Sunday, June 29, 2008
A+E, Movies, Reviews

‘Wanted’ ups the ante for summer action films

 

By Steve Warren

“Wanted,” based on the comic-book miniseries by Mark Millar, is every action movie you ever loved, at twice the speed. It should be the most original live-action blockbuster of the summer. Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who made the imaginative “Night Watch” and “Day Watch” for pennies, expands his talent to fit a Hollywood budget. Not only hasn’t he missed a beat, but he’s added a few.

James McAvoy, an unlikely actor to portray an action hero, plays an unlikely action hero. Put-upon wimp Wesley Gibson introduces us to his so-called life, working as an account manager in a soul-draining cubicle he shares with his best friend, Barry (Chris Pratt), who thinks Wesley doesn’t know he’s sleeping with his girlfriend (Kristen Hager).

Wesley’s life changes—what man’s wouldn’t?—when he encounters Angelina Jolie. Suddenly her character, Fox, is protecting him in a shootout, before whisking him away in that great “How’d they do that?” moment you’ve seen in the trailer, and they’re off on a wild ride that should get “Wanted” nominated for all sorts of technical awards.

Fox recruits Wesley into the Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins headed by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and headquartered in a functioning textile mill in Chicago. They say they want Wesley to kill Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), the man who killed their top assassin, the father he never knew, from whom he unknowingly inherited skills that include the ability to shoot bullets on a curved path.

Wesley is toughened up with repeated beatings (this should appeal to disciplinarian parents) and rides with Fox atop elevated trains until he’s ready to start killing. The trail involves some globe-hopping and a surprising revelation that turns the story around. Needless to say, there’s more action before it’s resolved.

The plentiful violent action incorporates real stunts and CGI work, both of the highest order. Bullets meeting in midair and being tracked over a course of several miles are just a couple of the elements that will have geeks in heaven. Bekmambetov’s crew uses every trick in (and out of) the book to create visceral excitement.

 
The one complaint is that there’s less of Jolie than the posters and trailers lead you to expect. This looks like her movie, perhaps another “Lara Croft,” when it’s really McAvoy’s. Even Freeman is billed above Jolie, and the romance that seems to be building between Wesley and Fox never materializes. But there are more than enough pleasant surprises to compensate. Rank “Wanted” with action sleepers like “Speed” and “The Matrix” that came out of left field and scored a home run. 3 STARS