By Katey Rich
The latest trailer to hit the internet is Wanted, the comic book adaptation itching to take 300's release spot next spring, also known as "We'll open in the spring when there's nothing else to see and rule the box office for a month!" The trailer will officially debut before American Gangster this weekend. (There's a clearer version of the trailer at Yahoo! Movies)
As a fan of comic book movies who has never cared a lick about comic books myself, I feel a little different from some other bloggers out there, who have been following the film's every move. Apparently the movie is taking a different direction from the books, though both hinge on a young man (James McAvoy) who discovers his father was part of a secret cabal of supervillains, and is inducted into the society by two complete badasses (Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman). Well, that's what you can tell from the trailer at least. In typical action form the trailer is heavy on action and low on dialogue-- I had to go to the film's Wikipedia page to find out if Scottish McAvoy would even be using an American accent (he is).
Opening on March 28, Wanted seems poised to take advantage of the pre-summer lull in box office and capture all the action fans before Iron Man and Speed Racer open at the beginning of May (remember how Disturbia was the #1 film for three weeks until Spider-Man 3 kicked it out?) Interestingly The Matrix--a close comparison to the film, given the story about a cubicle drone given the keys to freedom in the form of an enormous gun--opened on nearly the exact same date, March 31, back in 1999, and we all know what happened next.
Only problem is: what if this film is bad? Initial signs point to no: the director is Timur Bekmambetov, whose Russian-language Day Watch and Night Watch were commercial hits abroad: "Both films are fantastic in all ways," wrote our own Rex Roberts when reviewing Day Watch. The cast is full of big names who are also real actors-- you may not know McAvoy's name now, but if Atonement hits big the way it's expected to in December, you'll probably hear plenty about him come Oscar time. And the visuals in the film are impressive, particularly that one shot of the guy crashing through a glass plate in slow motion (yeah, the one at left).
Still, I can't shake the feeling that this is going to be awful. Maybe it's the cartoonish-ness of the trailer--what on earth is Angelina Jolie wearing on her eyes?-- or the way it seems to be cribbing from The Matrix, regardless of how different the comic book may have been different. Maybe I just can't handle the image of James McAvoy wielding two giant guns-- I loved him in Starter For 10 and secretly plan to marry him. Also, I'm totally, totally sick of Angelina Jolie as an action star. She's done great work since abandoning the whole Tomb Raider/Gone in 60 Seconds thing, and it seems like a step backward for her to be playing some futuristic femme fatale. As for Morgan Freeman, his presence in any given film seems to be shorthand for "gravitas," and they don't seem to be doing anything new with him this time either.
I guess I'm daring Wanted to prove me wrong. At the moment all I'm looking forward to next spring is Tina Fey's comedy Baby Mama (April 18!), but seriously good advance reviews for Wanted could make me change my mind.
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