Published on 06/30/2008

newspaper length movie review of Wanted

Movie Review: Wanted

Explosion in the Office!

I left my computer desk this weekend and thought to myself, “I really shouldn’t be thumbing through my nose on the way to the movies. Surely someone will see.” But the urge pushed me on and I firmly understood the meaning of hopelessness. Of course I was in no mood for any movie! All I wanted was to go to sleep and wake up the most important man on Earth. Life was crumbling down when I reluctantly paid for my ticket to Wanted and pushed my way through the aisles. I was not alone.

My accomplice in crimes against the self: Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy). Wesley is the typical office sucker whose job is to, well, suck and be repeatedly told how much he sucks. His life is pathetic. He hates his job, his girlfriend’s cheating on him with his best friend, and he’s utterly dependent on anti-anxiety meds. But that is all about to change when he meets the deadly fox, Fox (Angelina Jolie). He quickly learns from Sloan (Morgan Freeman) that he is among a very small minority of people with the ability to create massive amounts of adrenaline and testosterone in order to do magic things with bullets, running, and driving. When Wesley learns that his father (David O’hara) has been killed by a man named Cross (Thomas Kretchman), Wesley greatly desires to use his testosterone to reap vengeance. Unfortunately, he must train before doing any cool bullet magic stuff.

The film is great because it made me realize that I too am an office sucker who can jump out of buildings! I haven’t attempted it yet because my adrenaline and testosterone levels aren’t nearly as high as Wesley’s. With that said, this film obviously is a little ludicrous. I mean, seriously, can I jump out of a glass window without getting tons of cuts? Like I said, I haven’t tried yet, but I’m pretty sure that it can’t happen. Jolie’s main role in the movie is to smile, and I like it. McAvoy is such a nerd, period. And Freeman is the Godfather, again. I definitely recommend this movie.