A police officer with a checkered past is tasked with retrieving a witness from Mexico and bringing her into the US. When they are attacked at the meeting point, things take a turn for the worse and he must find it in him to be a better person in order to survive.
Written by Dolph Lundgren, Michael Worth, and Hank Hugues, with Lundgren also directing, this is possibly going to be in the least favorites of his work for this review and quite a few others. The film had him starring as a racist police officer who is then thrown into chaos in Mexico which then forces him to review his racist ways and trust Mexican people to be able to make it back alive to the US. Something here feels off from the very start (and it’s not just the city is takes place in which is supposed to be in San Diego county, but I digress), and it’s something that nags and nags throughout the film. Yes, it’s a film where a bad man finds his redemption, but it feels like something is missing, like there are no real consequences for what he did at the start of film, and he ends up put in a position of power over the very people he was racist against at the start. Yes, he finds his way to a change of heart and becomes the here, but something here feels unearned, like he does get hurt, he does learn new things, he does mellow out, but it still feels like something is missing. The writing here is not exactly on point and it leads to odd directing choices as well.
The cast here is led by Dolph Lundgren and well, like with the writing and directing, it’s not his best work and that is something that is hard on a Lundgren fangirl. Normally, he’s solid for action and a decent actor, this is not it. He’s not terrible, but it feels a bit one-note. Then we get Kelsey Grammer giving his usual action dude performance that feels like he’s phoning it in. Outside of these guys and a few others, the cast is mostly Mexican and Latino and it must be said that Christina Villa and Rocko Reyes give some of the more solid performances here, helping keep the viewer connected with the film.
The film is decently shot though so there is that. The cinematography by Joe M. Han works here, however the editing by Darren C. Bui is a bit too active for the film’s own good. For the love of everything you love in action films, let us see the action! Yes, some of it needs to be edited to swap out actors for stuntpeople, but still!
Wanted Man is a frustrating watch, especially for Lundgren fans and one that is probably better avoided. The writing has issues, the directing can only do so much with the script, and so does the acting. The cinematography is good, but the editing leaves a lot to be desired. This is not something to rush out and see unfortunately.