Wanted

Teasers and trailers established Wanted as a must-see summer blockbuster right from the start. Hello, from the previews alone, bullets defy the laws of physics to curve a shot and drifting becomes the new pullover to pick up passengers. However, the movie can only be enjoyable once you accept and overlook the ludicrous stunts that come in abundance during the movie's duration as possible within the movie’s realm. But while it might seem fake in almost every aspect, Wanted nonetheless is the sort of movie that keeps you on your toes, biting your nails with sudden yelps.

The ever-versatile James McAvoy plays the whiny cubicle-inhabiting loser Wesley Gibson, who has a borderline abusive boss, a cheating girlfriend and a dingy flat directly next to a noisy train route. So one day, he gets whisked from routine to the lair of the Fraternity, a cult of inviting deadly assassins. He subsequently learns that a member gone rogue is on a current killing spree, having murdered his father the day before. Wesley is then reluctantly assigned to kill the killer until he discovers that his father’s assassinating skills were hereditary and that he can shoot the wings off flies. Then the training ensues and the hungry hunt begins.

As the deadly sultry assassin, Fox, Angelina Jolie is back in Mrs. Smith mode, a niche she truly owns. While composed and alluring at the bat of an eyelash, she performs to par with her cheeky glint. James McAvoy, however, drives the movie with the transformation of a disillusioned loser to the super ripped killing machine. Kazakhstan director Timur Bekmambetov binds brilliant acting skill, dialogue and plot into an action-packed flick that goes beyond the Hollywood convention. In playing with sped-up and slowed-down sequences, he portrays the staple car sequences and fight scenes to a new level of pizzazz, while maintaining inventive intensity. While it does portray the physics of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, it has the energy, the wit and the intelligence to make it entertaining cinema viewing.

Cast James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman Director Timur Bekmambetov Runtime 110 minutes Opens 26 June

Text Claudia Low