due to a spatter of good films i’d seen lately, i really didn’t think Wanted would measure up to the rest, so i basically ignored it.
good thing my friend was insistent about watching it. actually she had already seen it, but i guess she just wanted to persuade me that it was good enough for second viewing. also, i wasn’t in the mood for Hancock, so i gave in.
ok, more than halfway through the film i got convinced. and during the last 20 minutes i was half-cursing myself for not seeing this earlier. i initially thought it was more hype than anything, but after considering the movie from many angles i am now sure that it’s one of the better films i’d seen so far (2008).
angelina jolie (Fox) was — as expected — great. it’s almost downright easy to see her as this beautiful and lethal assassin who can kick your ass with a mere flick of her finger. james mcavoy (Wesley Gibson), although not the first actor you would automatically think of for an action flick like Wanted, does an amazing job as a reluctant recruit into a secret band of assassins. and morgan freeman (Sloan) has a heavy screen presence that would serve him in any role he chooses to portray.
if Timur Bekmambetov (director) had chosen to play Wanted (based on a comic book series by Mark Millar) as a straightforward story, it would have lost most of its charm and heft. The twist near the end made things worthwhile and more interesting.
[i’m seeing The Dark Knight for the second time tonight, so my review on this amazing movie will have to wait till then.]
vantage point 