THERE'S a scene in Wanted where the hero, an office drone who's thrown off the shackles of work-a-day drudgery to be a bullet-spewing hunky super assassin, tries on a pair of wraparound shades and then decides they're 'too much'.
It's a nod to the Matrix, a film which Wanted apes throughout, but that's about the only time anything is 'too much' in this bloody, stylish, sometimes thrilling, but rather stupid action adventure for grown-up kids.
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a weedy 'account manager' at a faceless corporation, cringing away from his harridan boss in his tiny office cubicle, all too aware that his best friend is having an affair with his girl (and making him buy his condoms) and too pathetic to do anything about it. But soon Wesley's life is about to change...
It's a set-up used time and again in big budget wish-fulfillment action hokum from Spiderman to the Matrix. Well maybe not quite this in your face, but you get the idea:
Wesley is us! (Assuming you're one of the listless young men this material is clearly intended for.)
He's under the jackboot of the man (or in this case the woMan), he feels directionless and unfulfilled, he's convinced he's meant for better things if only he could work out what.
Well hurrah! Because here comes Angelina Jolie (another obsession for youngish men, apparently) and she's going to whisk him away from all this dull real life stuff in a blaze of bullets and knicker elastic on a whistle stop tour of their nameless city in a red sports car while fending off murderous attempts on his life by a mysterious hitman.
It seems Wesley's dad, who left home when he was a week old, was in fact a super assassin killed by said hit man only yesterday and Wesley is the only one who can avenge him.
So begins a barrage of sado-masochistic montages as Wesley is variously beaten up and taught to kill with all manner of weapons (and bend bullets in mid air!) at Morgan Freeman's secret lair, in a textile factory.
Apparently these super assassins have learned to decipher a code in the weave they make which tells them to kill specific people to make the world a better place: "Kill one to save a thousand", as Mrs Pitt believes.
None of it makes sense, from the one line explanation as to why they can jump fifty feet in the air or bend bullets, to the mystery of being commanded by fate through the medium of a carpet, but it is all quite good fun.
Wesley starts to grow into his destiny "I'm the man!", taking revenge on his bullying boss and backstabbing mate (which got a big laugh from the audience) and goes on his first few missions for The Fraternity before the plot kicks in again.
McAvoy's first real Hollywood leading role (after Brit flicks Starter for Ten, The Last King of Scotland and Atonement) shows he's got what it takes to be a big star. He's likeable and vulnerable but convincingly hard-edged too as he undergoes his hero's journey, and with rumours he'll be playing Bilbo Baggins in the new Hobbit movie we're sure to be seeing a lot more of him than just a reprise in the recently announced Wanted 2.
You'll probably see the twist coming a mile off but it won't dampen your enjoyment of good looking people running round shooting guns in each hand, if that's your thing. And if it's not your thing you'll have walked out after the first 30 seconds. Which is a shame because you'll miss the best movie kiss-off line in ages as in the last five seconds Wesley looks out of the screen and challenges the viewer (those listless young men again): I'm taking control of my life. What have you done lately?
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