Director: Timur Bekmambetov
One of my biggest gripes with movies in the recent past has been that every movie tries to cover every genre all at once. I like my dramas to be sad and my comedies to be funny. Love stories belong in the romance section. Screenwriters Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan seem to be of similar belief. "Wanted" is an action movie through and through, and although the violence subsides from time to time in order to let the plot progress, there is never a dull moment.
If you want to see lots of undiluted action with an intriguing 's albeit sometimes predictable 's plot and solid acting, then search no more, summer movie-goers. "Wanted" has all that in spades.
We meet Wesley Gibson, (James McAvoy), in the middle of his pathetic plod through the rigors of underpaid lower-level office life. If you take Chuck Palahniuk's narrator from "Fight Club," add about 80 percent more self-loathing, get rid of the IKEA furniture and trade insomnia for an anxiety disorder, you get Wesley Gibson. However, he doesn't stay this way for long before Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from this downtrodden life 's and from the assassin who tries to end it.
The movie revolves around an ancient society of assassins called the Brotherhood, which receives its hit list not from shady clientele but from fate itself, by way of a loom. These assassins, led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), also have the ability to boost their adrenaline and become hyper-vigilant 's in essence, they can slow time. Wesley is recruited into this secret society to kill a powerful rogue assassin and avenge his father, a first class assassin killed by the rogue. Members of the Brotherhood are being offed one by one, and only Wesley can keep the guild, and the balance of society, from being destroyed.
The movie fell short in a few key areas. The camerawork made the movie almost unwatchable at times, especially during the chase scenes. Shaking a handheld camera like a Polaroid picture did not make your chase scene more exciting. It would have been easier reading the script rather than trying to pick out what was going on amongst the violent shaking. A few key plot elements, such as how fate manages to operate a loom and the founding of the Brotherhood, are ambiguous at best. Take their presentation at face value and don't get too curious; they aren't explained very well.
Despite the action premise the "Wanted" takes a stab in the direction of philosophy. What is the nature of fate and the concept of human identity. How do we know whether we're doing the right thing? And do we truly know who we are, or are we just filling the role society has given us?
Both the characters in the movie and the audience are subjected to these powerful questions about the meaning of life. This was all meant to be thought-provoking. In the last few minutes in particular the audience is challenged several times by the narration. In my opinion, people don't want to be told they are pathetic and their lives are out of their control 'sespecially not by Hollywood film makers.
Aside from these minor flaws, "Wanted" will definitely please most people. If you expect something amazing, you will be disappointed. But if you go in looking for an action movie filled with violence, special effects and a little bit of nudity, you'll find exactly that. It's not going to be a defining movie of the year, or even the summer, but it will get you your adrenaline fix and inform you about yet another super-human skill you wish you had: the ability to curve bullets and slow down time.
Now showing in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
