PREMIERE'S REVIEW (posted 6/20/08)

Within the first five minutes of the action film Wanted, a trench-coated assassin flings himself through a top story window of a Chicago skyscraper and leaps balletically in slow-mo to land on an adjacent rooftop. A bloody, gravity-defying shoot-out ensues, and he's felled by a corkscrewing bullet ripping through his body.

This spectacular display of CG technology sets the scene for this action-packed romp, directed by Russian maverick Timur Bekmambetov and based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. Yet while its whippet-fast visuals are what primarily charges Wanted, its speedily unfolding plotline doesn't disappoint, with as many twists and turns as its characters' stunning mid-air moves.

In the film, hot Scot James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland) plays Wesley Gibson, a disgruntled Everyman and effete slacker who hates his office job and whose skeezy girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend. All that changes when Wes is recruited by Fox (Angelina Jolie), a tattooed seductress-cum-member of the Fraternity, a centuries-old band of expertly trained assassins. Their leader, Sloan, is played with unflappable cool by Morgan Freeman, and he has a mission for Wes: to murder the rogue villain (Thomas Kretschmann) who killed Wes' long lost father.

Thus begins Wes' Homeric journey, from his fists-in-face Fight Club-esque Fraternity initiation to his physical and mental metamorphosis into a gun-slinging avenger, led by Fox and Sloan. The Gunsmith (a steely-faced Common) and The Butcher, a knife-fighting master (Dato Bakhtadze), also guide Wes on his journey. Throughout the film, Fox acts as Wes' mentor, guiding the neophyte through every pull of the trigger, but Jolie's character feels less emotionally developed — her shining moment might be a sexy rear shot of her emerging naked from a wax-filled healing tub. It's McAvoy who stands out as the morally conflicted weakling-turned-warrior who discovers that he's a natural born killing machine.

If you're looking for memorable dialogue and gripping drama, then you better get in line for another flick. But if it's spellbinding special effects and high-wire acts you crave, Wanted should be at the top of your list for big budget thrill rides.

— Malina Saval