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You 'Wanted' action? So did Bekmambetov

By Steve Persall, Times Film Critic
In print: Thursday, June 26, 2008

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Action has a new name, and it's hard to pronounce.

Work on saying "Timur Bekmambetov." Judging by his English-language debut Wanted, we'll be talking about this Russian director's violent gee-wizardry for years.

Wanted is a deliriously kinetic experience, based on comic books, yet so wickedly grounded that even its silliest mayhem is deadly serious. Or maybe you don't think bullets can change direction in flight or smash one coming from the other direction. You will. Bekmambetov has fetishistic slo-mo closeups to prove it.

At the film's core is the neo-Matrix mythical hero, an everyman drone craving something exciting in his life, and knocked for a loop when it arrives. Bekmambetov creates a geek's daydream of power washed in blood, capped by a closing-line challenge to our timid sides.

Wanted isn't a unique concept; fans of Fight Club, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, even The Empire Strikes Back will find plenty that's familiar. Yet the movie is so propulsive, practically shoving viewers backward in their seats with G-force, that they may not notice.

James McAvoy makes an unlikely but convincing action hero as Wesley Gibson, a cubicle jockey on antidepressants he clearly needs. His boss dislikes him, his girlfriend has strayed, both with good reason. A grocery stop changes everything, as he's whisked away from a gunfight by the mysterious, aptly named Fox (Angelina Jolie).

Wesley learns from the equally enigmatic Sloan (Morgan Freeman) that his father was a member of the Fraternity, a centuries-old order of assassins covertly keeping the world in order. Fraternity members have super sensory powers, which include bending those bullets, which Sloan believes Wesley inherited. If so, with training he can avenge his father's recent murder.

Fox becomes Wesley's mentor, putting him through masochistic exercises. Whatever doesn't kill Wesley makes him stronger. Whatever wounds him is healed in some kind of wax bath. Wesley requires a lot of wax. McAvoy erases all memories of Narnia and Atonement with a spot-on American accent, a buff body and a convincing arc from wimp to terminator.

Jolie plays the ballistic sex object to sleek perfection, never betraying her character's motives right up until Fox's final target. Somehow the lack of depth works in Bekmambetov's deadpan approach to ludicrous situations. Jolie's hyper-graceful ways of aiming and dodging are in perfect tune with the director's stylish violence.

Wanted is a rare action movie that left me wanting more: a second viewing, a sequel, or just to check out the comic books. Above all, I'm willing to revisit Bekmambetov's Russian vampire flicks, Night Watch and Day Watch, to understand how he missed attention before. Maybe those darn subtitles got in the way of an exciting, visionary cine-gunslinger.

Steve Persall can be reached at persall@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8365. Read his blog, Reeling in the Years, at blogs tampabay.com/movies.