Most Wanted (1997)

reviewed by
Steve Kong


MOST WANTED (1997)
A film review by Steve Kong
Copyright 1997 Steve Kong

Keenen Ivory Wayans is a man of many talents. He is known mostly for his comedic talents though, remember In Living Color? With Most Wanted Wayans tries his hands at writing an action film and at becoming an action hero. After seeing Most Wanted I would suggest that Wayans stick with what he does best, and that is comedy.

Most Wanted follows Sgt. James Dunn (Wayans). Dunn, a Marine, was imprisoned because he killed his superior. A covert operations group led by General Adam Woodward (Jon Voight) takes Dunn from prison and he is enlisted as part of an operation to kill a prominent businessman. The First Lady is killed instead and it seems that Dunn is the patsy for this operation. The only evidence that can save Dunn is a video taken by a Dr. Victoria Constantini (Jillian Hennessy). Dunn finds Constantini, through a rather ludicrous way, and together they run from the conspiracy that worked to kill the First Lady.

As the film goes on and Dunn continues to escape the grips of both authorities and the conspiracy the more ludicrous the movie becomes. The problem with Most Wanted is that it tries to build a large conspiracy behind what happened to the First Lady. If built right it could have been a very interesting addition to the film. As it stands the story behind the conspiracy is better left untold. Along with the ludicrous story line come really bad lines. The script is definitely not the strong point of the film, but in Most Wanted just about everything is not the strong point of the film.

My suggestion for the filmmakers would have been less exposition and more action. When a script as unbelievable as this needs lots of action to keep the audience from stopping to think about how unbelievable the script is. The filmmakers of Most Wanted didn't do this and the lulls between action sequences leave a lot of time for the audience to regain their disbelief.

Most Wanted is a ludicrously bad film all around. The action sequences are mediocre but not worth the movie ticket price, even during matinee. Most Wanted is definitely a movie to skip.

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 steve kong      steve@boiled.sbay.org
 spy on me at:   http://boiled.sbay.org/steve-cam/
 movie reviews:  http://boiled.sbay.org/boiled/
 "I drive a Volvo.  A beige one." - Dr. Stanley Goodspeed
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