All flash and little substance, the hyper-realistic and vaguely sci-fi action drama Wanted makes a fetish of guns, cars and the thrill of the kill. The first eye-popping action sequence, involving a complicated series of assassinations, borrows heavily from The Wachowski Brothers' ground-breaking oeuvre. And judging from the work of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov (Day Watch, Night Watch), it seems that in his mind little has changed - either stylistically or plot-wise - since The Matrix came out last century.

A stressed-out young office drone, seemingly trapped in a crappy job and to an even crappier shrew of a duplicitous girlfriend, laments his gutlessness in a biting, wannabe JD Salinger-style voiceover. Played well by Scottish rising star James McAvoy, our hero Wesley Gibson is approached by a drop-dead gorgeous babe named - not to put too fine a point on it - Fox (Angelina Jolie), who then instigates a gun fight and drags him out of his soporific life and into a mysterious netherworld of assassins that is apparently his birthright to join.

While you could hang the Harbour Bridge on the suspension of disbelief required to endure this absurd movie, many viewers may find that there is plenty of action and eye candy to keep them somewhat amused. Others will lament the cliche scrum, the tedious predictability, and the progressively more ludicrous plot points and action set pieces that unfold. But apparently a high concept movie such as Wanted does not require originality. In fact, for its youthful target audience, cliches are bound to be an advantageous necessity. Minus the riveting presence of the sexy Jolie (her steamy, lithe form and shapely behind are even glimpsed naked emerging from a hot bath in one scene), this movie would hold little glue to keep bums on seats. Wanted is principally a wet dream for horny young blokes.