Wanted (2008)

Written by Nick Da Costa | Monday, July 7, 2008 |

Swap a Chalk of Destiny for a Loom of Fate and what do you get? According to Timur Bekmambetov, soon to be cult director of recent Russian fantasy flicks ‘Nightwatch’ and ‘Daywatch‘, it’s a metaphysically muddled, sluggishly structured, yet insanely inventive action flick, ‘Wanted‘.

For a moment you think this film could be really something; the rather pedestrian opening of ‘Office Space‘ tedium and ‘Fight Club‘ emasculation is soon pumped up by a fantastic action sequence involving an assassin that can leap the spaces between skyscrapers, taking out assailants as he goes. It’s an exhilarating moment that combines the tempo shifting, hyper kinetic camera trickery Bekmambetov excelled at in both his last two films.

And he doesn’t let up, snapping our office drone loser hero Wesley (James McAvoy) from his catatonic state with a heady mix of a slick guncam combo firefight in a supermarket and a gleefully frenzied car chase with arguably the best passenger pickup seen in an age. If you don’t share that big smile slapped across the face of Wesley’s rescuer, Fox (Angelina Jolie) by the end then quite frankly you’re a fool.

Alas, it doesn’t last. It’s then the actual plot kicks in, and it’s a horribly verbose mess of metaphysical musing involving an ancient ‘Fraternity’ of assassins that maintain a balance in the world by plugging those fated to die. This coupled with a procession of training sequences that would make Rocky yawn and you’ve got a film almost shot in the foot; the best bits frustratingly stale from the movie’s trailers.

While a film like ‘Shoot ‘Em Up‘ revels in its B-movie excesses and never lets up with the pastiche, ‘Wanted’ takes the garish comic book colours of its source and outdoes it for sheer gun guignol and visual ingenuity (bullet curving is the new gun kata). And yet Bekmambetov forgets that sometimes fun can just be fun, ladling on the same gloopy mess of crazy mysticism that bored the audiences of his previous efforts. Even the actors look tired of it; Morgan Freeman slapped with the worst of it, doing his usual avuncular wickedness shtick to dull perfection.

It’s a shame because while McAvoy is a disappointment, though believable as a spineless wastrel, he looks uncomfortable in the action sequences, Jolie is fantastic, bringing all her best flirt and finesse to her role as teacher and femme fatale. Bekmambetov has a ball shooting her, producing some truly iconic poses and downright sexy camera moves as she fires a shotgun from the bonnet of a speeding car or dips low beneath a bridge. Clearly her work in ‘Tomb Raider‘ and ‘Mr and Mrs Smith‘ has stood her in good stead.

And it’s not to say the film is completely without merit on other levels, though it doesn’t share the breathless momentum of other action films, it does blow you away with some truly original action, slapping the same huge, adrenaline pumped smile on your face that you had earlier in the film. It’s just unfortunate it’s only in moments. It’s both Bekmambetov stamping his authority on Hollywood as an accomplished director and a warning lest he slips into a rut of camera trickery and overblown plot mechanics.

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