'Wanted' [Archive] - Revision3 Forums

esophagus

10-31-2007, 05:23 AM

Check out the Wanted (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809878244/video/4771511/standardformat/) trailer from yahoo. Never read the book.
I saw a still image from that movie that just about made me cry. Looks brilliant. Mr. X shattering through a glass panel. I'm going to see if I can find it. Here (http://justjared.buzznet.com/gallery/photos.php?yr=2007&mon=10&evt=wanted-stills&pic=wanted-movie-stills-02.jpg) it is.

kahunablair

10-31-2007, 01:12 PM

Check out the Wanted (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809878244/video/4771511/standardformat/) trailer from yahoo. Never read the book.

Just caught the trailer. It looked good.
I just went and read about the original series. Is this for the same series? haha.
I'll be picking up the TPB today though.

zombox

10-31-2007, 04:03 PM

redlibertyx

10-31-2007, 04:23 PM

It's sad but I knew it wouldn't go with the book at all. It's just one of those things.

sullivan85

10-31-2007, 04:55 PM

Not super excited to see this, but the trailer still looked good. I'm guessing the story has been tilted a little to make the fraternity not such the bad guys? EG: I will go out on a limb that the lead doesn't brag about raping anyone in the feature film version.

mikegraham6

10-31-2007, 05:17 PM

i haven't seen the trailer yet, but wow is this thread ever all over the place

xyzzy

10-31-2007, 05:29 PM

It looks like it might be a decent action flick, but it aint Wanted. Of course, I didn't really care for Wanted, so maybe I'll like this.

horatio616

10-31-2007, 06:20 PM

Just watched the Wanted trailer and, as I expected, they've absolutely butchered the story. I won't 'spoil' the trailer for you guys, but if you liked the book, don't expect to see anything even remotely resembling it in this film.

Is this an adaptation of that Millar/Jones book? If so, I hope they did change it. It was basically a bunch of assholes doing asshole-y things to each other. An unpleasant reading experience. Kudos to somebody for getting this turned into a film.

jaflanagan

10-31-2007, 06:36 PM

Is this an adaptation of that Millar/Jones book? If so, I hope they did change it. It was basically a bunch of assholes doing asshole-y things to each other. An unpleasant reading experience. Kudos to somebody for getting this turned into a film.

I felt the same way about that book. It was just nihilistic and anti-social. What the hell was the point?

Nice art though...

horatio616

10-31-2007, 06:42 PM

I felt the same way about that book. It was just nihilistic and anti-social. What the hell was the point?

Nice art though...

The saddest thing about my Kentucky education is that you use words like "nihilistic" and "anti-social" while all I could come up with is "asshole-y."

esophagus

10-31-2007, 06:43 PM

I think the movie looks great, especially that still I posted earlier. It does look nothing like the book, and this is one adaptation that I really don't care about. I remember little to none of the series past it being little more than meh. I'm just stoked for this movie, and hope it does better.

six-gun

10-31-2007, 07:18 PM

I showed the trailer to some of my guys journalism class and all of our responses where "whoa" it's a highschool guy, testosterone flick.

Not every movie has to be high art (air high fives Labor over hte Live Free or Die Hard love ;))

conorkilpatrick

10-31-2007, 07:35 PM

Not every movie has to be high art (air high fives Labor over hte Live Free or Die Hard love ;))

The problems with Live Free and Die Hard have nothing to do with it not being high art. Die Harder and Die Hard with a Vengeance certainly weren't.

zombox

10-31-2007, 08:04 PM

Yea, but the book wasn't high art either. Josh is right to say 'What was the point?' the point was that these people are self-centered and vile. And, sometimes, its fun to live in that headspace (from afar) for an hour or two. It was about action and is, somewhat, a discourse on people with too much power and how they wield it, often inappropriately. I liked the book and git a kick out of much of it.

I showed the trailer to some of my guys journalism class and all of our responses where "whoa" it's a highschool guy, testosterone flick.

Not every movie has to be high art (air high fives Labor over hte Live Free or Die Hard love ;))

horatio616

10-31-2007, 08:13 PM

Yea, but the book wasn't high art either. Josh is right to say 'What was the point?' the point was that these people are self-centered and vile. And, sometimes, its fun to live in that headspace (from afar) for an hour or two. It was about action and is, somewhat, a discourse on people with too much power and how they wield it, often inappropriately. I liked the book and git a kick out of much of it.

Yeah, but it wasn't fun. It was repulsive. A lot of people I spoke to about it felt the same way. Millar's mistake is not giving us a character that's even remotely likeable. If you're reading something about a bunch of characters that you hate equally, it doesn't matter who wins and all of the drama is sapped out of it. Hence, it has no point.

Plus, the ending blew.

xyzzy

10-31-2007, 08:35 PM

Yeah, but it wasn't fun. It was repulsive. A lot of people I spoke to about it felt the same way. Millar's mistake is not giving us a character that's even remotely likeable. If you're reading something about a bunch of characters that you hate equally, it doesn't matter who wins and all of the drama is sapped out of it. Hence, it has no point.

Plus, the ending blew.

I'm not a big Wanted fan, but I have to disagree with this. A protagonist doesn't have to be likeable. In my opinion, all they have to be is interesting. The reason I don't care for Wanted is just that the entire thing feels gratuitous. And that's probably the point, but I just didn't dig it.

labor_days

10-31-2007, 08:37 PM

Looks over the top and fun. I'm in.

jaflanagan

10-31-2007, 10:31 PM

dave-accampo

10-31-2007, 11:10 PM

This might be somewhat of a first, but I'm totally with Horatio. I just felt like I'd taken a walk on the wrong side, and felt bad at the end. I don't need the escapism of feeling like I know what's in the mind of a murderer and rapist. Because that's what that book was. I guarantee you the protagonist in the movie will be revised to have some redeeming qualities.

Yeah, it already seems like it's going that way. This film is apparently (from the trailer) about a league of assassins who kill people in order to "save the many."

Now that wasn't Wanted...

...heck, it might be better than the book.

For me, I kept wanting to like the book, but it seemed like Millar was so in love with the conceit that he stuck with that despite the outcome - unlikeable characters who are anti-social, nihilistic, and asshole-y.

And I'm not saying that the characters have to be warm and fuzzy -- but the narrative has to create some kind of empathetic resonance with the reader, and Wanted really seemed to ditch that idea quickly...

esophagus

10-31-2007, 11:12 PM

esophagus

10-31-2007, 11:14 PM

Yeah, it already seems like it's going that way. This film is apparently (from the trailer) about a league of assassins who kill people in order to "save the many."

Now that wasn't Wanted...

...heck, it might be better than the book.
That's why I'm so excited for this. It looks like they took the storyline and twisted it so hard that all of the asshole in it got wrung out. And, that picture is mindblowingly pretty (have I said that yet?)

paper

11-01-2007, 01:54 AM

What the hell is 'Wanted' and why am I the only one who hasn't heard of it?

EDIT: This is a great cast. I'm in. Faithfulness of adaptation be damned, since I have no idea what this is even based on.

horatio616

11-01-2007, 01:56 AM

This might be somewhat of a first, but I'm totally with Horatio. I just felt like I'd taken a walk on the wrong side, and felt bad at the end. I don't need the escapism of feeling like I know what's in the mind of a murderer and rapist. Because that's what that book was. I guarantee you the protagonist in the movie will be revised to have some redeeming qualities.

Weren't you with me on that one thing that one time...?

Okay, so the lead characters don't have to be likeable, but there has to be something---some kind of emotional relatabiltiy or whatever---that connects the audience to the art. Otherwise, it's just noise. There's no character in this book that has a relatable human quality. The jealousy, inadequacy, disconnect, and loneliness that Wesley feels is cranked up to such an unbelievable level that the reader can't help but feel alienated by it.

And don't get me started on the ending.

Millar's writing has some great qualities---those character moments he gives you in Ultimates is a good example---but often there's a cruel streak that runs through his work that totally turns me off. It's similar to the way that I sometimes feel after reading Ellis's work. Art is supposed to make you feel something, and I'd prefer that my art make me feel something besides icky.

conorkilpatrick

11-01-2007, 02:10 AM

Never read the book; movie looks kickass.

six-gun

11-01-2007, 02:23 AM

Never read the book; movie looks kickass.

agreed, I want to read the book though.

JG Jones :)

esophagus

11-01-2007, 03:02 AM

I only read a part of it before giving up, so my opinions may count for nothing. But again, this movie looks good.

hank41

11-01-2007, 03:09 AM

Angelina Jolie is not ugly

dave-accampo

11-01-2007, 05:35 AM

A It wasn't that I "couldn't help but hate them" it was that they were in no way likeable or relatable.

Not defending the work, but I do see where Millar was drawing from with Wanted. The main character (name escapes me) WAS relatable in the first issue...in the sense that he's the cubicle office worker who's always being dumped on. Then he goes for a complete reverse of the "Matrix/Harry Potter" concept. Instead of the protagonist learning that he's destined to be a great hero, our protagonist learns that he's destined to be a great villain while playing off that whole "frustrated white male revenge fantasy" theme (which I suppose would be the dark twist on the adolescent empowerment fantasy of the super-hero origin).

I just don't think it worked in execution.

esophagus

11-01-2007, 05:46 AM

Not defending the work, but I do see where Millar was drawing from with Wanted. The main character (name escapes me) WAS relatable in the first issue...in the sense that he's the cubicle office worker who's always being dumped on. Then he goes for a complete reverse of the "Matrix/Harry Potter" concept. Instead of the protagonist learning that he's destined to be a great hero, our protagonist learns that he's destined to be a great villain while playing off that whole "frustrated white male revenge fantasy" theme (which I suppose would be the dark twist on the adolescent empowerment fantasy of the super-hero origin).

I just don't think it worked in execution.
I think you just pointed out this books flaw, and my point, for me. He was a character that held something we all had. Whether we could relate or not, we knew and understood. And as an everyman, every man has dreamed of being destined for something. Millar flipped a switch, as you said, and made the destiny to be a villain. In doing so he lost a quality. There was no struggle, there was no feeling it was merely "Im you" BAM "Im nothing like you or anything/one youve ever known, or has ever existed". Even a great villain can only work if you find yourself relating to him, or at the very least wanting to understand what makes them work. The Joker is crazed, Lex Luthor is too smart for his own good, and it goes on. This book was nothing more than "THESE ARE TERRIBLE PEOPLE". Again, I never read the whole thing. Maybe I just missed something.

dave-accampo

11-01-2007, 05:50 AM

I think you just pointed out this books flaw, and my point, for me. He was a character that held something we all had. Whether we could relate or not, we knew and understood. And as an everyman, every man has dreamed of being destined for something. Millar flipped a switch, as you said, and made the destiny to be a villain. In doing so he lost a quality. There was no struggle, there was no feeling it was merely "Im you" BAM "Im nothing like you or anything/one youve ever known, or has ever existed". Even a great villain can only work if you find yourself relating to him, or at the very least wanting to understand what makes them work. The Joker is crazed, Lex Luthor is too smart for his own good, and it goes on. This book was nothing more than "THESE ARE TERRIBLE PEOPLE". Again, I never read the whole thing. Maybe I just missed something.

Yes, and now you just completed the second paragraph that I was trying to write...! I couldn't put my finger on it, so I just went with "didn't work in the execution." :)

So, yeah, I totally agree.

zombox

11-01-2007, 11:20 AM

Yes, and now you just completed the second paragraph that I was trying to write...! I couldn't put my finger on it, so I just went with "didn't work in the execution." :)

So, yeah, I totally agree.

Yes they are, but there is merit, and metaphor, in looking into the lives of terrible people. Its become particularly chic in the last 20 years or so. The novel American Psycho, most of Chuck Palahniuk's work and numerous others. If you believe that the characters from these stories are 'better people' than the characters in Millar's story... I'd disagree. They all act selfishly and destructively, particularly towards others. They may be better written, but they are in the same vein.

dave-accampo

11-01-2007, 04:14 PM

Yes they are, but there is merit, and metaphor, in looking into the lives of terrible people. Its become particularly chic in the last 20 years or so. The novel American Psycho, most of Chuck Palahniuk's work and numerous others. If you believe that the characters from these stories are 'better people' than the characters in Millar's story... I'd disagree. They all act selfishly and destructively, particularly towards others. They may be better written, but they are in the same vein.

Right -- I don't think anyone's saying that it's not valid. At least, I'm not. And I've enjoyed most of Palahniuk's work (going back to having read Fight Club when it was in its original short story form) . I'm simply saying that Millar failed in the execution of his topic. I think Esophagus said it well. I would add that to me, Millar was totally trying to stick so hard to his "they gotta be villains, so they have to be no-holds-barred badasses at every turn", and thus he lost some opportunities to show us some of the deeper sub-text necessary (IMHO) when you're depicted these types of characters.

xyzzy

11-01-2007, 04:25 PM

Just watched the trailer again. Looks like they added in a new supernatural element of the classic fate weaving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirae) mythology, with the assassins guild taking the role of Atropos, snipping threads to properly maintain the tapestry of fate.

lantern4life

11-02-2007, 07:52 AM

Wow i guess i shouldn't read the book before i go see this movie. Maybe the movie will be better. I watched the trailer again and i get this Tomb Raider vibe (probably a 100% because of Angelina Jolie)

kahunablair

11-08-2007, 07:09 PM

Well I just finished reading this series. I don't think that people that haven't read the book should read the rest of what I have to say. Stop now.

The whole time, I didn't get where the negativity came from. I enjoyed all the little, "OH Sucker is Parasite" type moments.
Then the over the top stuff kind of started to take hold. How much should I be interested in reading about a guy that shoots cops and rapes woman for the fun of it?

So I was starting to sour a bit. Then I got to the part where the story seems to start to take an interesting twist that leaves the characters redeemable, and I started to buy into it again.

Then the ending happened. Is that really how the Millar wanted that book to end? Because I think I just lost a crapload of respect for the guy. Giving a person that just bought your stuff the middle finger and telling them you're sodomizing them BECAUSE they bought your book is screwed up beyond belief.

esophagus

11-08-2007, 07:23 PM

It's like a roller coaster that rams you into an, offensive, brick wall everytime you go around the loop.

kahunablair

11-08-2007, 07:29 PM

It's like a roller coaster that rams you into an, offensive, brick wall everytime you go around the loop.

Exactly.

Want to hear something weird?
I wasn't a huge Preacher fan because I felt that the series was Over the Top just because it wanted to be.
That ending just made me realize that I was, comparatively, a little too harsh on Preacher.

mikegraham6

11-08-2007, 10:51 PM

i guess im the only one who enjoyed this book.
I thought it was very tongue in cheek and entertaining, sometimes it's fun to root for the bad guy. didn't need to read it more than once though

zombox

11-08-2007, 11:00 PM

i guess im the only one who enjoyed this book.
I thought it was very tongue in cheek and entertaining, sometimes it's fun to root for the bad guy. didn't need to read it more than once though

Naw Mike, I'm on board with the book too. I guess we're the only foul, black witted bastards here. :D

unnamedfrenchguy

11-10-2007, 05:10 AM

I felt the same way about that book. It was just nihilistic and anti-social. What the hell was the point?

Hey Josh,

The point...

Alright, I'll give you three possible points:
* It offers a small tale meant only to offer a moment in the life of someone else (It's not just indie comics that do slice of life). Travel with a man-boy (Wesley) as he spirals down from a life of quiet desperation into a life of loud evil excess.
* It explores the question of how much our parents, both genetically (dad) and in how they raise us (mom), influence who we are (nature vs nurture).
* Third It questions what happens to a man who lives in constant fear finds that there is nothing left to fear.

Or maybe it's just a vile little tale about despicable deeds perpetrated by people who glory in evil.

PS: My advice to you is that you not read Bomb Queen. I'd say the title is equally nihilistic and anti-social but with a little humour mixed in.