Wild Target

I don't know how I missed this delightful British crime action comedy, but I just stumbled upon it on YouTube and was so happy, chuckling all the way, that I decided to run my usual media literacy review of it.

But first, I'm going to present some basic info about the movie here. As you can see, it had a budget of $8 million. That's pretty average for a good action movie with multiple locations, car chases, explosions, killings and such. But it only earned $3.5 million worldwide, which by all measures is a complete flop. The most money it made - $800K - was in the UK, and I'm sure it was mostly because it's a distinctly British film with the British cast.

It has received mixed reviews from the audiences, as the ratings here show:

32% on Rotten Tomatoes is incredibly low for this film, I was offended on its behalf. Not surprised by "meh" ratings from IMDb and Prime Video, I guess not everyone can appreciate British humor and aristocratic antiques and aesthetics.

So, here's my usual review using the media literacy approach:

1. Cognitive Dimension (What did I learn from the film?)

I've learned that crime, action, and comedy can be mixed in novel unexpected ways. Here's the brilliant logline from YouTube: "A hit man tries to retire, but a beautiful thief may change his plans." And a more detailed teaser from Netflix: "Unable to kill his recent target, veteran hit man Victor winds up hanging out with her and an unexpected sidekick who thinks Victor is a detective." It's quite an original plot, where a hit man ends up protecting the target he was ordered to kill, with all sorts of consequences flowing from it. I enjoyed the story but didn't care for its "three years later" ending.

2. Emotional dimension (How did the movie make me feel?)

Delighted, mostly. I loved all the plot twists and characters, and immensely enjoyed the film's sense of humor. There were a couple of unnecessary deaths in the movie that made me a little sad but because the murdered characters were secondary and as a viewer I hadn't developed a strong connection to them, it was empathy short-lived. Violence is a mechanism that drives the movie plot, so you have to take it as necessary evil.

3. Aesthetic dimension (What did I appreciate in the movie about the way it was executed?)

I absolutely loved the cast. Bill Nighy as Victor the retiring hit man, Emily Blunt as Rose, a beautiful and charming kleptomaniac who crossed a gangster (played by Rupert Everette) with a fake Rembrandt she'd sold him for almost a million pounds, Rupert Grint (Ron Wesley from Harry Porter) as Tony, an accidental sidekick to the ageing hit man, and Martin Freeman as Victor's main competitor and fellow assassin will delight you. The car chases are quirky with excellent sound effects of alternating silence and zipping cars. Victor's confused sexuality will give you a lot of chuckles, and the scene with the foot massage comparing it to piano playing is a comedic gem. The delightful soundtrack and the overall aristocratic posh environment of the movie will give you a lot to savor on. There's humorous juxtaposition as well, such as Victor's impeccably tasteful aristocratic house with all the furniture "shrink-wrapped" in plastic, as Rose described it. I'm sure when you watch the movie you'll notice a lot more things that will make you appreciate the movie in terms of its aesthetics.

4. Moral dimension (What ethical and moral lessons does the movie teach us?)

This is where the movie lacked for me: the main characters are essentially evil (stealing and killing), albeit comically, but they do not get punished for their deeds in anyway. Moreover, the ending suggests that the evilness has been passed down and is encouraged in the next generation.

Despite this, I'm still puzzled by the fact that the movie was such a box office flop. My only explanation for that may be that they didn't put enough money into marketing the film. Even with the stellar cast and a good plot, if you don't market the movie, no one will watch it.

Finally, I'll leave you with my favorite line from the movie uttered by Rose to Victor, "Garden is a place of beauty where your senses run riot." I just loved it so much, probably because I miss my own garden dearly.