James McAvoy stars as Wesley Gibson, a poor soul of a loser who’s stuck in a
dead end job, and whose girlfriend is being "serviced" by his best friend. Until
one night, when a mysterious woman by the name of Fox
(Angelina Jolie) enters his life--just in time to save his life from an assassin
named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). It turns out that Wesley’s father, who left
him just a few days after he was born, was a lethal assassin who worked for a
secret society of assassins known as the Fraternity. Cross had just killed
Wesley’s dad, and now he’s gunning for his son.
But what Wesley doesn’t realize
is that, along with his father's considerable assets, he’s also inherited his father’s
super-powered assassin skills. The film portrays these powers as being able to be nothing less than a superman,
such as being able to leap across the expanse of skyscrapers--along with mad gun
skills; including the ability to bend the trajectory of bullets around the objects in
front of the target. Fox, along with Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the leader of the
Fraternity, wants to train Wesley to be their best assassin--one who will
ultimately take on Cross. But will Wesley do it? It’s either this, or go back to
his soul-sucking job--so what do you think he’ll do?
Based on the comic book by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, Wanted is bristling with
fun. Directed by Timor Bekmambetov, the Russian visionary who gave us Nightwatch,
Wanted handles the over the top, comic-bookish aspects of its story with plenty
of style and humor. The stunt work is dazzling, and uses the Chicago locations
to fine effect. Equally dazzling is the cast, led by McAvoy, who’s marvelous at
playing a squeamish office drone who gets caught up in a deadly adventure of
intrigue. Jolie is in fine form as Fox, a deadly viper of a woman with a decent
streak of humanity.
The script is very funny, and is loaded with plenty of twists that keeps the
viewer hooked towards the end. It’s to director Bekmambetov’s credit that the
office drone scenes in the beginning are handled just as deftly as the action
sequences. The single disc DVD doesn't offer much by way of special features,
but this film--with its epic shootouts and wild car chases--is really what the
Blu-Ray format was made to showcase. Plus, the Blu-Ray disc is equipped with
various special features, so if you have Blu-Ray, you might want to buy Wanted in
that format. But no matter how you choose it, Wanted is a big dose of popcorn
fun. --SF
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