Lucinda Breeding

Filmmakers and special effects gurus have found their summer cash cow: the film adaptation of comic books and graphic novels.

Most of us are familiar with the iconic stories, even if we’ve never opened the comic books. We all know Superman, Spider-man, Batman and Wonder Woman (she’s supposed to get her own blockbuster, but we can mourn the loss of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, who left the upcoming film project.)

We’re not as familiar with some of the others.

Last weekend, Universal released Wanted, which is based on a comic book miniseries about a meek worker bee with an impressive, although hidden, gift. He’s the son of a legendary assassin in an organization with an impressive name — The Fraternity. Angelina Jolie plays Fox, the only woman in this boys club. She’s a limber employee who doesn’t waste words or punches.

Comics and graphic novels wouldn’t be wildly popular if they didn’t speak to both the shadow side of human nature along with that pesky habit called hope. It’s reasonable to believe that, when a director transfers the pictures from the page to the screen, the idea is the keep some of the meaning.

So what was Wanted trying to say?

You could read it two ways.

Our main man, Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy), is a twentysomething corporate drone. He hates his job, his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend and he lives right next to the elevated train tracks. He pops pills for his anxiety and puts up with it all.

In line at the pharmacy, Wesley comes face to face with Fox. Cut to a flashy car chase, gunfire and screech to a halt in front of Sloan (a gentle but dangerous Morgan Freeman). Wesley is introduced into the secret society, and boy, does it loosen some teeth.

After tearing Wesley down, rebuilding him, and teaching him the elusive skill of bullet-bending, our tender, pale protagonist stops apologizing all the time. He starts killing reprobates, and they look like executives.

From one side of the divide, director Timur Bekmambetov could very well be telling us that drastic times call for drastic measures. Wesley could represent us as we chug along to pay the bills and buy goods, blind to the consequences of our ennui. Wesley tells the viewer that he can’t get worked up about his inability to care about the dull buzz of his life.

It takes a violent new mentor to shake Wesley out of his rut. True to the “no pain, no gain” axiom, Wesley has to bleed to turn into a new man.

He’s never given too much information, or even enough. The only thing he knows is that his initiation will take discipline, and it will scare him.

From the other side of the divide, Wesley represents the much-maligned white guy, cowed by the neutering forces of the company headquarters. He repeatedly tells us that he needs to “grow a pair” and laments his softness. His boss is a fire-breathing, obese woman who pounds down the donuts — after she’s devoured the last of Wesley’s Y chromosome and the souls of his peers.

His cheating girlfriend isn’t really objectionable because of her cheating. It’s her mouth that’s the problem. It never stops. She’s shrewish, demanding and critical.

Wesley is like the woman in the relationship, apologizing constantly and shrinking from conflict. And when he gets to The Fraternity, he meets another particularly nasty piece of work called The Butcher.

This tough guy affects an accent that could be Latin and in a climactic scene, Wesley dispatches him with a knife. Before the big man falls, the lens zooms in on his shirt.

The knife is stuck through the gut of his Virgen de Guadelupe emblem. From this perspective, Wanted is a revenge fantasy for the once mighty, which now have to share the office and the power with women and immigrants.

When Wesley is reborn, he doesn’t have to think too hard about the morality of his bullet-bending kills. It serves to make him more independent, more realized and manlier.

A major complication comes up before the credits roll, but he doesn’t give up his arms. The trajectory of his last bullet is a reminder of all the obstacles Wesley has had to endure: the big fat boss, the twittering ex, and on through a line of clear offenders.

Nothing is conclusive in these comics, save for the hero’s persistent skill and luck. The bad guys come back, usually with better toys. In Wesley’s case, the bad guys look a lot like us. That’s why Wanted can gratify one audience while unsettling another.

Who you cheer for in this flick depends almost entirely on where you sit.

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.