Monday, July 07, 2008

When They Say Rated R, Believe Them

Went to see Wanted with J tonight. Summer, movie, we figured what the heck? It had Angelina Jolie, how bad could it be? Besides, I had my bucket o' popcorn with butter junk and dark chocolate covered raisins, I was set.

The music had a great soundtrack, hard-driving, thumping rock with the likes of Guns N Roses, fit beautifully. What is the actual movie like? Think: The Matrix meets Fight Club meets Ferris Bueller, with some Ratatouille if you see it, you will understand mixed in. It is a polished, over-the-top, gratuitious blood fest, based upon the comic book of the same name. If you like your movies with little character development, and a lot of action, this is your movie. In short, it is a Summer Blockbuster.

Go expecting a thrill ride and not a lot of substance. Angelina isn't given much to do, but she pouts prettily and is a tough bitch.You want her, you know you do She does what she can with the role, the obligatory damaged-kid, damaged adult role. James Macavoy, the "flavor of the moment" was decent as the Put-Upon Schmuck who Finds Himself. He reminded me of Shia LeBoef's character Louis on Even Stevens....or, for those old schoolers, the brat-pack edition of Andrew McCarthy.

Definitely a movie for the big screen. I saw stunts I had never seen before. The effects were good, the blood was overdone. The director clearly enjoyed the violence, it was almost gleeful. And the F-Bomb was dropped about 900,000 times. I swear, everyone in the movie from the kids' boss to his girlfriend to the guy who serves him coffee drops it. At some point, you wonder, what is the point? If you overuse a word, it loses it's effectiveness. They might as well have been saying, "library."

There are some almost laughable nods and parallels to pop culture: Darth Vader, Inigo Montoya "You keel my fadder, prepare to die! Still, it was a good way to spend an evening, and if you are a frequent movie-goer, like your movies with little realism and a whole lotta guns, guts spilling and car chases, this is your movie. Obviously, this is NOT a movie for kids. I will never forget the idiots who brought kids to The Matrix. little kids. I wanted to b-slap the momma, seriously. So, remember when I said NSFK.

3 1/2 stars

T, who loved the Matrix but is just meh on this one

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1 sent chocolate:

LiteralDan said...

Cool, now I really want to see this movie. I know I do. As for Angelina, meh.

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