If you believe real world physics is important, this is not for you!

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2008)

In classical Greek mythology, three sisters, known as "The Fates" were responsible for allotting life spans to humans. One of the sisters spun cloth which represented a human life, whilst the last sister cut the cloth, which ended a human's life at some point in time. "Wanted" offers a variation on this story with a millennium old secret society, known as "The Fraternity" supposedly reading cryptic writings found from clothe they weave and thus determining who 'fate' has decided to terminate. The Fraternity are assassins with almost super-human capabilities.
That is the prelude to this movie. We are then introduced to Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) in the present day. He is a put upon office worker who secretly wishes for a better life. One day it appears that someone is trying to kill him and Fox (played by Angelina Jolie) comes to his rescue and informs him that he is descended from a member of The Fraternity.
Eventually Gibson decides he wants to be part of The Fraternity and become an assassin like them. His initiation is very brutal and bloody, so, on that level, this movie isn't really suitable for youngsters as the violence and gore is quite confronting.
Stylistically, this movie is a bit like The Matrix...using similar kinds of visual effects. If you like realism in your movies, this popcorn fantasy/action movie wont be your cup of tea. Jolie makes a playful yet deadly assassin-it's an interesting performance.
This movie will appeal to people who like to daydream big...here, the central characters are like Greek heroes...demi-gods who dwarf the abilities of ordinary human beings. The Greek connection is also kept up with some plot elements...the story of Wesley Gibson has elements of Greek tragedy to it.
You can't honestly say that this movie always makes sense...incredible action scenes will hopefully make you miss all the plot holes of this movie. It's Hollywood style wish-fulfillment. The question is asked of the audience "What are you doing with your life?". The script-writers seem to imply that unless you are a highly effective killing machine, your humdrum life is worthless.
Presumably writing derivative scripts is a step up from Gibson does for a living.
A derivative but enjoyable movie. Very violent though. Not as good as movies it 'borrows' from, like The Matrix etc.
69/100