Wanted ~~~~

Wanted: sex, violence, dark comedy, violence, more violence.

Reward: James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, two of the hottest film stars of the moment kicking ass on screen.

This is quite a film and possibly the best translation of comic book to screen in recent years (although I am still waiting for 'Hellboy II' and 'Batman' to make appearances later this year.)

You can't really say much about action films except that they're actiony then go on to add comments about any other stand-out bonuses to the genre. This film is sexy. It's fast. It's dark, oh so dark.

My viewing partner and I both enjoyed this flick tremendously although said partner was hacked off with the running narration from McAvoy. This became the only view we disagreed on regarding this film. I thought the narration added an even darker, more sarcastic, overtone to the film (especially setting the tone at the beginning) whilst partner thought it was unnecessary due to the visuals doing the same job. However, it's a really stupid story. Take one young man, allegedly destined for greatness, and scoop him up from his dreary and embarrassingly underwhelming life and dump him into a world of gun toting, knife welding, kick ass super-agents who want to train him up to become the man his father never could be.

Angelina is the greatest hard-core female agent I've ever seen on screen. She's awesome - literally. How can you not love this woman? (But what would the old school feminists say? Oh, heck a girl's gotta let off steam once in a while...) McAvoy is superb as the nerdy, bullied office monkey turned superhero. But why couldn't he have kept his wonderful Scots accent??? Morgan Freeman plays the head honcho under whose orders the gang respond to and in whose headquarters all the agents live happily together in a weirdly bloody weaving factory come training camp.

Without giving it all away, McAvoy is drafted into the team and is rewarded with physical powers beyond his imagination. He also gets the opportunity to dish some some sweet revenge on his bratty girlfriend and shitty best mate. You'll agree that this is their just deserts once you see the film and how they treated this once mild-mannered fellow. There's plenty of blood and pain dished out in the training and even more once in the field. The agents get their 'hit' orders from a code which appears in the warp and weft of the fabric created by a ginormous weaving machine... go figure.

Lots of stuff happens. It gets dark. Then it gets a bit darker. Then it goes slightly silly then it ends. Bang. There's double crossing all over the shop but frankly, I'm sure most viewers didn't even give a damn who's on whose side. I certainly didn't although I know if there's ever a sequel, all bets are off as to who's left to star in it! Enough said.

After all that silly, violent darkness, I have only one real criticism. I just wish Danny Elfman would cool it with the overblown and therefore totally offensive sound tracks. I've had enough. Really. Less is more Danny. Take note. I know you're good at what you do but heck, give Clint Mansell a chance. He knows what he's doing, too.

Jolie and McAvoy are gorgeous and work hard to keep the pace flowing. It's a totally indulgent and ultra violent, but very clever and extremely visually creative and stunning, film. And after all, which other films can claim to have made an ancient skill exciting again? No, I don't mean hand to hand combat or even a martial art... Weaving has never been so cool!

(Viewed 25/06/08)