Under the Knife – WANTED

by Beeslo

(he’s wanted in 36 countries…and on da freakin’ Moon!)

Based off of the popular comic written by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass, Ultimates), Wanted is an expose of ultra violence and deep conspiracies where main protagonist, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is thrusted into a secret underworld organization that deal in global assasinations. We immediately feel connected with young Wesley as it seems the entire weight of the world is pounding down on his shoulders with unrelenting force and dealing him ever sour hand in the card deck. He spends his time at a job that he hates, being vocally abused by his boss and spends the remainder of his day with his equally abusive girlfriend who happens to be screwing his best friend behind his back…even though he’s completely aware of it. He is the doormat of society and he seems trapped in it…that is, until a father he never knew dies, is killed, is assassinated.

With a single bullet, Wesley is introduced to a secret organization called The Fraternity who for thousands of years have controlled the fate of the world and changed the course of history through assasinations. It turns out that his father was the best assassin The Fraternity had ever seen and he was now dead, leaving everything to his son including his gun. This sudden change in direction in Wesley’s life encourages him to take a stand with his life and commits himself to learn the art of being an assassin, a vocation it seems he was born for.

It is at this moment that the movie Wanted seperates itself from its comic book counterpart and everything afterwards is an entirely different story. However, where for most comic book adaptations this would be considered a terrible decision, for Wanted it is a pretty wise one. In the comic book, Wesley isn’t introduced to a Fraternity of assassins but rather he is introduced to a Fraternity of super-villians who have controlled every aspect of the world since 1986. Yes, super-villians as in Doctor Octupus, Magneto, Lex Luthor…those type of super-villians where his father was amongst the most famous of them all, simply called The Killer. In the comic book we meet various types of super-villians from a genius toy maker who designs deadly, unsuspecting weapons to a villian who is literally a walking piece of shit (made up of the shit from 666 of the most evil men who ever walked the Earth, to be specific). But like I said, changing the direction of the story into a more realistic setting is a wise decision in this case.

The movie’s plot centers more around Wesley’s desire to hunt dow the man who assassinated his father and along the way, he begins to question the very thing that assassins do: kill people. Thus Fox (Angelina Jolie) enters the picture to train him and focus his concentration on his natural talent to slow down time, so to speak and kill whoever he has his sights on. Being the first person Wesley encounters in this new world, Fox plays the part of the cool teacher who hardens and strengthens her pupil so that he can face reality. The character of Fox is also a big departure from the comic, but once again it seems a rather apt change in this case. Jolie brings more depth to the character and actually gives the audience a chance to peer more into the character’s head than was ever allowed in the comic book.

However, the one thing this movie shares from its comic book roots is its over the top brand of ultra violence. For the next two hours, you will be treated to some of the most over the top dealings of gratuitous violence that hasn’t been seen since the first Matrix film. You like slow motion shots of bullets boring through a person’s head? Do you giggle when you see a rat explode? How about using a person’s face to prop up your gun as you blow others away? If you said “yes” to a majority of those, then you will love Wanted and its level of violence. Honestly, I’m sure I have seen far more grotesque displayings of violence in other movies, but Wanted delivers the violence in an almost poetic fashion where one wouldn’t be completely surprised that this movie was inspired by a comic book.

Aside from the violence the acting is rather top notch in this film. James McAvoy does with Wesley what Keanu Reeves couldn’t pull off with Neo in the Matrix…actually puts emotion and humanity into his character. In all honesty, McAvoy’s performance is what makes this movie truly work. Without him, the audience has nobody to connect to and would feel very disconnected to the movie’s plot. You can’t feel but root for him throughout the whole movie as he learns the secrets to his hidden talent as an assassin. Dubiously trained by Fox, Angelina Jolie does a fairly good job playing the sexy mentor with an obscure past. During one scene, we actually do learn more about her character than you ever would from the comic and Jolie does a pretty great job at revealing it.

And then there is the character of Sloan played by the always great Morgan Freeman, who just adds an undeniable level of coolness to the movie. Sloan, leader of the Fraternity, guides young Wesley into the world of assassins and reveals its secrets to him. While a completely original character to the film (meaning, found no where in the comic), Morgan Freeman’s character serves as a lynchpin for Wesley and the audience as we learn more about this hidden underworld. No matter how fantastic or weird the situation, Freeman is able to talk about it in such a fashion that in the end it sounds completely normal and commonplace. Which leads me to my theory that no matter what movie it is, Morgan Freeman will make it so much better. It can be a really bad movie, and you will still leave the theater thinking, “well, at least Morgan Freeman was pretty cool” and you will feel that just his prescence made your theater going experience worth while. So with a movie like Wanted, which would be a pretty entertaining romp of violence and mayhem on its own, gets propelled further on the enjoyment scale just because Morgan Freeman is there. I tell you, there’s no better feeling in the world than hearing Freeman saying, “Shoot this, motherfucker!”

So bottom line: If you like a Matrix type plot, mixed in with scenes of ultra-violence and great performances (including Morgan Motherfuckin’ Freeman), then you should enjoy this film immensely. Is it the best film of the summer? Nope. But it definately is a good escape from summer where you can just sit back and watch people get shot in the head over and over again.

3 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI