Wanted [2008] - DVD (Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman - Dir: Timur Bekmambetov)

As the impresario behind gravity-defying Russian blockbuster Night Watch, it's inevitable that Hollywood would come calling for Timur Bekmambetov. With a studio budget and an international cast, including two Oscar winners, Timur cooks up a Hong Kong-styled actioner bursting with fast cars and big guns. Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson (Atonement's James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross (The Pianist's Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity's brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he's ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn't telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge. For those who've been following McAvoy's career to date, Wanted will surely come as a surprise. In adapting Mark Millar's comic series, Timur offers buckets of blood and a smidgen of depth, but fans of The Matrix and Mr. and Mrs. Smith will want to give this one a look. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews of Wanted [2008]

godzilla78
northern ireland
1st December 2008

Bad, cliched, Dreadful...
I thought the dark knight returns was the worst film i'd seen all year.....until i watched this! Bad, bad acting (or what is supposed to be acting)and the big book of cliches is used at every opportunity. James Mcavoy starts the ball rolling with his pathetic, wet character and silly american accent but he's not half as bad as Jolie and Freeman. Angelina pouts quite a lot and strikes a variety of poses from a kay's catalogue whilst shooting the bad guys. Morgan Freeman wears his smart suits and speaks with authority but he just sleepwalks through the film. Add in the utterly daft plot, dialogue written by a 10 year old and you get a poor hollywood film which has no plus points what so ever. Avoid.

Dante Drachensturm
Eastbourne,England
30th November 2008

Modern action classic
Having recently endured a 24 hour flight to New Zealand,i had some relative solace from the passenger in front lying on my lap. I watched this film a total of 4 times on that flight,and can honestly say it didn't get boring,once. For sure,it has plot holes that a family of elephants could comfortably live in,and it's "unrealsitic",but then what film is "realistic"? Every single one features something called acting. The film itself is gloriously entertaining,with the finest use of slow motion i've seen in a long time.The car stunts particularly stick in my mind.For every action film cliche it steals,it comes up with plenty of new ideas,and the story is well paced,never bogging down with slushy sentamentalism or overcooked dialogue. In short,this is the perfect film to disconnect your brain,sit back and let it mesmerize you. If you enjoyed Fight Club and The Matrix,this kind of sits between the two of them.Bending bullets... ( :

S. Radford
UK
26th November 2008

Loads of special effects but no characters and no plot
If you like special effects and loads of mindless (and dramatically pointless) violence, with no context or any attempt to create a moral justification (or even an amoral explanation) for the actions of the chacters, then you might just enjoy this film.

The plot is apparently based on a super-villain comic book (or "graphic novel" as prefer to call it) and the film is equally flat and two-diemensional. It is neither intelligent or exciting and the special effects simply become a monotonous background to a plotline which is so ludicrous (and frankly unpleasant) that after the first half-hour you stop caring about it. The characters are mostly mere cyphers, or else quite loathsome, but as none of them is explained or built-on in any way there is no reason to care when they meet their various grisly ends.

If you enjoy an intelligent and well-scripted plot, with characters that are either believable (if fantastical), or sympathetic, or just interesting in some way, then don't bother to watch this film.

The people who might enjoy this film, or empathise with any of the characters, are those with a short attention-span who think that celebrity and fame are things of value in themselves. The message of the film, if it has one (and the very last scene seems to indicate that the makers think it does), seems to be that a boring, unimaginitive tosser with a dead-end job who nobody has ever heard of, can achieve success, excitement, notoriety and self-fulfilment by killing people.

Even the main actors, top names though they are, seem to have been bored rigid by this film. Morgan Freeman plays the same character he always plays (he is perhaps the most sympathetic character as he is the only one who commits murder for an understandable purpose - personal gain) while Terence Stamp seems to be asleep during his (brief) scenes. The real disappointment however, is Angelina Jolie, who looks just awful - a haggard, botox-overdosing and unattractive actor playing an equally unattractive character (maybe her grim physical appearance is deliberate and meant to contribute to the film's ambience ..... but I doubt it).

If you really want to see this film then watch it on telly in a year or two, or sooner if you pay for Sky-Movies (more fool you...) but don't waste your hard-earned wages on buying the DVD. You would be better off taking your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse to the pub instead and spending time with real people rather than badly-drawn comic-book characters.

Empe
Italy
24th November 2008

Ratsaction movie
Strange film. An action movie with a confused plot, very good action scenes (with brilliant special effects) a good cast (but McAvoy is not the best for the role) and a "good" cerebral ending (with the "disgusting" and hyperbolic "bombrats" scenes). But mix in a confused matter themes like friendship, loyalty, honor, paternal love, and so on.
Perhaps is a movie too complex for the "simple" minds and too "simplex" for the complex minds.

Gem G
UK
24th November 2008

One of the worst films I've ever seen
Do not part with money for this film, it is absolutely terrible! I'm only giving it a 1 star as 0 stars is not available.
I honestly cannot think of any redeeming features or parts to this film, also if you own pet rats I don't think you would appreciate the promotion of total cruelty to animals or the total glorification of violence.
Awful awful film.