Wanted

Rating: 5/10 (3 April 2011)

This film was quite bigged up during release, it looked like it would be full of big explosions, guns blazing and stuff, and the cast was a big draw for me as well, so I watched. Basically Wesley Allan Gibson (National Movie Award nominated James McAvoy) is the anxious and clumsy office clerk with a boring routine, an unfaithful girlfriend and an abusive boss, and to get over it all he takes stress tablets. On a regular day he meets the mysterious, sexy and beautiful Fox (National Movie Award nominated Angelina Jolie) who informs her that his father, who he never knew, is dead, and then the guns start blazing as the man that apparently did it is after them. His father was a member of the ancient organisation known as The Freternity, and was killed by the skilled and powerful hit-man Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), who betrayed them. What Wesley thought was high anxiety, which he was taking the pills for, is actually a talent he adopted from his father, giving him the ability of high speed reaction and highly accurate vision, therefore he joins The Fraternity, commanded by Sloan (Morgan Freeman). They obviously want him to kill the man who killed his father, and they start training him to have the same skills they have, such as catching high sped things and bending bullets, and from this he gains a new personality and attitude. Eventually he is ready to face danger and go against Cross, and it all comes to a head on a train, where Wesley does kill the assassin, only to discover this has all been a setup. It was in fact Cross that was his father, so they tricked him into killing the father himself, as he was the only person he would never have killed, and obviously he is next. After a few more chases and stuff, it all comes down to a final showdown, where it seems all The Fraternity are brought together and there is something that means they should really all be dead, so Fox ends it all, and Wesley gets his final revenge on Sloan in the end. Also starring Terence Stamp as Pekwarsky, Common as The Gunsmith, Kristen Hager as Cathy, Marc Warren as The Repairman, David Patrick O'Hara as Mr. X, Konstantin Khabenskiy as The Exterminator, Dato Bakhtadze as The Butcher, Chris Pratt as Barry, Lorna Scott as Janice and Sophiya Haque as Puja. Jolie is cool with her smouldering face and similar flare she brought to Lara Croft, McAvoy does well with the American accent and being the wimp that goes thug, and Freeman does alright in his time on screen. The action sequences with some visually amazing special effects are the big reason to see the film, the Matriz style moments are a tiny bit laughable, but that is part of the fun, a not bad action adventure. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated the National Movie Award for Best Action/Adventure. Worth watching!