Nerdage NewsOK.com Blogging Community

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

James MacAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a downtrodden loser recruited into a secret cadre of assassins in “Wanted,” out today in movie theaters. The film is based on the comic-book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. “Wanted” was published by Top Cow as a comic-book series and is now available from Top Cow in graphic novel format.

“It’s basically about a young guy, Wesley Gibson, that is kind of an everyday schlub, works in a cubicle farm and doesn’t really do much with his life,” Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik said.

“One day he is approached by this mysterious woman named the Fox, who tells him that his father was one of the great assassins — probably the greatest assassin in the world. And that he and a group of other super villains secretly ruled the world behind kind of a veil of normalcy, and that he’s basically inherited his spot in the secret fraternity of super villains. From there, the proverbial crap hits the fan and Wesley has to go from being a zero to — I don’t know that I’d call it a hero, but definitely a guy who takes charge of his life.”

The comic-book “Wanted” has costumed super villains and alternate realities, while the film, for all its over-the-top elements, is somewhat more grounded in the real world.

“It was one of those rare instances that there was such a buzz on the property as it was being developed that we actually sold it around the time the second issue was getting put together,” Sablik said. “Which is one of the reasons that the movie kind of diverges from the comic book a little bit. Because at the time Universal picked up the property, the comic was still being finished. So the screenwriters had to take the inspiration and the beginnings and what they knew about the story and develop it from there.”

Sablik said “Wanted” was a good fit for Top Cow’s line.

“We tend to do kind of dark books, things with either with a dark sense of humor, or a horror or supernatural bent to it. It seemed like a good fit for us.”

Two of Top Cow’s other major properties are also making waves in other media. “Darkness,” about a young mobster who inherits a primal power, was a platinum-selling video game in 2007. And “Witchblade,” featuring a New York police detective with a supernatural gauntlet, is being developed for a 2009 film.

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

“Wanted,” directed by Timur Bekmambetov of the “Night Watch” films, is a visually arresting, over-the-top, paean to violence. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones, the film takes a different slant than does the source material — but manages to improve on it.

Wesley Gibson (James MacAvoy) is a down-on-his luck loser in a dead-end job. He knows his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, but he can’t motivate himself to do anything about it. Wesley is sleepwalking through his life, until he meets the Fox (Angelina Jolie).

She tells Wesley that his father, whom he never knew, was one of the world’s greatest assassins. And another of those assassins is after Wesley.

This begins the slam-bang action portion of “Wanted,” as Wesley finds himself introduced to the Fraternity, a group of assassins who call themselves weavers of fate.

Led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), these weavers follow mysterious assassination directives, aimed at making the world a better place. “Kill one, save a thousand,” explains the Fox.

The storyline has twists and turns and double-crosses, but the visuals are what makes “Wanted.” Bekmambetov channels Tarantino by way of John Woo, but adds dozens of his own touches. The only off-note is the dialogue.

Some is lifted directly from the comics, but other scenes are just f-bombs dropped on anyone who might be nearby.

Still, this is what an adrenaline-filled action movie should be — a darkly comic vision whose flaws are obscured by the film’s unyielding pace.

Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Wanted”

R 1:48 3 stars

Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie

(For strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.)

A new “Wanted” trailer, based on the Mark Millar graphic novel, is up at myspace trailer park.

I like Mark Millar. I liked his work on the The Ultimates. I liked his work on Wanted. I like his new book, Marvel 1985.

It’s easy to like those books, because they’re all kind of the same. What if superheroes and villains lived in the real world? That’s what Millar writes and he does a good job at it. It’s no Watchmen, which took a less personal and more geopolitical look at the same idea, but it’s good.

Marvel 1985 and Wanted are particularly similar in the idea that the villains are winners. In Wanted, analogues of DC and Marvel bad guys have already won. In Marvel 1985, the Marvel villains come to our Earth (though, not actually our Earth, since I kind of remember 1985 without Dr. Doom and Red Skull) to take over.

It’s all shown through the eyes of Toby, a teen-age protagonist who is drawn a lot younger, and it gives the story an air of “is-it-really-happening?” that, frankly, kind of annoys me. Maybe I’ve seen too many stories devolve into dreams or imagined tales that I’d like to see something more solid.

Regardless of my nitpicking, Marvel 1985 is a good book and full of funny moments and hidden treats. (Hey, kids! Find Ultron’s head!) This wasn’t on my list to pick up before, but I was won over by the first issue and I’ll be sure to collect the rest.

– Greg Elwell

A new teaser for “Wanted,” starring James MacAvoy and Angelina Jolie, can be found online here.  The film, based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, opens June 27.

- Matt Price

Superhero Hype reveals the movie poster for “Wanted,” based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones.

Who wanted more photos from “Wanted,” the James MacAvoy-Angelina Jolie-Morgan Freeman film, based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones? Everyone? OK, here you go!

More pictures from the upcoming film, based on the Mark Millar-JG Jones graphic novel.

Universal has released several images and a new trailer for “Wanted,” starring Angelina Jolie and James MacAvoy.   It’s based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones.  I’ll get more pictures up later today, and have some information from Top Cow about the “Wanted” graphic novel from the ComicsPRO conference sometime this week.   The movie opens June 27.

Synopsis by Universal:

Based upon Mark Millar’s explosive graphic novel series and helmed by stunning visualist director Timur Bekmambetov—creator of the most successful Russian film franchise in history, the Night Watch series—Wanted tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice.  In 2008, the world will be introduced to a hero for a new generation: Wesley Gibson.   25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known.  His boss chewed him out hourly, his girlfriend ignored him routinely and his life plodded on interminably.  Everyone was certain this disengaged slacker would amount to nothing.  There was little else for Wes to do but wile away the days and die in his slow, clock-punching rut.Until he met a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie). After his estranged father is murdered, the deadly sexy Fox recruits Wes into the Fraternity, a secret society that trains Wes to avenge his dad’s death by unlocking his dormant powers.  As she teaches him how to develop lightning-quick reflexes and phenomenal agility, Wes discovers this team lives by an ancient, unbreakable code: carry out the death orders given by fate itself.

 With wickedly brilliant tutors—including the Fraternity’s enigmatic leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman)—Wes grows to enjoy all the strength he ever wanted.  But, slowly, he begins to realize there is more to his dangerous associates than meets the eye.  And as he wavers between newfound heroism and vengeance, Wes will come to learn what no one could ever teach him: he alone controls his destiny.

– Matt Price

The new trailer for “Wanted,” starring James MacAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, is up at Myspace Trailer Park.   “Wanted” is based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones.

While “Wanted,” the film, looks as if it has stripped most of the superhero/supervillain source material out of the film, the trailers so far make it look like an action-packed adventure about a cadre of secret assassins.

Really, I’m just hoping I like the ending better than I liked the ending of the comic books.

– Matt Price