Wanted

This is a very easy to watch action packed movie. It delved into your imagination and as long as you are not expecting a true to life action drama you should love it. I am not normally struck on the matrix style movies but I really liked this film. The story is not be taken too seriously, just go with the flow of the film and watch the stunts and special effects. Putting Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman in the movie had to be a good move with the box office bucks. But the ace card for this movie in my opinion is James McAvoy who plays the geeky guy who turns into a top assassin. At first I did not recognize James McAvoy from his previous roles like " The last King of Scotland " and ' Wimbledon ". When I did realize it was the same actor I understood what a fab actor he truly is. He portrays his character with absolute ease. His transition in his role from the start of the movie to his ending character is class. James I am a true fan !! The movie is a good watch if you are into this type of movie.

'Wanted' is a film that's having too much fun not to like. Who cares about the impossibility of bullet bending when most audiences accept superheroes with inhuman powers and strengths based on comic book characters. As with those comic book films, it's just a work of fiction and fantasy, and since 'Wanted' doesn't take itself at all seriously, then you can suspend utter disbelief. The casting and performances are all spot on, above all James McAvoy who delivers one of his best performances in his career so far, even if the might not be the best film he's been in. Stylish, funny, competently directed and paced, this is a great action flick with an ordinary story that is more than the sum of its parts due to slick a execution.

What did you do today? Just watching a movie, going to high school, or working at McDonalds or a generic version of Office Space? Are you an impossibly pathetic character whose movie-pretty girlfriend accepts your crappy apartment by the train tracks yet hates you enough to constantly cheat with one of your co-workers? Are you buying condoms for the best chum at work you know is doing your girlfriend? Well don't worry because all the skills of an assassin are biologically determined! A few punches in the face and some exercise and you will be James Bond perfect because your absentee father was and we all know DNA is much more important than practice or discipline.

This movie gets all of its charm from the conceit that we know it is all part of the Matrix era bullet time slickness of action and the understanding that it all comes from a comic book anyway so if you have to pick someone up all you have to do is skid sideways right into the person at high speed with the door open and scoop 'em up. No danger of breaking his legs at all. And there can never be too many times two evenly matched assassins demonstrate the fact by their bullets crashing into each other harmlessly in mid flight.

Angelina Jolie has said that sure she is carrying guns in this movie but she condones what happens to the characters so she could get behind the movie. However it resolves, though, most of the movie is a loser's fantasy of having an exciting life. That might very well suit the video game audience under 25 years old. But if you can't get past the improbable efficiency of the team and the improbable stupidity of the protagonist from scene to scene, the big twist that pats itself on the head for its brilliance will seem to belong in another movie. Had the action not been so cartoonish, maybe we could believe what it purports to say. It still exists in a vacuum-sealed circle of geek-hood one expects from Agent Cody Banks. The only difference is that he is twenty-something.

I know there is a lot of hate going around for this movie (though it oddly manages to maintain a decent rating despite the nay-saying...) but I would really urge people to watch this movie before letting the opinions of others affect their views on it. Sure, the movie takes some liberties with plot and, obviously, physics, but it makes for a fun action/popcorn movie. It is, after all, just a movie. After seeing this film, I would say it was one of the most fun action films of 2008. It's got plenty of violence and stylized action with a dose of sexuality and a decent plot...Wesley Gibson is a miserable account manager with a dead-end life until he is approached by the beautiful Fox, who informs him that his father was a master assassin who had been murdered days before. Gibson is recruited into an assassin's guild known as the Fraternity to hunt down and kill his father's murderer.

The quirk with the Fraternity is that it's assassin's have the special ability to raise their heart rate above 400 bpm, pumping incredible amounts of adrenaline into their system and giving them superhuman reaction speed...basically "bullet-time". So you can expect a lot of over-the-top stunts, including the ability to curve bullet paths. Why there has been a lot of complaints about this aspect of the movie, I don't know. It's not really over-used and it adds a cool element to the movie. The film has PLENTY of action throughout, though most of my favorite scenes were during the course of Wesley's training with the Fraternity. The film also has a "twist" ending, though it isn't difficult to see the truth coming.

For a popcorn flick, the film boasts a great cast. Morgan Freeman is Sloan, the overseer of the Fraternity, and it's the first time I've seen him in such a role. He did seem a little awkward with some of the rougher dialogue towards the end of the film (though I guess it's to be expected...I never expected to hear Freeman spouting "Kill THIS motherf***a" in a film). Angelina Jolie is wonderfully sexy as Fox, though I'm biased to the point where I'd love Jolie in just about ANY role. Rounding out the primary cast is James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson; I had not seen any of McAvoy's previous work but I loved his work in this movie. He is perfectly suited to play both the meek, anxiety-ridden account manager and the elite killer he becomes. He does a great job inducing the element of dark humor into the film with his great delivery.

While I've read quite a few complaints about this film, I can't understand why. It's a guilty-pleasure action film and it's not to meant to be taken completely seriously. It's just a MOVIE and a fun one to boot. When you watch this film, just sit back, disengage your brain, and enjoy the non-stop action and fun characters.

I just got back from an advanced screening of Wanted. I have to admit not being a fan of the Director, Tim Bekmambetov. Somewhat disappointed in his Russian Films Nightwatch and Daywatch. However, in his American directorial he delivers!! An abundance of profanities and over the top action sequences that are beyond xtreme fill the screen in a dizzying array of visual adrenaline. Holding you in a tight breathtaking grip with its interesting visual techniques, humor and acting. James McAvoy (the sweet faun from the Chronicles of Narnia) plays the loser we all know, Wesley Gibbon. The guy, who just trudges through life allowing himself to be walked upon, humiliated and has no desire to escape it, except in a bottle of anti-anxiety meds. Enter a beautiful Woman, Fox (Angelie Jolie), a mysterious wise man Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and his life instantly changes from Billing Reports to Gratuitous Violence, Mastering Weaponry Skills, and Assassination. Believe me when I say what the Matrix introduced, Wanted has mastered. The director is a skilled artist at using the camera in conveying visual emotions of Wesley like I have never seen before, wait I take that back, seen it in NightWatch. I definitely recommend this deliberately humorous, action packed, violent, profane, to-the-extreme film to be seen on the big screen - check this one out!!