Wanted

I’ve just got back from seeing the film (or movie, if you prefer) Wanted and thought I’d post my initial thoughts. Be warned though: this isn’t a film that really encourages intellectual debate so you’re not really going to get any.

First thoughts: well, it was gorier than I expected, but then I hadn’t realised going in that it was an 18 certificate. I’m not sure what that equates to in American film ratings, but suffice to say there was more blood that I had thought there was going to be, including some fairly graphic shots of people getting shot. As in, seeing the bullet come out of their forehead in slow motion and close-up, before being rewound to show the bullet being fired, including going back through the victim’s head. All CGIed clearly, but still pretty gorey.

Second: the main focus of the film was on action scenes, which is pretty evident if you’ve seen the trailer. Forget extensive character development (although I’ll admit you can see a change in Wesley, the main character, as the film progresses) or highly developed back-story. There is a back-story, concerning weavers who for some mysterious reason decided to become assassins, but you could pretty much strip that right out of the film and have little effect on the story. Apparently it’s an adaptation from a comic book, so I imagine there’s more plot detail in the original format. As a film though, there’s a definite sacrifice of plot for the sake of action scenes.

Third: having said that, many of those action scenes are pretty damn cool. Think cars flipping over other cars so that the driver of the one on top can shoot someone through the sun-roof of the one below. Think running around on the tops of trains and big guns and the physics-defying feat of curving bullets in the air. Additionally, the whole film is slick, well shot for an action film and has some really nice little touches, like the words spelled out by flying letters as a computer keyboard is smashed over someone’s head.

Overall, this is a film to see if you want a mindless couple of hours of fight scenes, chase scenes and general over-the-top, heavily CGIed action. It’s entertaining, but don’t expect any big message or life-affirming moment at the end. At least there was no obvious set-up for a sequel, which is always a good thing. This film doesn’t really need one. It’s silly, violent and entertaining, but it’s really not clever.

Wimbledon

I’d planned to write something about ideas today. Not exactly ‘where do you get your ideas from’ but something along those lines. Unfortunately, I have been distracted by tennis. Yup, it’s the first day of Wimbledon today and I’m finding myself more interested in watching that than doing any meaningful work. It’s strange: I tell myself every year that there’s no point in my watching the tennis because I don’t know enough about it. And, every year, I find myself watching it anyway. There’s something oddly compelling about it.

Anyway, that’s basically a long way of saying I’m not going to be posting about writing today. I’ll save that for tomorrow, hopefully. So, anyone else here watching Wimbledon? Who do you think is going to win? I suspect it may well be Federer again, but we shall see.

General Update

I’ve been thinking about the structure of this blog over the past couple of days and I’ve decided to make a few changes before I get too far into the process to do so. My initial plan was to post every day, with a set topic for each day of the week. I’ve realised now that this is unrealistic. Some days I simply don’t have time to post, or don’t have the inspiration to write about the topic I’ve set for myself.

So, what next? I’m still going to be mainly sticking to the seven original topics, with perhaps one or two other interests thrown in every now and then. I’ll still be trying to blog every day. The main difference is that I won’t be confining myself to a topic a day. Instead, I’ll be writing about whatever takes my fancy at the time. In other words, you won’t know what to expect on any given day until you get here. I think that’s a good thing.

Breaking The Ice

It’s always difficult to know how to start off a new blog. Should I give a long and detailed ‘mission of intent’ or simply dive straight in? As with most things in life, a happy medium is probably best. So, a little bit about me.

A student of Ancient History and Archaeology. An aspiring writer. An avid reader, particularly of fantasy and SF and all those strange sub-genres in between. A regular gig-goer and lover of many types of music, but particularly metal. An amateur photographer. A keeper of pet rats. A player of MMORPGs and a handful of other games.

That’s a pretty good summary of my current interests. And whilst there’s clearly more to any individual than the way they spend their free time, that list does give a pretty comprehensive idea of what I’m going to be talking about in this blog. I’ll be writing about one of those seven topics on every day of the week, with writing on a Monday, photography on a Tuesday etc. etc. If you share any of those interests, I hope you’ll find something here to engage you.

On a final note – this is a public blog, as you’ve probably already guessed. As a result, I probably won’t be mentioning much about my personal life/family etc. I won’t spend time complaining about bad days or asking for advice. That does mean that this blog is open to all though. Feel free to read, lurk or leave a comment. Most of all, enjoy your stay!