Wanted
In an orgy of gunfire, shootouts, explosions, car chases, and cryptic language, Wanted tells a story that has as much fun as it has loopholes. Though it’s little more than a 90-minute montage of the aforementioned items, with a few plot pieces thrown in for good measure, this movie is about as much fun as you can have at the movies. And it doesn’t have Paul Walker. Which is always a plus.
James McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a 9-5 cubicle guy who can’t care about anything – except caring about the fact that he can’t care about anything. That’s almost verbatim. He thinks he has panic attacks arising from an axiety disorder which accompanies a rapid heartbeat (and nearly always slow-motion). What he really has is the ability to do things normal people can’t. He thinks he’s a normal person. Herein lies the meager substance this movie offers. But man does not live on substantial plotting alone. Man also lives on action sequences. And this movie has action sequences the size of Angelina Jolie’s lips. She leans out of the windows of cars shooting people. ”I’ve seen that,” you say. But she leans out, or rather through, the front window, like the one over the hood. Not only is it entirely improbable, it’s also incredibly fun to watch.
The whole movie is full of these types of chases and shootouts, and it would never, ever work without the cast it has at its disposal. If this were a bunch of no-names, or even the tag-team triumvirate of Paul Walker and Ben Affleck and Vin Diesel, it would cease to exist. The glib lines (and storyline) would fall apart from the very beginning, and no one would care. Instead, director Timur Bekmambetov, a Russian/Kazakh guy known for directing vampire films, has the above-mentioed McAvoy and Jolie, Terrence Stamp, and none other than Morgan “I Make Anything Sound Good” Freeman. Without this cast of well-known, seasoned veterans, the film never makes it off the loom.
The graphics and sound are all very well done, and the actors have nearly as much fun as the audience does with this one. The body count begins to pile up and reaches a space-bending climax near the end, but you will have been ready for it, guessed it even, and it doesn’t make any difference. You will probably have enjoyed it enough not to care. You may even want to watch it again.
Rating: 2.5/4 Stars
