Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Kretschmann
Released: June 27, 2008

As many have said previously, Wanted is a movie that should suck. When I first saw the trailer, I thought it looked absolutely ridiculous… something of a revamped Transporter starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and that guy from Last King of Scotland. But after taking my seat in the theater and watching the first 10 minutes or so of the movie I realized something. Yes, this movie is ridiculous. It’s outrageous and unbelievable. But you know what? It’s a damn fun movie.

Wanted follows everyman-turned-assassin Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), as he transitions from a lonely, pathetic existence as a miserable office worker with a horrible boss, cheating girlfriend, and complete douche of a best friend to a bullet-bending, hardened killer on fate’s payroll. After meeting fellow assassin Fox (Angelina Jolie) in a pharmacy, Wesley is quickly thrust into a world of blazing guns, incredible car aerobatics, and an immense overdose of adrenaline. Watching Wesley ditch his old life in gloriously tell-off fashion was greatly rewarding, as were the steps he had to go through to become initiated in The Fraternity, a thousand year old brotherhood of assassins. Morgan Freeman is excellent as always as The Fraternity’s leader Sloan, and the rest of the supporting cast fit in perfectly as well, from the knife-wielding Butcher to the face-pounding Repairman.

As a whole, the movie plays out somewhat predictably with a number of twists and turns throughout that try to keep you guessing who the real villains are. If you’re able to figure out the twists before the come up, trust me, you’re not the only one in the theater that was ale to piece it together prematurely. But either way, the action is what takes center stage here. The stylistic vision of  Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, who’s best known for his vampire flicks Night Watch, Day Watch, and soon to be released Twilight Watch, makes this film really rise beyond many people’s expectations, including my own.

To put it lightly, violence is quite abundant in this film. It’s not often you get a closeup perspective of a bullet erupting from a man’s forehead in all of it’s slow-motion glory. A train derailment scene later in the film had me grabbing onto my seat, and when it comes to car chases, it’s hard to beat Angelina Jolie putting the pedal down on a Dodge Viper. Everything about this movie is in-your-face and meant to get your blood pumping. Not since Shoot ‘Em Up, another absurdly enjoyable violence extravaganza, have I had as much fun watching a movie in the theater while completely allowing my perspective on reality to fade away.

So if you want a movie that will change your entire perspective on the world and everything in it, then you need to see something else. Try out The Love Guru… I hear it’s quite inpirational. But if you want to munch on some popcorn, turn off your brain and just have a good time at the theater… you can’t do much better than Wanted.