Wanted (2008 film)

We don't know how far the ripples of our decisions go. We kill one, and maybe save a thousand. That's the code of the Fraternity. That's what we believe in, and that's why we do it.

Wanted (2008) is an action film loosely based on the comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Konstantin Khabensky and Angelina Jolie.

We call this the Loom of Fate.

Wesley Gibson

We get orders from a loom — Fate. And we're supposed to take enough faith in what we're doing is right. Killing someone we know nothing about. I don't know if I can do that.

Have you ever thought about doing things differently?

• I'm finding it hard to care about anything these days. In fact, the only thing I do care about is the fact that I can't care about anything. Seriously, it worries me.

• You know there are people, beautiful people, you just wish they could see you in a different setting, a different place. Instead of where you are, what you've become. But most of all, you wish you weren't such a pussy, for wishing for things that'll never change.

• You know when you have a dream and you're half-awake, but still in the fringe of your brain. Then you open your eyes and you're so damned glad it was a dream? [His father's gun falls to the floor] This was NOTHING like that.

• Now I know why I could never care about anything before this. I was living a lie.

• Do you make sweaters, or do you kill people?
  • To Sloan, when first being informed about the Weavers.

• SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

• I don't know why I'm here!

• I don't know who I am!

• What did he do to deserve to die? You don't know. I didn't know if he was bad. I didn't know if he was evil. I didn't know anything about him. We get orders from a loom — Fate. And we're supposed to take enough faith in what we're doing is right. Killing someone we know nothing about. I don't know if I can do that.
  • After killing his first target.

• Have you ever thought about doing things differently?
  • To Fox, after killing his first target.

• Fate wanted YOU dead. And you couldn't take it.
  • To Sloan.

• Six weeks ago I was ordinary and pathetic just like you. Who am I now? Account manager? Assassin? Just another tool who was mind-fucked into killing his father? I am all of these. I am none of these. Who am I now?

• This is not me following my destiny. This is not me following in my father's footsteps. This is definitely not me saving the world. ... This is not me. This is just a mother-fucking decoy.

• This is me taking control — from Sloan, from the Fraternity, from Janice, from billing reports, from ergonomic keyboards, from cheating girlfriends and sack-of-shit best-friends. This is me taking back control — of my life. [Breaks the fourth wall, turning to gaze at the audience] What the fuck have you done lately?

Fox

His name came up.… So did yours.

• You apologize too much.

• Your father died yesterday in the rooftop of the Metropolitan Building. He was one of the greatest assassins who ever lived. The man who killed him is behind you.

• You're a wasting my fuckin' time! Why are you here?

• We don't know how far the ripples of our decisions go. We kill one, and maybe save a thousand. That's the code of the Fraternity. That's what we believe in, and that's why we do it.

• His name came up. … So did yours.

• We trained him well.
  • To Sloan after failing to kill Wesley

Sloan

Welcome to the Fraternity.

• You really want to know who you are?

• Insanity is wasting your life with a nothing when you have the blood of a killer flowing in your veins. Insanity is being shit on, beat down, coasting through life on a miserable existence when you have a caged lion locked inside and the key to release it.

• It's 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, weapons of fate. This is the decision that lies before you now: the sheep, or the wolf. The choice is yours.

• Welcome to the Fraternity.

• We call this the Loom of Fate.
  • Presenting the mystically directed magic Loom, corresponding to myths of the Wyrd or the Moirai from which the assassins receive their instructions.

• Your task is not to interpret but to deliver.
  • Demanding Wesley obey the orders he delivers.

• "Now, if any of you feel the need to follow the code of the Fraternity to the letter, I invite you to take your gun, put it in your mouth, and pull the trigger. That is what Wesley demands. Otherwise, shoot this motherfucker, and let us take our Fraternity of assassins to heights reserved only for the gods of men! You choose."
  • Once Wesley has revealed that Sloan has long been lying about the assignments of the Loom of Fate.

Cross

Everything they told you was a lie. ... You are my son.

• Everything they told you was a lie. ... You are my son.
  • To Wesley, after he succeeds in mortally wounding him.

Dialogue

Janice: Jesus H. Fuckin' Popsicle, I still don't have my billing reports, but you've got time to sit there and Google your ass off. Well I know one thing: [smugly] You've got your review coming up next week, and I can't wait to start checking me off some big [clicking stapler loudly] fucking boxes! Attitude: [Click] Poor. Performance: [Click] Poor. Management skills: [Click] Poor. Works well with others? Hah! That's a fucking joke. [Looks at Wesleys computer] What is this bullshit; who's this prick? Some loser gets his head blown off in the Metropolitan-

Wesley: [Has reached boiling point, snaps] SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! [gets up and walks a lap around the office] [To colleagues] She has ONE, SINGLE iota of tenuous power! She thinks she can just push everyone around?! [Comes back to a shocked Janice, snatches stapler from her, holds it up] You don't need this. [Throws it against cubicle wall, smashing it] [Leans in close to Janice, whispers] I understand. [Stands to full height] Junior High must've been kinda tough, but it doesn't give you the right to treat your workers like horseshit, Janice. I know we laugh at you, Janice. We all know you keep your stash of jelly donuts in the top drawer of your desk. [Kneels down] I want you to know: that if you weren't such a bitch, we'd feel sorry for you. I do feel sorry for you. But as it stands, the way you behave, I feel I can speak for the entire office when I tell you... Go fuck yourself. [Stands up, takes his keyboard walks out]

Barry: Yeah, that was great bro! Who's the man?

Wesley: [smashes Barry in the face with the keyboard. Bloodstained keys fly past spelling "FUCK YO", the final "U" being one of Barry's molars] I'm the man.

Quotes about Wanted

• Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century. Or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash.
  Chances are it's a combination of the two. But man, does it rock. ... The level of invention and energy in this movie makes your typical Hollywood blockbuster action flick look like little girls in pink dresses petting fuzzy bunnies in slow motion. ..."Wanted" takes a leap of faith — actually, it takes about 10 leaps — and it certainly isn't for everyone. It's bloody, far-fetched, loud, leering and half-mad. But if you're into hardcore action, it doesn't get any better than this.
  • Tom Long in "Over-the-top 'Wanted' is the action film to beat" in The Detroit News (26 June 2008)

External links

• Official website
• Wanted quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Wanted at Metacritic
• Wanted at Rotten Tomatoes