Wanted (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

Michael Brandt (screenplay) &
Derek Haas (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 June 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Choose your destiny.

Plot:

A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities.

Plot Keywords:

Fraternity | Assassin | Boss | Superhuman | Killer

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

James McAvoy	...	Wesley Gibson
Morgan Freeman	...	Sloan
Angelina Jolie	...	Fox
Terence Stamp	...	Pekwarsky
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Cross
Common	...	Gunsmith
Kristen Hager	...	Cathy
Marc Warren	...	The Repairman
David O'Hara	...	Mr. X (as David Patrick O'Hara)
Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	The Exterminator (as Konstantin Khabensky)
Dato Bakhtadze	...	The Butcher
Chris Pratt	...	Barry
Lorna Scott	...	Janice
Sophiya Haque	...	Puja
Brian Caspe	...	The Pharmacist

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Ireland:16 | UK:18 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Malaysia:18SG | USA:R (certificate #44457) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | South Africa:16 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U (with warning) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | Brazil:18 | Germany:18 | Argentina:16 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15 | Spain:18 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Peru:18 | Denmark:15 | Austria:16 | India:A | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Krizeneckeho namesti, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Vehicles featured include a Dodge Viper SRT-10 , 1966 Ford Mustang , Chevrolet Corvette [C4] , the police cars consist of Ford Crown Victorias and a 2000 Chevrolet Impala 9CI ,Elevated Subway Trains , Garbage Truck , a Chevrolet Step Van an Express Train and a 1971 VAZ 2101 Zhiguli.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: At the scene when Wesley is told to shoot the wings off the flies, Gunsmith holds a gun to his head. When he cocks the hammer back, there is a sound clip of a gun having the slide manipulated, not a click of a hammer.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Wesley: [voice-over] It's my anorexic boss' birthday. This means there's a certain amount of inter-office pressure to stand around the conference table, eating crappy food and pretending to worship her. Acting for five minutes like Janice doesn't make all our lives miserable is the hardest work I'll do all day. My job title is account manager. I used to be called an account service representative, but a consultant told us we have to manage our clients, and to not service them. I have a girlfriend who I neither manage or service. That's my best friend Barry fucking her on an Ikea kitchen table I picked up for a really good price. I'm finding it hard to care about anything these days. In fact, the only thing I do care about is the fact that I can't care about anything. Seriously, it worries me. My name is Wesley Gibson. My dad walked out on my mom when I was seven days old. Sometimes I wonder if he ever looked into my baby blue eyes and asked himself "did I just father the most insignificant asshole of the twenty-first century"?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Spyat Ustalie Igrushki

Wanted dead and alive

Right first things first this is an extremely enjoyable action movie, but for it to work for you must suspend your sense of disbelief. With this done there is much to be enjoyed here. The premise of an agent order of assassin weavers is lets face it pretty ropey, and I am not sure how true it is to the comic source material (which I will probably dig out at some point), and Morgan Freeman is really playing it by numbers here. But we have some amazing and original action sequences that really do move the movie on at a frenetic pace. Yes we can see the massive influence of 'The Matrix' and 'Fight Club' and lets just hope if there are sequels they do not go the way of the shoddy follow ups to the Matrix. I like the fact that some of the characters are played by different actors than your normal action movie types, though to be honest I am not sure about McAvoy's American accent, though he handles everything else well. Still much better than your average action movie and worth repeat viewings if you are a fan of the genre.