Page 4 of 4
WANTED Action films are by definition loud and chaotic, but here's one so hyperactive, it makes titles like Live Free or Die Hard and The Bourne Ultimatum seem as staid as Atonement by comparison. Based on the graphic novel series, Wanted initially feels like an unofficial remake of Fight Club, as cubicle nobody Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy, speaking of Atonement) narrates how he's been beaten down by his mundane, miserable existence (cheating girlfriend, obnoxious boss, dead-end job). Into his life walks not Tyler Durden but Fox (Angelina Jolie), a tattooed beauty who insists that he's been targeted for elimination by the same man (Thomas Kretschmann) who recently killed his father. Fox soon introduces Wesley to The Fraternity, a clandestine outfit made up entirely of assassins and led by the cordial Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Shucking aside any moral qualms rather quickly, Wesley joins the group, in the process learning that he possesses untapped skills that make him a natural for this line of work. Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, best known for the visually striking yet dramatically inert Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch) and its sequels, has crafted a slam-bang feature that revels in its own ridiculousness: To criticize the movie's outlandish situations would be to miss the whole point of Bekmambetiv's exercise in excess. Still, the script's twists and turns aren't nearly as clever as writers Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Chris Morgan pretend (the secret involving Wesley's dad is pretty transparent), and after a while, the movie's gleeful approach to nihilism proves wearying. **1/2
THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE Perhaps they should have called it X and the City. Given the $150 million haul of Sex and the City, the makers of this X-Files flick doubtless hope that their adaptation of a TV series will meet with a similar fate. It won't, but that's not to say that this is a washout. Although much of the film quickly faded from my mind (hardly a ringing endorsement, I'll grant), what remains is how it manages to resurrect the eerie aura that marinated the series during its nine-year run. Newbies, be warned: Despite creator Chris Carter's claims that the movie functions as a stand-alone feature and no knowledge of the show is required, that's far from the truth. Former FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), now going through life as, respectively, a recluse and a physician, occasionally mention that they're still haunted by memories of Mulder's deceased sister and Scully's deceased child, but as I (a casual viewer, admittedly) couldn't recall any details as to how the series wrapped up those plotlines, virginal moviegoers will have even less of a clue what these people are yammering about. Where the film works is in sustaining the proper mood: In this typical summer of blockbuster bombast, Carter has dared to remain true to the series' low-key approach, accentuating shadowy menaces and maintaining the proper friction between Mulder's desire to believe in the supernatural and Scully's need to remain grounded in the real world. Carter has taken great pains to insure that plot details remain a secret, so let's just say that it's great to see these two characters (and actors) together again. **1/2
OPENS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6:
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS: Seth Rogen, James Franco.
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2: America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn.
OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 8:
MY WINNIPEG: Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage.
ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED: Roman Polanski, Samantha Geimer.