In a bit of serendipitous timing with the release of the R1 Daywatch onto DVD, and what surely will make an interesting double feature with Xavier Gans' Hitman, check out the trailer for Night/Day Watch director Timur Bekmambetov's American film debut Wanted. Heavy duty on stunts and light on restraint, it should be telling if the gritty-blockbuster style of the 'Watch films translates onto an American screenplay. Already this thing looks overblown in a Mr. And Mrs. Smith meets The Lost Boys meets La Femme Nikita and John Woo kinda way. Night/Day Watch star Konstantin Khabensky is buried way down in the credits as "The Exterminator" and somehow doesn't make it (to these eyes) into the trailer. Equally absent in trailer is Terrance Stamp. Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie are in painfully familiar roles.
Fascinating that they've tapped James McAvoy to star in this, I'll be curious if people give the man who played the Faun in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe the thumbs up, whilst simultaneously crying foul on the casting of Timothy Olyphant, incidentally (and for comparison) who kicks mighty ass as Sheriff Bullock on HBOs Deadwood (r.i.p.) Regardless, as Wanted is based on a graphic novel, it shouldn't be picked on so harshly over it's video game cousin.
Oi. I actually like this trailer a fair bit and yes, it's big and overblown but it still doesn't feel completely Hollywood. I think Bekmambetov is going to pull this off beautifully and I, for one, will be right there to see it.
As far as I can tell, this isn't following the book all that closely. It seems to take into account a few elements and leaves the rest behind (like the gigantic sh*t monster? Perhaps too Dogma for them??). Wanted was one crazy book and it seems (from the trailer) they have dumbed it down in a big fat way to make it more mainstream.
Jolie as Fox? Funny, as Halle Berry would have been the dead ringer. And Morgan Freeman as the guy who gives people weapons... yeah another stellar casting job there. Freeman needs a new agent. Or needs to stop taking the same role. Whatever.
I don't so much mind McAvoy, but strangely, the character in the series looked a hell of a lot like Eminmen. Mathers could have been an interesting cast for this part... Not that I'm a fan, but he seemed to prove he had some skill with 8Mile.
Anyway, it just seems to be another turn at the comic to movie gumball machine and I'm getting tired of all the mediocrity that comes out of it. Just like those little shiny orbs that you get for 25cents, these films lose their flavour about 30 seconds in.
30 Days of Night was a bit that way. Kind of like a previously chewed piece of Juicy Fruit - chewy, with all the body that should be there, but none of the flavour - just remnants of something good.
First trailer since Hot Fuzz I've watched four times running before bothering to send it around. Looks like he managed to make it on his own terms.
Wanted wasn't that good in the first place though. It was a Fight Club meets Watchmen wannabe and it was just treading on material that other people have done better before (Garth Ennis comes to mind a lot right now but Im sure there are other equally obvious names you could drop here if you wanted to).
I'll give it a chance just because Bekmambetov has a palatable visual style and though Daywatch had nothing to do with its source book (it was just the second third of Nightwatch the book, which is a real shame considering that Daywatch is quite a fun book) and it did feel like a watered down version of its source, it was fun.
Looks like a third rate MATRIX clone that's coming a couple years too late. Terrible. The voice over was beyond laughable.
I don't think its fair to call this movie a possible "Matrix clone". Bekmambetov has proven his talents with Night and Day Watch and I think he's made this wild visual style all his own. Sure the jury is still out on Wanted, and honestly, I don't have high expectations. If we don't like the movie, however, I think we can do better than saying its just a rip off of The Matrix. Twitch readers are smarter than that.
Considering the Night Watch/Day are already very hollywood-esque blockbusters it makes sense for this guy to move to the source. Night Watch gave me a headache with all the annoying camera cuts and loud banging noises that came out every time someone even scratched their nose.
Also, sometimes i wonder how John Woo feels about all the hackery that spawned from his HK movies. Considering he turned into a parody of himself in Hollwyood i guess he doesn't care anymore.
That looks really lame. Barely even seems worth calling it WANTED, since it doesn't seem to have much of anything to do with the comic. That this got green-lit without Halle Berry and Eminem speaks volumes of its faithfulness to the source. Or did they both pass on it? Seems unlikely.