Like it or not, aside from Adam Sandler’s fart jokes for the masses, Will Ferrell’s endearing goofiness and Tom Cruise’s old school blockbusters, it is the comic book movies that largely account for Hollywood’s bulging pockets. Hollywood must be commended, however, on its good grace not to rest on its laurels. In the most risky and aggressive gambit to keep its current cash cow fresh and stimulated, Hollywood shunted muscular action icons and enlisted ‘serious’ actors to don capes and perform assorted miracles. We had Christian Bale as Batman and Edward Norton as the Hulk. We even had Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. Now we have James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland, Atonement) being transformed into a deadly assassin in a film that we can like and enthuse about without having to add that it is “quite good for a comic book”.
Wanted delivers on the promise of what Michael Bay and the Wachowski brothers repeatedly fall short – an exhilarating update for the new age of unapologetic and loud 1980s action movies. Wanted is based on the series of comic strips by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones about an unorthodox enforcer of justice whose powers do not stem from a convenient genetic mutation, but follow a gruelling and brutal training – a refreshing approach in itself. The guy’s name is Wesley Gibson and, as ushered in the film by McAvoy, he is a classic loser drowning the memory of his pathetic existence in a cocktail of panic attack pills. Soon enough he is accosted by an ominously beautiful woman aptly named Fox (Angelina Jolie) who informs him that he happens to be the son of a famous assassin who used to work for the Fraternity, a 1000-year-old secret organisation commited to bringing balance to world affairs under the dubious motto “Kill One, Save a Thousand”. Wesley is welcomed into the fold, his dormant killing instincts are awoken and honed in assorted violent ways and he is transformed into the Fraternity’s golden boy, only to find out that its motives are not as pure and just as he was led to believe. There are existential crises, betrayals, revenge and tons and tons of dizzying action.
Apart from having a diminutive ‘serious’ actor who is hardly a household name in the leading role, the Hollywood suits for once deserve a pat on the back for their bold creative blood transfusion in the directing department. The project is entrusted to Kazakh Timur Bekmambetov who, judging by the end result, is a truly inspired choice. Having made the first not one but two bona fide modern Russian blockbusters with Night Watch and Day Watch, he proves expertly equipped to woo audiences at a higher stage. He makes excellent use of the expanded resources at his disposal and charges virtually every frame of every shot with a combination of dynamism and cool and generates a relentless rhythm that keeps you breathless and handsomely entertained. Rather than Pulp Fiction, the film he comes up with is pulp action of the best possible kind. It is charged, creative and with an alluringly menacing streak which make it a winner that puts tired formulas and franchises to shame.
