A whole lotta fun

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2008)

The latest offering from the Russian director of "Nightwatch" is an exhilarating, effects-laden romp, that offers top-notch action but clearly does not take itself too seriously. The plot centers on an undistinguished office drone Wesley (James McAvoy) who is inducted by Fox (Angelina Jolie) into a secret brotherhood of assassins. Initially it seems that he was chosen to follow in the footsteps of the father he never knew, but of course things are not quite what they seem...
There is no shortage of high velocity mayhem involving curving slow-mo bullets and spectacular vehicular acrobatics, particular kudos must go to an early scene involving a Dodge Viper. In addition, the script is smarter and funnier than what is usual for this type of film. The strong cast (which also includes Terence Stamp and Morgan Freeman) acquit themselves well and Ms. Jolie looks utterly divine- as always. All in all, this is an awesome popcorn movie that works extremely hard to entertain it's audience and, though violent, has a very hard time pulling it's tongue out of it's cheek. Definitely big summer fun.