BOTTOM LINE: The stylish, comic book action in "Wanted" is fun for a while but this well cast film is ridiculous and stupid, wearing out its welcome about half way through its running time.

THE GOOD: There’s a stylish, comic book action quality to “Wanted” that throws you off a little bit when you first see it but then becomes quite fun as the story develops. The idea of a secret fraternity of assassins is a cool place to start an action film, and the filmmakers have another ace in the hole by selecting a stellar cast to populate the assassin characters. James McAvoy stars as Wesley Gibson, an average guy, stuck in a dead end job, his best friend is having an affair with his girlfriend and his life is generally going nowhere. His life takes a dramatic turn when one of the assassins from the fraternity tries to kill him but is saved by Fox (played by a very cool Angelina Jolie). She brings him to meet Sloan (played enigmatically by Morgan Freeman) who tells Wesley that he is destined to be an assassin. After going through the requisite training, Wesley becomes a very talented assassin but becomes embroiled in a plot where nothing is as it seems to be. The best parts of this film relate to its premise and action sequences. The film is fast and furious, with fast editing, fast action, and well choreographed stunts. One assassination where Wesley kills his target by getting his car flipped over the top of the target’s sun-roof is particularly fun. It’s great to see Morgan Freeman actually playing a villain; he delivers a rather understated, but ruthless performance. The film never drops its pace while offering some moments of comedy in between the big action sequences; the best moment comes when Wesley returns to his apartment to get his father’s gun and his girlfriend starts telling him how much of a loser he is. Fox walks in and start kissing Wesley passionately, much to his girlfriend’s dismay and jealousy.

THE BAD: “Wanted” has an adolescent thrill that is okay for the first half hour but it quickly degenerates in to complete stupidity. The basic premise for the whole film is the assassins choose targets based on the names generated from a weaving in a textile fabric that is randomly generated at their hideout. In essence, those targets are based on fate. On first glance, it’s hard to see how a group of otherwise intelligent people would be naïve enough to believe in this ideal for a thousand years without the possibility of corruption (as happens in the film). It’s even more incredible that none of the assassins, until Wesley shows up, ever question Sloan’s credibility given he’s the only one who ever has access to the weaving room that generates the names of the targets. The film’s problems unfortunately do not end there. James McAvoy is a solid actor but even he cannot elevate the pathetic direction his character is given in the first half of the film. I wanted to shoot him; but even if you can stand to watch him being such a walk-over loser, the film expects you to believe that he could go from that character to one of the most lethal assassins in history in just six weeks. Once he becomes the assassin he’s quite cool but his character and development is ridiculous. Angelina Jolie is lethal and cool in this film, but she isn’t given much to do aside from look hot and kick ass in the action sequences. Terence Stamp surprisingly appears midway through the film and is excellent, but you have to wonder why he agreed to be in this ridiculous adolescent fantasy; he just doesn’t fit in. Even Morgan Freeman, who is for the most part great, delivers a speech at the end of the film where he does not look all that natural. The action sequences, which are the biggest selling point in this film, become more and more ridiculous as the film progresses. The train sequence is perhaps the worst culprit when it derails on a bridge going over a massive gorge. Train cars hang off the bridge and people shoot at each other as each train car plummets in to the gorge; it’s fun but it’s over the top. Perhaps the worst thing of all is the last shot in the film; Wesley gives a speech about how pointless his life used to be and how all of us are now suffering what he used to suffer. His choice was to do something about it and now he lives the exciting life of an assassin. He turns to the camera and says, “what have you done lately?” Ordinarily, the point would have been absolutely true, but considering the film is so stupid and the delivery of his speech so condescending, the question he poses is like a slap in the face rather than a revelation. At that point, I almost hoped an assassin’s bullet put him out of his misery, as with the rest of this silly film.