Wade Will Return

Author(s): George (GA)
Wade Will Return

Written for the screen and Directed by: Tony Gilroy
Based on “The Superlative Seven” by Brian Clemens

Main Cast:

Colin Farrell as Davis
Adewale Akkinouye-Agbaje as Edleman
Billy Crudup as Jones
Jeremy Davies as Beckett
Lance Hendricksen as Halleck
Cillian Murphy as Wade
Billy Zane as Roland
Donald Sutherland as Grey

Tagline: “A secret agent. A Nobel-prize winning physicist. A murder mystery author. A hitman. A mathematician. A modern weapons expert. A hunter. And a mastermind…”

Synopsis: When Davis came off the plane with the other six he had no idea what to expect. On the plane they each introduced themselves to the other. Davis met Edleman (a hitman), Beckett (a physicist), Roland (a mathematician), Jones (a murder-mystery writer), Wade (a hunter) and Halleck (a modern weapons expert). They were all invited to a private island by a millionaire named Sir William Grey. No one had met him. All seven of them walked for a while until they found a deserted house. When they entered the dining room there were a set of weapons, seven weapons for each of them. It ranged from guns and swords to knives and rope. Davis heard a scream and saw Beckett peering behind a curtain. He went to see what Beckett was looking at and saw six coffins.

“Only six, gentlemen.” A voice said, Davis looked around and saw speakers on the walls. The voice said that each of them had been brought here to test his protégée who was the “ultimate killing machine”. He wanted his protégée to be tested in all areas of combat. From physical to strategy. This protégée was one of the people standing among them the voice said. If one of them beat his protégée, they would rule the world with him.

Wade suggested that they spilt up and search the island to find where the voice was coming from. They all split up and Halleck stayed to investigate the house. An hour later Davis was in the middle of the forest when he heard a scream. He ran back into the house and saw that Roland and Wade were already there. They were all looking at Halleck’s body in a coffin. Edleman and Beckett ran in and saw the body.

Edleman started to suspect Jones, for he was not there at the time. All six of them went out to look for Jones. Edleman heard a footstep in the forest; he took his gun out and cocked it. But it was just Wade stepping out of the trees. Just as they relaxed they heard two gunshots coming from the house. They ran in and saw Davis and Beckett standing by the coffins. Roland and Jones’ bodies were in two of them. Edleman immediately started to suspect Davis , yelling at him. Edleman took his gun out to shoot Davis but he ran out of the house. They all ran after him.

Davis waited another hour and then went back into the house to see if the mysterious voice was in there. He turned around to see if anyone else was there and a rope came around his neck. He turned around and saw Wade. Davis took a sword and stabbed Wade through the chest. After he fell, Davis ran for the plane but when he got there he saw the cockpit was sabotaged.

Edleman was still looking for Davis in the forest. He went to check out the house to see if Davis was in there, but all he saw was Beckett’s body in a coffin and Wade’s on the floor. He also ran to the plane. Davis and Edleman ran into each other in the forest and Edleman pulled his gun out and marched Davis to the house. Edleman questioned him for awhile and Davis kept saying he wasn’t guilty. Then Edleman was fed up and started shooting at Davis .

Davis ran and suddenly the shooting stopped. Davis looked up and saw a knife sticking out of Edleman’s back, with Wade standing behind him. Davis looked from one Wade to the other, one alive and one dead. Wade lifted the gun and pulled the trigger, but the cartridge was empty. Davis then grabbed the sword and threw it into Wade’s chest. Now they both were dead.

“Bravo” Grey walked down the stairs. He said now that Davis killed his protégée he wanted to recruit him for service. He gave a large amount of money as a bribe to lure Davis and overthrow the world governments. Davis pondered and then grabbed the sword and threw it into Grey’s chest. Grey fell to the floor and Davis went upstairs. He saw TVs that looked over every inch of the small island. Some scattered notes. And a telephone.

What the press would say:

In the late 60’s, the cult British show THE AVENGERS was at its peak. One episode was “The Superlative Seven” and featured an array of characters that had a traitor among their midst (Wade of course). Now Tony Gilroy has turned Brian Clemens’ somewhat funny plot into an intelligent and involving thriller that glues the viewer to the screen. The script by Gilroy offers every person in the film to shine. Giving them all a single characteristic weather it is paranoia, fearfulness, or anything else. The film is a perfect ensemble (even thought almost everyone does get killed at the end) and Gilroy has turned a maybe cliché and done story into something very original. First off, there are no women, making the intensity build and never stop or lets you take a breath. There is also no music score in the entire film which gives the movie an eerie and overbearing feeling. And the cinematography is impressive also. There is not one tracking shot in the entire film so it makes the viewer have to almost look around the characters to see what is going on and also give it a claustrophobic feel. It also handles the twist very well. It could have been a very been there/done that identical twin moment, but the film has a lot going on and makes it almost impossible to think of, how in fact, Wade Will Return. A very interesting and original way of making a could be boring premise into an engrossing and smart thriller is just the thing Gilroy needs to maybe make it back at the Oscars.

Nominations:

Best Picture
Best Director (Tony Gilroy)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Tony Gilroy)