James MacAvoy- Wesley Gibson
Angelina Jolie- Fox
Morgan Freeman- Sloan
Thomas Kretschmann- Cross
Terence Stamp- Pekwarsky
David O'Hara- Mr. X
Common- Gunsmith
Marc Warren- The Repairman
Dato Bakhtadze- The Butcher
Konstantin Khabensky- The Exterminator
Chris Pratt- Barry
Kristen Hager- Cathy
Lorna Scott- Janice
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas and Chris Morgan, based on a story by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality
Runtime- 110 minutes
Website: http://www.wantedmovie.com/
"Wanted" is a big butt high octane action flick that manages to both exist and essentially succeed on shear bloody spectacle, with enough gunplay, fighting, car crashes, and just plain action to make a total movie nerd smile. I know I smiled quite a bit. But then again, "Wanted" also has serious story and structure issues that, while not totally destroying the movie watching experience, will likely make a total movie nerd cringe. I know I cringed quite a bit, too.
"Wanted," directed by Russian cult director Timur Bekamambetov and based on a comic book (yeah, it's a comic book. There is no such thing as a graphic novel) by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, stars James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, a meek office drone who hates his job, has girlfriend issues (she's cheating on him with his best friend and colleague at work), and has a severe anxiety problem who finds out after meeting Fox (Angelina Jolie), a hip and edgy super sexy woman of action and the stern and mysterious Sloan (Morgan Freeman), that he's the direct descendant of one of the world's greatest assassins and that he, too, has the natural abilities to be just as great. All Wesley has to do is want to make a change and join up with the Fraternity of Assassins, the thousand year old secret society of killers Sloan leads with the help of the Loom of Fate, a weaving machine that tells the Fraternity who they have to kill in order to keep balance in the world. Wesley is, at first, extremely apprehensive. Sure, he hates his life, but he never knew his father (Wesley's father left when he was a child) and this whole secret society of assassins thing sounds ridiculous. He changes his mind when he's given a bunch of money (money he's told that originally belonged to his father) and is told that, if he hones his killing skills to their maximum, he'll be able to go after his father's killer, the rogue assassin and ex-Fraternity member Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). So Wesley leaves his crappy job, tells off his no good girlfriend, and accepts that his anxiety attacks are actually a sign of his innate killing abilities (that whole bullet curving thing you've no doubt seen in the many commercials for the flick), signs on with the Fraternity. The question becomes, will Wesley be able to follow through on his destiny?
Now, the first forty-five minutes or so of "Wanted" are outstanding fun. The opening action sequence, featuring David O'Hara as Mr. X, is a great way to set the tone of what's to come: fast and furious action featuring plenty of wicked gunplay and bloody shots to the head. Sure, it's all derivative, "bullet time" inspired action we've seen a million times since "The Matrix" hit it big, but it's all done in such a way and with such enthusiasm that you can't help but be impressed and, at times, awed at its audaciousness. When we meet Wesley and get to see his nasty fat bitch of a boss (Janice, as played by the hilarious Lorna Scott), his douchebag of a best friend (Barry, as played by Chris Pratt) and jerk of a girlfriend (Cathy, as played by Kristen Hager), we really get a sense of why he hates his life and wants to change things. And Wesley's initiation into the Fraternity is chock full of the kind of brutality that makes you root for him to get through it all. There's just a great balance to it all. This is how you start out a big, bad butt action movie.
But then things change when Wesley finishes his training and suddenly the tone and focus of the movie shifts. What should be the climactic finale is merely a boring set piece that sets up the final half hour or so that, while viscerally exciting, doesn't add up to much of anything. As I said above, the last third or so of this movie should be the set up for a sequel, not the finale for this movie. You just can't add a bunch of plot to the end of a movie that doesn't have much of a plot to begin with. The flick just should have stuck to its initial premise and followed through on it with a succinct ending that's clean and clear. The essential attitude expressed at the ending still could have come through. Why is it always necessary to make things more complicated than they really need to be?
McAvoy is great as Wesley. He is just outstanding at the beginning in the miserable office setting. He's also quite believable in the action scenes, especially towards the end when he has to try to carry the movie out of its story mediocrity (and he just about does it). Freeman is his usual awesome self as the Fraternity leader Sloan. The guy just oozes dignity (and no one says "motherfucker" quite like him, that's for dang sure). The various people who help train Wesley are all pretty decent for what they get to do. The best of that bunch, though, is The Butcher, as played by Dato Bakhtadze. You can't understand a word he's saying, but he's a fat guy who can knife fight like a ninja, and that's always cool. Konstantin Khabensky's Exterminator character is pretty neat, too (although I wouldn't let him around my pet mouse, that's for sure). David O'Hara's little bit at the opening is great, too. The man needs his own action franchise.
The only one who doesn't come off as well is Jolie's Fox. It's not like she isn't trying her hardest to make her character interesting, but there are moments where she's too flashy and, for the lack of a better word, obvious compared to everyone else (it's like she's the only acknowledging that this is a movie). Her big introduction in the pharmacy features a series of little moments that don't add up to much at the start but become tiresome and annoying by the end (I think the moment things really start to go south for her is when she has to duck in the trail tunnel a second time). Bekmambetov should have toned her down and brought her back in line with everyone else. And Thomas Kretschmann isn't served well by his character's big revelation. It's just ridiculous and kills the flick's forward momentum. And the Terence Stamp character most definitely should have been saved for a sequel. He has absolutely nothing to do here but say his lines and be boring. You just don't do that to General Zod.
"Wanted" is definitely worth seeing, simply because you're not likely to see anything as intense on a grand scale with as nasty a general attitude. I just wish everyone involved pulled back a little and saved the last third for a sequel. We all would have been better off for it. But, the flick is plenty fun, and that's all that really matters in the end. Beckmambetov should have a great future in Hollywood, just as long as he gets better stories to tell. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Keep it simple and things will work out in the end.
Go see "Wanted." You'll have fun.
So what do we have here? Gratuitous fat woman boss, brownie eating, gratuitous sex on an Ikea table, gratuitous James McAvoy "Googling" his character's name, gratuitous David O'Hara, a red dot on an Indian red dot, multiple bullets through the head, gratuitous David O'Hara jumping from building to building and shooting assassins with two guns, slow motion bullet to the head, gratuitous red Swingline stapler, a loud train, condom buying, gratuitous douchebag drinking energy drinks, gratuitous anxiety attacks, gratuitous being insulted by an ATM machine, gratuitous Angelina Jolie, pharmacy mayhem, shooting around corners, a woman drops her groceries, gratuitous little animal bobbleheads, gratuitous picking up a character via spinning car, shooting out the windshield, driving while laying on the hood and shooting at bad guys following close behind, attacking a bus with a car, gratuitous "Pina Colada" song, rim riding, gratuitous "Escape from LA" reference, gratuitous Morgan Freeman, shooting the wings off flies, putting a gun in the back of a toilet, stapler breaking, ergonomic keyboard to the face with flying tooth, gratuitous textile mill, a pet rat, gratuitous light chair bondage with several severe beatings, gratuitous slabs of meat, knife training, knife to the hand, a health bath, target practice with real dead bodies, gratuitous "curving the bullet," gratuitous train exercises, a sewing loom exercise, exploding rat, gratuitous naked ass of Angelina Jolie, brass knuckles to the face, gratuitous "Loom of Fate," gratuitous flashback with bondage and setting people on fire, Morgan Freeman eating steak, killing a guy in a limo using a Corvette as a ramp and shooting him through the sunroof, gratuitous kissing Angelina Jolie, gratuitous bullets hitting bullets, bloody mouth to mouth, gratuitous Terence Stamp, Angelina Jolie driving an Eastern European subcompact car into a train, a spectacular train accident, a hidden closet room, gratuitous buying peanut butter, a giant rat trap, jumping through a glass window to initiate a double gun killfest, gratuitous shooting through a dead man's head wound, deflecting bullets with a knife, gratuitous Morgan Freeman saying "motherfucker," and a lame ending.
Best lines: "Did I just father the most insignificant asshole of the 21st century?," "No one leaves the Fraternity, Cross," "Never send a sheep to kill a wolf," "How am I supposed to sleep with all of that fucking racket?," "Oh my fucking God, I hope that isn't my billing report sitting on your desk," "He is the man," "I thought he'd be...taller," "Shoot the wings off the flies," "Jesus H. fucking popsicle I still don't have my billing reports," "Shut the fuck up!," "This is pretty awesome. What is this, a front?," "This is an awful lot of questions over coffee," "Well, I haven't spent much time getting my face beat in," "He, be careful with that, it's sharp!," "I am not a pussy, I have a healthy respect for the human condition," "Hey, we can't shoot a dead woman, it might be someone's Mom," "You're a waste of my fucking time, so why are you here?," "Do you really want to know who you are?," "For the first time in your life, Wesley, you are in control," "Welcome to the Fraternity!," "Who is she, your new whore?," "We trained him well," "Fuck the code," and "What the fuck have you done lately?"
The 411: "Wanted" is a whole bunch of bloody action fun and definitely worth a look. I just wish the flick didn't throw so much plot into the end of the movie when it was totally unnecessary to do so. There's nothing wrong with making a simple, straight up action movie, is there? Why does everything have to be so dang complicated?
