Wanted Review

The action genre gets a kick in the pants with Russian director Timur Bekmambetov's "Wanted" starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman. McAvoy stars as Wesley Gibson, an unhappy cubicle dweller whose girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend among other things. One day while getting his prescription for his panic attacks this weird starts staring at him, and Angelina Jolie shows up and says "this guy's gonna kill you". She then proceeds to kick a massive amount of butt. After saving his life a crazy insane car chase ensues. My mouth was literally open the whole time. She takes him to a textile factory where a group of assains, called the Fraternity, led by Morgan Freeman rid the world of evil. The people they are supposed to kill is told to them by a loom (all belief is suspended by this point). Apparently, Wesley's father was killed by some evil person, and they need Wesley to avenge his death. Now Wesley's father left when he was 7 days old so there's some hesitation. Then brutual scenes of training follow which are basically people beating up James McAvoy. There is a lot of curving bullets (which is very cool) and healing baths which the assains use for their wounds. There are good twists at the end, but the training part is very good and well done. The whole film is very entertaining and goes by quickly. McAvoy really steps up to the plate here. Where I thought he was good in his past films, he has a believable freaked out energy here that you feel anyone in his situation would have. Jolie, playing a character named Fox (yes, subtle i know), doesn't even need to speak. She is such a presence on screen, but would it have killed them to give her more lines. She kicks major ass though. The stylized action is very cool and watching bullets travel from the gun to the person is a gory and thrilling effect. The car chases are awesome, but the plot is ridiculous. I would have liked more development of Wesley's power to slow time down. They mention it, and it happens a few times, but that's it. The movie is also darkly funny at points. A good summer blockbuster.