wanted

the ads for this movie looked really cool. it gave it the look of a new 'matrix' kind of movie. its not. the idea behind the movie is that there is this guy who has a really boring life, and then one day he is told he has a connection to this secret assassin organization and he has special powers. obviously he is reluctant to believe them. but as the movie goes along he begins to trust them and believe that he really might be a super powered guy after all. there are some important plot twists along the way that i am going to leave out so i dont ruin it for you.
the story is pretty basic, but its the special effects that get all the attention in this film. its rightly deserved, the effects are pretty cool. the idea of bending bullets is a very cool one, and it is done quite well in the film as the main character trains to learn how to do it. the film is very well directed. its done by a russian filmmaker who rose to acclaim after making 'daywatch' and 'nightwatch', a couple very strange films about vampires. he does a good job of telling the story and showing us the different parts of the action. all of it is well and good, except for this: the film has no heart. its style is one that i like, its less 'matrix' and more 'crank', or 'shoot em up'. but all of its really well done parts do not add up to something greater. it just falls flat. it tries to incorporate a message to it at the end, but with no connection throughout, the message ends up feeling mean instead of challenging. there are ideas thrown around that are in a similar vein as 'fight club'. that movie had style and substance, this one is lacking in the latter. all in all, it left me with a feeling of 'gee, that was neat! so?' and really, a fate deciding loom? seriously?!?