Wanted, however, is no jumper. It fires on all cylinders.It's a rollicking non-stop action ride that takes no prisoners and knows well enough not to take itself too seriously.
It is a bold twist on the Angelina Jolie as a dominatrix toughie. She's a key part of the whole story, but in the end, the movie belongs to James McAvoy, and he owns it. Jolie is simply along for the ride, and loving every scenery chewing minute.
McAvoy, whom I vaguely remembered from the first Narnia flick where he played a faun, steps up his game in this star-making role as a nebbish, cubicle-zombie turned bullet-flinging assassin. The fact that you buy into the ridiculous transformation, through some seriously over-the-top missions rests solely successfully on his shoulders.
A shout out to Chicago is in order too, as the city is just as important a character. I always love when movies really figure out how to use a city to help tell a story. Director Timur Bekmambetov's slick use of El Trains, downtown streets and the skyline itself is inventive and exciting. It grounds the outlandish in a pseudo-reality that works.
So too, is his deft balance between violence and gore. I am no fan of torture porn as it has exploded onto the mainstream movie scene. I am easily repulsed and taken out of the moment by Hollywood's recent morbid game of oneupmanship.Wanted has it's moments to make you squirm, but Bekmambetov clearly knows when to push hard, and more-importantly when to pull back. This is clearly an adult thriller, with plenty of ketchup to go around. But never did it seem completely gratuitous.
Implausible? Sometimes, yeah.
Predictable? On occasion.
Who cares? This isn't rocket science. It's just a summer popcorn action flick done very right.
I can't wait to see McAvoy get all Matrix on people again.
Between Wanted, WALL-E and Iron Man, hopefully Hollywood is listening. This summer, there is so much more to the box office than just warmed-over sequelitis.
