Wanted
I am not the most prolific comic book reader. That isn't to say that I don't plunge myself into the depths of great graphic stories and super heroes but it is less that the regularity I want out of it. Partly down to funding, partly down to my attention span but neglecting the epically crafted stories has always been a bugbear of mine. When is have, however, there is always a movie involved (except with Deadpool because, fuck it, Deadpool is amazing). Anyway despite all this I has always stayed clear of Timur Befyhvjitf's Wanted because it was one of the first comics (if not the first, I was a late bloomer) that I read so it's unique story was close to my heart and I knew already that they changed a lot - specifically the parallel universes and going around killing heroes bit. I digress.
This pointless decision came to an end when it ran in conjuncture with my "James McAvoy is the greatest actor of our generation" feelings and I finally dug in to the film. Which now, sitting back and ruminating on the pair, Wanted was a perfectly acceptable and often better version of the tale. Well, not exactly - it's completely different and somehow it works well under the title - which not a lot of comic fans would agree but still I digress.
The film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov the same man who gifted us Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter so you know that there is some level of ridiculousness here, follows the tale of lowly office worker Wesley who is feeling all kinds of shite. His Best Friend is sleeping with his Girlfriend, his boss is a unrelenting bully and he is subject to horrendous panic attacks. When he bumps into Fox at the local market, and winds up in the middle of a shoot-out, he ends up embroiled into a league of assassins named The Fraternity, who kill every name that comes up on a mystical loom. As he learns all the skills of being a trained killer, he soon uncovers a plot surrounding the murder of his father and a double crossing agent named....erm....Cross.
There's a comment about this film that it is like a twelve year old boys wet dream made with the help of those cheap ass energy drinks you see this select group drinking. That’s a very fair observation and not entirely untrue. But that doesn't make it entirely a bad film because, frankly, going into a film about master assassins that can curve bullets around objects and Angelina Jolie as pretty much the only viable female character that isn't some sort of caricature of men's futile anxiety, you are going to get it. Wanted delivers it - and then some. It is by no means a "switch your brain off" movie but the action is so slick, plentiful and sublime to watch that you'll be hit with a curved bullet of adrenaline that makes you scream, “Yeaaahhhh" as soon as it hits the screens. Wanted uses the action to develop the story with this combination of slow motion and speed, soundtracked by McAvoys bewildered then developed wailing. The film doesn't care and just wants you to have a good time, which you'll have heaps of!
The chemistry between the actors works too. I don't think I've mentioned this before but McAvoy is an actor to invest in. He can switch effectively to accents and give you that office shluck role well enough for you to relate to him. Then becomes this amazing action hero that is running on the tops of trains and shooting "bad guys." He is absorbing, giving different levels of his character that shifts and develops with the tale, making Wesley his own. Jolie has amassed a bucket load of chemistry with him whilst still being strong and capable enough to create her own violent thread of exposition and character. And who doesn't want to see Morgan Freeman as the old wise guy quo turns out to be quite shady? No one, that's who. Besides, there is an epic scene where Charles Xavier smashes a keyboard in Peter Quills face - the film is worth it for that scene alone.
There's also a note here that could generally help people with panic attacks realise that it's part of their make up and nothing to be ashamed of. Or that might be me reading too much into it. Basically, Wanted is that shot of kinetic energy your brain needs. It's a power fist to the air that screams; "fuck yeah." Really loudly.
Ok. Maybe too loudly.