The Wanted Trailer

As usual, I am always late to the party. This blog is a lot of things, but timely is not often one of them. Sorry.

That said -- the trailer for Wanted, a film based off of the comic book by Mark Millar. A few observations.

Instead of looking like Eminem, which would obviously be dated, our hero looks like a young Josh Charles, from Sports Night. An odd choice. His earlier credits include Mr. Tumnus the Faun (not making that up), and British murder mysteries. Very odd.

Freeze the trailer at the 25 second mark and check out that eyebrow - eyeliner - forehead action. Crazy.

"He could conduct a symphony orchestra with [this gun]" is a really odd line. Obviously we are supposed to notice the skill involved in both, and think of shooting it instead of, you know, waving it around. But still. I am distracted by the thought, that in a pinch, you could conduct with a pistol in your hand instead of a baton.

"If no one ever told you that bullets fly straight, what would you do?" This line bears more than a passing resemblance to the "do you think that is air you are breathing" from the Matrix, and not only because it is being delivered by the wise old black man stereotype. Following it up with the image of the wise black man offering the young white guy the chance to leave his cubical existence behind and join a brotherhood of super-soldiers engaged in a secret war -- and you are sunk. Later in the trailer, the new guy DOES get it on with the girl who has already been a member for some time, just like Neo and Trinity.

I would think that a crazy talented assassin would be offended by the gimmick-ey tech of a gun that pivots 90 degrees and gives you camera view of your target in the sights. Freeze the image and tell me it does not look like a lame toy. I would think it would take all the fun out of killing. Look how bored she looks as it goes off. Her body language and facial expression make it look like she is using a pricing gun at the egg store. This is a story about shameless pleasure.

"Our purpose is to maintain stability in an unstable world. Kill one, save a thousand." How is this different than the American military? Or any military for that mater? Or the police? The whole point of the comic book was that super-villains had taken over the world and done EVIL things, like re-written reality to make Batman into a paunchy 60s has-been actor, and leave Superman in a wheelchair. (In spite of how offensive he is being, Miller offers a weird kind of compliment here, suggesting that Christopher Reeve on some level really IS Superman). Obviously, the film is going to have to change things since it is not a comic book. I get that. But it removes everything striking and what remains is only a warmed over version of The Matrix, which came out almost a decade ago and has been much warmed over since.

But as my friend Erin says -- Angelina Jolie is awesome, and, hey, good for the children of Cambodia, since that is where her money goes anyway.