Review: James McAvoy Bends Bullets in Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted

Atonement star James McAvoy makes the jump from art house dreamboat to blockbuster hero in the Hollywood debut of Russian action wizard Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch.) Like Bekmambetov's gloomy but eyepopping Moscow-set vampire saga, Wanted is a bloody revenge fantasy that revels in heady slow motion effects and breathless cutting, but when McAvoy and co-star Angelina Jolie aren't running on top of speeding trains or flipping muscle cars over buses, the film gets bogged down in murky pseudo-mythology.

Jolie, whom we liked much better in A Mighty Heart, isn't in the movie as much as the trailer might make you believe -- she only shares one kiss with McAvoy (in slo-mo, natch), and the two are set up for a mighty showdown that never quite happens. Wanted is as stylish as it is foolish, but it's got one thing going for it: exploding rats. Wanted opens nationwide on Friday. ** [posted by Jürgen]