Anxiety-prone office drone Wesley Allan Gibson's (James McAvoy) chances of dramatically changing his life are nigh on nil—until he's recruited by a secret society of assassins headed by the sinister Sloan (Morgan Freeman) to exploit a skill Wesley doesn't even know he has: the ability to fire a gun in such a way as to make the bullet curve. Under the tutelage of seductive, aptly named Fox (Angelina Jolie), Wesley becomes a somewhat reluctant but effective killing machine. Sound ridiculous? Well, of course it does, but just like similar modern-day movies that turn comic books into marginally plausible movies, Wanted tries to bring a patina of believability to the proceedings, with Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch) backed by an impressive array of talented craftspeople: from cinematography to set design to stuntwork to special effects, the film boasts a level of fastidiousness that extends to the tiniest detail. Unfortunately, no such care has been taken to correct the plot's silliness, flesh out the two-dimensional characters, or explain the plethora of physical feats that defy the laws of physics. Overall, however, this is still a tolerable complement to a bowl of popcorn. A strong optional purchase. (E. Hulse)
Wanted
Universal, 110 min., R, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $39.99, Dec. 2 Volume 23, Issue 6
Wanted
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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