Throughout the years we’ve seen several movies that have set precedents about how actions scenes involving guns should be seen. Equilibrium provided us with “gun-kata”. The Matrix showed us “bullet-time” action. And in the adaptation of the comic series by Mark Millar with the same name; Wanted shows us how to “curve the bullet.”
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a loser. A normal guy that’s been pushed around and bullied by life. Rather than growing a pair and striving to give his life a meaning or purpose, he cowered away behind a cubicle. That is until he’s approached by Fox (Angelina Jolie) who informs Wesley that he is heir to one of the greatest assassins that ever lived and he doesn’t have to continue wading through life being shit on. Wesley thinks that idea doesn’t sound too bad and goes with Fox to meet the other members of “The Fraternity”, a group of assassins that carry out hits based on the Loom of Fate. Sloan (Morgan Freeman) is the leader of The Frat Pack. He tells Wesley that he will be trained to become what he was meant to be and kill the man responsible for the death of his father.
Wanted is pure adrenaline-fueled fun. I’ve already seen a bunch of douche-bags flaming the movie due to it being too “unrealistic”. While there are a few “Uh, what?” moments in it, it’s not supposed to be a movie that provokes deep thought and carries a heartwarming message between the lines. Sure we know human hearts can’t beat 400 times per minute without exploding, bullets cant be curved by flipping your wrist, and shattered bones cant be healed by taking a bath in paraffin wax. But who cares?
This movie is definitely rated R for a reason and never makes you think “They could have cut that and gotten a PG-13.” No. Within the first 13 minutes, you see 5 people shot in the face and a girl getting fucked on a kitchen table. While I’m not complaining (and can totally relate), I can be sure that parents across America will be upset when little Johnny tries to “curve a bullet” coming out of his trusty Red Rider. I can see the headline now (and the YouTube clip soon to follow).
I know in about 80% of my reviews I gush about how attractive the girl in the movie is, and this review will be no different. Angelina Jolie is a sexy woman. Take her, add guns, some more tattoos, take away her clothes, add a dash of water and a towel, and you’ve got yourself the recipe for hotness my friends. While she’s extremely hot, the producers are definitely banking on her simply being in the movie. Aside from the meeting with Wesley, she’s really kept aside for the remainder of the film.
McAvoy plays Wesley very well. His transformation from a scared shitless office worker, to a gun, knife, explosive wielding badass is believable. Having seen him in Atonement, as a stiff soldier torn apart by love, it’s nice to see him play a fun character that gets to run around and shoot people’s head off. *On a side note to the ladies, you can look forward to seeing McAvoy shirtless covered in water (or sweat, I don’t know). It lasts about 3 seconds, but 3 seconds was long enough to make an obese lady in front of me to let out a sensual groan. “UNGGGGGGH.”
Wanted has definitely been the most action-packed movie of the summer. Iron Man doesn’t count because it wasn’t “officially” summer (suck it) and The Incredible Hulk doesn’t count either because..I said so. While it’s not a great film, it definitely is a great time at the movies.
8 out of 10.
Tags: Action, Adrenaline, Angelina Jolie, Assassin, Atonement, Bullet, Common, Cure the bullet, Derek Haas, Equilibrium, Fraternity, Guns, Iron Man, James McAvoy, Knives, Michael Brandt, Morgan Freeman, Movie, Movie Review, Sex, Shooting, The Incredible Hulk, The Matrix, Violence, Wanted
29/06/2008 at 4:27 pm |
Yeah, I can tell this movie is exactly your speed and it’s cool that you want to review movies that YOU can get and not jump on the bandwagon, haha. I look forward to your insight on Space Chimps!
Goodbye.