Amidst the high-profile comic book movies flooding theaters this summer (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, Hellboy 2), there’s one more whose roots trace, rather quietly, back to the graphic novel format. Wanted is based on a six-issue miniseries by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones published in 2003. Admittedly, the movie version takes a few liberties with the original property. (Like, for example, dumping the entire central conceit.) Sure, it’ll inspire the ire of dedicated fanboys, but the film is just as likely to impress the hell out of average, non-inkstained viewers eager to bliss out on pure summertime action.
 Now that is how you curve a bullet! Angelina Jolie shows off her guns in the firepower-heavy flick Wanted. |
New go-to actor James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland; Atonement) headlines a big-ticket cast as Wesley Gibson, an apathetic, cubicle-dwelling office drone who hates his job, his girlfriend and himself (pretty much in that order). One fateful, life-altering day, Wesley finds out he’s the heir to a secret society of super-powered assassins. Seems Wesley’s long-lost (now deceased) dad was one of them, and they’ve got a fresh opening in the people-shooting department. Led by the mysterious Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and his right-hand badass, Fox (Angelina Jolie), The Fraternity (as it’s known) adheres to a strict code of secrecy and honor. Their motto? Kill one to save thousands.
Turns out Wesley isn’t the sad-sack, talentless nobody he always thought he was. Like the other members of The Fraternity, he’s a wizard with a gun, able to hit a target from a mile away and curve bullets in a graceful, physics-defying arc. Needless to say, this makes for some inventive, adrenaline-pumping action sequences—a natural evolution of the now rampant “bullet time” style developed in The Matrix.
Crazy action aside, the tone of Wanted is surprisingly dark and cynical, putting it in the same category as the black, bleakly comic Fight Club. The script puts forth an awful lot of far-fetched notions (though probably not as many as the original comic, which was set in a world where costumed supervillains and mad scientists had banded together, wiped out all the heroes on Earth and ruled with an iron fist). And yet—rattling, shaking and threatening to blow apart at any moment—the entire film holds together. While featuring some of the most over-the-top action sequences since 2007’s unapologetically insane Shoot ’Em Up, Wanted still manages to feel gritty and somewhat real. How?
For starters, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov takes a lot of the eye-popping visual fireworks he brought to his previous modern fantasy series (Night Watch, Day Watch and the upcoming Twilight Watch) and refines them. Rushing headfirst, leaving viewers little time to catch their breath between spectacular action sequences, Bekmambetov treats every mad plot twist as God’s Honest Truth. Couple that with the script’s witty and realistic dialogue, and it’s easy to swallow (at least for under two hours) this hyperbolic vision of bullet-riddled loveliness.
Bloody as all get-out, laced with the occasional sexual exploit and foul-mouthed to boot, this ain’t no family outing. It’s crazy, it’s violent, it’s got Angelina Jolie’s bare ass. Really, what’s not to like? Run around the movie theater parking lot three or four times to get your adrenaline surging, buy an extra large Dr. Pepper and then settle down for some next generation Bang-Boom-Blam! served just the way you like it: loud and proud.
