If you think director Timur Bekmambetov’s name sounds cool, just wait until you experience his latest hyper-kinetic feast for the carnage-hungry eyes “Wanted” starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. It’s a recklessly rip-ass Summer action flick that boasts an arsenal of gunfire and absurdity impressive enough to leave Michael Bay scratching his head. You know the old saying “in like a lion, out like a lamb?" Well, this film isn’t anything like that, because it comes in like a lion and out like a tiger just waiting to explode with every ounce of ravenous vivacity available.
McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a lowly account manager who is trapped in the monotonous world of cubicles and corporate tools with no feasible way of forging a more fecund daily existence. His wife is having an affair with his best friend, his boss is constantly pestering him about expense reports, and, at one point, his bank account contains a measly fourteen dollars. Needless to say, his life doesn’t appear to be going according to plan, so Jolie’s Fox (Coincidence? I think not) showing up with a vengeance to rescue to him is actually a blessing in disguise. She informs him that his father was killed and that he must begin fulfilling his destiny as one of the world’s most deadly assassins.
At first, he adamantly denies having any superhuman abilities, but when he shoots the wings off of flies, the gloves come off in a hurry. His training basically consists of being beaten to a pulp until he toughens up, so before you plan on taking the kids, be aware that Bekmambetov takes a brutal, no-frills approach to staging violence. Whatever degree of sucker Wesley had in him is quickly disposed of and his membership into The Fraternity is solidified following an extensive recovery.
Since the leader of the group is played by Morgan Freeman, we’re treated to some tongue-in-cheek scenes in which he spews out language seldom heard from the man who once played God. He plays Sloan with all the slick shadiness we’d expect from such a character and still has some of the villainous persona leftover from last year‘s “Gone Baby Gone.” When he lets Wesley in on where the list of targets comes from, the film takes an even more surreal turn toward the stylized dream state that made the graphic novel so popular in the first place.
Their motto is “Kill one, save a thousand,” but they operate with no guarantee that their victims will actually cause destruction. Each assassination is carried out with the utmost skill and, like the last two Bourne films, the camera never stops moving long enough to let you catch your breath. Whether it’s curving bullets or flipping vehicles, this film indulges in every over-the-top shoot ‘em up sequence possible and I was with them every step of the way.
Sure, the script has a few discrepancies regarding it’s final act, but the hot-blooded adrenaline rush it provides is exactly what a June release should strive for. The performances are terrific, the action is electric, and Jolie has never looked better.
In essence, the entire picture is a giant middle finger to anyone who slaves away in a dead-end desk job hoping for a big break that will never come. For those in The Fraternity, their day just wouldn’t be complete without a good shootout or high-speed chase to get them going. As McAvoy would say: What the F@&% have you done lately?
- *** 1/2 out of 4
