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Loosely based on the comic written by Mark Millar with art by J.G. Jones, Wanted was released in 2008 and was directed by Timur Bekmambetov who also directed and helped screenwrite the Russian film Night Watch … which in my opinion, was a much better movie than this one. It also stars Konstantin Khabensky who plays The Exterminator in Wanted (the Russian with a fondness for rats). Wanted also stars James McAvoy (Wesley Gibson) as a young man bored with his life who gets pulled into a world of assassins. Morgan Freeman (Sloan) runs “The Fraternity” (a league of assassins) and of course sexy Angelina Jolie (my all time favorite actress) plays an assassin (Fox) as well as rapper and actor Common, who also plays an assassin. First off, I hated this movie, but that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy watching it because I did. I think this movie sends a bad message and it could be interpreted the wrong way by people who don’t realize it’s bunk and just enjoy it for all the action and hot shots of Angelina.

Begin spoilers-

The movie begins “A thousand years ago… A clan of weavers formed a secret society of assassins.” If you’re not familiar with the comic or the premise you might be saying, a clan of weavers??? Yes, a clan of weavers. The Loom of Fate gives the names of targets through a code in the fabric. That’s a little strange but alright. So we’re introduced to the boring world of Wesley Gibson who is so lame his girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend (I’ve been there!) and he does nothing about it. We even get to see her slapping the guy’s ass on their kitchen table while they’re having sex. Wesley narrates “I’m finding it hard to care about anything these days. In fact the only thing I do care about is the fact that I can’t care about anything.” Meanwhile his “father” who “abandoned” him when he was a baby is assassinated on the roof of a building, but not after jumping through glass from one building to another and killing four decoy assassins and even curving a bullet around a corner. This is the best part of this film, the super human like reflexes and action that continues throughout the movie. In the midst of Wesley’s horrible life they play Nine Inch Nails song “Everyday Is Exactly The Same” the lyrics go “I believe I can see the future, ’cause I repeat the same routine. I think I used to have a purpose…” So later, since Wesley has no desires and drive of his own, when he is recruited to join The Fraternity he goes along with it.

While getting medication for his panic attacks, he turns to unknowingly look at his “father’s” assassin before he turns back and gets the best surprise of his life to find Fox standing next to him. The best action sequence in the movie follows with Fox battling the assassin (Cross). She uses a neat gun that can be aimed around a corner with a camera. Then Wesley who stupidly runs away gets picked up in Fox’s sexy red car by her opening the door and spinning the vehicle around so he lands in the passenger seat. She then pushes out the windshield and drives with one foot while laying on the hood and shooting at Cross who is behind them. After they lose Cross, Fox plays “If You Like Pina Coladas” which I love because I also like that song, even though most people hate it.

When Wesley is confronted with joining the fraternity at first he is reluctant. He says “You’re Insane,” to Sloan who replies “No, insanity is wasting your life with a nothing when you have the blood of a killer flowing through your veins.” So I guess everyone who has the power to kill people they think are bad or someone who is the child of a murderer should kill people??? This is where the bad message starts creeping in. So just because someone treats you badly it gives you the right to retaliate? I don’t agree with that. Once Wesley decides to join the fraternity he tells his overweight mean boss that if she was nice he would feel sorry for her but as it stands she’s just a bitch and says “Go fuck yourself.” Then his best friend says “That was awesome bro, who’s the man?” to which Wesley replies “I’m the man,” and slams his keyboard into his best friend’s face knocking out a tooth. When I was in his shoes I wanted to beat my friend into a pulp but that doesn’t mean you give in to those feelings.

When confronted with his first assignment Wesley can’t bring himself to pull the trigger. “What did he do that he deserves to die? You don’t know.”  he says to Fox who then tells him a story about a horrible murderer that killed her father who could have been stopped by a fraternity member. “We don’t know how far, the ripples of our decisions go. Kill one, and maybe, save a thousand. That’s the code of the fraternity. That’s what we believe in, and that’s why we do it.” After hearing her heartfelt story he has no problem pulling the trigger the next time around. In fact, after being chastised for apologizing too much earlier in the film, he kills the next target with a sarcastic “I’m sorry” as he flips his car upside down and kills the guy through the sunroof. He shows no respect for human life and feels nothing when he kills him (this man he knows nothing about), but flipping the car around and shooting him through the sunroof is pretty cool hence the liking/not liking the film.

In the end it’s revealed that Sloan’s name came up on The Loom of Fate as well as every other member of the fraternity so Sloan started manufacturing his own targets. He even gets Wesley to kill Cross, who turned out to be Wesley’s real father. With an elaborate idea he got from The Exterminator, Wesley gets a bunch of rats and ties explosives to them then dumps them at The Fraternity so he can get to Sloan. He tells him “You’re not an assassin of fate, Sloan. You’re just a thug who can bend bullets.” After realizing her name had come up Fox curves her bullet and kills the rest of the fraternity who is standing in a circle, including herself. First off, I used to have pet rats and I hate this scene. Before the bombs go off time even slows down matrix style and a rat gives a pitiful little squeak before being blown to smithereens. Second, why did he have to kill all those fraternity members to get to Sloan? They didn’t know they were being duped so why didn’t he try telling them first? Third, why did Fox kill herself??? Wesley’s name came up but he didn’t kill himself. Like she wouldn’t be able to resist not killing again? She couldn’t handle being on the same list her father’s killer was on? She believed in the code too much? At the end of the film Wesley tricks Sloan with a decoy and kills him. Wesley says “This is me taking back control of my life. What have you done lately?” It completely glorifies and justifies the killing humans, and rats for that matter.

End spoilers-

Now, I’m not some crazy person who thinks that every movie has to have a moral but when I think it sends a bad message I just can’t endorse it, even if my girl Angie is in it. Most of it’s really cool with lots of nice things to look at, but after the film is over it just makes me feel bad about the human race. That’s me though. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it for kids, but for guys mostly, I’m sure if you like things that go boom you won’t have a problem with this movie. In fact, you’ll probably love it.

The Movie Lady
themovielady@comicattack.net