Wanted On The Big Screen
It opens Friday.
It stars two of the most talented actors around - one of whom most people (male or female, gay or straight) find very desirable. No, silly, not Morgan Freeman.
It is based on a comic.
That should make it a big deal for comic fans... right?
Well... as the film went through development the team behind it slowly chipped away at many of the plot points of the book that made it so compelling when it was published in 2003.
Should Wanted be considered another of the comic book adapted success stories of 2008 or simply be considered under summer action film?
And considering the box office disappointments of poorly adapted projects such as Catwoman I wonder - Why does Hollywood insist on spending money on something they consider new and different only to completely re-invent the elements that make it so?
Your thoughts?
OracleChele
Posted to on 25 June 2008
· Comments (12)
Other stuff like this: adaptation, movie
I should make a comment here.
The comic store I used to go to in LA was very close to several of the major studios. In fact, it was often where studio execs and people just in town for a project would go to get comics.
According to one of the clerks, Mark Millar was there after checking out work on Wanted. He said he liked it, even though its only part of his story.
It's not the comic, its more like the first issue of the comic, and a movie developed just from that. It may not have everything we loved from the comic, but it's apparently still a really good movie.
At first I was disappointed when I read that they were changing the super-villain aspect to a group of assassins...then i saw the trailer and all my worries disappeared. It looks pretty damn good, and I don't mind the change now. Definitely looking forward to this on Friday.
I think that by changing the story to one of assassins, they're not changing the story completely. They switched it up to appeal to mass audiences, which is basically what X-Men, Spider-Man, and Iron Man did in at the box office.
I think I'm a little harder on it. I was surprised that I liked the book at all, but I really did. While I'm usually the one defending the changes in film, I think they went too far (from what I've seen/read of it anyway).
Plus, I really don't get straight* action movies. I understand having action IN a movie, but it was never the main appeal for me. Story is what's important, not the crazy wire or CGI fighting.
Also, I find Angelina Jolie unattractive and annoying beyond belief.
*I use "straight" here to mean "just." Nothing to do with gay/straight anything.
The big question I have is, what's going to happen with the first scene?
It featured the main characters father videotaping two gay prostitutes (and their subsequent death)
Somehow I think that will get removed.
My understanding, from friends who saw an early screening in LA, is that the dad element is more a concept then something realized - so yeah the opening is gone.
I too was surprised that I enjoyed the comic as it was way more violent then I prefer my books but I saw a dark topical edge to it when I finally read it last year in trade format. In the end I found I enjoyed it.
I don't mind tiny tweeks when films are made but messing with the core conflicts.... why not just make a film called something else if you are essentially making a different story all together.
The film is on my weekend viewing list so I guess I will see.
In my opinion, the movie looks awful --- worse than most summer fare, which is saying a lot. The fact that it departed as much from the comics as it did makes it even less appealing, in my book.
Can I question Angelina Jolie's desirability, as long as I'm dumping on Wanted? She's pretty yes, but I'd love to see her play a role where she's not playing a slightly different version of her own persona. She was in that Marianne Pearl movie last year, but she totally failed to even pull off a reasonable French accent. The movie-going public's continued belief that Jolie is anything other than an attractive mannequin baffles me.
"Also, I find Angelina Jolie unattractive and annoying beyond belief."
I tend to stay away from really violent books so I never did read it. I still want to check out the movie for the action and Angelina hahha.
I don't think we agree on a single thing, CKS!
Its alright I will still e-crush on you.
That's all I ask.
:-o
How can anyone say this is a good change. No Fuckwit? No Johnny Two Dicks? Kryptonite condoms? Come on!
That overdone parody was half the fun. From what I can tell, Gibson is a hero now. Not a villain who just happens to be fighting other villains.