I’ve been waiting not so patiently for this movie for the longest time. Comic Con in NYC graced us with a few delicious crumbs, but thanks to Black Curtain Screenings I was able to catch the adrenaline filled Wanted a few days before everyone else. MWAHAHAHA.

Wanted is directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch) and based off of the comic book series of the same name by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. The movie takes away the whole villains take over the world story line from the comic series and replaces it with a brilliant focus on the main character’s ability to, as Morgan Freeman’s character puts it, “Conduct a symphony with a gun.” The story arc of the movie has The Fraternity (a guild of assassins), led by Morgan Freeman’s character Sloan, acting as the hands of Fate and dealing out death according to whomever the loom of fate names.

The movie starts with James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, the everyday cubicle worker slaving away at his computer (think Office Space) and the overweight bitchy boss who clicks her stapler in your ear every time she makes a point. Wesley’s life sucks. He knows his girlfriend is cheating on him, she nags him about never being around, he’s got fourteen bucks to his name, and he just rolls over and takes it. That all changes when Fox, played by the beautiful Angelina Jolie, steps into Wesley’s life. Right off the bat he’s in the middle of a gunfight and not really wanting to be there.

Wesley discovers that his father, who walked out early on in Wes’s life, was one of the best assassins in the world. Key word “was” since he was recently killed on the roof of a building. Thus begins the transformation, the accepting of ones destiny to be something greater than a crapped on cog in the machine. Wesley goes from sniveling, pushover office guy, to being molded (rather brutally) into a rampaging bringer of death. This new job title comes with the added bonus of learning how to curve a bullet’s trajectory around an obstacle. You saw it in the trailers, but it’s oh so much better in the whole movie.

Alright, so how was Wanted? Freakin phenomenal. I love Timur Bekmambetov’s directing style. He has this way of making you repeat “holy sh#!” during the whole movie. The opening car chase/gun fight is so cool. I don’t want to ruin it, so I’m not going to go into it. All the acting is great and you get totally entranced into the world of being a super assassin. I also love the mythology of The Fates, predetermining the thread of your life through the mystic loom and deciding when it’s time for you to check out. James McAvoy’s character hits his peak towards the end of the film in a crazy gun battle that will leave your jaw on the popcorn ridden floor.

Timur has already begun working to putting a sequel into production, but Mark Millar will not be writing a sequel to the comic. James McAvoy is a brilliant actor and this movie is going to skyrocket his career. Keep an eye out for him, you’ll be seeing his name a whole lot more.

If you’ve read the comics or not, definitely go out and see this movie this weekend. I’ll be at the theater to see this one again. James get ready for a new number 1!