Our unlikely trio take it on the lam, fleeing from Ferguson and Co., only to be pursued by Victor’s own replacement: the diabolically-sadistic snuffer-outer, Hector Dixon (the great Martin Freeman — sporting a deliberately ridiculous hairdo and the pearly-whitest teeth this side of a Crest Whitestrips commercial). Amid their tryst of uncalled-for bonding, Victor sees potential in young Tony as an assassin, while experiencing an equally-imbalanced feeling of attraction towards both of the younger people. Will our improbable heroes get out of this precarious hit-gone-wrong with their lives (or at least limbs) intact? Will Victor figure out if he’s happy being alone or not — and whether he’s attracted to Rose or Tony if he isn’t? Will Victor’s nitpickin’ mum approve of his decision, regardless of what it is?
Honestly, if I were to compare a British remake of a French flick to that of an American one, I would definitely give Wild Target a favorable review. Hell, I give it a favorable review anyway, because it succeeded in doing what so many other remakes of French flicks fail to do: entertain me. Sure, the movie has its own flaws (Rupert Everett’s character doesn’t get any proper “closure” for a “villain,” a few plotholes cause a couple of bumps in the road, etc.), but its cast — from the cool-and-collected Bill Nighy to the very hammy charms of Martin Freeman — more than compensate for these minor blunders. Apart from looking hotter than one of Tony's smokin' blunts herself, Ms. Emily does a fine job as the film’s one-and-only heroine (well, unless you count Victor’s mum), while it’s nice to see l’il Ron Weasley doing something other than following Daniel Radcliff around for a change (he follow his Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows co-star Nighy around instead!).
Wild Target makes its US home video debut via Fox Home Entertainment on both DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD release boast a very nice anamorphic widescreen transfer (by Standard Def standards, that is), with the film presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The 5.1 English Dolby Digital soundtrack comes through just fine, with optional English (SDH) and Spanish subtitles accompanying. There are a few lines in the film (mostly toward the beginning) that are spoken in French in which English subtitles automatically pop up.
Article comments