WANTED is another showcase for very visual director Timur Bekmambetov who amazed with films NIGHT WATCH and DAY WATCH.  WANTED makes his first film directed in English and for a major Hollywood studio.  WANTED matches the visual force of his other two films that American audiences have seen.  It blows the roof off and it even pushes past IRON MAN as the best big budget summer movie so far.  It has humor and plenty of eye dropping action.

Wesley (James MacAvoy) is an account manager living a dull existence with a girlfriend he can't stand (and being screwed by his friend).  Wesley is a push over until he meets a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie).  Soon he is propelled into a group of assassins named The Fraternity (which ahs been around for 1000 years).   They interpret messages from a loom which tells which person that Fate wants dead to prevent the world from slipping too much into chaos.  Wes doesn't want any of it, but he discovers his father was an assassin who was killed by Cross (who betrayed the Fraternity).   The leader of the Fraternity, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), wants to have Wesley embrace his destiny as an assassin and learn to curve bullets.

WANTED starts with an action sequence and then slips into the funny and yet painful life Wesley lives.  Then it erupts into action as it mixes humor and some character development along the way.  WANTED is a mind-blowing action film.   Angelina Jolie stands out as the nearly silent Fox while Morgan Freeman chews scenery.   WANTED continues the trend of incredible sci-fi action films that Universal has been releasing this year with two more to come.  Wesley questions Fate only to learn sometimes messages in a loom aren't all they're cracked up to be.  The way the assassin shoot and kill are something to equal the bullet time sequences in THE MATRIX films.  WANTED continues the trend of Timur's strength as a visual director and I can't wait to see his next sci-fi action film.  This one has a few twists like NIGHT WATCH and DAY WATCH.  Go see this one now so we can see a sequel.

this DVD review is (c)6-29-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional content at http://enterline-media.tripod.com and http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com