If you were from the ‘80s, a big bulking dude who made a career of questionable quality action films, and then decided to write and direct equally questionable content, then audiences should know exactly what they’re getting themselves in to. This is not to say that actors who match this exact description shouldn’t be able to have fun, even if past their prime, as long as they continue to make entertaining films at the bare minimum. There is an audience for this. Now, Dolph Lundgren, who became globally-known thanks to his infamous turn as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (1985) has been steadily working for decades, but thanks to appearances in Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables series, Creed II (2018), and the Aquaman films (plus many notable television appearances), Lundgren’s been back on people’s radars. For his latest project, Lundgren writes, produces, stars, and directs in the actioner Wanted Man, alongside Kelsey Grammer (The Expendables 3), which, unfortunately, leaves the audience wanting a little more.
Dolph Lundgren as Johansen in the action thriller, WANTED MAN, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
The movie focuses on Travis Johansen (Lundgren) who is tasked with arguably the worst idea in cinematic history, but, alas, we’re here watching a dumb action movie. Travis created a PR nightmare by making some very unfortunate and casually racist remarks against Mexicans, and, thusly, his boss has decided to send him into Mexico to retrieve an eye witness to a massacre of DEA agents. For some reason, bringing back the eye witness will clear up the figurative crap tornado he has landed the department in and bring those responsible for the DEA agent’s death to justice.
L-R: Daniela Soto-Brenner as Leticia and Christina Villa as Rosa in the action thriller, WANTED MAN, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
While Travis is, at first, a little reluctant, because, again, he isn’t the greatest person for the job, he decides he wants to try and repair the damage he has created and agrees to retrieve Rosa (Christina Villa) to bring the murderers to justice and fix his reputation. However, Rosa knows, as a fact, that Travis isn’t a figuratively good person and assumes he’s the one who killed the DEA agents as the killers were American, and, thus, this dangerous game of cat and mouse kicks off and brings forth some truly chaotic atmosphere for the audience to get lost in.
L-R: Dolph Lundgren as Johansen and Christina Villa as Rosa in the action thriller, WANTED MAN, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Every single aspect of Wanted Man feels like someone (Lundgren and co-writers) watched David Ayer’s 2014 Sabotage and collectively decided the concept of DEA getting turned inside out and having an ‘80s star investigate the issue was a good idea to tackle. The difference is one movie had one of the most absurd scripts written in recent memory that simultaneously got delivered by Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a fan of Sabotage, I cannot tell you a single thing about that movie other than Arnold delivering a line to the people investigating what happened and him yelling about his 48% body fat. While Wanted Man certainly doesn’t have any dialogue that memorable and insanely entertaining, there is plenty of silly, over-the-top entertainment for the audience to enjoy the chaos.
L-R: Aaron McPherson as Hilts, Kelsey Grammer as Brynner, and Dolph Lundgren as Johansen in the action thriller, WANTED MAN, a Quiver Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Wanted Man tries so hard to create an explosive world of corruption and death for the audience to fall into, but ultimately falls short. The performances from the cast are truly otherworldly; they’re silly and over-the-top filled with unmemorable dialogue and sheer chaos. Lundgren and Villa (River) try their darndest to bring forth the correct amount of adrenaline and madness, but unfortunately that is not enough to keep audiences wanting to come back for more. Grammer, who stars as Brynner, does not get enough screen time to do anything particularly memorable, but his presence is always infectious and over the top, which fits the motto and general atmosphere of Wanted Man. The action and silliness is what audiences are coming for and with the underdeveloped but ridiculous performances from Lundgren, Grammer, and, to an extent, Villa, audiences will at least be satisfied by the B-movie entertainment. Hoping for anything more than that will unfortunately lead to ultimate disappointment.
In theaters, on VOD, and digital January 19th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Quiver Distribution Wanted Man webpage.
Final Score: 2.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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