Wanted (2008) *½

The premise for Wanted is an intriguing one. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) has always felt that he was a nobody cruising through life with no prospect of anything better ever coming along. Then he finds out he has a unique ability which makes him an ideal candidate for a secret fraternity of assassins. Obviously many people can relate to the fact that their lives are meaningless and are awaiting the day they find out they are unique in a particular way which will allow them to overcome the dreariness of their lives. However with this film, the premise is so poorly executed and the characters are so shallow and unsympathetic that it takes what could have been a personal, enthralling story and dashes all hopes of it reaching its potential, much like Wesley before he is recruited.

There are many powerful dramatic devices and tragic circumstances in this film which would normally provide for engaging drama. The awakening of a man who thought he was a perpetual loser, overcoming the ethical implications of murdering someone in cold blood because of faith that you are doing the right thing and most importantly being set up to kill your own father and the betrayal that comes with trusting these people to help and then they have you commit your worst fear. All these premises are glossed over through the course of the film and are replaced with action sequences, which is normally befitting of a summer blockbuster. Obviously a film cannot survive on these action set pieces alone and this film most certainly proves that. Wanted does get out to a rousing start with Wesley at the supermarket and meeting Fox (Angelina Jolie) for the first time. A gun fight immediately ensues with Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), the man blamed for the murder of Wesley's father. An exciting and adventurous car chase follows with Fox leaning out the car's windshield to shoot back at the pursuing assassin. We are then introduced to the Fraternity, full of anonymous thugs aside from the leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman).

The rest of the film plays out with the revelation that Wesley has been lied to from the beginning and the remaining action sequences of the film: his confrontation with Cross and his take down of the Fraternity no where reach the same exciting levels as the opening sequences. The last ten minutes mainly consists of a bunch of slow motion shots of Wesley killing people left and right. If the story had taken any time to develop the characters and we could see the change Wesley makes from normal office lackey to maniac killing machine, the audience could care more about his character by witnessing the struggles and dilemmas he must confront on his journey. Fox is given the same treatment and her final motivation to kill the remaining Fraternity members and take her own life is not apparent. Is she doing this for the bond she supposedly developed with Wesley over the course of the film or because she does believe in the loom of destiny and that all its assignments are gospel? The film barely scratches the surface of any character and at the end we are left with Wesley who was finally able to avenge his father. Where to go next? I'm not sure I care all that much.

Favorite moment: Wesley's first empowering step into his new life involves his direct confrontation with his overbearing and bitchy boss. Being an office employee myself, it is easy to imagine the day when you call tell that person what to go do with themselves and how good it must feel to retaliate after so much abuse. Gibson takes extreme delight initially but then ends the scene with a softer and more hurtful explanation of how the office really views her as a person. The subtlety and finesse shown here will not be seen again and even the hilarious button of smashing his keyboard into his best friend's face all constitute a scene that shows that the film as a whole had high potential