Excellent piece of action film...

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2008)

Wanted(2008)- Jolie, McAvoy and Freeman make awesome assassins. McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a cubicle dweller who gets clowned on by everyone, from his boss (who treats him like crap), his girlfriend (who is nailing his best friend) and takes pills for anxiety attacks. In short, a complete wuss. The worse part is that he doesn't even have the sense to fight back. Until Angie Jolie shows up and informs him that his dad just got killed, and that Wesley's dad was one of the most hardcore assassins on earth. Wesley then finds himself caught in the crossfire of a gunfight, kind of like in most anime series.
Wesley wants to know more about his dad, so he joins The Fraternity, the assassin group that his old man was part of. Morgan Freeman is at its head, so you know its going to be good. What happens next defies description. What I just said is not really giving away the plot, since you can see this in the trailers.
Timur Bekmambetov, a director I never heard of came out of seemingly nowhere and weaved magic. He took bullet time and made it unique again. Bullets fly around objects with reckless abandon, people perform seemingly supernatural feats and everyone looks so cool while doing it. Jolie played the typical hardcore chick with a sensitive side to the tee, and McAvoy plays both a wuss and a killer with equal parts efficiency and gusto. One of the few worthwhile rappers, Common, is in there as well.
*comic book spoilers* Wanted is based off of a comic book series, but changed dramatically. I think that some of the changes made in the transition from comic book to film were for the better. In the comic book, Wesley was more of a sick and demented antihero committing disturbing acts with very little accountability (acts disturbing to a person who still has a soul), and the Fraternity was just as wicked as the people they killed. You kind of wonder about the creator of the comic book, and what points he was trying to get across. In the movie the Fraternity plays more of a heroic vigilante role and Wesley becomes a warrior seeking justice for himself and the world. These changes are for the better, in my opinion. If they had filmed Wanted as the comic book was, you would have protests in the streets and an automatic NC-17 rating. There are plot twists that you might see coming, and then again you might not. *end comic book spoilers*
In short, what the heck you're waiting for? An invitation? Go see Wanted!