Premise: The anxious, clumsy and abused office clerk Wesley Allan Gibson has a hellish and boringly routine life: his obese boss humiliates him constantly and his girlfriend betrays him with his colleague and best friend breaking in the work day.
When he meets the sexy Fox, (Angelina Jolie), Wesley is informed that his father was a professional killer that belonged to an ancient organization called the Fraternity and has been killed by the skilled and powerful assassin Cross, a hit-man that has betrayed the Fraternity.
Wesley learns that his ongoing anxiety attacks are actually a manifestation of his latent assassin abilities and he joins the society under the command of Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Trained by Fox, he changes his personality and attitude, as he prepares to face the dangerous Cross and find a shocking, hidden secret. (courtesy in part by IMDB.com).
Analysis: I was pretty excited to see this film when it was released to DVD through my Netflix… unfortunately, so was apparently everyone else! There was a LONG wait to finally get this to my homescreen for viewing. My personal expectations of the movie were set mostly by the trailers and previews I had seen of the movie… the cool special effects the movie touted, includinga crazy train scene, curving bullets, and cool long-distance sniper attacks… stuff like that.
Well, let me start by saying… yes, there were pretty cool special effects… but they weren’t enough to distract you from the VERY POOR script… the story seems disjointed and the lines were short and awkward. The director obviously was relyingheavily on big explosions, crazy (and physically impossible), stunts involving bullet trajectories and motor vehicle mayhem, and the (apparent), sex appeal of Angelina Jolie, (sorry Joe, I don’t think she’s THAT hot)…
The premise, however, was what hooked it for me, and what kept me watching through to the end. This poor schmuck, Gibson, was a character I think almost ANYONE could relate to… dead-end job, no real prospects, a basically “I’ve-given-up-on-life-and-I’m-just-going-to-take-the-crap-as-it-comes” kinda guy. I mean, the guy’s girlfriend and his own best friend were hookingup while he is at work… and he KNOWS this, and he STILL doesn’t do anything! Now THAT is dejected.
The prospect of suddently having millions of dollars in your bank account, discovering you are the son of a famous assassin, and having all those people suddenly wanting you to join their little killing club and train to get super-fightin’ skills tweaks the escapism part of my brain immensely. 
Overall, this movie was a nice piece of distraction that is light on real, thought-provoking or engaging material… a few explosions, a “sexy” girl, and some matrix-y like cinematography make this a very heavy “3″ in my book and a bit of a disappointment overall.
Best Quote(s):
Sloan: It a choice, Wesley, that each of us must face: to remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate – or you can take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have inside. Our purpose is to maintain stability in an unstable world – kill one, save a thousand. Within the fabric of this world, every life hangs by a thread. We are that thread – a fraternity of assassins with the weapons of fate. This is the decision that lies before you now: the sheep, or the wolf. The choice is yours.
——————–
Wesley: [voice-over] Want to hear something sad? I use an ergonomic keyboard to keep my repetitive stress injury in check. Just the fact that I repeat something enough that it causes me stress is f***ing sad.
Official Trailer:
IMDB Website: Click here
IMDB Rating: 6.9 stars out of 10
My Netflix Rating: 3 stars out of 5
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4 Comments
May 5, 2009 at 10:55 am
I actually saw this movie recently, although I didn’t remember the name and the poster didn’t help. It was a nice diversion. Completely detached from any reality. Seems like a setup for a second one. I think it is interesting what Hollywood sends us. We are all emasculated wimps these days so what do they show us? A characture exageration of an emasculated wimp who turns out to be a hero inside just waiting to be released. And then when he does release the hero, the world turns on him again and he is left not quite a wimp and certainly not a hero. We need Obama to save this man.
May 5, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Just another form of media escapism… a veritable “everyman” for our society today
I’m a sucker for anything “matrix-y”… favorite movie of all time is “The Matrix”, so I gave this movie a chance as well.
Thanks for the comment!
May 6, 2009 at 10:27 am
My son loves the matrix too, second only to Loard of the Rings. I checked out after Matrix 1 and just can’t get into LOTR.
May 6, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Yah, unfortunately, the 2nd and 3rd ones peter out a bit… but are still good… nothing beats the original Matrix though