Story: Accountant Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is recruited into The Fraternity, a super secret group of assassins lead by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), by Fox (Angelina Jolie) to kill the man (Thomas Kretschmann) who killed his father (David O'Hara).
Once again we dip into the comic book adaptation well (not that I have minded), and we come up short. Don't get me wrong - I don't begrudge director Timur Bekmambetov and screenwriters Michael Brant, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan for dropping a lot of the darker elements of the story. I doubt that many people would want to go see a movie about a guy who choose to become an evil assassin even if it did feature Jolie's bare bottom. There's plenty of other places you can see that anyway.
While this movie is amazingly fun while you are watching it, it's also silly and insane and chock a block of things that are best left unconsidered. If, for example, you find yourself wondering, "Weavers?" during the opening, don't worry. They'll get to it in Act II, and it still won't make any sense. Just forget about it. Pretty soon there will be a montage! Montage!
As far as popcorn entertainment goes, this one rates pretty high. It's faux deep, goes to unnecessary lengths to establish how much of a doormat Wesley is, and features a good balance of topless actors with curving bullets. Sure, I still got worried that Jolie might just turn around and eat McAvoy for breakfast, so great is her power (plus her cheeks looked a little gaunt in some scenes), but she also gives this fantastic "Who me?" shrug shortly after she kidnaps him that sums up the character in such a way that I wonder why we don't have her star in more action movies. At least we have wet, shirtless McAvoy and his motor mouth to keep us company in the meantime. B
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