Tuesday, January 6, 2009

WANTED

WANTED
James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, Terence Stamp


"Choose your destiny"




The main attraction of this film are the kick ass stunts performed by Angelina Jolie. And I'm sure there will be people who will say that Jolie herself was the main draw. I'd have to agree on both counts. Because frankly if not for those adrenaline pumping action scenes, this film won't really appeal to ordinary moviegoers.

A group of assassins calling themselves the Fraternity set out to kill 'bad' people whose names are deciphered using a loom of fate. Sounds preposterous I know. A plot only plausible in comic books but since they decided to adapt it into a film, somehow the idea or the whole premise works to the advantage of its main character.

Wesley Gibson is portrayed by the indefatigable James McAvoy who unfortunately loses his sexy Scottish accent for this role. An ordinary accounts executive stuck in a job he hates with a girlfriend who is cheating on him with his best friend. Things though change for the better once his past catches up with him. His life is suddenly thrust into a world of high powered guns, assassins and death defying stunts. A complete turnabout from his old boring life. A reluctant phase where he discovers talents he never knew he had and superhuman killer instincts he rather not acquire. He is ably trained by a group of highly skilled experts in the field led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and Fox (Angelina Jolie).

The film is filled with the training sessions of Wesley, his 'adventures' as an assassin and ends with a invariable twist where the cards are turned against him, dare I say in a good way. I did notice something I found odd. The fact that the transactions details in the ATM scenes were in Russian and not in English. It just seemed out of sync with the rest of the film.

The stunts are visually appealing with CGI shots of a bullet curving in slow motion. As well as Angelina Jolie merely pouting her alluring lips while performing incredulous action scenes. The acting was good with Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy taking the helm by pumping some much needed depth into their characterization. The editing was alright, it didn't numb your senses with non stop action scenes. It actually had a valid storyline, mind you. So this film isn't a total waste of your precious time.

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