Another review, possibly a spoiler, maybe not:

WANTED - THE FIRST REVIEW

[Green Light]It would take the lives of 29 people for actor James McAvoy to sacrifice his own. More on that later.

You see, I saw "Wanted" last Thursday, and had a little sit down with star James McAvoy and director Timur Bekmambetov afterwards. And you didn't. Sorry, sorry, I rarely get the chance to gloat these days.

It's a story of one man suffering ennuii and stress attacks over his average life, and his inability to care about anything. Some people take a holiday, have an affair, buy a new car. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy - "Shameless," "State of Play," "Last King of Scotland") is instead recruited by Fox (Angelina Jolie - every tabloid ever) to join The Fraternity, an ancient order of super-assassins led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman - every broadsheet ever). As mid-life crises go, it's a biggie.

For those familiar with Mark Millar and JG Jones' comic, you're going to see it very accurately reflected for about twenty minutes, before the film then goes on its own wild ride, though with a few snags and bulletholes from the original. It ditched the supervillains, it ditches the "bad guys won," it ditches the celebration of amorality of the lead.

But for all the themes and dubious morality it ditches, it grows its own. The familiar "if you could kill Hitler as a child, would you" thought appears, recast the assassins as agents of fate, killing one person to save a thousand, via the "Da Vinci Code." There are twists of motivation and identity. The morality is as dubious (and as sixth form) as Tarantino. And everything comes down to trains.

But what's most gorgeous about "Wanted" is the tone. The language, the visuals, the effects, have their tongue so far in cheek it triggers the gag reflex (in a good way). The film spends huge amounts of money, time and effort telling basic jokes. But they're far funnier as a result and fuel this rollercoaster of a ride with an energy lacking in the dour Wachowski movies. This is an adult superhero comedy masquerading as an action flick. It's fresh, it's fast, it's funny and it's one hell of a surprise. It really sells the whole "mundanity vs madness" theme running through the film, from the cascading cereal packets to the bizarre camera-mounted handguns. You're going to have your own favourites, from office meerkats to the crotch-watching car chase to the doughnut shot to swordfighting with bullets to Pottymouth Morgan. And watch out for "JG Millar"…

So, yes, I asked James and Timur what they thought of the "kill one, save a thousand" message, especially in relation to recent US justification for waterboarding terrorist suspects. Did they share these sympathies. James didn't. "I don't know that I necessary agree with kill one, kill a thousand. I don't know if I'd ever be able to bring myself to kill to save a million."

When I asked him how many peoples lives it would take to sacrifice himself, he laughed.

"It's weird, man, sometimes you get to make a really serious film and you get daft questions. Then you make a brilliantly daft action film and asked a really deep probing question about the inner workings of my very soul" before pausing and answering "twenty-nine." Timur said that he'd discussed the issue in depth with "Wanted" actor, Konstantin Khabensky, who offered his take that he'd kill a thousand to save one person, if you loved that one.

Fact Fans: James also revealed, as his usual voice coach was away, he trained his US accent by watching "Battlestar Galactica." Not a "frak" to be heard however. When asked if the film had had to be cut for American sensibilities, Timur recounted that the studio had asked for cut or deleted scenes for the eventual DVD release - only to tell them that there weren't any. They put on the screen what they filmed. And despite some reports, James is not starring in "The Hobbit" - though he's aware that's the image many people have of him.

James tells of an addition to the screenplay, and one that's very telling throughout, of Angelina Jolie's insistence that every bullet have a story. By concentrating on the bullets in flight, naming them, following them, watching their moves, not only does it give the movie a whole series of signature scenes, it makes each shot seem so very important. And justifies the film's insistence, at least until the end, to use gunfire sparingly.

Expectations are low but buzz is high. I really believe this has the potential to do a "300," to sneak in and around the "Hulk," "Indiana Jones" and the other blockbusters, surprise the shit out of everyone and find itself parodied on "Saturday Night Live" and on countless YouTube mashups. Especially the bullet bits.

Or it'll die a quick death and gain a large and devoted audience on DVD who will dress up as the characters and haunt comic book conventions forever. Either way, "Wanted" is about to impinge upon your life whether you see it or not.

If you left "Iron Man" with a big grin on your face, you'll do the same with "Wanted." You may even feel a little more challenged -- but don't let it worry you too much. You'll be grinning too much from the doughnut.

"Wanted" is released in the UK on the 25th of June, Russia on the 26th and in the US on the 27th. Have fun!

Source: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16815