Wanted (2008)

In Chicago, Wesley Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and has a live-in girlfriend who cheats on him with his co-worker and best friend, Barry. One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his recently murdered father was an assassin, and the killer, named Cross, is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shootout, Wesley panics and is pursued by Cross. Fox flips Wesley into her car and then executes an escape. Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group’s leader, Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint through the Gunsmith to shoot the wings off of several flies, which he does, much to Wesley’s shock. Sloan explains that Wesley’s panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to distribute massive amounts of adrenaline to his brain, slowing his perception of his surroundings and granting him superhuman strength and speed. He reveals that Wesley’s father, as well as Cross, were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world. Sloan wants to train him so that he may help kill Cross.

A panicked Wesley leaves the building and awakens the next morning in his apartment. He discovers that his bank account now contains $3.6 million. Filled with new confidence, he insults his boss in front of the whole office and hits Barry in the face with a keyboard. Fox, waiting for Wesley, chauffeurs him to the Fraternity headquarters, a repurposed cotton mill. Wesley trains under Fox’s cruel tutelage, learning endurance, knife fighting, and hand-to-hand combat. He also learns to control and use his abilities for firearm marksmanship, such as curving a bullet around an obstacle to reach a target. Frustrated by his lack of progress and the brutality of the training, Wesley insists he is ready, but Sloan disagrees. Wesley refocuses on his training and starts to excel. Sloan then shows him the “Loom of Fate”, which has served for 1,000 years in giving coded names of Fraternity targets through errors in the fabric. The Loom identifies those who will create evil and chaos in the future, with Sloan responsible for interpreting the code.