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I remember first seeing the trailer for Wanted during the Superbowl January 2008. I was immediately hooked and counted down the months till I could watch this guy flick. For the most part I am sure the target audience is males ages 14-42 (even though it's rated R). The trailer gave little details other than there was a fraternity of assassins that were saving the world by killing bad people.

The release month was scheduled for the end of June and I decided I was going on a Saturday night the weekend it was released. The previews rolled and weren't that encouraging. I tend to find strong previews for great movies, production studios tend to try and group the previews with the movie the audience is there for. The Death Race preview with Jason Statham looked a tad ridiculous and like a complete rip off of the Roger Corman classic with Sly Stallone.

All skepticism ended once the movie started. From the very first scene the movie draws you in with its absurd reality. These assassins are clearly not your normal human beings but rather super charged killing machines. Right as the rouge assassin flies out of the window to the next building I suspended disbelief and decided to shut up and enjoy myself. That was the best decision I made that night.

Timur Bekmambetov is the visionary director that brings this tale to life. I kind of recognized his name but couldn't put my finger on it till I got home. The special effects seemed somewhat familiar and I thought I've seen effects like those before. Checking imdb.com I found that he directed the critically acclaimed Nightwatch series with the final installment of that trilogy due out next year. If you have not seen Nightwatch I suggest you buy it and enjoy.

Angelina Jolie is pretty much a solid moral assassin named Fox that helps kidnap our leading man, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy). Your girlfriend may recognize James McAvoy from the movie Atonement. Wesley is a chump going through life living in his cubicle at work. His best friend is having an affair with his girlfriend. His boss abuses him and Wes just sucks it up as he puts one foot in front of the other just to make it through the day.

Wes suffers from anxiety, which is actually a rare condition that allows his heart to beat super fast and slow down time or more accurately heighten his senses to give the appearance that time has slowed. Fox kidnaps Wes and takes him to the Weavers Guild, which is actually a secret fraternity of assassins who train him in the art of killing. I don't want to give away the twist so details are sparse beyond that.

Wes must kill the rouge assassin who murdered his father (the former best assassin in the world). Betrayal ensues and the ending comes and goes. After that I sat in the theater and was amazed by the movie I just saw. Every once in a while you get to a flick that exceeds expectations on such a scale that it changes you perception of that genre.

Action movies will never be the same after seeing Wanted. The scenes were too vivid and too fun to overlook. The audience I went with actually cheered a few times in the movie, the whole audience clapping and hooting, it was awesome. Now before you pluck down good money to see this understand that I look for new experiences in movies and not everything I recommend is for everyone.

If you are willing to suspend belief and lose yourself for two hours then see this movie. If you want to be entertained and actually feel good about spending $10 on a movie ticket then see this movie. This movie is like watching Fight Club, The Matrix, and Nightwatch at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Learn more about this author, Erik M. Dell.
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