Review by Brian Tallerico

The guilty pleasure of the year has finally arrived. The movie that you'll be slightly ashamed to admit you secretly love - and that you'll probably end up watching on cable long after the "bigger" movies from Summer '08 have faded from memory - is called Wanted, a bloody slice of escapist action that this overly serious season desperately needed. If you want to use your brain this weekend, see Wall-E. Then turn it off, buy a ticket to Wanted, and strap yourself in. Except for a few storytelling hiccups, action fans won't be disappointed.

Like a classmate of the Wachowski Brothers who glanced over their shoulder a few times when the boys were working on The Matrix, director Timur Bekmambetov (the director of Night Watch and Day Watch) clearly bows at the idol of Neo. The set-up for Wanted, which is loosely based on a comic book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, is very similar to the opening act of The Matrix. The Mr. Anderson in this situation is Wesley Gibson (James MacAvoy), a meek cubicle drone who watches his best friend bang his gal while he's at work and gets abused by an overweight boss. After a very unusual day at the pharmacy, Wesley learns that his recently-deceased father was a legendary assassin, a member of The Fraternity, a group of merciless killers who operate right under everyone's nose and bow to the orders of “The Loom of Fate” (don’t ask…you need to see it). Guided by the mysterious Morpheus, I mean, Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and the uber-sexy Fox (Angelina Jolie), Wesley leaves his humdrum life behind in favor of one with bullets that don't fly in a straight line and people who can essentially bend time. However, the Fraternity has a problem. Someone is killing off its members, and Wesley is, apparently, the only man who can stop him. But, of course, it's a lot more complicated than just another hit.

And that's what works about Wanted. It’s more complicated than your average, by-the-numbers action movie. Sure, it has elements that are reminiscent of The Matrix and a few other killer-in-leather action flicks, but it also has an original edge, courtesy of its better-than-average ensemble and the gleeful visual style of its director. There's a car chase early in the film - when Mr. Gibson is being saved by Fox - that is simply a must-see for action fans. It’s one of the best action sequences of the year. When Jolie punches out the front window of the car she's driving and hangs off the hood with guns in each hand, the kid in me who grew up loving John Woo movies came to life for the first time this season. And he was smiling. Honestly, the car scene is so good that it kind of throws a wet towel on what comes after it. Bekmambetov doesn't really come close to topping it for almost an hour, and that's the main weakness of the film. He allows the middle act to get dragged down with training and too many "I'm not ready for this" double-takes by MacAvoy. When he does come back to the action, in a train sequence that's also a must-see, he does so with both guns blazing.

Wanted may not stand up to The Matrix overall - it's not nearly as ambitious - but it does feature something that film did not - quality performances. McAvoy has developed into one of the more interesting actors of his generation, Jolie can do this kind of sexy killer thing in her sleep and still look amazing, and even Morgan Freeman seems to be having a blast. (At least more than he did in The Bucket List.) He understands that Wanted isn't meant to be taken seriously. It's the kind of thrill ride that they used to make more often during the summer season - an over-the-top action movie made strictly for adults. Keep your superheroes. Give me more of these.

Rating: THREE BONES

Release Date: June 27th, 2008

Rating: R

Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Terence Stamp, and Thomas Krestchmann

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Writers: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan