Laramie Movie Scope: Wanted

Mindless, but entertaining supernatural action film

by Robert Roten, Film Critic [Strip of film rule]

June 28, 2008 -- I wasn't expecting much in the way of science when I went to see this based-on-a-comic-book action movie and in fact there is no science at all to it. The movie is filled with nonsense about people with supernatural abilities that defy the laws of physics, but nevertheless this stylish movie works. Russian director Timur Bekmambetov has made a movie that is as slick and visually exciting as any I've seen since “The Matrix.” The intriguing main character and the Star Wars-inspired script also helps make this film interesting.

Unhappy, mild-mannered office worker Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy of “Atonement”) is recruited by a hot assassin, Fox (Angelina Jolie of “A Mighty Heart”) to join a super-secret guild of assassins masquerading as weavers (I'm not making this up). In a secret room of their textile plant, the head assassin, Sloan (Morgan Freeman of “The Bucket List”) reads a binary code woven by destiny into a secret fabric that indicates the next assassination victim. The assassins carry out the assignments without question. Only Sloan is allowed to interpret the messages from the fateful loom. Gibson is recruited because his father was an assassin and he inherited his abilities. He is able to slow down time and he can make bullets swerve in the air, like a baseball curve. His first test is to shoot the wings off airborne flies. Gibson's training consists mainly of assassins beating the holy crap out of him. He is then placed in a special healing solution. This brutal process is repeated over and over again. Great basic training, that.

In one scene, an assassin with similar abilities causes a bullet to fly in a complete circle, striking multiple targets without slowing down. If a person really had this kind of telekinetic ability, he certainly wouldn't need bullets to kill people. He could simply use his power to squeeze a person's throat, lungs, heart or other vital organ to kill them. He could stab them, using his mind, with any handy sharp object or bludgeon them to death with any handy object of sufficient heft. Those are all very easy compared to making a bullet curve and they require less force exerted and less pinpoint accuracy. The whole premise of the story is absurd. In another scene, a guy runs through a building at about 100 miles per hour. In another scene, a guy deflects bullets with knives. It makes no sense, even if you accept the rules of this cinematic universe. There is some attempt to vaguely explain all this away on adrenaline and an accelerated heart rate, but that doesn't explain these amazing abilities at all.

There is also a lot of talk about destiny in this film. The word is mentioned about as much as it is in Star Wars. I think destiny is an outdated concept, a mechanical, cause-and-effect Newtonian view of the world. It predates, and doesn't take into account, chaos theory, or quantum mechanics, or the uncertainty principle. In addition to the old idea of destiny, there are other old ideas in this film that remind me a lot of some Star Wars themes and others that go all the way back to Oedepus Rex thousands of years ago. Maybe it is because these are old ideas that they are also universal and powerful. There are some interesting twists in the story and it does keep you guessing right up to the end. Given the nature of the story, there is some very graphic violence. This is no movie for kids. There are also some big holes in the plot, but who cares? It is good, mindless summertime entertainment. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .

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