After reading that this movie was based on a comic book, this somewhat explained the bizarre storyline. However, a combination of  mediocre screen writing, misused actors, and too much blood makes this movie a mess.

     The movie begins with a look into the life of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy). Wesley lives a pretty lousy life, with an evil boss, a complaining girlfriend, and a constantly empty bank account.  Surely, this guy is the last you'd expect to end up being an assassin.

     Wesley is narrowly saved from certain death in a store by Fox (Angelina Jolie).  They flee the assassin in a high-speed chase that includes some pretty clever manuevering on Fox's part.  Wesley is brought the The Fraternity's headquarters, a textile mill. This was the group that his father, an assassin, was part of.  Sloan (Morgan Freeman) invites Wesley to become part of The Fraternity.  He's not inclined to accept, until 3 million dollars in his account convinces him.  Wesley will eventually have to track down his father's killer.

    Sloan begins to teach him the ins and outs of being an assassin.  Part of this includes learning that a secret language woven into the textiles made at the headquarters determines who's next to be killed. Incidently, only Sloan can read this.  He also gets some insight into how Fox became an assassin.

    Will Wesley be able to stay on top and take out his father's killer?

    There was a lot of action in this movie, and the car chase after Fox rescues Wesley is pretty impressive.  However, there were too many other factors that made this movie an unpleasant experience.

     The action level seems to have been traded in for a solid plot. A little too much time is spent on Wesley's  humdrum life and personal issues.  There isn't much in the way of character development, so this nerdy character becoming a ruthless killer isn't easy to buy.

     One of my pet peeves in this movie was a very brief sex scene that was really kind of crude.  It added nothing to the storyline and was really annoying to sit through.  The language in the movie was a problem, too, with "f-bombs" being dropped left and right.

    The scenes that involved characters being shot were a little too much to take, focusing on close-ups when bullets entered and exited.  Following the path of a bullet in slow-motion is a good CGI feature, but many of us can do without the close-up gore.

     I had anticipated this movie being better, considering the cast, but was disappointed.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age