Wanted – A-

“Pure Unadulterated  Badassery” is how I was warned Wanted would be.  To tell the truth, I wasn’t ready.  This movie is definitely more of a ride than any I’ve seen this summer.  Indiana Jones wishes he was still as cool as Fox (Jolie).  If you come to the theater expecting nothing more than a thrill, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, this is actually well written.

OK, so the plot is basically the Matrix part 4.  Hot woman brings man into a world different than his own, where he will sink or swim.  Then add the cool special effects, and you’ve got yourself a movie right?  Director Timur Bekmambetov has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve that may or may not have been taken from the graphic novel.  I have purist friends who don’t even approve of V for Vendetta, a movie I thought no one could dislike.  This sparks an interesting debate to those who are fans of the novels.  Can a movie capture what the pages of a glorified comic can?  Or is it even simpler.  Are we witnessing the great heists of intellectual property, merely signed over to studios for profit?  Whatever the case, Wanted is still pretty fun to watch…

McAvoy’s voice over is one of the few elements of the movie I disliked.  Just like the movie Choke, the Chuck Palahniuk I ceremoniously fell asleep during at Sundance, I found it funny at first, and intrusive later.  McAvoy’s American accent is hilarious, but the voice over becomes unnecessary as the guns do most of the talking.  Indeed, while Angelina receives the male gaze, she doesn’t talk much.  Timur probably thought her eyes were seductive enough (he’s right) and words would fall short.  No matter how commercial Jolie has become, let’s all remember she has an Oscar, and should be treated with respect.

Morgan Freeman can’t seem to get enough of this type of story.  He serves as Batman’s loyal techie, and here he plays an under boss.  The parallels to the Matrix are apparent, but there is a little Gotham in Wanted too.  Last summer they filmed The Dark Knight in Chicago (setting of Wanted), The Fraternity has a lair, and McAvoy does a little training stint reminiscent of Liam Neeson and Christian Bale.  Freeman is also attached to one of the best voice overs of all time, The Shawshank Redemption.

The voice over is a small hang up I have with a really entertaining movie.  I wasn’t thinking about it until after, when I realized it was completely abandoned for a better plot than I expected.  Writers Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan made a great screenplay. I do wonder however  how much is theirs, and how much is Mark Millar’s the creator of the comic miniseries.

If you want to see the nude rump of Angelina Jolie, or maybe even a good movie, check out Wanted, a solid time at the movies.

***This was the first movie I saw in LA.  I visited the Arc Light theater on Sunset Boulevard.  I visited with only a recommendation, so I walked in the wrong entrance (naturally) and stood around looking for a ticket vendor.  The place is MASSIVE.  When you walk in the proper entrance, us country folk that are used to multiplexes will notice the difference immediately.  A cafe greats anyone with time to kill or the need for a drink.  Their help desk is called “Guest Services” rather than “Information Desk”.  The lines form beneath the massive movie board, rotating and actually showing which movies are playing in which theater.  This makes all the difference you see because Arc Light has one very famous theater called “The Dome”.  Check specs out here.  So I buy my ticket, and they actually ask me where I want to sit.  This is an assigned seating theater, and I pick out a nice center of the theater seat.  The tickets are printed (custom, like a trip to broadway) and I walk down to my theater.

I’m greeted by no less than 3 ushers, pleasantly smiling and asking if I need assistance (I’m basically looking around in awe) until I arrive at Theater 6.  An usher directs me to my seat and I notice something strange….my feet are on carpet!  The chairs are actually comfortable!  There is an arm rest that has a padded cushion!  And the first row where you usually break your neck looking up?  Has been moved back!  There is not one bad seat in this theater.  In addition my ears hear the soft classical music I’d be accustomed to at the Kennedy Center.  Am I still in a movie theater?  No, this is an art house, committed to preserving the art of film.  An usher makes an announcement before the movie begins (no “20″ or gaudy commercials leading up to the preview) to shut off cell phones, and tries to get us riled up for the movie.  Oh, and once the previews begin?  NO ONE is allowed into the theater.  That’s right, no one is allowed to walk into the theater after the previews begin.  If you have to go to the bathroom you can get back in, but this is a little detail ArcLight has going for it.

If you are ever in LA call me, I’ll take you to the Arc Light.  It’s an amazing place.  My previous favorite theater was E Street Cinema, in Washington D.C.  It’s intimate, and they show the kind of movies I would some day like to make.  Arc Light is much in the same vein as far as commitment, but has a much bigger budget to wow audiences.  I’m going to be very happy at the movies in LA