Wanted: Review

Wanted=Best movie of the summer so far.

I was really impressed on many different levels with this movie. Right from the get go with Nine Inch Nails playing in the background, which made perfect sense, got me hooked in. Everyday is Exactly the Same gave you the feeling of the dismal lifestyle that the main character, played by James McAvoy, had to deal with. From the get go, the action starts and never stops. Angelina Jolie steals the show with her beauty and relentless style to take action to that whole other level only a few people can. People were giving this movie bad reviews based on the reality of the whole thing, but this is a damn movie, not reality. Things are allowed to be different and they were. The concept couldn't have been a better one. I am tired of these boring action flicks with big explosions and typical car chases that make you think that the human population is just so dumb they can easily be fooled with another one.

Wanted takes the cake and the buffet too in the creative aspect of this film. When Fox, played by Jolie, slides 720 into McAvoy with the door open in a Dodge Viper doing 35 mphs to pick him up, there I was ready to applaud and walk out happily at that point. Finally a creative way to start a car chase. The effects and storyline were truly something different and didn't look cheesy at all. When McAvoy breaks through to become the person he is, there was a little part of me wishing that I could some how do the same thing, that is if I had the same boring life he did.

With the beat downs coming along to build character and train McAvoy it stepped up to a whole other knoch. I don't want to give away too much more but the movie is something that I will definitely see again. I realized how good Wanted was soon after I saw it. I tried to go see Wall-E right away but had to wait about 20 minutes before it started. I snuck into the Hulk and sat down for about 5 minutes and was like wow this really is an awful movie with horrible effects and computer graphics that Pixar could've done in 1990. Before that I thought it was an ok movie meaning about 5 out of 10 only because I felt a little a sympathy for Edward Norton. That is beside the whole point though, Wanted was great. The storyline takes you all around the town and back up the block. Unstoppable action that I feel is groundbreaking except for the part were bullets collide in mid-air like 4 times in a row, no need for all that now. Jolie steals the stage but McAvoy puts on a damn good show for the ladies as well. With the moral of the story, trying to change the world, and the last line were McAvoy says, "What have you done lately?" That was probably as good as the Eye of the Tiger playing after Rocky first came out. That's how pumped you got after that line and the twisted ending. This movie is worth every penny. 9 out of 10, and I would love to see it again in that special quick fix wax bath. I give it a 9 only because to be perfect now days you gotta be perfect, and I believe I may have to save that 10 out of 10 for Batman.

Southland Tales: A Confusing Epic of a Truly Possible Future

Before we dive head first into this labyrinth, I must add that I am a huge fan of Donnie Darko. Therefore I was hoping for something grand, and also expecting something weird, I believe that is exactly what I got.

Southland Tales has a pretty stellar cast. A plot with more twists than a twizzler. A futuristic view of society that seems so real, with lots and lots of symbolic meaning intertwined into the whole movie.

For starters there was a lot of resemblance to Donnie Darko, especially in the end. Any fan would notice how the endings of both movies are almost the same with the relation of one characters sacrificing himself for the greater good, because of the time/space continuum. Then there is the dance scene before it all goes down, tagging along with the sad realization of reality all around us. How some of the characters realize how fake the world has become. The meaning for something greater to be achieved out of life is realized by a few, while others give into the artificial pleasures around them. The bullet hole in one eye of a main character, who is from the future. There is so much more, but I want to look at other parts of the movie as well.

The biblical meanings are way over my head. I am a true catholic but I can even begin to decipher what was going on. Justin Timberlake was playing Pilot Abilene (possible reference to Pontius Pilot??) who narrates the whole movie through the final book of the bible, Revelations. Extremely cool idea btw. If you know anything about prophecies, when they come true the interpretations that relate them to something happening are sometimes ridiculous. This movie kind of points that out, at least I think so, but makes everything come together in the end. You might have to watch this over just listening to Pilot reading his revelations.

Then there is the Rock who plays Boxer and Jericho. Two different people, at least we don't know that until the end. I am not to sure about the symbolic meaning of Jericho here. I love the acting that the Rock does, but it's just hard to seem him play the coward that Boxer is. When he does the Montgomery Burns finger taps, it has meaning in the end, but seems kind of weird throughout the whole movie. Also when he dies in the end and Jesus is seen bleeding through his back, I don't quite get that because he really doesn't save anyone. Although he does take down the strong conservatives in the Zeppelin with him, while the Neo-Marxist are getting destroyed down below.

We then come to Seann William Scott. This is really odd, not sure at all what's happening here, except that he is the one who went through the 4th dimension. I then came to realize that maybe the 4th dimension made it possible to transport the Elixir of God, or that crazy alternate energy they were using. I don't know just throwing that out there. It was also maybe a way of saying don't mess with God's powers too.
This also becomes relevant when people are trying to play God, they are eventually killed in the end too. (These are the people that play the role of Homeland Security, aka Dent in the movie.) They are overseeing everything, trying to control everyone.

Krista Now, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar is probably my favorite character. Although she seems to be clueless and out for herself, she also wrote the whole story down with Boxer in the beginning of the movie too. Maybe she plays the role of Mary Magdalene.



Then of course there are the many other numerous characters who appear throughout the whole movie. I couldn't believe the characters from SNL and Mad tv in the movie, playing crucial roles, but also mocking the characters by playing those roles. That is probably why they were playing them.

The best part about this movie is the whole obvious plot that anyone can notice. The future with constant observation, and control by the government.

I like the whole idea of using Robert Frost and the saying "This is the way the world ends." Throughout the whole movie there is so many references to all types of literature, art, religion, and pop culture. It's so hard to understand this movie, and this is why I believe it will be a masterpiece in due time. I hope that many people respond to this blog with their ideas and personal reviews of this movie.

Still there is much more that I missed I just wanted to get some of this down with hopes of responses.

I wish I could've seen the extra 20-25 minutes that we cut out of the original, maybe that extended version will be out shortly. I give this movie a 4.5 out 5. I didn't quite get it after watching it, but the hundreds of themes, ideas, views, references, and use of symbolism is amazing. For a person to direct and write such an epic movie, he should be recognized on a much larger level than right now. Although I am still very confused I feel I will eventually put the pieces together.