"Your name came up."

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2017)

James McAvoy plays nerdy account manager Wesley Gibson, the kind of guy who lets people walk all over him - his girlfriend (Kristen Hager), his best friend / co-worker (Chris Pratt), who incidentally is getting it on with the girlfriend, and his boss (Lorna Scott). To his complete surprise, he learns that the dad who abandoned him as a baby was in fact a member of a team of assassins. Hooking up with a sleek lady, Fox (Angelina Jolie), and tutored by people such as Sloan (Morgan Freeman), he decides that he will leave his humdrum life behind and embrace the idea of avenging his fathers' death.
It's not surprising to see that this was based on a comic book series. It does have a slick, over the top, sometimes cartoonish quality about it. It's often stylized to the point of insanity, with a nonstop barrage of CGI gags. If this is indeed meant to be viewed as a parody of "Matrix" type action / sci-fi movies, it works pretty well, because it takes ridiculousness to a whole other level. The world that our characters occupy is a world where bullets can be made to NOT fly in a straight line, but CURVE AROUND objects. The visual gimmickry on display can be quite amusing. This does offer some fun, and gets better as it goes on and the story deepens. Whether the audience members predict the plot twists or not, these twists do help to give weight to the saga, and by then it's hard not to root for Wesley. His story does have the appeal of any such tale that involves a "worm turning".
Freeman is good as always, and Jolie is cast in a perfect part for her. The solid supporting cast also includes Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, Marc Warren, and David O'Hara. But most of the heavy lifting is done by top billed McAvoy. On occasion, his character can be annoying, but he grows more endearing as he "grows a pair", so to speak.
Overall, one thing can certainly be said about "Wanted": it may be silly, but it's not boring.
Six out of 10.