Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Eileen Atkins, Rupert Everett, and Martin Freeman star in "Wild Target," a 2010 remake of "Ciblé Émovante." And it's wonderful.When Rose (Blunt) switches a real Rembrandt for a fake, the victim (Everett) hires a professional hit man, Victor Maynard, to take her out. Just one problem. He keeps missing.It's a problem for Victor, whose father was a major assassin, and his mother (Atkins) expects another solid hit from her son. Victor then learns that because he's botched the job, someone else is after Rose. It then falls to Victor to protect her. Along the way he gets an accomplice (Grint) who thinks Victor is a private detective. Rose is hard to protect. She's a kleptomaniac, for one thing, and she has a mind of her own. The three of them wind up at Victor's house, where lots happens, none of which is planned.Very funny comedy, with all the actors in top form. It was great to see Martin Freeman of "Sherlock" doing something else, since I'm not a Smaug person. Nighy is great, deadly serious throughout, and not quite knowing how to handle his "wild target." Emily Blunt is perfect as his charge - devious, sexy, vulnerable, and with a ready smile.Reminiscent of the light British comedies we don't see any longer. A fun film and a great rental.

Wild Target is a British action comedy that although may have a fun story, does lack the jokes needed for this to be OK. I found it lacked a few things although not everything and I did enjoy the actual plot, along with some competent acting from people maybe unfamiliar with the role. In the end it is a good old bit of fun and adventure and the film does start to take you everywhere, I felt it was safely average though and here below is why so.The story is not too thrilling in my opinion, maybe for some but I did feel it tried at times to get the joke out more than the good thrills. The humour lacks all the way through and although bits here and there may make you chuckle or raise a smile, there aren't enough to say it is OK and there not good enough anyway. I quite enjoyed the ending of the film, of course I won't ruin it here but it is more interesting than some other parts of the film and you may feel just a little something for the characters.Bill Nighy is good as Victor Maynard the assassin and although he maybe doesn't get the jokes out the right way, is still a steady force in the film acting wise. The most surprising performance from this film was with Rupert Grint, he actually acts very well I felt for his type of role and truly for me, throws off the Harry Potter cloak that is obviously his biggest role to date. Disliked Emily Blunt, she wasn't bad just a little too unfunny and her character reinforces that annoyance as well, rest of supporting cast are brimming with talent such as Martin Freeman, Rupert Everett and Eileen Atkins, all chipping in.It isn't really directed or written well and could be the main bad part about this movie and what really drags it downwards. The jokes just aren't there and not too funny at all and even when you feel a moment will be funny, the direction used seems to squander all opportunities. I actually really quite liked the settings seen throughout, like London and all it has to offer but also we see beautiful countryside scenery at one point and may leave you liking the background more than what's going on.It isn't all bad to say my review seems very negative so far, it has the jokes it truly does and as previously mentioned, it can give you a slight smile or chuckle. It has good action scenes too and when the action is involved it really does take the film up a notch and makes it more entertaining, even if it just isn't that funny that much.If you like action comedies then this isn't the best one to see but still could be worth a watch, I think and did feel whilst watching that the humour may appeal to some people and so it possibly can be more funny for some. If your looking for smart plot and dialogue then avoid this, not too smart and the whole real premise of the film is ruined within the first 20 minutes I would have to say, although many others do it too.Overall it is Safely Average, not quite a poor film or lower, but still not good at all and would have needed much more work done to make it better. It's a short watch I guess and so it's not the most boring, I wasn't left bored at any point as the story is mildly interesting for the most part, but the jokes lack and the characters fade away a bit, but I can't help feel I want to see more of some of them.

I remember movies I have seen as far back as the time I was 4 years old. While this ability is sometimes useful, it comes at a price. The movie I watch tonight is seen through the cumulative filter of the last 3 or 4 movies I have watched regardless of how long ago those movies were viewed. As a result, I often have to see a movie two, three or even four times before I can see it on its own merits. This is a movie that required several viewing.As is frequently the case, I had a poor opinion of the movie after the first viewing. But it was quirky enough to warrant subsequent viewings. With each subsequent viewing, the movie got better and better.I can now asses this movie for on its own and comfortably say it is quite entertaining.Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint all give the film the first rate performances we have come to expect from them. So too Martin Freeman as the smarmy, homicidal villain (compare this performance to those in Sherlock, The Hobbit and Dedication).To sum up, this is a quirky, amusing, and enjoyable film well worth the time, even if that means you have to watch it more than once.

Not that the premise sounded original, I decided to give this film a shot one morning. A hit man falls for his target and in the process has a strange sort of awakening while forming the family he never had time for in his younger days. The actors all do a fine job but the script is so aimless and ill thought that this quickly becomes unwatchable. At first I was expecting a dark comedy with a modicum of violence but after the first act it's something else entirely, some sort of sickening love story with a message about family that no one can relate to.There's about three things going on here besides the main story; Victor's crisis of self, his relationship with Rose, and his mentorship of Tony. This would be difficult for all but the most of astute of film makers to competently put together and outright fails in Wild Target, even if it is meant to be a comedy. From the get go there's so much focus placed on Victor's lack of a mate as well as his lack of a successor that once the three main characters show up on screen together it's painfully obvious where the story is headed. The issue is that the "how" involved in this process is dull and uninspired. The "why" is so thin that I'm left scratching my head over what exactly these three are doing in this strange configuration. To be brief, this arrangement is never developed. There's not a lick of characterization to suggest why the three of them have the need to form this familial unit so quickly. Sure, the circumstances give reason to the formation of the unit but there's never any believable or fleshed out reasoning for the persistence and continuation of this "family" and the roles that each adopt.The relationship between Rose and Victor is perhaps one of the worst on screen couples I've ever seen. She goes from hate to love literally over a foot massage and the chemistry just isn't there. Again, there's so little character development beyond "Victor needs a wife" that the relationship isn't convincing. Not once did I root for them to get together nor did I feel any joy when they did. There was no heart or passion or any connection with the audience. Nonetheless, it was quite obvious the two would end up discussing his weight from the very first few minutes of the film.Perhaps more outrageous than this mess of a love story is the forced inclusion of Tony, the homeless nobody who wants to find his place in the world and get a little bit of love. Where the necessity for this story element arose from is bewildering. He serves no place except for another good guy with a gun and his dynamic as an adopted apprentice is fuzzy at best. Moreover his extension into the familial unit as the child is stretching reality entirely too far. It is so difficult to understand his role in any realistic context that I'm left feeling disconnected and consequently see his position as confusing, bizarre, and trivial.Wild Target is about as close to nonsense as any film I've seen. It gets a 2 only because the technical aspects of film making were tolerable. I'm not sure where all the positivity for this film is coming from; those describing it as "hilarious" must not have been as distracted as I was by the lack of cohesion and motivation.