Review of WANTED

WANTED

STORY: A wimpy accountant, prone to "panic attacks," is drawn into a band of cosmically-sanctioned assasins so that he can rectify the balance in the world.

MESSAGE: There may be more talent and ability within you than you've tapped. Willingness to go in a new direction, willingness to stand up against your enemies, intelligence, commitment, industriousness, toughness, faith, ability to see the truth, ability to exploit an enemy's weaknesses, believing in your own abilities, skill, using communication to gain support, bending the rules for a just cause -- all win the day. Your integrity is more important that your immediate life.

WIN: The hero was able to tap into the inner strengths we all possess. The hero thought his superior abilities were a mental illness, a common misconception in our world of low expectations. He gave up taking psychiatric medicine to cure what wasn't an illness, which would be a good idea in general in society, since all psychiatric labels are false and not based on science. In order to gain the skills he needed, he applied himself industriously to the learning process. It was fitting that those with a heavy-handed approach to correcting bad behavior would be ill-fated. There was a sense, in the movie, of a higher power (called, generically, "Fate.")

LOSE: The ability to bend the path of a bullet, or leap further than humanly possible are spiritual abilities, not abilities coming from genetic predisposition. Beating someone up carries with it the penalty of unwittingly introducing unwanted positive suggestions (like hypnotism, but with pain and threat as the "operator") so a person could just as likely become tough or crazy. The healing baths may have done wonders as to physical healing, but there was no effective mental healing. In other words, if we could beat the coward, or other imperfections, out of people, then our schools would be beat fests -- but that doesn't work in the real world. His handling of his pestering boss and false friend involved anger and violence, when neither of those two would be needed, and they undermined his control, showing a lack of responsibility. The movie says that it is better for society and Mankind that some people be assasinated. Whereas it is true that we should not be bullied, and sometimes a person needs to be put in their place, it is often best that a person (such as in the case of a harping boss) speaks to the boss or changes jobs. Using the bullet as the first offense when other, milder forms of persuasion have not been tried, is inhumane. The other fact that isn't realized is that a person who does harm will begin to limit themself, and will slowly (or quickly) assasinate themself, because on some level they know they are destructive. The movie suggests that a higher power sought heavy-handed justice in order to "restore balance." Our world has imbalance as a necessity to the game of life, and our thrust is not toward "balance" but towards better and better survival. At the end of the movie, the audience is made wrong for not using their untapped powers to do large deeds in the world (this from a guy who murders others); this could have been done more in terms of encouragement to take more responsibility. Disrespect of animals, namely rats. No sense of life beyond death.

EFFECT ON ME: I was offended, as I do seek to better myself and use my talents to better the world. I felt elated and dirty and confused, because vast ability (a good thing) was positioned with murder and destruction (a bad thing). It made me want to be a stronger person who stands up for what I believe, and who stands up to those who try to tear me down.

Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com