My husband and I went to see Wanted yesterday and I felt like I wasted my time and money. So, I thought I’d warn you guys over 40 in case you’re tempted to see it but haven’t done so yet.
Maybe it’s because I’m not in my twenties and haven’t been immersed in the nihilism (or postmodernism) of that generation that I couldn’t get into this movie. You see, I actually like movies to have a point, to actually be about something, that get from point A to point B and not just be about gun battles. I like them to have an ending that makes sense, that doesn’t leave me sitting there thinking, “You spent all that time building up to that?” I don’t mind if a movie defies the laws of logic and physics which this movie does, if it has a point but when it’s pointless, then I feel manipulated and let down.

The movie is your typical male fantasy (similar to Walter Mitty as Ebert notes) of revenge against those who used and abused him. The women in the movie are nags and the ideal woman is a sexy, usually silent assassin. It’s packed with gun battles and moves as fast as a video game. I really did love the slow motion action shot, it was really visually stunning and when the main character wasn’t talking it was a pretty decent movie. It may have been enough to carry the movie for me if the main character wasn’t such a jerk that I really didn’t care what happened to him.
Now, before you think I’m biased against this movie because it was a male fantasy movie, I have to tell you that I really like action adventure movies, male fantasy or not. I loved Transformers, Fantastic Four, I Robot, The Terminator, etc. So the genre doesn’t bother me, the dialog did.
As I said at the beginning of this post, maybe the problem is that it’s generational. Maybe if I were younger I would find this movie more enjoyable. Maybe the story of a milquetoast accounts manager who becomes an assassin who can bend bullets, shoot from a moving subway car and who gets his marching orders from a loom, would have been appealing but I doubt it. I can’t think that after suspending disbelief though most of the movie and then getting the ending that I did wouldn’t have ticked me off just as much. Though the positive reviews for this movie make me suspect that I’m pretty out of it. So I guess ymmv depending on your age and philosophical worldview.
BTW, on a side note, as we were watching the coming attractions I was surprised by the one for Step Brothers. It was rated R and they dropped the f-bomb (you can view it if you want at YouTube) all over the place but I had watched it with my daughters when we saw Get Smart (which we enjoyed) and there wasn’t any swearing at all. I know they modify the trailers for the audience but really if you don’t pay attention you might be tricked into thinking this movie was OK for your teen and then have to disappoint them when you see the movie is rated “R” because it’s more potty mouthed then they lead you to believe. Or maybe I’m the only one who limits the amount of “R” rated movies my kids can see. And no, we weren’t even tempted to see this movie, it looked really stupid. Yeah, I really want to see a movie about two adult males acting like middle schoolers, that’s how I want to send two hours and 10 bucks.