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WHO needs a superhero in tights when office worker Wesley Gibson is around?

Especially when his exploits - detailed in comic books by Mark Millar and JG Jones - are brought to the screen with outlandish visual style and over-the-top violence by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who made the equally dazzling Night Watch and Day Watch.

James McAvoy, no incredible hulk in real life, isn't the obvious candidate to save the world but makes a first-rate Wesley, a sad loser who works in an office and whose girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend. Enter a secret society of weavers - stop giggling at the back - who are actually highlytrained assassins with the motto "Kill one, save a thousand". It emerges that his late father was one of them and now Wes must follow in his footsteps. This involves being trained as a lethal killer by the Fraternity's top assassins, led by the glamorous but deadly Fox (Angelina Jolie).

Bekmambetov is a director who throws everything at the screen, although stops short of the kitchen sink, in a non-stop assault on the eyes and ears of the audience. It's thrilling stuff as bullets fly past in slow motion, blood splatters and chases in cars and on trains defy logic as well as gravity, with just enough humour to take the edge off the violence that earns the film its 18 certificate. I hope audiences climb on board for the thrill ride during a summer blockbuster season when superheroes usually play safe with a 12A.

Stars: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, Marc Warren
Running time: 114 mins
Rating: Four stars

6:17pm Thursday 26th June 2008

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