Wanted

Year: 2008
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp


More comic book films. More fantastic things unfolding onscreen. Hollywood just loves adapting these books. But don't get me wrong, I do love this kind of films. Being a comic book fan myself, I just love watching fantasy turn into reality on the big screen.

I didn't read the comic book of which the film Wanted is based on, but judging from the blood pumping trailer and the cast that's involved, (even if it includes Angelina Jolie who I'm sick of seeing in films like this) who could say no?

Wanted's main protagonist is Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), an accounts manager who basically is a loser in life. He gets verbally abused by his fat boss at work every day, and his girlfriend is so bored with him, she spends time sleeping with his best friend. Wesley even tries to google himself on the net and gets nothing. That's how much of a nobody he is. That is, until he meets a strange woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) at the pharmacy one night.

Fox saves him from an assassin named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) and takes him to her hideout, where she introduces him to The Fraternity, a group of assassins led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Sloan tells Wesley that Wesley's father was one of them, a great assassin killed by Cross. He explains that The Fraternity were created by fate thousands of years ago to carry out hits in order to balance the chaos around the world. Sloan offers Wesley a chance to become one of them, to train with them and break free from his mundane, hopeless life, and eventually avenge his father's death.

Wesley of course turns them down, unable to believe that he's destined to be a killer. But eventually, he accepts their offer and learns slowly and albeit painfully, on how to be a hitman. He learns how to fight, shoot, take punishment and even bend bullets. Yup, you heard me, bend a bullet's path so that it curves around an obstacle to hit its target. Soon Wesley becomes a talented assassin and goes after Cross, but then learns that not everything is what it seems.

Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian director who gave us the Russian films Nightwatch and Daywatch, makes his American film debut here. His unique filmmaking style is quite suitable for a film that focuses on bullet paths, flying cars and outrageous stunts. He uses plenty of slow motion to visualise the action closely and present it better for his audience, and it works to some extent.

McAvoy does well as Wesley, the loser who transforms himself into an action hero, but his American accent isn't quite convincing. I can still sense his strong Scottish accent in his speech. Jolie and Freeman acquit themselves well also, being old horses at roles like this, it is to be expected. Look out for Konstantin Khabensky, the lead actor from Nightwatch and Daywatch in a supporting role as a member of The Fraternity.

But is Wanted any good? Well, yes, if you can suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy it. Remember how you felt when you watched The Matrix? How you said Wow when you saw them jump across buildings and dodge bullets? Well, you're gonna see the same kind of Holy Shit moments here too, like watching a car do a 360 degree turn above another car and land on its wheels, or bullets bending in a circular path, or a man being able to run so fast he can crash out of an office window and fly through the sky. Yeah, comic book stuff. It's supposed to be cool, and yet it still feels like it's too unreal. I mean, I'm still having trouble processing the idea of shooting bullets and making them curve as if you're flinging a baseball.

And when you get to the third act, there's a revelation that makes this story kinda like Star Wars, only in reverse. Hopefully that won't be a spoiler for you there. It's a nice surprise for those who didn't read the book, though it might leave some nagging questions. And the ending is somewhat overdone, I wished they had done away with the narration part.

Overall, it's a pretty good action flick, a good way to spend two hours. (3.5/5)