Wanted (2008)

Wanted. A thousand years ago, a clan of weavers claimed themselves to be the bringer of balance to the world. They formed a fraternity of assassins, and with questionable method of choosing the target's name, they started to cleanse the world. The member of this fraternity of assassins were utterly talented in the art of killing. What i mean by "talented" is clearly an understatement because really, when you could curve the bullet of a shot, jumped off the building to another building across the street safely, timed your vehicle's speed and surroundings to pull off some nearly impossible stunts, to call you a "talented" would be an insult.

The story of Wanted is so absurd that it could only came out of the pages of a comic book. Indeed, Wanted was lifted out of the pages of a comic book therefore to enjoy the film in its fullest potential, you have to shove aside its absurdities and treat it as a pure fantasy. In that sense, Timur Bekmambetov as the director treat this film as such and as a result, provides an enjoyable entertainment imbued with stylish visual displays in vibe with 300 and The Matrix albeit a little less visceral, without being too much going on over the head.

Wesley (James McAvoy) is a practical loser. His life is miserable, his boss is miserable, his girlfriend is miserable, where he sleeps is miserable, his bank account is miserable, the only thing in his life that isn't miserable is perhaps Annabelle, his cat. What's worse, he accepts his miserable attributes of life. Meanwhile, across the street (well, not exactly across the street) a member of fraternity is up for a surprise and the first stylish action ensues as we follow an eccentric high-speed bullet soars through obstacles to finally shot through the man's head. Events quickly unfurled (according to my wife, too slow; according to me, just right) and Wesley met Fox (Angelina Jolie) and gunshots flies, car-chase ensues. Apparently, it seems that there's a member of fraternity that has gone rogue named Cross and he is up and about killing every members of the fraternity. Wesley, whose father was a member of the fraternity and was killed by Cross, (re)discovered a talent required to enroll into the fraternity. Sloan (Morgan Freeman), a self-established leader of the fraternity said that Wesley is the only one who could kill Cross (at this point, my wife and i asked each other, "Why?"). Thus begins Wesley's new life as he undergone many ferocious training before he was up against Cross (Thomas Kretschmann).

As a pure action, the film had its charm in an excess. Wesley is a likeable character and McAvoy easily fit into his place. Angelina Jolie is at her usual vixen persona, she doesn't need to do much to make me sigh in longing exasperation. Acting wise, nothing special from her, but her very last scene is sure going to get mentioned and remembered.

However, me and my wife had a similar question regarding the time when the Russian man got killed. It got me questioned the position in which Wesley was in the fraternity. It seems to me that Sloan and the fraternity had spoiled him a bit too much which in turns made the film rather inconsistent from my point of view. While i could easily ignored the fact, safely stored it elsewhere for later exploitation, my wife can't and as far as she concerned, this is where the film ended for her.

My rating: **1/2 / **** - Good action films, aptly executed, reasonable pacing. If action films is your cup of tea, this film is one you don't want to miss. However, in my opinion, one obstacle (that scene with the Russian guy) got me fumbled and i could never really get up from there.