Fancast: The Big Picture

Wanted - 6/27
A secret cabal of stylish assassins, headed up by Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie, recruit schlubby office-worker James McAvoy into their ranks based on the legacy of his late father and train him to be every bit the killer he was born to be. The original comic book series by Mark Millar was a dark celebration of violence for the sake of violence, as the group was actually an amalgamation of supervillains who had already taken over the world. That wouldn't make a very satisfying summer movie if there were no good guys left alive, though. so the cabal has become an "end justifies the means for the greater good" kind of kill-squad, with fantastic bullet-curving powers and Freeman's world-wise earnestness giving their benevolence some credence.

McAvoy's Oscar-worthy turn in Atonement is dropped on its ear as he takes this opportunity to blow things up and show off his abs. Given the earth-mother that Jolie is becoming, this is rumored to be the last shoot-em-up action movie she'll ever make, so we'll need to enjoy her impossibly sexy adrenaline-soaked persona here as much as we can. Interestingly enough, though, Jolie's character Fox was originally and rather blatantly modeled after Halle Berry in the comic series, but after being "the prickly one" behind the scenes of the X-Men movies, as well as the star of that Catwoman disaster, she's publicly said she's done with this genre. The fans, at their most polite, would say that's a wise decision.

Watch the latest trailer for Wanted.
Watch the first trailer for Wanted.
Watch Angelina Jolie shooting guns and being sexy in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Laugh at Halle Berry in Catwoman.