Wanted surprised me. After seeing the over-the-top action and the unlikely choice of James McAvoy as an action star, I really wasn’t that eager to line up. But after viewing the movie I ate my words and found it to be a great popcorn flick that I really liked.
Now word is that there will be a sequel based on a story idea by the original screenwriter.
Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” and its DVD Halloween spinoff, has been hired to write Universal’s action sequel “Wanted 2,” based on a story by Chris Morgan. Like the original 2008 film, the in-development sequel is based on the comic series created by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.
Now I liked Wanted, and though it was based on the comic book it took some liberties it still made for a pretty fun movie.
Oh, and Angelina Jolie lookin all hot and sweaty with trashy makeup on… yeah. Good movie.
So the natural choice to lead this sequel is the guy who wrote Winnie the Pooh. Clearly.
Now I won’t hold that against him. I know my personal writing might be better suited to science fiction and fantasy, but I would gladly take a job writing any movie out there, so I can’t rightly hold it against him.
Without spoiling anything it will take some good writing to come up with a sequel after this chapter’s ending. There are some bridges that cannot be uncrossed.
Pooh Bear
Yes Christopher Robin
I want you to spin the bullet Pooh Bear
Ahh shucks Christopher Robin
Just because you write one type of screenplay or book or direct a certain type of film doesn’t mean you’re stuck with ONLY being good at that type.
I think the fact that he wrote the Pooh film doesn’t matter at all. What matters is the finished product.
Wanted was a huge waste of time. Overhyped and a completely crappy ending a la Smokin’ Aces. You guys enjoy your sequel. I’ll be mowing the lawn.
Eh, Smokin’ Aces was so much worse then Wanted, but that’s just my opinion.
i liked the movie until i read the comics and thought “holy shit the movie couldve been wayyyy better” the comics were awesome
yea i know, but in all honesty, there is no way in hell the studios wouldve allowed that comic on the big screen.
I haven’t read the comic yet, but why do you think they wouldn’t let them do a more closely told version of the comic book?
Wanted was a nice change in movies. It was original and fun to watch. Making a sequel to a movie that was fun to watch, and original when it came out is kinda destroying the idea of a “Gem”. Like Fight Club was a gem to me because it was insane and was original. why did they not make a sequel? Because it was fucking good and there is no way they could have topped it. Plus they didn’t really leave an open end to it. Wanted somewhat left an open end to it, but its closely related to how Fight Club is. A one hit wonder in the movie world.
You think that in the first Wanted that she had a Stunt “ass”, like a stand in? lol I’m thinking cause she doesn’t look that good in real life…
I thought Wanted was great. Sure it had some crazy story ideas, but it is a comic book movie. For me it’s one of the best action movies of all time. There are few action flicks these days I can watch and say it had more then 1 or 2 things in it that I’ve never seen in any other movie. And this movie had that in spades. Plus it had some good acting and some great writing. And totally had some wonderful comic bookish moments that few strait up action comic book movies ever have.
I would totally be up for a sequel. As long as it was still as cool as the first one or more so and retained some of the comic book story it’s based. Which reminds me, I’ve been meaning to read the comics for some time now.
But this Winnie the Pooh guy as the new writer? I think some one is on crazy drugs. Could this guy really be that versatile of a writer? Does he have the mind set for an action movie, let alone this type of action movie?
When this guy was hired to write the Winnie the Pooh movies I wonder if his friends all said “But dude, you are all about the sci-fi and action stuff.. are you versatile enough to write Winnie the Pooh??”
We won’t know til we see it, but I have faith that if they gave this guy the job that he showed them some sort of potential in the first place.
“But dude, you are all about the sci-fi and action stuff.. are you versatile enough to write Winnie the Pooh??” LOL, that was awesome, thanks Rodney for the good laugh. :)
But ya, I guess your right. I mean, now that I think about it, New Line doughted Peter Jackson for Lord of the Ring and he proved them wrong, BIG TIME.
Wanted was a movie that had some cool things in it but the storyline was absolute crap.
The style was cool and the action scenes were cool but the storyline (threads? what?) was moronic.
The edgy feel of the movie was one thing I really liked about it.
Wanted really was a peculiar movie: James McAvoy starring in an action movie, not really something we see every day he’s more of a drama kind of guy.
A russian/ukrainian director Timur Bekmambetov who I think really has an interesting style. Not quite Guillermo del Toro but very interesting. Saw somewhere his directing described as “crazy, strange and weird…but in a good way”. A great choice as a director but I’d really like to know how he ended up directing the film. Not exactly the usual pick for a big budget movie like Wanted.
Wanted is the first movie I have seen that has come close to that edgy/crazy feel that Fight Club generated. It was no where close to the same level as Fight Club, but the movie was still good none the less. If they can capture that same atmosphere again and even take it up a notch, then I will be happy and it won’t matter who the writer is.
how the hell can you compare wanted to fight club fight club was not retardedly over the top nor was it over the top at all and wanted just went way too far i mean the train sequence or the fact the morgan freeman was playing god it was dumb the movie blew and dont even get me started on the ending. Terrible 1/10
Easy to lightly compare, as I stated. They share a similar narrative style with a big slap in the face at the end. And yes, Fight Club had a lot of over the top stuff in it, it was just done with better undertones. And I also said that Wanted came nowhere close to reaching the levels that Fight Club did. Trust me, I am not the first person to point out that Wanted definitely snagged some ideas from Fight Club.
Personally, it sounds like you went into the movie expecting something it was not. Wanted was meant to be stupid over the top crazy, which you pointed out so you did get that. Obviously, you were hoping for something different, so it did not appease you. Didn’t make it a bad movie, just not what you were hoping for. Be grateful it was nothing like the Graphic Novel. That was all about a league of super villains crossing to other multiverses to wipe out all superheroes from all plains of existence. Think how over the top that would have been on the big screen.
A more down and dirty comparison:
A man down on his luck gets introduced to a new existence of being that brings a new level of understanding to his life which in the end results in him having to turn on the one that brought him to that point.
This happens in both movies, but Fight Club did a better job with the story; though, I still enjoyed Wanted.
I’m with Jeremy. Wanted was one of the most well-structured and atmospherically gritty action flicks in years. It’s quite comparable to Fight Club, both in style and overall quality.
well-structured? care to give an example
again another action movie i thought i would like, but it ended up being fuckin stupid. not to thrilled about a sequel. but the 1st one made decent money so why not, sigh
Chris,
For what it was, I thought Wanted was a fun and entertaining movie. Just curious: what specifically did you find stupid about it?
the bullet curving thing, it was cool the first time i saw it, but after a awhile it got dumb. the movie had some very, very good action scenes.
but the whole reading off the threads was ridiculous, and morgan freeman was wasted. angelina jolie’s character was dumb and her death…meh. i liked it up until the third act when my brain turned back on…lol.
You’re kidding me, HE”S getting hired to write it??!?!!? Wanted was an overrated movie. Good, but overrated. I gave it a 7/10.
Doesn’t a movie have to get a ridiculous amount of publicity, hype, and make mad money to be considered overrated? I thought the movie was awesome, but it got a grip of negative criticism when it was in theaters. Or are you saying it was highly overrated in negativity?
“wanted” was a good flick and would love to see a sequel, however i have heard rumors that Jolie is planning on returning which would be a little odd b/c her character died, unless its in a flashback scene.