May 25, 2012

In Theaters Now: Wall-E & Wanted

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published June 27, 2008

Wall-E
directed by Andrew Stanton
Pixar is on a roll, with all of the studio’s films to date both commercial and critical successes. Their new futuristic tale, set in outer space, may be their riskiest endeavor yet. The plot revolves around a trash-compacting robot named Wall-E who goes on an epic journey across the galaxy to discover the purpose of his existence. Oh, and did we mention that Wall-E doesn’t actually speak, but instead makes beeping and electronic sounds? Imagine Star Wars with R2-D2 as the intrepid but unlikely hero.

Wanted
directed by Timur Bekmambetov
This shoot-‘em-up action film centers around Wesley, a dweeby, aimless office drone (James McAvoy) who discovers that his long-lost, recently murdered father was actually a powerful assassin. Wesley decides to follow in his father’s footsteps and joins the same hitman-for-hire organization headed by Morgan Freeman. As anyone who watches television knows, Angelina Jolie plays Wesley’s seductive recruiter. Based on Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ graphic novels, Wanted marks the American debut of director Bekmambetov, whose success with the vampire franchise that includes Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006) has made him one of his native Russia’s most bankable directors. Though the film’s constantly pushed release date has signaled “trouble” for anyone who cares, the reviews are in and the critics are impressed, for the most part by Bekmambetov’s technical ingenuity. Will it be enough to secure the director a reputation on U.S. soil? Check back on Monday for MovieMaker.com’s “Top of the Box Office” report.

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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by Jamie Lynn Spears on 7/18/08 at 11:45 pm: I went to see both Wanted and Wall-E and the impression from both have been on the opposite side of the spectrum. Wall-E completely blew me off my socks. I’m a big movie fan but I dare say I haven’t seen a movie that would touch me this much for a ling time. On the other hand there’s Wanted that I found completely useless. It was a badly done Matrix rip off with bad acting, mediocre production, so so story line and boring 95% of the movie. A serious waste of time and money. Not worth at the slight little bit.
Comment by Motorcycle Fairings on 8/26/08 at 9:30 am: Again, Angelina Joli shows off her stuff in Wanted! Wheeeeew! Such a strong yet feminine character. She’s hot stuff! Storyline is not that great, but i love the execution.