Wanted – a movie review

When a person goes to see a movie with Angelina Jolie in it, are they intending to see a movie with substance, deep meaning and that is thought provoking?

No.

Are they planning on seeing a movie that will make them smarter, stronger, or more knowledgeable of the world we live in?

Nope.

Are they perhaps going to see a movie that will make them more compassionate of their fellow man, and kinder; more gentle?

Nyet.

I'm willing to bet when a person goes to see a movie with Angelina Jolie in it, whether they are male or female, it's because she is hot, and hot on a level that makes even ugly people around her look good (perhaps there is hope for some of us in the audience??)

So anyhoo, Wanted was a big draw for both me an my husband. He tried to make me believe it was due to the action the movie promised, but he knew that I knew it was because he was hoping to get a boob shot of Angelina. Hell, we both were, but neither of us admitted it.

Loosely based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, Wanted is the story of Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, a fellow who is somewhat of a mo (i.e. moron) who is going nowhere with his life. His boss is a total shrew; his girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend; his bank account is overdrawn more often than not, and if it wasn't for bad luck, the dude would have no luck at all.

Enter Fox (Angelina Jolie - thought I am sure the character name is just a coincidence.) She seems to take a special interest in Wesley, which is a bit odd considering he is a geek and she is the total opposite. It seems someone wants Wesley dead and Fox positions herself as Wesley's very own bodyguard.

Come to find out, Wesley is the son of the "Fraternity"s most acclaimed assassin who was recently shot down by a traitor. It's at this time we learn that the Fraternity is a group of "special people" (not the short bus kind) who possess "special" skills (again, not the short bus) that make them the perfect killing machine. It is their destiny to save thousands by killing one. The one they kill is decided by a giant loom that weaves (by osmosis mind you) the name of target victim. The Fraternity does not question the loom or it's targets. They simply kill.

Wanted is pretty much a non stop roller coaster ride of action. From the word go, we've got bloodshed and mayhem. It's great for a "shoot-em-up-bang-bang-dead" kind of movie, which I love! Die Hard is a prime example of this type of movie, and Wanted definitely fits the profile.

So the Fraternity, headed up by none other than Morgan Freeman, wants Wesley to join them, and eventually take out the fellow who killed his father. With Wesley finally being close to the man he never knew, anticipation of a purpose and reason begins to take over, and soon revenge is all he can think about.

With Fox and Sloan (Morgan Freeman) as his mentors, Wesley endures the Fraternity's painful and bloody teachings in an attempt to discover himself, his inner strength, and to reach the level needed to finally take out the man who took his father away from him.

This movie, though primarily designed for not much more than entertainment value, is filled with storyline twists and turns that if you aren't playing close attention, you might miss (surprisingly I caught some while my husband was clueless. And he wants me to believe he wasn't there to see Angela. The asshole!)

The finale is climatic and unexpected and when I left the theater I was totally satisfied. That's something that alot of movies can't seem to deliver these days.