Wanted(2008) Film Review

Rating: 4 Stars Out 4, Thumbs Up.

Rated R For Strong Bloody Violence Throughout, Pervasive Language And Some Sexuality.

1hr 50min/110min.

49 uses of the F-word.

Wesley: "I'm Sorry"

Fox: "You apologize too much"

Wesley: "Well, sorry about that"

After the horridness of Detention, we need to talk about a good movie. Wanted is a good candidtate. The film is based off of a graphic novel by Mark Millar. This name should ring a few bells because he is the man who wrote the graphic novel series Kick-Ass. If you are unfamiliar with this film, the advertisments featured a highly popular scene in which Angelina Jolie's character tells James McAvoy's character to "Curve the bullet", where a charcter shoots a gun a certain way to curve a bullet. This scene in particular was parodied in the horrible Disaster Movie.

Wesley(James McAvoy) considers himself an average everyday person. He is accosted one night by a woman named Fox(Angelina Jolie) who is part of The Fraternity, a group of higly trained assassins. After initially refusing her offer to join, he then accepts after seeing that his bank account has $3.4 Million suddenly put in it. His mission is to assassinate the man who killed his father, while dodgeing the twists and turns of The Fraternity.

 The performances are delightfully fun to watch, esspecially that of McAvoy.McAvoy portrays a geeky type character with precision. Angelina Jolie does well as the sexy assassin Fox. Morgan Freeman does excellent as well as headmaster Sloan. Others such as Common, and Terrance Stamp do as well. McAvoy and Jolie make a gret pair and should do some more films together.

 The action scenes are some of the best I've seen in an action film. The frquent and frenetic gunplay can grow triring for some, but not for me. The film never slows and that's a good thing. When Jolie shows up for the first time(13 minutes in), that's when the action starts. Her first scene involving, a car chase, is thrilling and fun as he rides on the hood shooting a variety of guns. The scene is even funny as it keeps cutting to McAvoy's hysterical nature of being thrust into this dire situation.

What makes Wanted so original is that it doesn't follow the original action movie formula. Key characters do die(though it will not be spoiled here, who dies and who lives), There is a hefty amount of violence, and the writing takes some nice creative turns that I didn't see coming. There is a huge body pileup and McAvoy's character is treated with the respect and trust he wants and needs.

Wanted is an absolute action masterpiece. Filled with fun performances, terrific writing, and some of the best action scenes in a film that I have seen, Wanted brings a new level of respect to the genre. It's formula is unorthodox and brings something new to the table. I'm not saying that the traditional action formula isn't fun to watch, it's just nice to see something new every once in a while. For you action fans Wanted is an absolute must-see.