Review of Wild Target (2010) by Sergio E — 07 Feb 2011

This a remake of a French movie but it seems so original in it's own context!

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found the story to be original and funny throughout. Emily Blunt plays an extremely sexy con-artist who crosses paths with an up-tight Bill Nighy playing a professional assassin hired to kill her. The characters are likable and well-cast.Everyone did a great job here.

Very very funny and just plain good fun - this harks back to the golden age of British comedies, sidesteps (in the main) Guy Ritchie and goes for that same vibe that Shooting Fish had.

The plot of the buttoned-down assassin and the kooky girl and the guy who gets involved by mistake is a vehicle to hang some great lines and situations on; let's just say it involves art forgery, hired guns, kleptomania, and Snowy the Cat. Brilliant stuff. Bill Nighy does his usual comic timing to perfection and he and Emily Blunt, along with the two Ruperts, Grint and Everett, bring a real sense of fun to this. Well supported and very well directed there's not much to complain about here - it's just a great comedy and taken as that you could do much worse.

I was expecting it to be real cheesy and void of humour, especially after having seen the trailer. I was pleasantly surprised! Okay, when one goes to the movies with such low expectations, they can only move in one direction if they are to shift at all, but nevertheless and boy was I mistaken I have to commend the movie. I thought all the one-liners would have been waisted in the trailer (and those that I had seen had seemed tacky at best) but I guess the movie isn't about one-liners. Rather then relying on half cocked jokes, it pulls itself onto its own two feet using situational comedy, which gives it a real British flavour. I heard it compared to the humour of the old Earling Studio movies, which seems like a nice comparison. Actually, on doing a little research, I found the the original story came from a French movie (Cible émouvante, 1993). It's easy to tell from the zany characters, offbeat humour and introspective look on life that it was originally French in theme, but as a story it translates nicely onto a typically British backdrop.

Hit-man Victor Maynard is proud of his family's tradition in the profession, and is endlessly reminded of his heritage by his interfering mother. When he has problems completing a contract on Rose he is very annoyed to find another company brought in to complete the job. Impulsively defending his former target he finds he is now in danger himself. This is new territory for him - protecting a kleptomaniac wild cannon, or, to put it another way, a head-strong but very attractive young lady.

Victor Maynard is a middle-aged, solitary assassin, who lives to please his formidable mother, despite his own peerless reputation for lethal efficiency. His professional routine is interrupted when he finds himself drawn to one of his intended victims, Rose. He spares her life, unexpectedly acquiring in the process a young apprentice, Tony. Believing Victor to be a private detective, his two new companions tag along, while he attempts to thwart the murderous attentions of his unhappy client.