Three stars

The best action pictures aren't always the ones possessing the most spectacular stunts, the biggest explosions or the grandest special effects.

Nope, the best action pictures have these qualities, plus a good and coherent story, along with a sense of their own style.

Place "Wanted" into the latter category of action films. It easily is the summer's wildest ride.

But upon first meeting its "hero," one would call that statement into question, for Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is far from an action hero. If anything, he's truly a "loser's loser."

Wesley's day job as some unnamed firm's lower-level accountant has him sequestered in a disheveled cubicle, terrorized by his overweight and overbearing supervisor and in constant need of his anti-anxiety medication. His personal life isn't much better.

Wesley's girlfriend is a shrew who is having an affair with his best friend.

Wesley has such loathing both for himself and his life that he imagines his ATM sending him messages not about his financial transactions, but about how truly pathetic he really is.

That is, until one evening when Wesley finds himself caught in the crossfire between two highly trained killers: Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) and Fox (Angelina Jolie).

Amidst the flying bullets and ensuing chaos, it is Fox who transports Wesley away to a safe sanctuary and eventually reveals that the battle was over him.

It turns out that Wesley is the offspring of a master assassin who had been trained and employed by a shadowy outfit known only as "The Fraternity." Headed by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), The Fraternity is a collection of super-assassins whose job it is to kill dangerous people who threaten the world's sense of balance.

One of the group's top assassins, Cross, went rogue and began killing Fraternity members, the most significant of whom was Wesley's father. Now, The Fraternity wants Wesley to join them so that he can track down his father's killer, avenge his death and take his place within the organization.

Initially, Wesley balks at the invite. But when he is reminded of the mundane nature of his life, Wesley reconsiders and accepts Sloan's offer. Thus begins Wesley's training to become an assassin, and life never will be boring for him again.

"Wanted" is based on a six-issue comic series created by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. Be advised -- these comics were not one's parent's version of superhero funny books.

Millar and Jones formulated a tale that was darkly cynical, graphically violent and morally ambiguous. There was little, if any, regard for humanity and human life within it.

In adapting "Wanted" for the silver screen, scripters Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Chris Morgan took Millar and Jones' work and simply ratcheted everything up. What should be a repellent take on fascist fare is saved by the wonderfully stylized direction of Temur Bekmambetov.

Bekmambetov takes this story and turns it into a horrible yet wonderfully stylized feast for the eyes. He makes the film a true guilty pleasure in the sense that despite sickening one or offending one's sensibilities, what is playing out onscreen is so energized and frantic, it's impossible to divert one's eyes from the events or the characters.

McAvoy makes Wesley so pitiable at the film's beginning that even the audience can't stand him. Yet by the film's end, McAvoy adroitly brings him full circle and richly realizes unexpected depths to Wesley's personality.

As Fox, Jolie says little, but her presence resonates through the film. Her tabloid reputation only serves to enhance her character's intimidation factor and "Wanted's" uniqueness.

Unique also describes "Wanted," for it wants for nothing with regard to thrills and action.