Wanted

Synopsis: James McAvoy suppresses his accent, tells off his Office Spacian boss, becomes a bullet-curving uber assassin.

Oh John Woo and your double-fisted bullet ballets, how your progeny multiply. Firm is your grip on Robert Rodriguez and the Wachowski brothers. Your adrenaline washed bullet-time soaks the action genre from video games to blockbusters. Your reach is far, enough to lure Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov, away (briefly) from his vampire flicks.

And we are grateful.

You can argue its closer kinship to The Matrix rather than Hard Boiled, but Wanted has a very familiar feel despite whatever copulation of films spawned it. McAvoy is certainly not a new character: a slight and pasty cubicle worker who discovers he is actually a god who can make projectiles curve, hop, spin, and perform dance selections from Cats. He’s picked up by a skinny priestess of death with a weird name and informed of his awesomeness. Grueling training ensues, oddly named heroine kinda likes him, and somebody is a traitor.

It’s a sound formula.

So what makes it different? Besides the cast of new comer McAvoy, old comer Jolie (I was surprised to find out she’s still in her thirties), and ancient comer Freeman, the film tosses in a heavier than usual dose of humor. Little messages appear in slow motion moments, rats explode from P.B. ‘n E’s (peanut butter and explosives), and there’s a strange obsession with energy drinks. Combined with the now pretty standard hyper-action, fast cars in intercity chases, and smatterings of clever dialog it paces the film nicely.

There’s even a little bit of a twist.

I would rate Wanted as “in theater.” It is worth the price of admission, probably best viewed on the big screen, and solid fare for John Woo’s table.