from page to screen- WANTED

Hello CBM, this will be the first of a few reviews I call From Page to Screen...its simple...I will discuss a comic book translated into a comic book movie and give my little break down of them, both the pros and cons. This is totally opinion based and not 100% fact, this is for me and those who wish to see other views.

Editorial Opinion
By StuckInPanels - Nov 29, 2009 08:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Other

So lets begin with last years summer comic movie WANTED....yeah i can hear the boos and hisses already.lol. I didn't see this film in theaters, I thought it was a another generic action movie with cheesy one liners and dismal action scenes, however I saw it on HBO and I was pleased with it as an ACTION MOVIE, I don't consider it anyway shape or form as a comic book movie. I did read the comic series because my mind my curious as to what it was about and so I read it, and I was blown away by the characters and concept. So what happened, why is the comic better than the movie? Well one source said that Mark Millar said that the comic concept would be a "hard-R" for American audiences. Well here's my break down of why both forms are vastly different. First off the concept, the idea is pretty basic, a guy become a better person, albeit an super villain with no more morals or sympathy. The comic he's a super villain(weapon mastery and super accuracy are powers?) and in the movie its about assassins and bending bullets. However the one thing most movies try to do is to make the viewers feel a connection to the main character and so we may by some chance sympathize or hope he overcomes his problem, that can't happen when the comic character is as mentioned amoral. So for the film we get James MacAvoy as the character who we can feel sorry for being caught in the middle of this situation. Next comes characters. The comic wins and loses this battle instantly because it plays on Marvel and DC cliches. The comic has so many villains in it that casting each one would take along time. Also they lose this because of the villain comprised of 666 different pieces of poo, its been done in Dogma already. I did hate in the movie they have a character named Rictus, such a cop out and a tease to the fans. Also having Morgan Freeman as the leader sorta makes the movie harder to believe because Freeman is too much of a nice guy in his movies, its more surreal. Also making Fox white and not Halle Berry sexy is a sin beyond imaginable. A quick note on Wesley's father, the comic version would blind slide everyone on his odd logic of seeing 2 dudes going at it will enhance his next laying with a woman*still figuring it out to this day.lol* The comic has a lot going for it with the villains and the mentioning of heroes but not plausible for film. Next is the setting...the movie is it in Chicago like city and also go to Europe for a bit. The comic goes to a parallel world, a huge hall of evil, graveyard, Gotham city like place, and urban environments. Lastly the action....if done like the comic, the parallel world invasion would have been the highlight of the film, however we get a movie where a majority of the gun fights involve the mentioned bullet curving, which is cool but too much is too many. So whats my overall opinion, well take both as separate entities and enjoy them as they are, both are flawed and could have been better(i want to see what gun can shoot 2 cities away), as with everything this day and age, reboot the film and make it right. Go for and be daring in making an awesome kick-ass of a film. That's all I gotta say. Excelsior, nuff said. Til next time true believers. my next one will be an early take on the upcoming KICK-ASS.

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CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 11/30/2009, 6:30 AM
oh, i have to kind of disagree. but i like this article, i look forward to more in the future. these could set up good discussions!

now for my opinion. Wanted is one of those comics that should never have gotten a movie at all. like you said, a LOT of the characters in the comic were supposed to be like many Marvel and DC characters. Mr. Rictus is red skull. Fcukwit was bizarro. shitbrains in the comic was supposed to be like Clayface. That guy that made toys was like Toyman. and those are just a FEW! in the background of the comic, you can see ALL KINDS of characters, like Vulture, walking around. in the beginning of the comic, wesley's dad is shown running on the side of a wall, and he's wearing spiderman's boots. a LOT was taken from characters from a lot of different properties.

my point is, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to make that comic into a movie. so instead, they made a very poor representation to cash in. most of my non-comic reading friends, even after seeing the movie, had no clue it was a CBM. and who would?? i just think that if you need to change so much that it literally STOPS being what the comic was, then name it something else!

the charm of the comic was that they DID all those things. they DID make everyone look like real DC/Marvel characters. there were a LOT of nods in that respect. so again, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to make any kind of movie for wanted that is in any way faithful. instead, we got something that is in no way recognizable.

and also, in the comics, Wesley's power isn't really weapon's mastery and accuracy, its that he's just good at killing in general. :)

but anyway, i tried to open my mind while watching the movie, but i'm either too jaded or i couldn't get past how far off they missed the mark, but i didn't think it was even good as just an action movie. i thought it was boring and lackluster. i thought it was a failure on all levels.

oh and also, Wanted is one of my favorite comics! i thought it was great!
Betty
Betty - 11/30/2009, 10:01 AM
I knew going into it that it was nothing like the comic so I did the same thing, treat them like two different entities. I loved the comic and enjoyed the movie, enough.

I have to say that this movie was too soon. It should have been made 10 yrs from now. That way with marvel and DC are diarreaing out movies, the general public would know who all these characters are making fun of and "get the joke".

They could have just changed the name of the movie and we could see our movie 10 yrs down the line.
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