I think you're pretty much spot-on with your critique of the film. It was fun and I really enjoyed it, but I imagine that when the DVD comes out at Christmas, one will be able to grab The Matrix, Fight Club and Night Watch altogether for roughly the same price, and have a much, much better version of basically the same experience.
but how did the racial dynamic of the movie compare with that of the comic book?
None of the scenes from the comic that dealt with race are in the flick. Wesley's boss is a white lady, he doesn't get hassled by Spike Lee extras or cholos, his mentor/girlfriend isn't even black (or his girlfriend), Adam One's not in it, Wesley doesn't have dreads, wear hip hope clothes or look like Eminmen, et cetera.
Morgan Freeman and Common's race don't come up at all, but I think they're the only non-white players. There's this one guy who looks like Captain Lou Albano covered in blood...maybe he's of Latin descent or Samoan or half-Swedish/half-Japanese...I couldn't tell.
A lot of the weird gay stuff is gone too; if any large group of people is demeaned in the film, it's probably women (all of whom just ruin Wesley's life, except for Fox maybe), but it's more accidental than malicious--the pre-adolescent worldview naturally regards women with suspicion, as moms and teachers or (in Fox's case) something scary and exotic that makes you feel weird in a way you don't understand.
It's the role she was born to play.
ReplyDeleteGiven when the property rights were sold, it probably seemed like a hot idea to rip off the Matrix.
ReplyDeleteAnd now it's five years later, and it's one of the biggest cliches in film.
I think you're pretty much spot-on with your critique of the film. It was fun and I really enjoyed it, but I imagine that when the DVD comes out at Christmas, one will be able to grab The Matrix, Fight Club and Night Watch altogether for roughly the same price, and have a much, much better version of basically the same experience.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there was zero chance of me seeing WANTED in the first place, it opens the same weekend as WALL-E, which I really want to see.
ReplyDeleteI really should get around to seeing HULK one of these days too....
You didn't discuss it in the review, but how did the racial dynamic of the movie compare with that of the comic book?
ReplyDeletebut how did the racial dynamic of the movie compare with that of the comic book?
ReplyDeleteNone of the scenes from the comic that dealt with race are in the flick. Wesley's boss is a white lady, he doesn't get hassled by Spike Lee extras or cholos, his mentor/girlfriend isn't even black (or his girlfriend), Adam One's not in it, Wesley doesn't have dreads, wear hip hope clothes or look like Eminmen, et cetera.
Morgan Freeman and Common's race don't come up at all, but I think they're the only non-white players. There's this one guy who looks like Captain Lou Albano covered in blood...maybe he's of Latin descent or Samoan or half-Swedish/half-Japanese...I couldn't tell.
A lot of the weird gay stuff is gone too; if any large group of people is demeaned in the film, it's probably women (all of whom just ruin Wesley's life, except for Fox maybe), but it's more accidental than malicious--the pre-adolescent worldview naturally regards women with suspicion, as moms and teachers or (in Fox's case) something scary and exotic that makes you feel weird in a way you don't understand.