The best action movie in years.

Rating: Null/10 (13 April 2009)

I had been away from movies the whole last year, so just last month, i bought all the good ones of 2008 on DVD (I think so), and watched them one by one. And I thought that "Wanted" was the best action film of the lot. Let's start with direction, Timur Bekmambetov isn't the best in business to flesh out characters and stress necessary plot points, its still hard to imagine someone else doing his job though. Had it been an American director in his place (or British), we'd probably be watching this movie through Rose colored spectacles, where everything goes right in the end and the film's hero tells us how sorry he is on his past actions and promises to work hard from than on to save America from an impending disaster in Wanted 2. There is NOTHING like that and director Bekmambetov sees to it. Instead, this is a very nasty movie about a bunch of super-villains (super-assassins for the movie) whose ideas of redemption and right/wrongs differ vastly from the rest of the mankind.
Leading the cast is James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, a loser who's just found out that he is not, after all, a loser and he does a good job. To support him is Angelina Jolie with her "don't look at me like that" and "mind your own business" kind of attitude, which completely diminishes any chances of a Bruce Banner/Betty Ross kind of relationship. Finally, Morgan Freeman is as good as ever as the cold-blooded and deadly assassin leader. The rest of the cast doesn't have much to do and simply keeps the lead ones busy.
The film's main weakness lies in its screenplay which is senseless and leaves a lot to be desired. We're never told how the leadership is changed in the Fraternity and how the leaders know how to work out the Loom of Fate. Nor is it made clear that why a thousand year old society has come to operate in Chicago. The film also throws a ridiculous looking twist halfway through which was visible a mile away. A lot of story elements were compromised to make way for the incredible (albeit physically implausible) action scenes which make up the bulk of the film.
Talking about action sequences, Wanted's version of physics would probably have made Einstein cry aloud in hell and left Newton rolling in his grave. What with characters using each other's vehicles as jump-pads, shooting someone in the head from miles away and ,well, bending bullets. That still is no more unbelievable than someone sprouting webs from his hands and someone else flying at super-sonic speeds. These guys are super-villains remember.
Wanted's biggest strength is its free spirit which safely guides it through. If you are looking for an action movie with over the top action and some good performances, look no further.