Movie: Wanted

If I was a teenage boy, I know I’d be a comic book geek. How do I know this? Because some of my favorite movie franchises are based on comic books. There’s just something about them – they rock. I love when movies have entire character histories and canons of thought. LOVE IT.

I knew that “Wanted” was based on a comic book, so I kind of knew what to expect going into this movie. I had heard the grumblings about casting choices (supposedly the comic book version of Angelina Jolie’s character was literally based on Halle Berry), grumblings about the plot separating a bit from the canon of “Wanted” comic books, etc. However, since I haven’t read the comic books and don’t know the canon of them, I was able to go in accepting the movie just as it is.

And I LOVED LOVED LOVED this movie. I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD so I can own it. I loved it that much. It was funny, snarky, action packed and VERY well-written. It had a bit of that “Fight Club” I-am-Jack type dialogue in the narration, which I found slightly distracting because in my mind it was an obvious I-am-Jack “Fight Club” homage. And some of the action scenes were a bit chaotic on the big screen because there was so much to see, but those things didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

Paraphrased from imDB:

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a neurotic accounts manager who works in a small cubicle. He allows his boss, his girlfriend, and his best friend to walk all over him. To cope with his life, he takes anti-anxiety pills by the bottle-full. One day he meets a beautiful woman, Fox (Angelina Jolie), who changes his life forever. Fox was sent to protect Wesley from the man who had just killed the father he never knew. Wesley is recruited into the “Fraternity,” a secret society of assassins of which his father was a member, in order to avenge his father’s death.

James McAvoy makes me squeal like a preteen. He’s not traditionally handsome, but he’s still hot. And his American accent in this movie was very well done although occasionally he’d say a word or two with a hint of his super-thick Scottish brogue. And while I’m not a fan of Ms. Jolie AT ALL – AT ALL, people – I can’t stand her – she was good in this movie and actually looked kind of pretty in a couple scenes. Morgan Freeman rocks, as always, and did well as the leader of the Fraternity.

The reviews are out and are very favorable about this movie, and with good reason. It’s a thrill-ride that should be on everyone’s “must see” list this summer. I can’t think of any real reason NOT to give it a full five stars – I liked it that much. But since it wasn’t a perfect movie (a few too many F-bombs for my liking couple with the I-am-Jack thing), I’ll dock it a smidge.

4 1/2 wristwatches on rats out of five.