Review: Wanted

Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov

Written by: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan

Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann

Rating: [3.5/5]

Entering a stage of mundanity comes as a rite of passage for adults where we live in this repeated cycle where a lack of excitement comes an as expectation. Wanted puts us right in the middle of this mundanity and takes its lead protagonist through quite the journey and uncovering something from his past bringing a lifestyle he never quite thought would include him. 

Working a desk job he hates and needing to contend with serious bouts of anxiety, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) begins to learn his life can amount to much more. In fact, he learns his father was part of an elite assassin group now led by Mr. Sloan (Morgan Freeman), who seeks to unlock Wesley’s full potential where the anxiety does not indicate weakness but rather quite the skill. 

Buoyed by its initial marketing on the good looks of Angelina Jolie and the idea of being able to curve a bullet, Wanted sought to operate as quite the unique comic book adaptation. Having some rough edges in moments, it undoubtedly does as it presents a type of story we’ve seen before about someone who does not know their lineage has set them up for much more than they initially thought but it provides some awesome action set pieces. Creativity becomes the name of the game in this feature and it results in quite a good time. 

One thing’s for sure, this film has quite the stylized presentation. Right from the onset when we see Wesley dealing with his bout with anxiety the film captures it in a manner that displays how negatively impactful it can be on Wesley. Whether or not it accurately exhibits the impact of anxiety I will leave for others to judge but it certainly presents it as an oppressive experience that never relents. Learning this operates as a feature and not a bug in Wesley’s ability certainly puts a fresh spin on it for the young man and learning more about it unravels this whole new world of danger. 

Operating as an action film, Wanted certainly delivers on bringing something new to the plate with how it presents its kills. The entire idea of curving a bullet demonstrates this unseemly ability for these assassins to essentially bend the laws of physics to their whim and when Wesley gets into these bouts where he thought his anxiety was taking over actually presents a moment where he can have a level of concentration and precision where the guy could shoot the wings off of a fly. That’s some next-level skill there and it gets put on full display throughout the film to an entertaining degree as Wesley gets better. 

Where the film does drop off comes from a fairly predictable and not very interesting plot regarding this secret fraternity of assassins that live by these silly rules and pretty much dominate the majority of the narrative. The places it goes do not do much to upend or do anything quite interesting leaving an impression of what could possibly have transpired with an organization such as this one. It makes sense why Wesley would become enamored by being a part of it, especially when his father existed within it for many years but it just never particularly goes beyond something quite basic, which certainly does not inspire. 

With all of that said, Wanted seeks to entertain in ways that stand out in ways other films of this particular genre do not and we received just that. We receive a lead character who has plenty to learn about this society along with himself as he learns his perceived weaknesses actually serve as a strength. Each of the sequences where these assassins demonstrate their sick skills with their weaponry makes for some fun moments to take, but when we get bogged down on this fraternity and all that it encompasses, it gets pretty ludicrous and stifles the momentum built. As a lead, James McAvoy does pretty well and much credit, as always, must go to Angelina Jolie who did much more than her character called upon but definitely still left quite the impression with her performance as Fox. Certainly, a film that receives a recommendation from me for what it does well in spite of what it does not.