First, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.

Then, Edward Norton as the Hulk.

Now, James McAvoy -- he of the expressive blue eyes and Glasgow roots -- as an assassin in a movie based on a comic book series.

Leading men just get curiouser and curiouser. And that's a fantastic thing for moviegoers.

---

'Wanted'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman
• Rating: R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.
• Web site: wantedmovie.com

---

McAvoy stars in "Wanted" as the cinematic stand-in for all the young men who toil in cubicles, hate their jobs and have anxiety attacks, anemic bank accounts, cheating girlfriends who look nothing like Angelina Jolie and -- although they don't know it -- a hunger to be part of a secret fraternity of assassins whose victims are chosen by ... Fate.

The Loom of Fate, to be precise, in one of the weirdest contrivances ever.

McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a 25-year-old Chicagoan whose life is so unremarkable that when he Googles his own name, he gets no results. His father left when he was a week old, his female boss browbeats him, his girlfriend is carnally cavorting with his friend, and he's nearly killed while refilling a prescription at the store.

That's where Wes encounters a stranger named Fox (Jolie) who says she knew his late father, "one of the greatest assassins who ever lived." Within seconds, he is catapulted into a shoot-out, scooped into a waiting red Dodge Viper and taken on an extended, exhilarating chase in which Fox kicks out the front windshield, turns the wheel over to Wes and drapes herself across the car hood so she can better fire at her assailant.

And that's just for starters.

Wes ends up with some rough-looking characters and their leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman). "Insanity is wasting your life as a nothing when you have the blood of a killer," and it is Wes' destiny to join the fraternity of assassins, Sloan insists.

"Wanted," directed by Timur Bekmambetov and based on the comic series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, follows Wes through training that is torturous. Literally. He bleeds, bruises, heals and restarts the cycle.

Wes gets a chance to step into his father's line of work in this surprisingly entertaining and kicky adaptation by the Russian-born director of "Night Watch" and "Day Watch."

Like a next-generation "Matrix," it features bullets that curl around obstacles on the way to their intended targets, a train sequence that delivers a double dose of adrenaline and some stunts that may involve digital doubles, but you wouldn't know it.

The Loom of Fate is loopy, to be sure, and you may guess one twist in the screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas ("3:10 to Yuma," "2 Fast 2 Furious") with Chris Morgan. And even in these ratings-permissive times, the violence is enough to merit an R rating.

McAvoy makes an excellent Everyman turned able-bodied assassin, while a lean Jolie wears a look of bemusement (and smoky eye makeup) for most of the movie and Freeman plays the gravitas card. Turning up in key smaller roles are Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann and hip-hop artist and actor Common.

"Wanted" toys with father figures, transformations, vengeance, self-examination and characters who toggle between worlds or vault over to the violent side, never to return. It's wish fulfillment for those from the workaday world who can abandon their stations for two hours and vicariously live a little before trudging back to face another eight, endless hours on the clock.