Inspiring and very, very cool

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2008)

This is another film I've been looking forward to since it was first advertised. I was actually worried it might not live up to the hype, such as it's been, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
McAvoy definitely wouldn't have been my first choice as a male lead for a film like this, but then that's without the benefit of knowing how the film starts off. We get a very good look at his life, pre-The Fraternity, and it is an excruciating and demeaning one, like most of ours if we're honest. His terror and anxiety attacks complete the picture, and the transformation to cold, calculating assassin (via cocky school boy attitude to his training) is done extremely well. By comparison, Jolie seems to be there for her looks more than anything - she says so little it's almost shocking. That said, her character's depth is still portrayed well with looks and gestures, besides Jolie's undeniable screen presence. David O'Hara is a brilliant addition for the opening assassination sequence and Morgan Freeman, as always, is the man.
The story builds up well enough, although I might have gone a more flashy route with the whole assassination/execution area. That said, it's the conclusion that makes the film for me: like many great works of art/entertainment, it is a very simple and direct idea, "hidden" inside an elaborate piece of work. And in the words of that conclusion, "What HAVE you -or I- done lately?!"