My Victoria Online - "Wanted" movie review

"Wanted" movie review

Written by Sean McBride
Sunday, 29 June 2008
“Wanted” looks great, but leave you wanting more. “Wanted Universal Pictures Directed by Timur Bekmambetov Starring James MacAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Marc Warren and Thomas Kretschmann Rated R 2 1/2 Stars If you’re one of those summer movie fanatics, the kind of person who values non-stop action and cutting-edge special effects to the exclusion of character and story, then the new movie “Wanted” is certainly the film you want to see. Based on a graphic novel by Mark Millar and directed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, this is a film where hyper-stylized action and cool visual effects are all that matter. Which means that the film gets a bit silly at times, but it’s certainly never boring. I suspect that for a bunch of out-of-school young guys, that’s all that will matter. James MacAvoy plays Wesley, a beaten-down cubical drone whose life is such a boring mess that he pops anti-anxiety meds like they were jellybeans. One day, while getting his prescription refilled, a gorgeous woman (Angelina Jolie) sidles up to Wesley and calmly informs him that he has the hidden genetic ability to become a super-assassin and that a rival killer is stalking him on the other side of the store. Cue the bullets. Wesley is taken back to a fabric manufacturing plant where he is trained and inducted into the ranks of “The Fraternity,” an ancient order of skilled killers who can seemingly slow down time and bend bullets around corners. They are guided by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) who takes his instructions from “The Loom of Fate,” a giant loom where small defects in the weave of the fabric spell out the names of those who Fate deems must be murdered for the good of society. There’s that silly part I was talking about. The Fraternity follows the loom’s instructions, reasoning that killing one man might save thousands, although given the pace of “Wanted,” it’s possible that The Fraternity might be killing thousands themselves. I don’t have a problem with the ultra-violence, although I would caution that “Wanted” is rated R for a reason, so leave little Timmy at home. Blood splatters, knives slash and bullets zoom for miles before hitting their targets--we get to see the slow motion spectacle as the projectile explodes out of a victim’s forehead. As I said, young men will love it, Timmy will have nightmares. The problem is that the story has been dumbed-down in order to make room for all the action sequences. The characters are mostly one-note figures and nothing in the film seems deeper than, well, a comic book story aimed at pubescent teenage boys. The film is also a bit misleading. The sexual stuff featured so prominently in the TV commercials never appear in the film, and neither do the viral You Tube videos. It’s all a big tease. There’s nothing here that rings true; nothing that will survive the test of time. Angelina is smoking hot, MacAvoy makes a nice-enough leading man and it’s fun to see Freeman play a character with a potty mouth, but these are minor pleasures at best. The slight story and characters leave the film wanting. Bottom line: “Wanted” is exciting enough to satisfy your summer movie cravings, but it’s all empty calories. Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published Wednesdays and Fridays in “The Port Arthur News.” He can be found weekly on KAVU-TV, KFDM-TV, and KVIC Radio. Additional reviews can be found at www.rottentomatoes.com, www.panews.com or at www.myvictoriaonline.com. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kavutv.com.