Brutish Violence Porn - What were Jolie, Freeman Thinking?

Rating: 2/10 (6 July 2008)

My wife and I haven't walked out of a movie in nearly a decade, but we gave up on "Wanted." Lured in by the stellar cast and a positive review by David Edelstein, we were expecting dumb, loud, summer entertainment with great production values.
What we got was violence porn: "Sin City" without the high style or prevailing sense of loss and regret. I was worried that I was going to find a bloody tooth in my popcorn.
Don't get me wrong. I have no illusions about what sells movie tickets or who buys them. Major-studio Hollywood has long been a purveyor of grisly, loud, slo-mo, blood-spurting violence. But used intelligently by a skilled film-maker, it can be provocative and compelling: David Cronenberg's most recent films ("Eastern Promises" and "History of Violence") are shot through with explicit, gut-churning mayhem, but they don't revel in it. "Wanted," on the other hand, wants you to savor the thrill of every blood-spattered smack of bullet or fist. The first hour of the movie exists largely as a vehicle for the torture of James McAvoy, served up for our delectation and amusement.
Lord knows there's a big market for that stuff, and I suppose we shouldn't be expecting anything different.
But what's confusing here is the presence of distinguished, A-list actors. Angelina Jolie has generally shown better script sense: she's always fun to watch, but the blunt-force trauma of "Wanted" is light years away from the effervescence of "Sky Captain ..." Morgan Freeman has squandered his natural authority by appearing in this spatter-fest.
Maybe the heretofore charming McAvoy needs the money, but surely Jolie and Freeman can be choosier? If this is what they've been reduced to, why don't they just get to the point and sign on for "Hostel III" or "Resident Evil IV"? Terence Stamp? Thomas Kretschmann? I respect these actors and their work. They can, and must, do better than this.