Un-wanted

Rating: 4/10 (26 June 2008)

Here's a cool film that sadly won't make it into my DVD collection when it gets released. Why? Well, because I already have it! Admittedly, my version has a different name, different actors and, despite being even more fantastical than this one, is far less insulting to my intelligence. What is this DVD? I hear you cry. Well, it's The Matrix.
To say Wanted borrows a few elements from The Matrix would be like saying that the white settlers "borrowed" some land from the Native Americans. The characters, situations and effects are all there with only the thinnest of disguises (i.e. name changes and rationale) to distinguish them.
And let's think about the rationale....Adrenaline, in sufficiently large doses, can make you perform superhuman feats like leaping between tall buildings in a single bound and, with minimal additional training ( er...beating) you can make bullets curl around things! McAvoy's terrible attempt at an American accent, Jolie's innate....rubberiness....and a hundred and one other annoying things all grate on your nerves after a surprisingly short while. Add in the ridiculous over-the-top action sequences and physics? What physics? mentality and the whole thing just begins to stink like a week-old kipper.
Target audience? I'm really at a loss to think who might find this entertaining for more than a few seconds. So I'll be kind and suggest that only those desperate to plumb the depths of movie hell watch this. For everyone else, dig out your Matrix copy. It's less unbelievable.