I have a great deal of respect for Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, whose visually innovative films Night Watch and Day Watch look better and work better than many, many movies made with much, much larger budgets. The allure of those films, though, is that they took a well-worn concept (an immortal race, e.g. vampires) and told stories which felt completely new. Wanted continues and perhaps improves upon Bekmambetov’s visual style, but is sorely wanting of an original and compelling story.
The Matrix will remain a benchmark of cinema because it married a new visual language with a thoroughly developed concept that made the impossible utterly believable. Wanted, on the other hand, expects us to accept that a waxy bath and some vodka can suspend the rules of biology, and that determination and a wrist flip can suspend the rules of physics. I was prepared to dismiss these shortcomings – and many others – and let this film merely fade away like any other disappointment. Then the smug and dubious final shot flashed across the screen, and what would have been merely a misfire of an action film became the work of an immature and reckless filmmaker. Let’s hope that Bekmambetov’s future projects display a higher level of discretion without losing his irreverence.
Wanted
January 4th, 2009 · No Comments
Tags: Action/Adventure · Capsule · Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
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