Wanted
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann
Rated: 18 (UK) / R (US)
Release Date: June 27, 2008

There are a few words I flat out cannot use to describe this movie: subtle, conservative, reserved, delicate”¦ this is the kind of terminology you use to describe the bouquet of a fine wine. However, words I can use include funny, thrilling, insane, awesome, loud, brash”¦ I could go on”¦ but then I’d have to start checking out thesaurus definitions of “bonkers.”

Wanted is the U.S. debut movie by Night Watch and Day Watch director Timur Bekmambetov, based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones. Just to clarify, I know nothing of the reference material (yet”¦ I’m going to buy the book now though), but in case you’re worried about how faithful the movie is to its origins, have a read of this recent interview with Millar, and set your mind at ease.

The movie introduces us to Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a mild-mannered office worker that’s scared of his boss, and doesn’t even do anything about the fact that his “best friend” is screwing around with his girlfriend.

This all changes in spectacular fashion when he’s caught up in a gunfight with the mysterious “Fox” played by Angelina Jolie. As it turns out, Wesley is the son of “one of the greatest assassins who ever lived” and finds out that he is one of the few people in the world that can make his heart beat at 400bpm, allowing him to be faster, stronger, and generally badass. This is just the main premise however, as the “Fraternity” recruit Wes to hunt down a rogue agent intent on bringing down the organisation, headed by the benevolent Sloan played by Morgan Freeman.

When it comes to style, Wanted has it by the bucketload — the main original facet being the ability to curve bullets”¦ sometimes to ridiculous lengths (at one point, the bullet is curved in a complete circle). Bullet Time is used quite a lot, however, it doesn’t feel like its overused at any point.

This leads me to the action in the movie — and my god”¦ it’s like a guy’s celluloid wet dream. There are multiple times throughout the movie where I was laughing out loud at the action, not because it was funny, but that somehow I thought it was so awesome I felt like a school kid as I sat there grinning to myself. Plus when you couple all this with the inclusion of Jolie”¦ you know the film is definitely a “boy’s movie.”

The one thing that impressed me the most with Wanted was the pace of the film. With most action movies you’ll have the build up that sets the scene, builds up the plot and develops the characters… and you have the high points with large action set-pieces, followed by lulls. Something that Bekmambetov has managed to do is set the pace perfectly so you’re never bored, and if there are low points with not a lot going on, you simply don’t notice them.

There’s also plenty of humour injected into the movie, the pinnacle of which (in my opinion) was when Wesley quits his job — he gives the kind of speech we all wish we had the stones to give our bosses, and then takes his keyboard and gives his best make a slo-mo beatdown with it with the keys flying asunder (make sure you check what the keys say as they fly towards the screen). I think the humorous parts of the movie are spaced perfectly, and are very probably the main reason I was never bored, or didn’t notice the “boring parts.”

As far as acting goes, I’d say its not bad — everything is pretty much as I’d expect. Morgan Freeman plays his usual enigmatic mentor, Jolie as the sultry and stoic love/lust interest. However, this is James McAvoy’s first outing as an action headliner, and he does well — he even has an acceptable American accent (unlike actors like Jason Statham where you can blatantly tell he’s a cockney Londoner whenever he shouts).

The soundtrack to the movie is also very good, especially the use of Nine Inch Nails’ “Every Day Is Exactly The Same” to bookend the boring day in the life of Wesley prior to meeting Fox. Unfortunately only the soundtrack score is available to purchase at present, but Danny Elfman‘s work is stellar as usual.

Wanted does have its shortcomings, but in all honesty I’m mostly nitpicking. The main thing I had a problem with is how the Fraternity of assassins assign their targets; they have a “Loom of Fate” that weaves a secret binary code into fabric that tells them the name of their target. Yes, you heard correctly. A weaver’s loom tells them who to kill. Now, being a geek I also know enough about binary and how to convert binary to letters using ASCII code to think this is just a little on the silly side. Especially since the Fraternity has been using this method for a thousand years apparently.

Anyway, all-in-all I enjoyed Wanted immensely, as did the group of friends I saw the preview screening with — despite some bad jokes afterwards (one friend had to say “fruit of the loom””¦ he shall remain nameless though). I can confidently say that I will be buying Wanted on DVD, and I look forward to the already planned sequel.