Hero Wanted (2008) Reviews

• The plot was just too dumb to make a decent movie out of it

  rlange-32008-05-07

  I usually like the leads and the acting wasn't too bad but the plot and scripting was too ridiculous to hold your attention too long, especially for the last 20 minutes. I just wanted it to be over. The junior bad guy just shows up in a bar and demands a meeting from one of the really tough guys. Who promptly dumps the woman he is with to listen to junior. And what is the message? That junior wants to meet the next day. Wow. So they meet the next day and after some tough talk they decide to pull a bank job based on some information from some guy that only Junior knows. Why? Because Junior insists "he knows all the security and routines". It's hard not to ask whether guys this stupid can make it out of their teens. And then after Gooding has killed a few of them, instead of just tracking him down and putting a bullet in his head they kidnap a little girl. Why make things so complicated? Apparently the only reason is to make us loathe them even more, but it comes across as another example of just too dumb to believe. A cheap ploy by a film that tries to take itself way too seriously. And we haven't even gotten to the shootout, where a guy yells stereotypic tough guy lines, then escapes the half dozen cops that are shooting at him by getting up and walking into the next room where he can take on the hero one on one. Or the reprise of the little girl. By that time I had the sound on and the video off and was reading email, waiting for the dumb thing to be over. I gave it a heartfelt 3. For Liotta and Gooding to be involved with this turkey should be an embarrassment to them both. Good grief.

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• Going to Hell to Find Redemption

  claudio_carvalho2008-06-14

  While grieving the death of his beloved wife, who drowned in a car accident, the garbage man Liam Case (Cuba Gooding Jr.) becomes a hero when he saves a young girl from a wrecked car on fire. Years later, Liam has a secret crush on the bank teller Kayla (Christa Campbell) and while in the bank with her, there is a heist and one of the five thieves shoots Kayla and Liam. When he recovers, Kayla is in a deep coma and he chases the killer; but the gang has a dark secret about Liam and goes after him seeking revenge. My first impression of "Hero Wanted" was not good, with the confused non-linear story and a disappointing conclusion. However, joining the pieces of the puzzle that compose the story later, I found it a reasonable film, at least the intentions of the writers are good. But the tag-line says that "the road to hell is paved of good intentions" and the screenplay does not work well. Cuba Gooding Jr. is and performs a charismatic character that finds redemption only after going to hell. Apparently his friend Cosmo Jackson died, but this character is simply forgotten in the end of the story. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Herói" ("Hero")

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• A flawed movie about a flawed hero

  krachtm2012-08-08

  There's some real depth to Hero Wanted, but it's often buried under contrived and clichéd writing. The characters are interesting, but much of their development depends on plot elements that didn't really make too much sense. Still, if you're more interested in the themes and characters than you are in the actual plot, this movie can work for you. The story is kind of interesting, but it's a bit complicated. Basically, Cuba Gooding, Jr plays a depressed loser who seeks meaning in his life, after terrible loss. Finding his inspiration, he is torn between seeking redemption and revenge, when it is taken away from him. Sounds kind of interesting, right? Well, the execution is a bit flawed, but I did appreciate the attempt to give me more than a basic, streamlined revenge movie. Cuba Gooding, Jr has done quite a few of these direct-to-video action movies, and all have been flawed in some way. Still, I like him (and Ray Liotta) enough that I'll continue to watch them, even though they tend to get rated rather poorly on the IMDb. If you're the same way, then I recommend Hero Wanted. If not, maybe it's best that you just avoid it.

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• Excellently gritty, but couldn't escape Hollywood. *spoilers*

  Nexual2008-03-08

  What I loved about this film was its seamy gritty portrayal of man's darker side. It is rare for a movie to probe that area of human nature. The happy-go-lucky Hollywood ending has become so cliché that it appears nobody wants to delve into the tragic aspect of life. But as a person who has lived in that reality for most of his life, I very much appreciate when directors, writers, and actors are willing to explore the lonely sadness, the vulnerability behind the hard mask, the hot desire for vengeance, and even the hopeless drive towards suicide that define a part of what it means to be human. The Law brothers clearly were writing with that intention and I applaud them for it. What I disliked about this film was that despite covering such a rarely explored side of human nature, the Hollywood clichés sporadically broke through. The early action sequences were perfect: short, explosive, and tight. The final action sequence, on the other hand, fell into standard format: big long shootout, hero outruns some bullets, cops show up and the extras get shot, bad guy runs off and the hero gives chase leading to a final confrontation, etc. In fairness, however, big points need to be given for lots of unorthodox things. The primary antagonist role switched three times as each was killed off. And as mentioned in another review, there was great attention to detail with regard to reloading guns and such, which I assume is a credit to director Brian Smrz's vast experience as a stunt man. Ultimately this picture seemed like it was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand it seems to have been written as a very dark examination of a troubled character seeking revenge, and even more poignantly, his own death. And similarly it seems the director had some uncommonly good ideas for the film. But then somewhere along the way, the film kept being pulled back to standard action movie hackneyed themes and theatrical devices. And, of course, the out of place happy ending had to be tacked onto the end (and yet even that had a darkness to it). It's as if the producers and the writers were constantly fighting with the director stuck in the middle, and only a few victories to each side. My opinion follows this duality. I loved the story that was underneath. I survived the parts added over it that seemed so untrue to its nature. The acting was fine to good, and it'd have been a pretty good film if the final action sequence and the last minute hadn't ruined it.

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• better than the review i read,not as good as hoped

  FFAxDAVID2008-04-24

  There are no great surprises in this,but i did overall enjoy it non-the-less. Before i watched it i had read a review on here referring to it as nothing more than a B movie,and that cuba should never have agreed to do it,but it is better than that-not a great deal admittedly,but definitely better. The story is told in flashbacks a lot,which is over used these days,but it does have the effect its supposed to without being confusing.(however because its so linear in its style it doesn't leave any great surprises. Its a watchable film with OK acting and OK script,which is a lot better than a lot of the stuff around these days so i was happy with it and gave a reasonable 6 out of 10,missing 7 only because it was reasonable rather than actually good.

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