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Wanted (2008)

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Time Out rating

Average user rating

77 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Russian fabulist Timur Bekmambetov (‘Nightwatch’, ‘Daywatch’) must have spent a lot of time watching the ‘Matrix’ films before embarking on this action caper. James McAvoy is a nervy, stifled office lackey who is one day asked to join a secret fraternity of assassins by a heavily tattooed Angelina Jolie. Why? Because he possesses the innate ability to curve bullets with his mind, of course.

Based in the back room of a textile factory, the team receive orders to kill via the coded weavings of a magical loom. So far-fetched is all this (the threat of an army of exploding rats has already been made) that when overseer Morgan Freeman delivers the line ‘We call this… the Loom of Fate’, you won’t bat an eyelid. It’s already the lingua franca.

This is cinema for people who slow down at car wrecks: Bekmambetov takes pleasure in showing us a bullet slowly boring in or out of the cranium while taking great care in sculpting the resultant swirl of CG blood. McAvoy is reasonable in his first action lead, but offers a tin-eared approximation of the US accent that comes across less like the middle-class salaryman he is and more Jewish New York cab driver (think Bob Hoskins).

There’s an eccentric otherness to the film which just manages to sustain the interest, but whether Bekmambetov’s talents lie in filmmaking rather than gaming or comics is debatable.

Author: David Jenkins 2008-06-24 12:06:38

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Crawmer said...

Posted on Jul 28 2008 08:09 Looks flash, but no logic whatsoever. So the Wesley guy worries he's doing the right thing killing his targets, but thanks to him every man, woman and child on a train dies and the audience is still meant to care about his so-called problems?! Er, hello? 'What have you done lately?' he says later. Well, I haven't murdered 300 people mate... pretty proud of that.
Worst plot-hole ever. And worst mention of a loom in a movie ever. I am glad about one thing - getting to read Miles' comments... 1.the traffic police has turned 3 lanes to a single lane. Priceless.

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nathaniel said...

Posted on Jul 23 2008 11:02 My girlfriend and her brother and I saw this movie last weekend. When the "Loom of Fate" line was uttered, we couldn't stop laughing. This turkey knocks off Vanilla Sky as my worst ever film. Truly, you should recommend it as FANTASTIC to someone you really don't like - it'll be 110 interminable minutes of their life they'll never get back. Utterly awful. I'd give it a negative rating if it was at all possible.

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Henry Zakumumpa said...

Posted on Jul 19 2008 14:30 If you want a thoughtful film with depth, WANTED is not your cup of tea. But it is a real joy to watch. In many ways its a feel-good movie, at least it feels that way when you leave your seat at the cinema. All you have to do is to let your brain into recess and turn on the imagination burton. Its very akin to the Clive Owen film, Shoot Em'. The story is really a simple one. The James McAvoy character is a low-grade accountant with a small office cubicle at a mediocre accounting firm with a boss from hell.Our main character's girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend. He has an all round lack of application . He rents a lowly apartment near a noisy railway line and he is the butt of jokes at the work place. Unknown to him is the fact that he is the father of a hitman from a company called the fraternity. He is approached and told that his father has been killed on the job and that he has rare talents for being a hitman.He is then trained to become a hitman with the ultimate aim of having him avenge his father's death. The training is atrocious includes being able to bend a bullet to hit your target, running on top of high speed trains. There are twists and turn from that moment on including a suprise realisation ,abefore the close of the film . If you want action, bullets, Matrix-type air-borne shooting sprees ,fantasy fights,this is your kind of movie. The movie doesnt pretend to be what its not, you just figure that your are in for a fun time at the cinema. On a deeper level, WANTED is about personal redemption. Violence here
is some kind of therapy. The lead character overcomes his demons and mediocre life and begins to see himself in new ligh with his new found power and application. On another level, WANTED is a satire about living a frustrating middle class existence. Do you have the guts to turn around your life and kick ass? The very last line of the movie is, what have you done lately?
Angelina jolie lends her screen presence to this one and only plays a limited role in WANTEDbut its at critical points in the film. This film will not tax your brains but it invites you to suspend your brains for a while and release your imagination. If you can do that for about 120 minutes then its a guarenteed fun time at the cineplex.

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andy said...

Posted on Jul 16 2008 22:56 IT IS F>>IN SHIT

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Gill said...

Posted on Jul 16 2008 17:36 I thought this was a pretty great film in comparison to some shockers that Ive seen this year!! I do think you had to let your imagination go slightly - 'the loom of fate' is slightly farfetched. All in all I'd say this film is definately worth seeing if you have an imagination :)

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Lydia said...

Posted on Jul 15 2008 22:41 It was rubbish i hated it so much i had to walk out of the cinema!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Rochelle said...

Posted on Jul 15 2008 14:46 Great film one of da best ones out dis year
gd 2 watch if u have sum kinda imagination

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juilet said...

Posted on Jul 15 2008 14:29 I think someone needs to calm down slightly. Go and get some air!!

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Mike said...

Posted on Jul 13 2008 14:59 The 'loom of fate'!! - Morgan Freeman has been in some turkeys before, so he is used to saying crap lines with the impression of gravitas, but this was bad even for him. The plot was awful - how could anyone avoid laughing this idea out of court when the script was sent in with a plot based on a 1000yr old magic loom. And did James McAvoy need to be punched and kniefed as part of his training - and if there was a reason, why in such a graphic way? Its a shame that the use of stylised violence when needed, which other directors use with thought, and the great CGI, could not be more thoughtfully 'woven' together to make a good film..
and

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Louise said...

Posted on Jul 13 2008 13:40 On so many levels this is an appalling film. It was shocking to see so much totally pointless violence. In the current climate of youth gang-related violence, what sort of message it is to say, quit your boring day job and become an assassin to find fullfillment and work out who you truly are. The misogyny also does not go unoticed. What were the actors thinking? I'm no movie star but surely money isn't everything, especially to people who one assumes already have plenty. Angelina Jolie presents herself as an earth mother type, and to be in something like this it difficult to comprehend. James McAvoy, surely this the sort of trash that an actor would perhaps be in at the twilight of their career as a straight- to-video release (Morgan Freeman? Terence Stamp?!) but surely not someone so clearly in vogue. The plot was also threadbare in the extreme (pun intended). And why blow up rats? Nasty cruely to animals, again beyond entertainment. It saddens me that anyone could enjoy this film, it has no merit at all. Please do not waste your money. The lowest rating I can give here is 1 star, but giving it any is uncomfortable. This film should be banned.

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MILES said...

Posted on Jul 12 2008 06:24 a great movie with a code of honour and a great commentary on control in modern day corprate mess ,with the loom of fate as a great metaphor for today's chaotic world ,
jolie was great and i am surprised how some silly critics can criticise her for having skinny arms ,do super beings have to be muscle hunks even when they are as sexy as AJ,
ALSO FOR THE MAIN REVIEWER
people who slow down for car wrecks do so for
1.the traffic police has turned 3 lanes to a single lane .
2we are human and curious about fellow humanity.
3.we do like to say a prayer for the safety of the poor victims involved in the wreck .
Obviously the timeout critic does not see things from this perspective ,sodo you speed along without even a glance at the poor dead or sufferrring souls .what a real shame .

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ROMEO said...

Posted on Jul 10 2008 18:46 Clearly Juliet has some time as well. Coffee and then onto "Wanted" for a second viewing?

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jullet said...

Posted on Jul 10 2008 18:01 Clearly pepole have got allot of time on their hands

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Chris said...

Posted on Jul 10 2008 13:30 Absoluely awful. Left me numb. Terrible. (BTW - I love action films, comic-book films, and found Iron Man and Incredible Hulk to both be excellent)

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Rara said...

Posted on Jul 09 2008 20:30 Me neither, it's all good, none taken! Have a good one! =)

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