Wanted Review

3.5 out of 5

Action

The Verdict

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Action fans who want stylish, over-the-top shootouts. It’s rated R for strong bloody violence and language, so it’s for adults.

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Synopsis

There’s a secret group of assassins called the Fraternity and they try to bring balance to the world of today. Wesley Gibson (McAvoy) is the son of a very capable assassin named Cross. One day, he meets Fox (Jolie) during an encounter in a grocery store. She brings Wesley to talk to Sloan (Freeman), the leader of the Fraternity, about the recently attacks on the brotherhood. Sloan tells Wesley that someone is attacking the Fraternity and Wesley is the only person to stop this guy. He must learn the ways of being an assassin.

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Producers: Marc Platt

The Good

The concept of curving a bullet was good. It was explained well in the movie and the execution of it was nice. It’s an effective tool when you’re going against a hidden target. It brings variety to the ways you could take out a target and the line of sight you need for a clean shot.

James McAvoy did great in this role. You see the levels of emotion from the Wesley character. One moment he’s a scared guy and the next he’s filled with confidence. Wesley had a lot of amazing kills through the film. His best shot in the movie is in the last scene with him recreating the long distance shot to kill Sloan was amazing. It was cool to see his pull of the same exact shot like his father in the beginning of the movie.

The deception of the identity of Wesley’s father was done well. This will still stay as a good point to the movie even though the explanation closer to the end of the movie seemed a bit clunky. It was hard to figure out if Mr. X in the beginning of the movie was actually the father or just some random assassin.

The Bad

The thought of having Wesley taking on the entire Fraternity by himself was crazy. He just learned how to curve a bullet and he’s able to take on highly trained killers. It makes the Fraternity look weak because one freshly trained kid outsmarted and outclassed them all.

The loom of fate was an interesting piece of equipment but it made no sense in the movie. It’s a loom that gives names and each person in the Fraternity had their name come up at least once which would lead to the destruction of the group. They could just go out and kill different bad targets and it would have made better sense than following an old loom.

Originally published on the Bring On The Reviews Blogspot blog on May 11, 2014.

Wanted (2008) Cast and Details

Wanted (2008) is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. It runs 110 minutes and is rated R. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Godzilla review.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

It would be a different movie if Wesley didn’t kill his father during the confrontation on the train. They could have teamed up and took out the Fraternity together. It would have been a great thing to see on the screen. Question of the week: What are your thoughts about the plot twist with Cross’ character?

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