What exactly is a “Superhero”? Some people would say a superhero is someone who has super powers, a secret identity and fights crime. In my opinion a superhero doesn’t have to be any of that. To me, a superhero is more than a regular hero, a superhero is someone who chooses to use his or her abilities to the fullest and accomplish great things. Spider-Man isn’t a superhero because he has a costume, can beat up ten bad guys at once and has spider-like powers. He’s a superhero because he uses those abilities to achieve things, in his case, doing good and fighting crime. It’s the do-gooders with powers that are the superheroes. Regular heroes are those people we look up to, the people who inspire us and the people who do something without caring whether doing that something gives them an advantage or not, i.e. money or fame. So what happens when a person is only a superhero because he kills people?

In 2003 a comic called Wanted was published. Written by Mark Millar (who’s comic book credits also include Kick Ass, and the Ultimates series) and drawn by J.G. Jones, the comic follows a less-than-average guy called Wesley Gibson who is thrust into a secret society of super villains. Where are all the superheroes? Dead. The super villains wiped them out, so now the super villains are all against each other. The comic is a very interesting read and became extremely popular. Popular enough to have a film based on it.

Wanted, released in 2008 and directed by Timur Bekmambetov who’s known mostly for his films Night Watch and Day Watch. It stars James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, a nobody who’s stuck in a terrible cubicle for most of his life, has a girlfriend who is cheating on him with his best friend, and cares about nothing. Angelina Jolie plays Fox, the film role being tailored for her, so the character isn’t much like the comic book counterpart. Angelina is sexy and mysterious as Fox, but also has that sort of vibe where you do not want to get her angry. Also starring is Morgan Freeman as Sloan, the head of the “Fraternity” which is a group of assassins. Thomas Kretschmann plays Cross, the assassin the Fraternity is after and killer of Mister X, the greatest assassin ever, who is played by David O’Hara. Terrence Stamp plays Pekwarsky, Cross’ munitions maker and friend.

The plot of the film heavily deviates from the comic. Instead of super villains, the characters are assassins. They follow the orders of Sloan, who gets the names of targets from a loom. The characters aren’t as colorful as the ones in the comic, but they’re still unique and fun to watch. The story is that Wesley’s father, Mister X, was murdered by Cross and now the Fraternity wants to train Wesley to become a skilled assassin like his father and get revenge on Cross. The film takes us from Wesley googling himself up at work in his cubicle, to him being beaten till he’s a bloody mess, to his first assassination. There are some interesting twists, similar to the comic.

The look and style of the film is great. I have this on DVD and it looks good enough to be bluray. The special effects are all done well, with bullet effects and cars flying through the air multiple times, among other things. Timur Bekmambetov did a great on the film. The action sequences are all fun and entertaining, feeling like a cross between a John Woo film and The Matrix. The first action sequence of the film involving Mister X is my favorite and sets us up for the rest of the film perfectly. The music by Danny Elfman is good, different than his usual stuff. Elfman also provides a main song for the film written and performed by him, entitled “The Little Things”. It’s a good song that works great with the film.

Wanted is a film that can be enjoyed by action movie lovers and comic book fans alike. It’s got the perfect cast, looks great on any screen and most importantly, is very entertaining. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it. If you loved the film like me, then you’ll be happy to know that a sequel might be happening. It’ll be great to see a follow up to the film and hopefully James McAvoy, who did a great job in this film, returns and kicks some more ass.

© BRWC 2010.