For the 2003-2004 comic book the film is based on, see Wanted (comic).
Wanted
Theatrical poster
Directed byTimur Bekmambetov
Written byMichael Brandt
Derek Haas
Chris Morgan
Produced byMarc Platt
Jason Netter
Jim Lemley
StarringJames McAvoy
Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie
Music byDanny Elfman
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
United Kingdom:
June 25, 2008
Russia:
June 26, 2008
United States:
June 27, 2008
Australia:
July 31,2008
Running time
110 min.[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150 million
Box office$161,856,681

Wanted is a 2008 action film loosely based on the comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Konstantin Khabensky and Angelina Jolie. Production began in April 2007. Wanted was released on June 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom and June 27, 2008 in the United States.

Plot

The film opens with a man meeting with a ballistics expert, attempting to find out who made a particular bullet for a "competitor". The conversation is interrupted by a sniper shooting the ballistics expert through the head from a nearby building. The man then dashes down the corridor and leaps through the window, shooting and killing his opponents in mid-flight. The man then receives a phone call from a man he calls Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). Cross tells the man that the snipers were decoys. Cross then fires a multi-stage bullet through the man's head from the window of a house across town.

The narrative then shifts to Wesley Allan Gibson (James McAvoy). Wesley hates his job as an account manager, where he endures regular verbal abuse from his annoying boss. Wesley, who suffers from panic attacks, also correctly suspects that his best friend and co-worker is having an affair with his shrewish girlfriend.

One night, at the pharmacy, Wesley meets a mysterious woman who tells him that his father was an elite assassin who had been killed the day before. Wesley does not believe this; he tells the woman that his father abandoned him a week after his birth. At that moment, Cross appears, gun in hand. The woman opens fire on Cross. Wesley and the woman escape from the resulting shoot-out and have a wild car chase in the streets of Chicago.

Wesley is brought to the headquarters of The Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins. The group's leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), formally introduces Gibson to Fox (Angelina Jolie) the woman from the night before, and invites him to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. Sloan tests Wesley by making him shoot the wings off a fly. When Wesley refuses, a gun is put to his head, triggering a panic attack. Wesley somehow manages to shoot the wings off several flies.

Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a very rare ability that when under stress causes his heart to beat at an excess of 400 beats per minute, sending abundant amounts of adrenaline into his bloodstream. This allows them to see and react faster than normal. Sloan also tells Wesley that he had inherited his father's vast fortune. Sloan offers Wesley his father's position within The Fraternity and gifts him with his father's gun. Wesley, pulling the gun on Sloan and the others, refuses and leaves.

Wesley wakes up the the next day hoping that everything was a dream, but discovers his father's gun (which he stashes in the toilet tank). He also discovers $3.6 million in his bank account. Wesley tells off his boss and quits his job, knocking out his friend's teeth with his keyboard as he leaves. Fox, who has been waiting for him outside, gives him a ride back to the Fraternity headquarters - an unassuming textile mill.

Wesley immediately begins training with the Fraternity, determined to avenge his father. He is taught to shoot, fight with knives, and is desensitized to pain with regular beatings. Wesley is also taught to "curve" bullets by slinging his gun in such a way that the bullet travels in a curve rather than a straight line. The training is brutal, and is only endurable with the assistance of periodic medicinal baths that accelerate healing.

With his training completed, Wesley is given orders to kill people from The Loom of Fate, a loom that gives the names of the targets through a binary code hidden in the weaving of the threads. While on his first assignment, Wesley seems to refuse to kill his target. He recalls an earlier conversation with Fox in which he opined that it isn't right to kill people without knowing anything about them or why they deserve to die. Fox then told him her life story. Fox's father was a judge who was handling a sensitive case and the defendant had put a hit on him. One day a hired killer held the young girl at knife point as they waited for her father to return home. The killer then lit the father on fire as the young girl watched. He later branded his initials into her neck. Fox explained that the man who killed her father had been targeted by the Fraternity several weeks prior to the events of the story, but their assassin had failed to carry out his duty. Wesley bends a bullet trajectory to kill the target a moment after this recollection.

Wesley later returns to his apartment to retrieve his father's gun. He encounters Cross upon leaving the building. Gunfire is exchanged and Wesley pursues Cross. Wesley accidentally kills a fellow Fraternity member, a Russian bomb-maker named the Exterminator, in the process. Cross takes this opportunity to "curve" a bullet into Wesley's arm.

Wesley analyzes the bullet from his arm and traces its origins. He determines that it is the work of a renegade Fraternity member named Pekwarsky (Terrence Stamp). Sloan grants Wesley permission to personally carry out the kill order on Cross despite Fox's protests. After Wesley leaves, Sloan hands Fox a new kill order. It has Wesley's name on it.

Wesley and Fox travel to the Fraternity's original base of operations in Europe. The two easily capture Pekwarsky and force him to take them to Cross. The meeting leads to a confrontation between Wesley and Cross on a moving train. Fox steals a car and crashes it into the train, eventually causing the train to derail when it reaches a bridge over a deep ravine. Wesley is about to fall into the ravine before Cross catches his hand, saving his life. Wesley unhesitatingly shoots him. Before Cross dies, he tells Wesley that he is his real father and that the Fraternity had been lying to him. Fox confirms the truth and explains that Wesley was recruited because he was the only person that Cross wouldn't kill. Fox then tells Wesley about the kill order on him and raises her weapon to shoot him. Wesley, however, shoots the glass underneath him and plunges into the river below.

Wesley awakes in an apartment across the street from his former apartment. He finds Pekwarsky there. Upon inspecting the apartment, he discovers it belonged to his father, who had been monitoring him his whole life. Pekwarsky hands Wesley a loom weaving and tells him to decode it. Wesley is shocked to discover Sloan's name in the weaving. Pekwarsky explains that Cross went rogue due to this discovery. Since then Sloan has used false kill orders to direct the Fraternity as mere contract killers. Wesley realizes that Cross had never actually tried to kill him in their previous confrontations; he had been assassinating Fraternity members to keep them away from Wesley. Pekwarsky departs after giving Wesley plane tickets, stating that his father wished him a life free of violence.

While exploring the apartment further, Wesley discovers a secret room containing all of his father's weapons and maps. He even finds a supply of The Exterminator's mini-bombs, realizing that The Exterminator had been working with his father. Wesley then devises a plan to take out Sloan and the Fraternity.

Wesley begins the first phase of his plan by filling a garbage truck with rats gorged on explosives-laced peanut butter, "arming" a number of the rats with the Exterminator's mini-bombs. He then crashes the truck into the Fraternity compound and releases the rats. After the rats explode, he charges in, killing all the Fraternity members he encounters. Upon entering Sloan's office, he finds himself surrounded by Fox and her fellow master assassins. Wesley tells them that Sloan is killing for profit by providing his killers with fraudulent kill orders. He then attempts to kill Sloan, but is disarmed by Fox.

Fox asks Sloan if this is true. Sloan then reveals that all of their names had come up in the weaving, and that he had merely acted to protect them. He then goes on to explain that if they truly believe in the code then they should all commit suicide right where they stand. Otherwise, they should kill Wesley. The other assassins decide to kill Wesley, but Fox turns on her fellow assassins. She "curves" a bullet to kill the assassins who had been standing in a circle, including herself. Sloan escapes.

Wesley, penniless once more, does not know what to do with himself. While Wesley provides a voice-over, the audience sees a young man sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle much like Wesley did at the beginning of the film. The man types the name "Wesley Gibson" into Google and searches for it but does not have any results, as in the beginning of the film. Sloan appears and points a gun at the man's head. At that moment, the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy. Wesley, who is actually several miles away, then shoots Sloan in the head from the same window his father killed from at the beginning of the movie.

The movie ends with Wesley giving an overview of his last six weeks as an assassin: "What the fuck have you done lately?"

Cast

  • James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson: A meek 24-year-old who works in a cubicle, but is heir to a legacy of assassins. McAvoy was cast in the lead role in October 2006.[2] McAvoy, who had screen-tested for the role early in 2006, was initially rejected due to the studio seeking an actor that had conventional Hollywood leading-man looks and physique. The actor was later recalled, being considered the "runt of the litter" of those who tested. According to McAvoy, "They [ultimately] wanted someone geeky." The Scottish actor, who portrays an American in the film, trained for the film's action scenes.[3]
  • Morgan Freeman as Sloan: The charismatic assassin partner of Wesley Gibson's deceased father.
  • Angelina Jolie as Fox: One of Fraternity assassins who mentors Gibson.[4] Jolie was cast in March 2007 after screenwriter Dean Georgaris rewrote the screenplay to tailor the role for her.[5]
  • Common as The Gunsmith: A professional gunman who trains others to use weapons.
  • Konstantin Khabensky as The Exterminator: Khabensky, who starred in Bekmambetov's Night Watch, was cast so the director would have a familiar face around Wanted.[6]
  • Marc Warren as The Repairman
  • Dato Bakhtadze as The Butcher: A master of knife work.[7]
  • Terence Stamp as Pekwarsky: A master in the science of killing. Pekwarsky operates as a rogue agent outside of The Fraternity.[8]
  • David O'Hara as Mr. X: Said to be the greatest assassin. His killing catalyzes Wesley's introduction to the Fraternity.
  • Chris Pratt as Barry[9]
  • Kristen Hager as Cathy[10]
  • Thomas Kretschmann as Cross: A rogue assassin who has left the Fraternity.

Production

The comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar first attracted the attention of Universal Studios executive Jeff Kirschenbaum, a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a "hard-R" and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries.[11] By 2004, producer Marc Platt set up development of the film adaptation. In December 2005, Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov was attached to helm the project as his first English-language film, with the script being written by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt.[12] Millar did not like the first draft of the script. He explained, "I wanted the film to basically be the opposite of the Spider-Man movie, the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want, then choosing the dark path. The [script] I read was just too tame. It just seemed a little bit Americanized. But Timur came in with his Eastern European madness, and he really made it nasty. He went closer to the spirit of the book."[13]

Director Timur Bekmambetov said that the film would keep the same characters from the miniseries, though the director would take liberty in adapting the comic book's world.[14] In July 2006, screenwriter Chris Morgan was hired to revise the third act of the Wanted script written by Haas and Brandt.[15] The script was also rewritten by screenwriter Dean Georgaris to include the role of The Fox for actress Angelina Jolie.[4] Haas and Brandt returned to even out the character of Wesley Gibson, which they had established in their first draft.[16]

Comic book author Mark Millar described the first half of the film as being close to the graphic novel. Millar also said that the film's ending was similar, though it was relocated elsewhere from the setting in the graphic novel. The superhero costumes in the series were also removed, with the exception of the leather attire worn by Wesley Gibson and The Fox. Ironically, this had been Millar's intent when writing the graphic novel, although he and artist J. G. Jones had forgotten to. "I wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation, but just for one panel." he said. "And then I forgot. I’d have liked [the filmmakers] to keep the supervillain mythos. That’s one thing I’m kind of sad they didn’t keep, ’cause I really liked that, the idea that supervillains and heroes did exist at one point and they’re all gone now."[13] The story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the series's original theme of predestination was a new element to the film, an addition to which Millar was amicable.[17]

Wanted includes free running and parkour in addition to car chases and gunfights.[3] Wanted creator Mark Millar saw previsualized footage for the film and said the footage had raised his expectations for the film adaptation.[18]

Location plate shooting took place in Chicago in April 2007.[19] Several chase scenes, including one with a low flying helicopter, were shot in Chicago on May 17 and 18 on Wacker Drive along the Chicago River, between Columbus Drive and LaSalle Street.[20] Production moved to the Czech Republic later in May,[5] scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting.[21] For the film, production designer John Myhre constructed a large textile factory in Prague as part of an industrial world, the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics interwoven with the destinies of people, interpreted by weavers to issue orders for specific individuals' deaths to preserve the balance of the world.[6] Afterward, filming moved to Budapest, then returned to Chicago in August.[19]

Release

Wanted was initially set to be released in cinemas on March 28, 2008, but in December 2007, Universal announced it would be moving the release date later to June 27, 2008. Wanted was released June 27, 2008. Previews started in the UK on June 25.[22]

Box office performance

In its opening weekend, Wanted grossed $50.9 million in 3,175 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office and averaged an estimated $16,100 per theater, the $50.9 million opening exceeded the analysts projections of $30-$35 million opening weekend. [23], [24] Wanted grossed more in its opening weekend than any previous live-action film starring Angelina Jolie. It has made over $100 million in the US alone and over $164 million globally.

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. As of June 27, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 72% of critics gave Wanted positive reviews, based on 163 reviews—with the consensus that the film "is a fast-paced, crackling thrill ride tailor-made for the Summer audience."[25] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.[26]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly encapsulated many critics' views, saying "'Wanted' is kind of unintelligible and idiotic. Also kind of nasty and brutish. And also undeniably kind of fun..."[27] Likewise, Tom Long of The Detroit News said, "Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century. Or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash. Chances are it's a combination of the two. But man, does it rock".[28] Claudia Puig of USA Today found the "thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [to be] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film".[29] Conversely, John Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle denounced those same attributes, saying, "If Maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking, Wanted is just the kind of ear-throttling nonsense it's bound to produce",[30] and David Fear of Time Out New York called it "the cinematic equivalent of an energy drink. The film keeps artificially pumping your adrenal glands with mindless, malnutritional sensations, only to leave you crampy and cranky minutes later. ...[T]his exercise in ultraviolence then insults us by having a beaten, bloodied McAvoy inform viewers that he used to be a loser 'just like all of you'".[31] Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, one of few mainstream critics to have read the comic-book miniseries, said the film compared poorly with the source material. Noting that the hero in the comic goes even further, "breaking the fourth wall and positioning himself so that he's 'prison-raping' and taunting the reader for having liked the series," Lovece found that, "While Millar may have contempt for his readers—and, by extension, the medium in which he works—at least he has his own vision, and gets it across with style and wit" that the movie lacked.[32]

In the comics press, Erik Amaya of Comic Book Resources said, "The film's biggest faults lie in how far it strays from the source", and that, "If you've ever seen any movie about leather-clad assassins, you already know how this film plays out. The speed and skill of the movie-making balance out those faults, however".[33] Tom McLean of Newsarama noted that while the story deviated strongly from the source, the movie "stands out as a highly entertaining action film that preserves the comic's core premise and cheeky attitude while taking the story into very different but still satisfying territory".[34]

Among European critics, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said, "It looks as if it has been written by a committee of 13-year-old boys for whom penetrative sex is still only a rumour, and the resulting movie plays like a party political broadcast on behalf of the misogynist party", concluding, "In an ideal world, the title would have the word 'Not' tacked on to the front".[35]

Many audience members have compared the movie to Fight Club and The Matrix.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Wanted at the BBFC". British Board of Film Classification. 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-06-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Exclusive: James McAvoy Talks Wanted". Empire. 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b Edward Douglas (2007-02-16). "Exclusive: A Chat with James McAvoy". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Phil Miller (2007-03-23). "Comic writer signs up Jolie as assassin". The Herald. Retrieved 2007-03-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Michael Fleming (2007-03-19). "Jolie 'Wanted' for Universal film". Variety. Retrieved 2007-03-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Larry Carroll (2007-06-11). "Why Angelina Jolie, Common 'Wanted' To Work With Red-Hot Russian Director". MTV. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ The Butcher Dossier
  8. ^ Stacy Dodd (2007-06-20). "Terence Stamp". Variety. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Kris De Leon (2007-07-03). "What Are They Up To? Everwood's Chris Pratt". BuddyTV. Retrieved 2007-07-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Stacy Dodd (2007-05-09). "Kristen Hager". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Edward Douglas (2007-08-17). "Exclusive: The Writers of Wanted!". SuperHeroHype.com. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Gabriel Snyder (2005-12-07). "Helmer's on Universal's 'Wanted' list". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b Justin Aclin (2007-12-03). "MARK MILLAR ON THE 'WANTED' MOVIE". Wizard. Retrieved 2007-12-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Carl Cortez (2006-02-27). "Exclusive Profile: DIRECTOR TIMUR BEKMAMBETOV COMES INTO THE LIGHT WITH NIGHT WATCH - PART 2". iFMagazine.com. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ George A. Tramountanas (2006-07-22). "CCI, DAY 2: CHRIS MORGAN – A "WANTED" SCREENWRITER". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2007-02-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ George A. Tramountanas (2007-10-12). "THE WICKED WITCH RETURNS IN BOOM!'s "SALEM"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2007-10-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Mark Millar (2007-06-11). "Wanted director talks to MTV". MillarWorld.tv. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Mark Millar (2007-02-20). "Mark Millar Talks Wanted". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2007-02-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Spring, summer movie production accelerates". Reel Chicago. 2007-04-18. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |ur;= ignored (help)
  20. ^ Tribune Staff (2007-05-17). "Filming of movie to close off streets". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Stillking Films head new productions in Prague". Czech Film Commission. 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Wanted Pushed to Summer". CanMag.Com. 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Wanted (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  24. ^ "WALL-E (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  25. ^ "Wanted Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  26. ^ "Wanted (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  27. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa. Wanted (review), Entertainment Weekly. June 26, 2008
  28. ^ Long, Tom, "Over-the-top 'Wanted' is the action film to beat", The Detroit News, June 27, 2008
  29. ^ Puig, Claudia, "'Wanted' weaves an intriguing, if far-fetched, plot", USA Today, posted June 26, 2008
  30. ^ Rosenblatt. "Wanted (review), The Austin Chronicle, June 27, 2008
  31. ^ Fear, David. "Wanted (review), Time Out New York, June 26-July 2, 2008
  32. ^ Lovece, Frank. "Wanted (review), Film Journal International, June 27, 2008
  33. ^ Amaya, Erik, Wanted (review), Comic Book Resources, June 26, 2008
  34. ^ McLean, Tom. "Movie Review - Will Moviegoers Want 'Wanted'?", Newsarama, June 20, 2008
  35. ^ Peter Bradshaw review, The Guardian, June 25, 2008

External links

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