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IT MAY have been a surprise move to cast super-Scot James McAvoy as the action hero of Timur Bekmambetov's new film, Wanted.

But his intelligent performance is one of the strongest features of this extremely entertaining guilty pleasure, which shouldn't be missed by action fans.

It's certainly an antidote to Atonement, at any rate!

Based (loosely) on the contemporary comic book series by Mark Millar, it will remind viewers of a few projects, mainly The Matrix, given that McAvoy's character Wesley Gibson is an office drone who's crushed daily by the banalities of his job. His supposed best friend is sleeping with his girlfriend, but he can't bring himself to do anything about it.

A trip to the supermarket suddenly changes his life forever.

A mysterious woman called Fox (Angelina Jolie) turns up and tells him that his uber-assassin dad (who he'd thought had died the week he was born) has just been murdered - and that the man who did it is now standing behind him.

Understandably shocked, he's dragged from the shop and an elaborate car chase ensues before Fox takes him to the headquarters of The Fraternity. There, Wesley learns that the latter group of weavers (yes, weavers) set up the society 1,000 years ago with the motto of "kill one, save a thousand".

I'd advise you not to get too worried about this particular part of the plot, and the weavers' "loom of fate" which supplies the names in binary code of those people who they need to bump off.

Unless you're a hardcore fan of the comic, allow yourself to be swept away instead by the wonderful work of the visionary director, Timur Bekmambetov. Since stunning audiences with 2004's Russian monster hit Night Watch, Hollywood has surely been waiting for him to lend his unique sensibility to a big-budget American release.

The pulses of all Jolie fans will skyrocket during Wanted, thanks to her brandishing many a firearm with her usual relish. But there's lots here to excite everyone else, too.

Accompanied by a pulsating soundtrack, Timur comes up with lots of unusual shots and styles during the running time, and some of it is really gobsmackingly good. He even puts McAvoy in a real wax bath, supposedly to aid his character's healing process.

It's all very cool, and achieves a mostly seamless blend of effects, super stunts and live action.

McAvoy has the substance as well as the style, especially once the new and improved Wesley gets going, and has no problem with his American accent, as you'd expect.

In one scene he pops on Keanu-esque shades, before tossing them aside and quipping "bad idea", and this little nod to his not being a poseur-type action man works incredibly well.

That's not to say that he's not buff - in fact, his many female fans will be more obsessed than ever once they see him and his six-pack in action.

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