Wanted

Story: Ye Liang (Huang Tao) belongs to the Huitong Heights clan and embarks on a revenge campaign. He hunts down all those who have conspired against his blood brother and killed him. Finally, he confronts Long Buran (Sun Yiming), who used to be a blood brother of Ye Liang and has now seized power over the clan pulling the strings in this conspiracy. Long also has the daughter of the blood brother who was killed under his control. The girl Ling Xiao (Chen Xi) is supposed to keep something very important hidden, something that could become a problem for Buran in his ambitious political plans. Ye Liang manages to free the girl but has to flee without being able to take revenge on Buran. He seeks shelter with an old friend, but Buran is informed about all the steps of his adversary, and so Ye Liang has to flee again. Ye Liang can no longer show his face in the city and has to be careful, as enemies are lurking everywhere. That’s because Buran put a gigantic bounty on Ye Liang and the little girl. Ultimately, he even hires an old acquaintance of Ye Liang, who works dirty and is a master of disguise. He goes to see Ye Liang's master, poisons him, and takes his place. Ye Liang still doesn't know what the girl took with her, but he doesn't have time to think about it either, because he is constantly lured into traps from which he barely manages to escape.

Review: After I've already found a few surprisingly good wuxia movies on the streaming service iQIYI with "The Old Way" and "Invincible Swordsman", I thought it couldn’t hurt just taking a look at what else is on there and randomly picking one movie. But this didn’t turn out to be such a good idea, because even though "Wanted" shows the soul of a typical wuxia flick, the movie doesn’t exactly operate on a level that would justify calling the narrative or the craftsmanship well-done. The biggest disappointment is the fights. There are quite a few, but none of them are really outstanding. This is largely due to the fast editing. This makes it impossible to detect any kind of choreography. A well-thought-out fight tells a story of its own on screen, something wuxia movies should focus on. But the director was probably not aware of that.

But let's take a look at the story itself. We don’t get anything extraordinary here either, and on closer inspection, the plot mainly consists of our hero looking for someone, fleeing and then looking for someone else again. If the characters were interesting, that could be enough, but they are given far too little room for that. A good example is the beggar who at first has an argument with Ye Liang and then buries the hatchet with him for the time being. After that, however, nothing happens in this storyline anymore. An adversary, who is a poison specialist, also seems quite fascinating, but sadly his character is only roughly outlined too. It doesn't help either that people who have just been introduced often disappear again pretty soon. One example is a friend of Ye Liang's. Shortly after we get to know her, she is no longer relevant for the rest of the movie.

Some clumsy decisions also spoil the fun. For example, there is a flashback in the introduction to scenes that took place only a few minutes earlier in order to emotionally move the viewer. But of course, we don't know the characters involved well enough for that to work. Nonetheless, the only strength of "Wanted" actually lies in its individuals. Despite the fact that they remain quite comic-like and are only sketched out, they arouse curiosity and leave you wanting for more. So, the villain also works quite well for the story. Unfortunately, though, the hero does not have any special qualities. Not even his sometimes quite relentless way of putting his revenge into action manages to give him a little more depth. Instead, it almost seems funny when he says he doesn't kill women, but he makes an exception for a particularly cruel female opponent, only to then eliminate another woman in the next random fight against bounty hunters.

Other pretty stupid moments include traps that are completely obvious, but our hero reliably and almost unerringly walks right into them. It’s also hard to understand why Ye Liang flees after confronting Long Buran right at the beginning. Theoretically, the movie could have ended after just a few minutes, but apparently our hero runs away to prevent just that. He is not even wounded or in any other dire straits. Then there is the little girl who needs to be protected. Despite some efforts, the director doesn’t manage to establish an emotional bond between the two. It's also irritating that the girl was dubbed by an adult trying to sound like a child. What's particularly annoying, though, is that at some point, we realize that the story more or less consists of a few changes of location and the introduction of new characters, which, as mentioned before, then make their exit right away.

Director Liu Chun is no newcomer to the genre. He has already shot a few wuxia movies for the streaming service, and you can see that. However, there are still a few things to criticize when it comes to his craftsmanship, because it unfortunately makes the movie look like a streaming flick. There's the fact that there are cuts to a new scene while the same song is still playing in the background - and in general, the soundtrack often proves to be a bit too intrusive -, but the biggest problem is the fights. Liu Chun knows how to build up the atmosphere for the next confrontation, but unfortunately disappointment sets in when it really starts. None of the fights are memorable. That's also the reason why you really can’t recommend "Wanted". If you don't care about fights in wuxia movies, you might be able to find enough in these 87 minutes to be nicely entertained, but real fans of the genre will be disappointed and should rather keep their eyes open for something better.

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