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The Movie Review: 'Wanted'

Any film that features Angelina Jolie as an international assassin is, pretty much by definition, a film that glamorizes violence. But Wanted , the Hollywood debut of Kazakh-Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, does more than glamorize. It glorifies. It fetishizes. It consecrates. The crunch of bone against bone, the rasp of blade through flesh, and (especially) the planting of bullet in forehead such that it may emerge as a crimson bloom out the back of the skull--the movie's commitment to the staging of such traumas is so complete that they almost seem justified on aesthetic grounds alone.

Wanted is in many ways a deplorable film, but it is also--and, depending upon your perspective, this is either a good or a bad thing--an immensely stylish, effective one. More than any film since The Matrix , it is a ballet of brutality. But unlike Keanu's excellent adventure, which tarted itself up with mystical mumbo jumbo and a sci-fi conceit (and made sure most of its victims were computer simulations), Wanted is blunt and unapologetic. I don't believe I've ever seen a movie that advertised itself more plainly as an escapist fantasy for masculine impotence.

Loosely based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, Wanted opens with a setup straight out of a Charles Atlas ad: Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a skinny accounts manager at a dehumanizing firm who is bullied by his fat, repellent boss and cuckolded by his presumed best friend. (All that keeps him from having sand kicked in his face is the fact that he doesn't visit a beach.) But one day at the pharmacy Wesley is approached by a slinky assassin with the all-too-literal name Fox (Angelina Jolie, sporting enough tattoos to give Allen Iverson pause), who saves him from a competing killer (Thomas Kretschmann) and bundles him off to her organization's hideout in an old, castle-like textile factory.

There, her boss, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), explains that they are members of The Fraternity, a centuries' old line of assassins charged with maintaining "balance" in the world. Wesley's long-lost father was a member, too, and he bequeathed his son an unanticipated genetic inheritance: What Wesley believes to be frequent panic attacks are in fact floods of adrenaline so intense that, properly controlled, they can make time itself seem to stop. Within minutes, our erstwhile accounts manager is (literally) shooting the wings off flies. Yes, Wesley is the Harry Potter of hit men, rescued from the workaday world by a fantastical patrimony long hidden from him.

The Fraternity's training regimen, however, bears little resemblance to Hogwarts. Shaping the perfect assassin, it seems, requires that the raw material be punched, kicked, and stabbed a great deal, with periodic interludes in a special healing bath that allows wounds to close and bones to knit at an accelerated pace. Wesley must also learn Wanted 's signature addition to the cinema of violence, the ability to "curve" bullets around obstacles with a flick of the wrist. Soon enough, the rookie hit man is exercising such talents on a series of nameless victims; later he'll be forced to use them on colleagues as well, as The Fraternity proves to be somewhat less fraternal than advertised.

Like Wesley's novel superpower, Wanted is an extended rush of adrenaline, exactly the visceral experience action films always promise but rarely deliver. In typical fashion, the crimes against physics are no less notable than those against morality: Cars flip over other cars so that shots may be fired through sunroofs, bullets bend and twist their way across entire city blocks, a firefight takes place on a derailed train plunging into an alpine ravine. None of the ideas are particularly innovative, but Bekmambetov's gift for spatial choreography is impressive. Best known for his Russian Night Watch series, the director seems poised to reinvigorate the action genre in much the way John Woo did 20 years ago.

McAvoy ( The Last King of Scotland , Atonement ) again demonstrates his versatility in the role of Wesley, and Morgan Freeman opens up a can of Morgan Freemanism slightly nastier than usual. But despite her subsidiary role as Fox, this is Angelina Jolie's movie from the moment she glides onscreen. It's been a long time since a sex bomb of her caliber has affected so masculine a sense of cool, and if what she delivers here is more pose than performance, it is nonetheless effortless and ineffable. When, in the latter half of the movie, Wesley asks Fox, "Have you ever thought about being someone else? Someone normal," she replies simply, "No." I haven't heard a movie line all year that was easier to believe.

Yet there is something sour and inhumane about Wanted that goes beyond the all-too-common ultraviolence. This is a film in which there is no joy to be found apart from the joy of violent mastery, in which any human connection is a sign of weakness and invitation to betrayal. Even sex has been banished from this particular male fantasy: The only times the subject comes up it is as humiliation (Wesley's cheating girlfriend), retaliation (his one kiss from Fox is a vengeful pantomime for the benefit of said girlfriend), or frustration (he--and, as of next week, millions of devastated teenage boys--narrowly misses seeing a naked Fox climb out of her revitalizing bath).

The underlying rage against women is hard to miss: Apart from titanium sex goddess Fox, the entire gender is represented by an ugly, emasculating boss and a bitchy, disloyal girlfriend. But even this sentiment takes a back seat to the contempt the movie heaps on any man weak enough to endure such abuse. Late in the movie, Wesley addresses the audience directly: "Six weeks ago, I was ordinary and pathetic, just like you. ... This is me taking control. What the fuck have you done lately?" Since you ask so nicely, Wesley, I'll tell you: I've watched a movie that, while fiercely entertaining, made me fear for the emotional health of my gender. You have a problem with that?

This post originally appeared at TNR.com.

Wanted 4K UHD Review

• April 23, 2023

Violence and Fate

There’s a reasonable argument that Wanted isn’t about making an anxiety-riddled, middle class, directionless 30-something cool via guns. Instead, it’s a statement on how easy it is to turn that demographic into a violent, heartless killer by playing into their oppression fantasies. The fault with that interpenetration is Wanted’s finale line.

After killing the final target, to which Wesley (James McAvoy) narrates his recent past in slow motion, he stares at the camera, breaking the fourth wall and says, “What the fuck have you done lately?”

Wanted wants to be one of the boys, and what it thinks those boys should be is disastrous

Thinking back to 2008, it’s remarkable Wanted found an audience, but it’s probing the same social stressors as Fight Club or The Matrix – that miserable white guy staring at an office screen, fantasizing about an escape. Wanted doesn’t have the subtext of those films – successful or otherwise – and instead spins a gun-based yarn about masculine ideals.

Spending his life apologizing to others, Wesley busts into his apartment where his girlfriend is having an affair with a co-worker Barry (Chris Pratt). After knocking his friend down, Barry says, “He’s the man,” acknowledging the now alpha male status. That is Wanted’s selling point, and in a culture treating guns like a sexual fetish, it’s disturbing. One of the first shoot-outs happens in a grocery where panicked shoppers call 911, a fresh-from-the-headlines moment that today, is especially caustic and cruel.

Other things Wanted treats as emasculating: getting treatment for mental health issues, admitting fault, and daring to ever consider a significant other’s concerns. Every relationship at home, at work, should be a dominate one. Any middle class angst is solvable with a bullet, but in this case, not just a bullet, rather curved ones. That’s confidence, ingrained deeper into the culture by movies like Wanted , and now locked into an additional political war around guns – as if that problem were any less relevant in 2008 (it wasn’t).

It’s the “cool” factor that causes Wanted to go wrong, that domineering effort to make everything it does the ultimate male fantasy, including Angelina Jolie’s casting so Wesley has a shapely figure to learn from. Wanted taps into the videogame-driven zeitgeist, and features less nuance than most genre shooters in that medium, many of which openly admit to exploiting war or military themes for profit. Wanted wants to be one of the boys, and what it thinks those boys should be is disastrous.

Wanted is licensed from Universal via Shout Factory, who advertise a new 4K master. It’s a good one. A solid, stable grain structure naturally sticks to the image, resolved by the encode without issue. This lets resolution and detail breathe fully, even if Wanted isn’t naturally sharp. Cinematography prefers a softer touch, if not enough to drop the definition by anything significant.

Color grading veers toward complete warmth, from the baked in flesh tones to the digital amber tint that creates consistency between scenes. This isn’t to a detriment of other primaries, as they still come alive in wide shots of the city or even in a grocery early on. Greens and blues exist right alongside the enhanced reds.

Hefty black levels exist near crush for much of the runtime, giving Wanted an accentuated depth. Dimensionality is firm and doesn’t give up. Dolby Vision brings a spark, whether it’s car headlights, signage, or the vivid explosions. Intensity is high all around, and while maybe a minor upgrade in detail from the Blu-ray, the other positives make for a safe purchase.

While begging for Atmos/DTS:X, Shout delivers the same DTS-HD 5.1 track from the Blu-ray. Thankfully, Wanted’s audio is continual spectacle. Bullet trails follow the track with thick, powerful bass. Explosions and crashes jump from the subwoofer with brilliant, powerful range. Even music stings provide a jolt.

Surrounds effortlessly dress the soundstage in shattering glass, bullets, or accentuated heartbeats. Every speaker has a presence during any action scene, positioning audio widely around the screen. The entire collapsing train sequence is aural magic in this way.

Shout ports the bonuses from the previous Blu-ray, but does include the new master in HD too. Featurettes are too brief. An alternate opening, which while visually nifty, would have ruined a later scene of the film. One (yes, just one) extended scene comes from the training portion of the movie.

Three different visual effects pieces should have been combined into one 18-minute segment. They focus on the different types of effects, and how specific shots were accomplished in decent if brief detail. Those who are interested in the comic the film is based on will take in The Origins of Wanted , interviewing the comics creator. Some animated comics are also tossed on the disc. A featurette on the director lasts for nine minutes, and a feature on the cast and crew (although it does briefly cover other things) goes on for 20 minutes.

Wanted’s main conceit, that being cool doesn’t mean just shooting things, but doing so with flair, is entirely uncomfortable 15 years later.

User Review

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 40 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD:

Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki has critiqued home media and video games for 20 years across outlets like Washington Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, IGN, Playboy, Polygon, Ars, and others. His current passion project is the technically minded DoBlu.com . You can read Matt's body of work via his personal WordPress blog, and follow him on Twitter @Matt_Paprocki .

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Screen Rant

What the wanted 2 story was (& why the sequel never happened).

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8-Year-Old Movie That's Now On Netflix Is A Must Watch After 99% Rotten Tomatoes Smash From Last Year

Kristen stewart's new vampire movie sounds like the anti-twilight we need in 2024, alien: romulus is even more exciting after new movie with 81% on rotten tomatoes.

Here's why Wanted 2 never happened. Released in 2008, the Wanted movie was adapted from the Mark Millar comic series of the same name. The film followed a sheepish office worker who learns his father was part of a secret group of assassins known as The Fraternity and is recruited as their newest member.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman , Wanted was a pulse-pounding action film. McAvoy played Wesley, recruited to be a ruthless, cold-blooded assassin, while Jolie played his mentor, Fox. Freeman's Sloan oversaw Fraternity missions and doled them out to various Fraternity members. As Wanted goes on, Wesley learns how Sloan has been manipulating him to take targets the boss wants to be killed but aren't named in the Loom of Fate, the machine which dictates who dies next. A standoff between Wesley and The Fraternity ends in bloodshed, with all of the members dead and Wesley free to carry on his work as an assassin.

Related: Everything We Know About Kingsman 3

The Wanted movie's open ending definitely teased a sequel, but well over a decade later, it's clear that didn't happen. Here's why Wanted 2 remained forever trapped in development hell.

Wanted 2 Was Going To Happen

The Wanted movie ended with James McAvoy's Wesley ready to step into his new role as a highly-trained assassin and freed of The Fraternity. And, after the movie made $341 million at the worldwide box office, it was hardly surprising that conversations on a possible Wanted sequel began. That said, it wasn't until 2011 that reports emerged that Universal was seriously exploring developing Wanted 2 . Wanted screenwriting team Michael Brandt and Derek Haas had been re-hired to write the script and Bekmambetov attached himself to the sequel, although he had to finish filming on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter first. All of the parts were falling into place for Wanted 2 to happen.

The Wanted 2 Story Would Have Made Big Changes

The plans for Wanted 2 suggested a rather different story. Picking up with Wesley a few years later, Mark Millar suggested a sequel would introduce the other assassin fraternities featured in the Wanted comics (there are five total) and bring in "another cool new character" to replace Jolie, who passed on returning shortly before development on the sequel began.

In 2012, co-screenwriter Derek Haas elaborated on these early story details by sharing that Wanted 2 's story would turn The Fraternity's mantra - "Kill one, save a thousand" – on its head, but didn't specify how exactly that would play out in the movie. He added in a separate interview that the new character taking over the female lead slot from Angelina Jolie would be in a similar position to Wesley in Wanted : "She's got a shitty life. He's sort of in the Fox role." Bekmambetov also shared in an interview promoting Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that Wanted 2 would have "the same character, same mythology, but it's got a great twist."

Related: The Bubble Helps Debunk James McAvoy’s Professor X MCU Return

Wanted 2 Development Is At A Standstill

But development on Wanted 2 came to a standstill. In 2014, producer Marc Platt shared an update on why the long-awaited sequel was still delayed:

"You don’t want to just retread a similar story, but when we get the script to a certain bar, there will be a sequel. It’s taken a while because it’s challenging, as I said, because we lost a main, main character, so where that James McAvoy character goes now… we have good ideas though. It’s coming along."

Despite creative ideas poured into the film, the essential problem was the inability to come up with a viable story that didn't rehash the original, which would have involved Wesley training a new female assassin. Since then, no further word on Wanted 2 was ever reported. As of now, Wanted 2 is a project that has been put on the backburner for the foreseeable future. Fans of Millar's work, however, can get their fix with the Kingsman movie franchise and new Millarworld projects on Netflix.

James McAvoy Wants To Play Wesley Gibson Again (Despite It Being Over A Decade)

James McAvoy has played a staggering number of interesting characters in his career, but not all of them are ones he'd like to revisit. In a 2021 interview with Screen Rant , however, when asked which characters he would be interested in taking another crack at, he mentioned that " I always fancied seeing what happened to Wesley Gibson in the movie, Wanted. " This is far from McAvoy fully committing to appear again as Wesley Gibson, and Wanted 2 still doesn't appear to be happening. Still, it's interesting that in a career as long and varied as McAvoy's, Wesley Gibson represents a pair of shoes he'd like to step back into. This is probably a testament to how engaging it was for McAvoy to make Wanted and how well the movie set itself up for a sequel, despite the fact that it never actually happened. In a post- The Boys world accustomed to extremely confrontational superhero content, a Wanted sequel that takes the series a little closer to its horrifying roots would be not only possible but welcomed, and James McAvoy would be well-positioned to reassume the role.

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• Wanted (2008)

30 Highest Rated Movies of all Time: Movies With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

For 23 years, Rotten Tomatoes has been the go-to for those looking to get the scoop on what is new in movies. Aggregating opinions from fans and critics across the country, Rotten Tomatoes uses its “Tomatometer” system to calculate critical reception for any given film. If 60% of reviews are positive, the movie is given a “Fresh” status, but if positive reviews fall below that benchmark, it is deemed “Rotten.” A popular piece of media will typically fall between the 70-90% range, but rarely, a project will receive a 100% score. This means every last review from critics was positive.

Close to 480 films with at least 20 reviews have achieved a 100% score, with many coming very close. Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” had a 100% rating with 196 positive reviews before a critic submitted a negative one, knocking it down to 99%. The immortal classic “Citizen Kane” had a 100% rating until a negative review from a 1941 issue of the Chicago Tribune was rediscovered, revoking its 100% status.

Here are Rotten Tomatoes’ highest-rated movies that have managed to maintain a 100% score and have the highest number of reviews.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

“The Philadelphia Story” is based on the 1939 Broadway play and follows a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. Directed by George Cukor, he film stars Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey.

“It’s definitely not a celluloid adventure for wee lads and lassies and no doubt some of the faithful watchers-out for other people’s souls are going to have a word about that,” Variety ‘s review said. “…All of which, in addition to a generous taste of socialite quaffing to excess and talk of virtue, easy and uneasy, makes “The Philadelphia Story” a picture every suburban mamma and poppa must see – after Junior and little Elsie Dinsmore are tucked away.”

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Christmas musical film “Meet Me in St. Louis” follows a year of the Smith family’s life in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, in the spring of 1904. The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll and directed by Vincente Minnelli, who Garland later married.

“‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ is wholesome in story [from the book by Sally Benson], colorful both in background and its literal Technicolor, and as American as the World’s Series,” Variety ‘s review said. “Garland achieves true stature with her deeply understanding performance, while her sisterly running-mate, Lucille Bremer, likewise makes excellent impact with a well-balanced performance.”

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

The musical romantic comedy “Singin’ In the Rain” follows three Hollywood stars in the late 1920s dealing with the transition from silent films to talkies. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, the movie was one of the first 25 films selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

“‘Singin’ In the Rain’ is a fancy package of musical entertainment with wide appeal and bright grossing prospects,” Variety ‘s review said. “Concocted by Arthur Freed with showmanship know-how, it glitters with color, talent and tunes, and an infectious air that will click with ticket buyers in all types of situations.”

Seven Samurai (1954)

Epic samurai action film “Seven Samurai” follows the story of a village of farmers in 1586 who seek to hire samurai to protect their crops from thieves. The film was the most expensive movie made in Japan at the time.

“Director Akira Kurosawa has given this a virile mounting,” Variety ‘s review said. “It is primarily a man’s film, with the brief romantic interludes also done with taste. Each character is firmly molded. Toshiro Mifune as the bold, hairbrained but courageous warrior weaves a colossal portrait. He dominates the picture although he has an extremely strong supporting cast.”

The Terminator (1984)

Sci-fi action film “The Terminator” follows a cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose son will one day save mankind from extinction from artificial intelligence, Skynet. Co-written and directed by James Cameron and co-written and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, the film topped the U.S. box office for two weeks and grossed $78.3 million.

“‘The Terminator,’ which opens today at Loews State and other theaters, is a B-movie with flair. Much of it, as directed by James Cameron (‘Piranha II’), has suspense and personality, and only the obligatory mayhem becomes dull,” wrote Janet Maslin in a New York Times review. “There is far too much of the latter, in the form of car chases, messy shootouts and Mr. Schwarzenegger’s slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way. Far better are the scenes that follow Sarah (Linda Hamilton) from cheerful obliviousness to the grim knowledge that someone horrible is on her trail.”

Toy Story (1995)

Animated comedy film “Toy Story” follows the first adventures of cowboy doll Woody and space cadet action figure Buzz Lightyear. Owned by a boy named Andy, Woody and Buzz are a part of a group of toys that spring to life when humans aren’t around. Birthed after the success of Pixar’s short film “Tin Toy,” “Toy Story” was the first feature film from Pixar and the first entirely computer-animated feature film.

“To swipe Buzz’s motto –“To infinity and beyond”–“Toy Story” aims high to go where no animator has gone before,” wrote Leonard Klady in a 1995 Variety film review . “Fears at mission control of the whole effort crashing to Earth proved unwarranted; this is one entertainment that soars to new heights.”

Toy Story 2 (1999)

“Toy Story 2” continues Woody and Buzz Lightyear’s journey as the co-leaders of the toy group. When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and the other toys must find set out to find him. During his time with the collector, Woody meets Jessie and Stinky Pete, other toys also based on characters from the TV show “Woody’s Roundup.” The animated film was originally supposed to be a direct-to-video sequel, but was upgraded to a theatrical release by Disney.

“In the realm of sequels, “Toy Story 2″ is to “Toy Story” what “The Empire Strikes Back” was to its predecessor, a richer, more satisfying film in every respect,” wrote former chief film critic Todd McCarthy in a 1999 Variety film review . “The comparison between these two franchises will be pursued no further, given their utter dissimilarity. But John Lasseter and his team, their confidence clearly bolstered by the massive success of their 1995 blockbuster, have conspired to vigorously push the new entry further with fresh characters, broadened scope, boisterous humor and, most of all, a gratifying emotional and thematic depth.”

Deliver Us From Evil (2006)

“Deliver Us From Evil” is a documentary that follows the case of convicted pedophile Oliver O’Grady, who molested approximately 25 children as a priest in northern California between the late 1970s through early 1990s. Filmmaker Amy Berg tracks O’Grady down to Ireland, where he was deported after being convicted of child molestation in 1993 and serving seven years in prison.

“Given how strong this kind of testimony is, “Deliver Us From Evil’s” decision to hype it more than it needs to be is unfortunate,” L.A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan said about the film in a 2006 review. “The film has a weakness for over-dramatization, for unsettling music and portentous close-ups of O’Grady’s hands and lips that are distracting and unnecessary.”

“There is nothing over-dramatic, however, about the deeply painful testimony of the adults who were victimized as children and their still traumatized parents,” he continued. “’He was the closest thing to God that we knew,’ one mother says. ‘I let the wolf in through the gate.'”

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

“Taxi to the Dark Side” is a documentary film directed by Alex Gibney about the 2002 killing of an Afghan taxi drive named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being detained without a trial and interrogated at a black site, a detention center operated by a state where prisoners are incarcerated without due process or court order.

The film was a part of the “Why Democracy?” series, produced by The Why Foundation, which consisted of 10 documentary films examining democracy.

“Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) has crafted more than just an important document of systemic abuse — he’s stripped the rhetoric from official doublespeak to expose a callous disregard for not only the Geneva Conventions but the vision of the Founding Fathers,” writes Jay Weissberg in a Variety film review . “All enemies in wartime are perceived as animals, but Gibney uncovers the ways the White House and Pentagon have encouraged torture while distancing themselves from responsibility.”

Man on Wire (2008)

James Marsh’s “Man on Wire” documents the death-defining hire-wire stunts of Philippe Petit, who in 1974, performed a tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. “For contemporary audiences, Petit’s moment of mastery is inevitably shot through with a sense of loss; the following scenes, which reveal the band’s subsequent dissolution, reaffirm the bittersweet truth that triumph is but fleeting,” wrote Catherine Wheatley, who reviewed the film for Sight and Sound in 2010. “The film’s vision, though, is ultimately uplifting: relationships, like buildings, can collapse into rubble, but as [Annie Allix] tenderly puts it, sometimes ‘It is beautiful that way’.”

Poetry (2010)

Lee Chang-dong’s “Poetry” chronicles the life of Mija, a Korean grandmother who is simultaneously dealing with an early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the violent crime committed by her teenage grandson. “Now is the time to bestow on yourself the gift of one of the most, well, poetic films of 2010,” Lisa Kennedy wrote for the Denver Post in 2011. “And by ‘poetic,’ we mean rich with soulful pauses that are at once visual and aural and deeply observant of the dance of routine and quiet surprise.”

Waste Land (2010)

Lucy Walker’s “Waste Land” follows modern artist Vik Muniz to Jardim Gramacho, Brazil, the world’s largest landfill. There, he photographs the work of “catadores,” men and women who collect the refuse to recreate classical art. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times in 2011, “I do not mean to make their lives seem easy or pleasant. It is miserable work, even after they grow accustomed to the smell. But it is useful work, and I have been thinking much about the happiness to be found by work that is honest and valuable.”

The Square (2013)

“The Square” is a documentary film by Jehane Noujaim, which follows Egyptian revolutionaries during the Egyptian Crisis, a period that started with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square and lasted for three years. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won three Emmys.

“Continuing to follow a group of activists as they rally against the undue powers of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Army, ‘The Square’ understands that the Revolution itself is a work in progress, and while its immediacy means it, too, will soon be superseded, it stands as a vigorous, useful account,” writes Jay Weissberg in a 2013 Variety film review .

Gloria (2013)

Sebastián Lelio’s “Gloria” follows the relationship between an aging divorce and an amusement park operator after their chance encounter at a singles disco. “With someone else in the central role, ‘Gloria’ might have been cloyingly sentimental or downright maudlin,” wrote Joe Morgenstern in his 2014 Wall St. Journal review. “With [Paulina García] on hand, it’s a mostly convincing celebration of unquenchable energy.”

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2014)

Isao Takahata’s “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” tells the fable of a beautiful young woman who sends her suitors away on impossible tasks in hopes of avoiding a loveless marriage. In a 2015 review for Sight and Sound, Andrew Osmond wrote, “While the characters feel very simplified at times, there are scenes that put great weight on performance and subtle expressions, in a way that’s nearer to the classical Disney tradition than most Japanese animation.”

Seymour: An Introduction (2014)

Ethan Hawke’s documentary “Seymour: An Introduction” chronicles the life of Seymour Bernstein, a concert pianist who, at age 50, gave up performing to become an educator and composer. “Coming off of his superb one-two performances for Richard Linklater in ‘Before Midnight’ and ‘Boyhood,’ Hawke continues to work at a creative high level,” wrote Bruce Ingram in his 2015 review for the Chicago Sun-Times. “He demonstrates a rapport and openness with his subject that proves exceptionally affecting.”

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)

From directors Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” follows an Israeli woman’s three-year battle to separate from her husband who refuses to dissolve their marriage. “Ultimately the movie is wearying, but then it’s likely supposed to be,” Tom Long wrote for Detroit News in 2015. “If Viviane’s going through the wringer, you’re going through the wringer too.”

One Cut of the Dead (2017)

Shin’ichirô Ueda’s “One Cut of the Dead” follows Director Higurashi and his crew who attempt to shoot a zombie movie at an abandoned WWII Japanese facility. Things go wrong when they realize they are being attacked by real zombies. In his 2019 Los Angeles Times review, Carlos Aguilar called the film, “A master class in endless narrative inventiveness and an ode to the resourceful and collaborative spirit of hands-on filmmaking, ‘One Cut of the Dead’ amounts to an explosively hilarious rarity.”

Leave No Trace (2018)

Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” follows a father and daughter hiding in the forests of Portland, Ore. When a misstep tips off their location to local authorities, they must escape and find a new place to call home. Peter Travers wrote in his 2018 Rolling Stone review, “Debra Granik’s drama about a damaged war vet (Ben Foster) living off the grid with his teen daughter, brilliantly played by breakout star Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, is hypnotic, haunting and one of the year’s best.”

Summer 1993 (2018)

Carla Simón’s “Summer 1993” is told through the eyes of six-year-old Frida, who watches in silence as her recently deceased mother’s last possessions are packed into boxes. “Some creatures are able to grow new limbs,” wrote Joe Morgenstern in his 2018 Wall Street Journal review. “Frida, given more than half a chance after demanding it, achieves something no less remarkable. She grows new joy and hope.”

Minding the Gap (2018)

“Minding the Gap” follows the relationship of three boys who use skateboarding as an outlet to escape their hardships at home. “The film captures more than a decade long documentary footage showcasing their friendship. In some documentaries, the filmmakers attempt to make themselves invisible. Despite Liu’s camera-shyness, he never pretends to be anything other than a part of the story, hitting his subjects with direct, deeply personal questions,” wrote Peter Debruge, who reviewed the film for Variety in 2018.

Honeyland (2019)

“Honeyland” is a Macedonian documentary film that was directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. The movie follows a woman and her beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of North Macedonia. Guy Lodge from Variety describes “Honeyland” as it begins as a “calm, captured-in-amber character study, before stumbling upon another, more conflict-driven story altogether — as younger interlopers on the land threaten not just Hatidze’s solitude but her very livelihood with their newer, less nature-conscious farming methods,” he said.

Welcome to Chechnya (2020)

“Welcome to Chechnya” released in 2020, exposes Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government as they try to detain, torture and execute LGBTQ Chechens. “A vital, pulse-quickening new documentary from journalist-turned-filmmaker David France that urgently lifts the lid on one of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of present times: the state-sanctioned purge of LGBTQ people in the eponymous southern Russian republic,” wrote Guy Lodge from Variety in 2020.

Crip Camp (2020)

“Crip Camp” is based on Camp Jened, which was a summer camp for teens with disabilities in the ’70s that inspired real-life activism. The film eliminates stereotypes and challenges the way people think about disabilities. “It may be startling for those who haven’t spent time with people with cerebral palsy or polio to see how a paraplegic gets from his wheelchair into the pool,” wrote Peter Debruge for Variety in 2020. “On closer inspection, it becomes clear that these teenagers…are having the time of their lives.”

76 Days (2020)

“76 Days” is a documentary released on Netflix in 2020 that shows the struggles of medical professionals and patients in Wuhan, China dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. “As an artifact alone, the result is remarkable, capturing all the panic and pragmatism greeting a disaster before its entire global impact had been gauged, while strategies and protocols are adjusted on the hoof,” wrote Guy Lodge for Variety in 2020. “That it’s so artfully and elegantly observed, and packs such a candid wallop of feeling, atop its frontline urgency is testament to the grace and sensitivity of its directorial team, not just their timely savvy.”

His House (2020)

“His House” is a horror movie that initially released on Netflix and terrified audiences. The plot follows a refugee couple that try to create a new life for themselves in an English town by escaping South Sudan but find their new home is haunted. Jessica Kiang reviewed the film for Variety in 2020 and wrote “‘His House’ is at its most persuasively terrifying when it gets out of the house and into the existential terror of reality. Out there are aspects of the refugee experience that contain greater horrors and mortifications than all the blackening plaster, childish ghostly humming and skittering presences in the walls could ever hope to suggest.”

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

“Quo Vadis, Aida?” documents the journey of Aida, a translator for the U.N. in Srebrenica interpreting the crime taking place when the Serbian army takes over the Bosnian town. “This is not historical revisionism, if anything, ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ works to un-revise history, re-centering the victims’ plight as the eye of a storm of evils — not only the massacre itself, but the broader evils of institutional failure and international indifference,” wrote Jessica Kiang, who reviewed the film in 2020 for Variety.

Hive (2021)

“Hive” tells the true story about a woman, Fahrije, who becomes an entrepreneur, after her husband goes missing during the Kosovo War. She sells her own red pepper ajvar and honey, and recruiting more women to join her. “Within the heavily patriarchal hierarchy of the country’s rural society, this places these maybe-widows in an impossible situation, especially when, like Fahrije, they have a family to care for,” writes Jessica Kiang for Variety . “They are expected to wait in continual expectation of their breadwinner-husbands’ return, subsisting on paltry welfare handouts, because to take a job or set up a business is looked on not only as a subversion of the natural order, but as a sign of disrespect to the husband and possibly loose morals.” 

Descendant (2022)

Netflix described its 2022 film, saying, “Descendants of the enslaved Africans on an illegal ship that arrived in Alabama in 1860 seek justice and healing when the craft’s remains are discovered.” “This past remains present, Brown shows, as activists explain how the land on which Africatown (formerly Magazine Point) was established once belonged to Meaher, who sold some of it to former slaves.,” wrote Peter Debruge for Variety . “Talk of racial injustice calls for nuance, and it’s impressive just how many facets of the conversation Brown is able to include in her film.”

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

“20 Days in Mariupol” tells the story of a group of Ukrainian journalists who are trapped in Mariupol during the Russian invasion and struggle to continue documenting the war. The film is directed by Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian director and it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film in 2024. “Powerful as those glimpses were to international viewers, Chernov doesn’t spare his documentary more brutally sustained moments,” wrote Dennis Harvey for Variety . “There’s no political analysis or sermonizing here, just a punishingly up-close look at the toll of modern warfare on a population.”

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Wanted Movie Review Production Notes

Fox (ANGELINA JOLIE) shoots from the driver side of her Viper while Wesley watches (JAMES MCAVOY)

Wanted -- starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp and Thomas Kretschmann Common -- is based upon Mark Millar's explosive graphic novel series.

Timur Bekmambetov -- creator of the most successful Russian film franchise in history, the Night Watch series -- is the stunning visualist director that brings Wanted to the silver screen

Wanted tells the tale of one apathetic nobody's transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice.

The world is introduced to a hero for a new generation: Wesley Gibson.

ABOUT WANTED THE MOVIE

Weaving the design: a brave new world, the loom of fate, a killer workout, a killer scene, about wesley, about the cast of wanted, wanted the movie: from comic book to screen, wanted the movie summary.

ANGELINA JOLIE as Fox in the action-thriller "Wanted"

Fox (ANGELINA JOLIE) informs Wesley (JAMES MCAVOY) she knew his father

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Wanted Man Reviews

Even by the standards of action movie characterisation, Lundgren only fleetingly probes or ironises.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 26, 2024

A routine but inert B-movie action-pic.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Mar 19, 2024

The rest of the film is a complete wash: the grittiness of Lundgren’s earlier directorial efforts seem completely removed from action scenes that have little emotional and cathartic impact.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Mar 5, 2024

Wanted Man is a frustrating watch, especially for Lundgren fans and one that is probably better avoided.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Feb 6, 2024

Dolph Lundgren's Wanted Man is neither a throwback nor a fun B-movie action flick.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Feb 2, 2024

Not even occasional bursts of violence can save the movie from feeling played out.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2024

Lundgren's filmmaking is as lumbering and ungainly as his screen presence.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 24, 2024

“Wanted Man” is for those wanting an action film that won’t tax your intelligence but won’t insult it either.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5 | Jan 22, 2024

This directorial effort by Dolph Lundgren tries to take a progressive stance on bigotry and the controversy over immigration, and it sort of works. But the familiar, predictable story arc ultimately disappoints.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 20, 2024

What's most frustrating ... is how little the movie has to say about its central point.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 19, 2024

Clichéd storytelling aside, the real sin here is that Dolph Lundgren, a staple of this genre, has put together a film that is also lifeless and generic regarding the action

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Jan 18, 2024

Wanted Man is not the worst direct to VOD, where the effort is admirable from Lundgren, but the final result is something less than wanted.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 18, 2024

“Wanted Man” gets in a few hits, and it opens with potential, but the picture gradually falls apart, showing little interest in following the character arcs it establishes.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 17, 2024

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A Search and Destroy Thyself Mission

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By Manohla Dargis

• July 24, 2014

An inescapable melancholy pervades the espionage film “A Most Wanted Man,” a smart, bluntly effective adaptation of John le Carré’s post-9/11 political passion play about good, evil and the sins committed in the name of national security. It’s no surprise that the weight of that day and its aftermath hangs over the story, which finds expression in the atmospheric gloom of Hamburg, the port city in which most of the story unfolds, and in the movie’s assembly of crushed and deflated souls. Most of all, there’s the presence of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Günther Bachmann, a German intelligence officer and man of sorrows driven by his uncompromising belief in himself.

The movie has been shrewdly customized by the screenwriter Andrew Bovell and directed by Anton Corbijn, who have managed to make the story seem both topical and redolent of an earlier espionage age, partly by turning it into a character study. This is the last movie completed by Mr. Hoffman, who died in February , which invests it with a gravity that could easily have overwhelmed a less practiced director. Here, though, Mr. Hoffman’s intensity is well served by Mr. le Carré’s intricate web-weaving and Mr. Corbijn’s complementary visual style, the sinister doings dovetailing with the dark tone and colors. Mr. Hoffman’s performance is so finely etched — and the story so irresistible — that the film becomes, almost inescapably, something of a last testament.

Published in 2008, the novel opens with Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin in the movie), a bedraggled Chechen who enters Hamburg illegally with a harrowing past, a wad of cash and a mysterious, symbolically freighted key. Given to feverish outbursts liberally punctuated by exclamation points, Issa is at once a man and a metaphor, his body crosshatched with scars that testify to his agonies in a Russian prison and foreshadow the torments to come. It isn’t long before Hamburg’s clandestine forces have trained their sights on Issa, transforming him from a haunted man into the hunted one of the book’s stinging title. Gradually and inextricably, Issa is drawn into a tangle of competing concerns and spy agencies, including a secret intelligence branch run by Günther.

Issa is a far more recessive and less vocal presence in the movie, more ghost than man, and he’s soon overshadowed both by Günther and narrative complications. This may be a function of filmmaking habit, specifically the routine compression that turns hundreds of book pages into a two-hour movie; Mr. Hoffman’s dominating presence may also have been a contributing factor. Whatever the reason, this shift away from Issa in the movie means that, by accident or design, the story — along with its intimate and larger meanings — settles on Günther. Issa may start out as the title character, but as the camera lingers on Günther’s bowed head and hunched shoulders, the burden of the West’s policies and politics seems to press down on him with the heaviness of Atlas’s globe.

With a strong story as his foundation, Mr. Corbijn is able to cut loose visually, and he floods the screen in “A Most Wanted Man” with washes of burning color, including an acid yellow and cold blue — tints suggestive of sickness and death — that transcend the usual action-film cliché because of their beauty, intensity and emotional reverberations. Here, characters talk the procedural and expository talk, but their interiority is often expressed by their surroundings, like the lushly green park that nearly enfolds Issa’s young lawyer, Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams); the glass house occupied by Tommy Brue (a very good Willem Dafoe), a banker and one of the tale’s walking wounded; and the derelict, trash-strewn street where Issa finds refuge with a Muslim family.

Some of Mr. Corbijn’s choices, like the Hitleresque sweep of black hair that Robin Wright wears as Martha Sullivan, an American intelligence officer with the wolfish smile of the professional seducer, are overly telegraphing and only underscore the less subtle, more schematic parts of Mr. Le Carré’s narrative. Yet even when the geopolitical pieces start lining up too neatly and Issa’s hands stray into Annabel’s, the movie holds you with the force of its moral outrage, the talent of its supporting cast (including the German actors Nina Hoss, Franz Hartwig and an underused Daniel Brühl, all speaking in accented English) and the intensity of Mr. Hoffman’s performance. Even when Günther verges on fading in a haze of cigarette smoke and intrigue, Mr. Hoffman is insistently present.

“A Most Wanted Man” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). There’s the usual adult language, none of it remotely shocking.

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Wanted Man Trailer Previews Dolph Lundgren & Kelsey Grammer Action Thriller

By Maggie Dela Paz

The official Wanted Man trailer for the upcoming action thriller has been released, featuring legendary action star Dolph Lundgren as a police office who must protect a star witness from corrupt cops. The film is scheduled to make its debut on January 19, 2024 in theaters and on VOD.

Check out the Wanted Man trailer below ( watch more trailers ):

What is Wanted Man about?

“In the film, Johansen (Lundgren) is an aging detective, whose outdated policing methods have given the department a recent public relations problem,” reads the synopsis. “To save his job, he is sent to Mexico to extradite a female witnes to the murders of two DEA agents. Once there, he finds not only his old opinions challenged, but that bad hombres on both sides of the border are now gunning for him and his witness.”

Wanted Man is directed and produced by Lundgren from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Worth. The film also stars Kelsey Grammer , Christina Villa, Michael Paré, Roger Cross, James Joseph Pulido, Aaron McPherson, Daniela Soto-Brenner, and more. It is executive produced by Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein, Victor Hadida, Mike Hatton, Avi Lerner, Lonnie Ramati, Trevor Short, and Jonathan Yunger, with Craig Baumgarten, and Emma Krokdal producing.

Maggie Dela Paz has been writing about the movie and TV industry for more than four years now. Besides being a fan of coming-of-age films and shows, she also enjoys watching K-Dramas and listening to her favorite K-Pop groups. Her current TV obsessions right now are FX’s The Bear and the popular anime My Hero Academia.

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What We Wanted review – a worthwhile relationship drama

It’s a funny old world, hence how What We Wanted , this year’s Austrian Oscar contribution, can swerve a theatrical release and end up with very little ceremony on Netflix. But that doesn’t mean the film, a relationship drama and the directorial debut of editor Ulrike Kofler, should be written off as disposable. It isn’t great, but it’s well worth checking out if you’re into the kind of unflashy arthouse dramas that this film is an example of.

Lavinia Wilson and Elyas M’Barek take center stage as Alice and Niklas, a couple who have struggled for a long time to have children, both naturally and with help, and who’re beginning to break apart at the seams from the physical, emotional, and financial frustration that has built up in the attempts. To decompress they take a holiday to Sardinia that they can scarcely afford, and find themselves temporary neighbors of a seemingly perfect couple-next-door, Romed (Lukas Spisser) and Christl (Anna Unterberger), and their children Denise (Iva Höpperger) and David (Fedor Teyml).

The worsening relationship between Alice and Niklas is well-observed and mostly un-showy, presenting a naturalistic breakdown of communication and overrun of emotion – not entirely dissimilar from Netflix’s own Marriage Story , at least in its intentions. Conversations gradually become circuitous; moments of potential romance fizzle out before they can be realized. You know the score, and the widening of the rift between them works as a dramatic ticking-clock, communicated effectively and often subtly by the leads, and exacerbated by Kofler’s often clever shot composition.

It’s the script, also by Kofler but alongside Sandra Bohle, with contributions from Marie Kreutzer and adapted from a short story by Peter Stamm, that conspires to let What We Wanted down with heavy-handed juxtapositions – the family next door are dismissive of their “accidental” children – and flatter characterizations.

These all-too-obvious storytelling beats strip What We Wanted of some ambiguity, and reach rather perfunctory conclusions of the grass not always being greener, and the seemingly perfect couple not being happy with each or their circumstances. But the strong performances and an assured directorial hand help to offset these weaknesses and keep the film engaging enough for its lean 90-minute runtime. With all that in mind, Netflix might be the best place for it.

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

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REVIEW: Dolph Lundgren's Wanted Man Swings and Misses

Dolph Lundgren's Wanted Man is neither a throwback or a fun B-movie action flick. Here's CBR's review.

It doesn't take much to get Dolph Lundgren to put up his fists or pick up a gun. He follows the same formula in Wanted Man -- a brand-new action-thriller that Lundgren co-writes, produces, directs, and stars in. While fans might see this latest effort as a throwback to the '80s and all the testosterone-driven filmmaking of the era, it fails to deliver any real message or meaningful action. In fact, it might be the most forgettable film of Lundgren's illustrious career.

Wanted Man follows Lundgren's character Johansen, better known as Joe to his pals, like Kelsey Grammer's Brynner. Joe finds himself in deep trouble with the police force after footage of him roughing up a suspect and using racial slurs. To keep him out of the limelight, the captain sends Joe to Mexico to pick up two women who witnessed the murder of undercover DEA agents and bring them back across the border. The mission doesn't go according to plan, though, as someone wants these ladies dead, and Joe nearly becomes collateral damage in the process.

REVIEW: Destroy All Neighbors is a Zany, Gory Blend of Horror and Comedy

Lundgren, Michael Worth, and Hank Hughes' script doesn't try to be too fancy or over-elaborate. The standard action story never strays into complex or convoluted space, as it's always clear where Joe is, where he needs to go, and what he needs to do to survive. It's a safe, predictable tale.

However, the pacing of the story leaves a lot to be desired. Even though Wanted Man is compact at 86 minutes in length, Lundgren struggles to find the interesting parts. The film spends a lot of time in Rosa's (Christina Villa) family home, which is fine in the context of Joe getting to know her and her relatives, but the scenes chew up a disproportionate chunk of the movie. From there onward, the pacing flies off a speed bump and rockets to an anticlimactic and extremely telegraphed conclusion.

The climatic twist is the biggest disappointment here. It doesn't take a detective to figure out who is pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that makes Joe's decisions even more puzzling to observe. There's a moment when Rosa points out the obvious to him, telling him that every time he picks up his phone, trouble comes knocking, so he must question who he can trust and what he tells them. Yet, this wily, veteran detective can't see the link between the coincidences and the bigger picture. He acts like a rookie police officer who believes authority figures can do no wrong and are the undeniable moral compass of society.

Wanted Man Struggles to Explore Major Themes and Central Characters

That's part of the wider issue with Wanted Man . It wants to address the topics of racism and the police running unchecked, but it does so in a clumsy fashion. These are major concerns, and they elicit strong from the audience, but the film doesn't add anything of value to the conversation. Joe experiences a realization that all might not be okay, but his epiphanies aren't quite as strong or impactful as they should be. It's almost as if these topics were shoehorned into the story in an effort to pander to modern audiences instead of actually exploring the ideas behind them.

From a character perspective, Joe isn't particularly likable. While it's intentional at first due to his racism and abuse of power, he doesn't grow to become someone worth rooting for by the time the credits roll. Lundgren plays him as a tired and weary cop who is angry at the world around him for changing, but Joe never shows a range of emotions beyond a snarl or casual display of petulance. He's a wooden character devoid of any humanity or a strong sense of purpose, becoming a parody of '80s tough guys who are nothing more than flesh-and-blood G.I. Joe figurines .

Lundgren might have been too busy working as a director, co-writer, producer, and actor to really focus on any one element of the film. There are a number of scenes and lines of dialogue for Joe that could have been cut entirely. It's clear that his focus was split in all directions here. As a result, the character and the film suffer.

Demolition Man: Taco Bell Won the Franchise Wars - But Only If You Lived in America

Don't be fooled by Grammer's face and name on the poster. This actor receives a headline credit, but he hardly appears in the film, which is surprising considering how important Brynner is to the overall storyline by the end of the movie. There's a reason the filmmakers intentionally play down his role, but this decision makes it difficult for the audience to invest in the character. Grammer makes little more than a generous cameo in this film. Another scene or two with Brynner might have added more substance to who he is.

The real star of Wanted Man is Villa. Rosa is the only character who remotely resembles a living, breathing human being. She conveys the appropriate emotion at the right moments and acts as the voice of reason when everyone else around her lacks common sense. While the writing of the character does border on the offensive "hooker with a heart of gold" trope, Villa makes due with the limitations of the material. In a better production, this could have been a major breakout role for her.

The Action Doesn't Live Up to Expectations

For a film that promotes so much action, Wanted Man barely features any hard-hitting scenes worth writing home about. In fact, the opening scene that showcases the death of the DEA agents is the most thrilling of the entire film as it demonstrates moments of real tension and excitement. Everything after feels half-baked. While the filmmakers aren't afraid to show off the blood and gnarly kills, the erratic cuts and head-scratching choreography don't always add up.

Judging by the look and feel of the film, Lundgren intended for this to be a tribute to the old-school action days of yesteryear. Unfortunately, with the lack of pulsating action sequences and meaty story, cinematographer Joe M. Han didn't have an abundance to work with here. That said, Wanted Man is anything but ugly, as Han uses the brightness of the natural light to illuminate the scenes that take place in scenic locations. It's a refreshing and welcome change to a genre that seems to be obsessed with nighttime and neon lights, especially after the popularity of the John Wick films and their specific look. There's no hiding behind light tricks or elaborate green screens, as this film possesses an organic aesthetic that's easy on the eye.

Unfortunately, Wanted Man struggles to even be an enjoyable B-movie romp. It flails with a lethargic and uninspired storyline, while it shoots blanks when it comes to the action. The most die-hard genre fans might give it a go because of Lundgren's heavy involvement in the production, but it's a tough sell for anyone else, even those looking for a popcorn flick. Wanted Man is doomed to be unwanted by the average viewer.

Follows a police officer who must retrieve an eyewitness and escort her after a cartel shooting leaves several DEA agents dead, but then he must decide who to trust when they discover that the attack was executed by American forces.

Wanted Man, starring Dolph Lundgren and Kelsey Grammer, is available on demand and digital.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, muppets most wanted.

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"Muppets Most Wanted" opens with a self-referential song that comments on the fact that sequels are never quite as good as the film that inspired them and then goes on to prove the point.

When everyone's favorite frog, bear, pig, and whatever Gonzo is returned in 2011 for " The Muppets ," the result was a surprising creative success. And just as the pond-hopping " The Great Muppet Caper " followed on the heels of " The Muppet Movie " over thirty years ago, it makes a certain degree of sense that this generation's Muppet sequel would also be a crime-laced adventure for the wisecracking vaudevillian puppets. However, the creative team behind this follow-up have misplaced and mis-prioritized so much of what worked about "The Muppets" that it's hard to believe sometimes that it's not an entirely different crew. "Muppets Most Wanted" has the smell of straight-to-DVD sequel from top to bottom; something that only superficially resembles what came before.

The most significant and bizarre problem with "Muppets Most Wanted" is a lack of a protagonist. That might sound silly for a film cast largely with puppets but "The Muppets" gave us multiple characters to follow, including not just the introduction of the charming Walter but the return of Kermit alongside engaging characters played by Jason Segel and Amy Adams . In a baffling screenwriting move, Bobin and Nicholas Stoller not only separate Kermit from his friends for most of the film's running time but don't fill in that gap with another lead to follow. It is a story without an anchor, a film that bounces back and forth between its sometimes entertaining subplots but without a hint of thematic density. Yes, I know it's "just" a lighthearted family diversion but the reasons "The Muppet Movie" and "The Muppets" resonated was because they touched on issues that were identifiable to both kids and adults—we all knew what Kermit meant when he said it wasn't easy being green or had our own rainbow connection to find. "Muppets Most Wanted" touches on little more than silly accents.

Now that "The Muppet Show" is back on the international radar in the world of these films, Dominic Badguy (a winning Ricky Gervais ) swoops in to encourage Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the rest of the gang to go on a world tour. Of course, with a name like Badguy, their new manager has a dastardly plan up his sleeve. On their first stop in Germany, Kermit is kidnapped and shuttled off to a Russian gulag, where he is meant to take the place of an international criminal "bad frog" named Constantine, who just happens to look exactly like Kermie, just with one of the cinematically historic signs of evil—a facial mole.

While poor Kermit is trying to convince his guard Nadya ( Tina Fey ) that he's a framed frog and keep on the good side of fellow inmates played by, among others, Ray Liotta , Danny Trejo , and Jemaine Clement , Constantine is working with Dominic on their endgame, stealing The Crown Jewels while using The Muppets tour as a cover. Essentially just to get the gang to a number of fun locales (and allow for endless stream of cameos from the likes of Salma Hayek , Christoph Waltz , Chloe Grace Moretz , Saoirse Ronan , and dozens more), the items needed to lift the jewels are spread out around Europe. As more of the Muppets start to wonder at Constantine/Kermit's odd behavior, Sam Eagle and an Interpol agent named Jean Pierre Napoleon (an inspired Ty Burrell ) track the crimes being left in their wake. In the screenwriters' most egregious error, we spend more time with Constantine than any of the classic Muppets, and I longed for someone to root for other than Kermit in a Siberian prison. It would have been so much smarter to have Walter, a solid new hero from the last film, figure out the deception immediately and then work to unveil it for everyone else.

There are undeniably inspired bits in "Muppets Most Wanted"—one is tempted to recommend it just to see Ray Liotta performing a number from " A Chorus Line " in a Russian gulag, and Burrell's running gag about the differences between European crime solvers and his American counterpart gets laughs—but the comedic tone is inarguably more frantic and haphazard than arguably ever before in this series. Even the songs, again composed by "Flight of the Conchords" vet Bret McKenzie , have the tone of afterthought; B-sides to ideas explored in the previous film. The music gets notably stronger as the film goes on but the first few numbers had me longing for something as catchy and clever as "Life's a Happy Song". The best Muppet movies have been so closely associated with their music over the years and no one is going to be humming a single bar of a "Muppets Most Wanted" track on the way to the parking garage.

While it doesn't help that "Muppets Most Wanted" is an unacceptable 112 minutes long, I must admit that it's never gratingly bad. It's not as creatively bankrupt as the worst family films as the creators still have that anything-for-a-laugh aesthetic that demands you only wait a few seconds between jokes. At its best, it captures the show's often-manic pace, shuffling one bit off the stage as the next one starts up. There are laughs here and there but The Muppets haven't been one of our most enduring franchises thanks to films that can be labeled little more than sporadically entertaining.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film Credits

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Ricky Gervais as Dominic

Ty Burrell as Jean Pierre Napoleon

Tina Fey as Nadya

Steve Whitmire as Kermit / Beaker / Statler / Rizzo / Newsman / Foo-Foo (voice)

Eric Jacobson as Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Animal / Sam Eagle (voice)

Dave Goelz as Gonzo / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Zoot / Beauregard / Waldorf (voice)

Bill Barretta as Swedish Chef / Rowlf / Dr. Teeth / Pepe the Prawn / Bobo (voice)

Matt Vogel as Sgt. Floyd Pepper / Camilla / Sweetums / Lew Zealand / Crazy Harry (voice)

Peter Linz as Walter (voice)

David Rudman as Scooter / Janice (voice)

• James Bobin
• Nicholas Stoller
• Bret McKenzie

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