 | |
List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 1895
Released: December 2, 2008 |
| Our Price: $4.99 |
| Used Price: $2.74 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
A YOUNG MAN FINDS OUT HIS LONG LOST FATHER IS AN ASSASSIN. AND WHEN HIS FATHER IS MURDERED, THE SON IS RECRUITED INTO HIS FATHER'S OLD ORGANIZATION & TRAINED BY A MAN NAMES SLOAN TO FOLLOW IN HIS DAD'S FOOTSTEPS.
Description of Wanted (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition):
As the impresario behind gravity-defying Russian blockbuster Night Watch, it's inevitable that Hollywood would come calling for Timur Bekmambetov. With a studio budget and an international cast, including two Oscar winners, Timur cooks up a Hong Kong-styled actioner bursting with fast cars and big guns. Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson (Atonement's James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross (The Pianist’s Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity's brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he's ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn't telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge. For those who've been following McAvoy's career to date, Wanted will surely come as a surprise. In adapting Mark Millar's comic series, Timur offers buckets of blood and a smidgen of depth, but fans of The Matrix and Mr. and Mrs. Smith will want to give this one a look. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Wanted (Click for larger image)
Wanted (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
From Wanted to Being Energised 
2009-10-17 - EMPIRE made the comment, "Jolie has never been sexier". From the opening scene to the final, few minutes, WANTED is a white-knuckle ride with bending bullets, a car chase that 'll blow your mind, and one of the most spectacular train crash/fight scenes ever put on film. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac, with a humiliating boss and a cheating girlfiend. His life is going nowhere! Wes discovers that his estranged father has been brutally murdered-and finds himself thrust into joining a secret society of assassins, called the Fraternity. During his training, at the hands of a skilled mentor called (Fox), this once office-bound wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity. But, with his first assignment, Wes finds out that the only thing more difficult than ending the lives of others is summoning the courage to take control of his own.
Horrible 
2009-10-14 - This movie was horrible. Bad Acting and a stupid plot make for a horrible movie. Jolie should find a new line of work since she is not very good at her current profession. Save your money and most importantly save your time.
Awesome Order!!!!
2009-10-06 - Everything was exactly as I hoped it would be! So pleased with this purchase!
FUN FOR SOME ACTION FANS, BUT TEDIOUS AT TIMES! 
2009-10-05 - I like action movies and I can accept action movies that are silly, but this film is a slow starter and has some horrible dialogue! I'm sure it plays better to those who know the comic book this was based on, but for those of us who don't have a clue about the comic; this film will bore you at times. The good news is the second half is better than the first and it does have the beautiful Angelina Jolie in it.
Some will like this film more than others as you can see by the wide range of reviews on this site. It's not completely horrible, but I won't be watching this a second time any time soon.
A Meat Locker In A Textile Factory? 
2009-10-05 - I was going to really pan WANTED until I learned it is based on a comic (or graphic novel, or whatever they call them these days). So that explains all the utter gravity-defying nonsense and stupidity. Thing is, this film really had me hooked as James McAvoy narrates over images of his ho-hum life as a Chicago accountant with a surly girlfriend, a backstabbing best bud, and a size XXXXXL boss who likes to snap a stapler in people's faces. Yeah, perfectly dreadful, and McAvoy delivers with a tongue-in-cheek "whoa is me" style that had me craving to know more. . .until Angelina Jolie swoops in like a cartoon character and this flick loses rational control faster than flatulence at a bean diner.
Turns out McAvoy's character is the son of the Ultimate Assassin, member of a proud "fraternity" of assassins presided over by a smug Morgan Freeman--the same Freeman who doubles during the day as an executive for a textile factory (in a castle, of course) sporting a meat locker (no, I'm not making any of this up, trust me). McAvoy's father has just been killed--and his killer is now tracking McAvoy (egads!). Or is he? Or do we care? So McAvoy decides he's had enough living as a doormat and will fulfill his destiny by following in his father's footsteps. His training is laughable, but is supervised by a dour Jolie who every once in awhile at least gives us the courtesy of taking off her clothes. Then out into the world McAvoy's character goes, bending bullets with his mind and leaping trains and ledges and whatnot like you and I stepping onto a curb. There's a circle-of-death kill scene as climax that had me laughing uncontrollably, but in truth, the special effects are fun to watch, the gore is really gory, and Angelina would look good wearing army boots reading a phone book, so WANTED is worth a look-see. Laugh early, laugh often.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
