Wanted

James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann

Dir. Timur Bekmambetov
Scr. Michael Brandt, Derek Haas & Chris Morgan (based on the graphic novel series of the same name)

I was very excited by the Wanted trailer – it made me go “whoa” in Keanu Reeves fashion. Stellar cast (well, mostly; I would have put up with Jolie), great special effects, morally dubious premise – fantastic! And while I was thoroughly entertained by Wanted, to be so requires you to check all common sense, ethics and reality at the door. This is great when you’re in the mood for a Friday night action outing; not so good if you want something of substance. But substance can be highly overrated in my opinion – this movie is a ball to watch and I recommend it.

Wanted tells the story of Wesley Gibson (McAvoy), a man completely sleep-walking through his life. His girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend. His boss is a bully. His job is a bore. He has no money and isn’t special. Or so he assumes, until the day The Fraternity show up in his life and convince him he is. The Fraternity is a 1000-year old organisation of assassins, who have tasked themselves with keeping world order by taking out bad guys. Who decides, you might be asking? Well, I won’t spoil the utter ridiculousness of how victims are chosen, so let’s just say fate decides. The Fraternity convince Wesley to join to avenge the death of his recently murdered father, a Fraternity member, and much action ensues. And, boy, it’s some top-notch action.

Although the script is full of holes and unintentional hilarity, it fires along at a satisfyingly brisk pace and has some cracker dialogue, mostly courtesy of Wesley. The film looks great too, surely due to the influence of Russian director Bekmambetov. Wanted is Bekmambetov’s first American film – he is best known for the highly successful Russian vampire franchise Night Watch. Wanted is dark and dirty and brooding, not afraid to visually surprise the viewer. The effects, reminiscent at times of The Matrix, are a pleasure to watch, despite how ridiculous they might be. NO ONE would survive that train wreck – sheesh! And everyone is undeniably cool, even Wesley by the end. And how could you not be with names like Sloan, Fox, Cross, The Repairman, The Butcher and The Exterminator.

McAvoy is fantastic in this film, again showing his versatility. He is arguably the most watchable actor working today. His timing is wonderful, and you equally buy him as a nerdy no-hoper and a world-class assassin. Jolie, as assassin Fox, is not as objectionable as I thought she might be. In fact, her character is likable and has a warped integrity that I admired. Nice job. Freeman happily hams it up as Sloan, head of The Fraternity. It’s refreshing to see Freeman play a morally reprehensible character.

It’s not the best action movie ever, but I liked Wanted. You will know straight away whether you are part of this film’s target audience or not, and I certainly was. It’s like watching a normal action movie that’s consumed three too many energy drinks – great stuff. Yes, there are certainly some niggling ethical questions that you might ponder over on the way home, but don’t let that stop you enjoying the Wanted ride.

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Sloan: Welcome... to the Fraternity. This gun you're holding belonged to your father; he could conduct a symphony orchestra with it.