I am one of the people who almost immediately wrote off this film from the trailers as lame, over-the-top, and ridiculous. I predicted not only that it wouldn’t be any good but that it would be flat out bad.
But my liking for the director, after his imaginative double-punch Night and Day Watch, and for most of the cast, in particular rising star James McAvoy, and a sense of curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see Wanted despite my reservations. Well, I am one to hold up my hands, eat some humble pie, and wholeheartedly admit when I’m wrong; Wanted is awesome.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Wanted tells the story of an ordinary man, Wesley Gibson, with an ordinary, boring life who one day finds out he is the heir of one of the greatest assassins who ever lived. He is then recruited and trained by a thousand-year-old organisation known as The Fraternity.
I can’t see anyone not being at the very least entertained by Wanted. The action sequences are immensely exciting and enthralling, there’s an abundance of swearing for anyone looking to get their fill, there’s lots of cool guns and gadgets, and it moves along at such a fast pace that it would put Superman to shame. It’s like a huge pot filled with all the necessary ingredients for an over-the-top action flick turned up to the highest heat possible and some fireworks thrown in for that extra kick. As an audience we get thrown head-first into the mix.
It seems like nothing can get in the way of the up-and-coming James McAvoy. Starting off on British TV and small budget stuff, he was then was seen by the millions who turned up to see the first Chronicles of Narnia film, and of course put in a fantastic performance opposite Keira Knightley in last year’s excellent Atonement. But the big question now is can he pull off a full on action hero role? The answer is completely and unequivocally yes. As fantastic of an actor as he is, I had my doubts whether or not he would be believable, and that’s the first and last time you’ll hear me use that word, in an action role but he completely is. It's very evident that he’s been putting in the time at the gym and he also looks like he’s trained to do some of the non-special effects stuff we see in the movie. It looks like McAvoy is making a checklist of different kinds of roles he can play and ticking the boxes one by one. I just wonder what’s next on his list.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments