If you were a gun nerd in 2008, then I’m betting you couldn’t escape the film Wanted. How could you? The main characters were superheroes, and their special powers were guns.
Sure the movie was as far from realistic as it could get, but the action was a ton of fun. The film didn’t take itself super seriously, and we got to see a near pre-fame Chris Pratt get smashed in the face with a keyboard.
It’s fun with guns without trying to be serious.
Wanted is full of guns, and today we are looking at the highly customized 1911 wielded by Fox in the film.
Bending Bullets
Wanted takes place in a universe where master assassins defy physics to get their kills.
The film is very loosely based on a graphic novel but loosely is the keyword. In the film, a magical loom directs the assassins to their targets.
Wait, I just realized how stupid that sounds as I typed it. Okay, but hear me out. The film is a super stylish romp where highly trained assassins shoot at each other.
Our main character Wesley is a newbie and a bit of a loser. He works a dead-end office job, his girlfriend is cheating on him, and he gets massive anxiety attacks. The movie later goes on to state those anxiety attacks are a superpower.
Must be nice. The only power I get from anxiety is the drive to avoid people at all costs.
Anywho, he trains under the mysterious Fox, played by Angelina Jolie. She teaches him how to bend bullets (no, really), and she does so with a highly customized 1911.
Specifically a Safari Arms Matchmaster. The dead giveaway is the weird finger groove thing on the grip.
Safari Arms is the only company I know that does that. Also, if you look closely, it has “Matchmaster” right on the side.
The gun itself features a mix of practical customization and ornate customization.
The Matchmaster sports beautiful work on the slide and a set of custom grips that makes it stand out even in the hands of the beautiful Angelina Jolie. Beyond that, the gun features a massive compensator.
Specifically a Parrish 1911 Bushing Compensator. Who wants more recoil and muzzle rise when you can have less?
On top of that, it sports a skeletonized hammer, a super longer beavertail, a massive safety, and adjustable sights.
Fox also seems to be a fan of the Wilson Combat 10-round magazines, as that seems to be all she ever uses.
The Safari Arms brand is no more but where once a subsidiary of Olympic Arms. The Matchmaster was an extremely high-quality M1911 designed for competition.
These guns are exquisite works and border on absurd in terms of price.
Admittedly, if you were an assassin, the Matchmaster is the type of gun you could trust your life to.
Dropping Hammers
Throughout the film, the action is always over the top.
From the shootout in the store with a Corner Shot to the end gun design where the Halo double-kill voice would lose his mind.
Fox alternates between one-handed and two-handed grip, and while the movie is silly, Angelina Jolie knows her way around a gun.
She always uses a high grip and makes the most of that massive beavertail. Her two grip is fantastic, and while aiming seems optional, she holds the gun at eye level to shoot.
She also curves bullets with the best of them!
Angelina Jolie has a bit of a history of wielding firearms well with Tomb Raider and its sequel, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Rumor has it she’s a bit of a firearms aficionado. At the very least, she is confident and competent with a handgun.
While Angelina Jolie is still making flicks, Safari Arms is gone, and so is the Matchmaster. It’s a real shame because they are fantastic firearms and quite nice. At least we have the gun immortalized in the film.
Wanted was a fun movie, and the gunplay might not have been realistic, but it was original.
What do you think of Wanted? Let us know below. For more Guns of Pop Culture, head to our Fun Category!
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Safari Arms was its own company back in the 1980s (its pistols are all marked Phoenix, AZ) and was bought out by Olympic (the WA pistols) at some point in the early 1990s if I remember right. The vast majority of the original Safari Arms pistols had ambi thumb safeties as I recall, with the single side coming along when Olympic took over. I suspect Jolie's is one of the Olympic versions, since another defining thing about the Phoenix pistols is the early ones in particular used S&W K frame adjustable sights. Many models also had threaded barrel bushings. Fascinating pistols, if hard to research.
My wife and I watched that movie. Saw the gun and said "I want one!" - my wife said "I'm pretty sure Angelina Jolie would not put up with you, so stop wishing."
Have you done "Equilibrium", with Christian Bale (and the gun kata) yet?
A hella slew of very stylish gunplay (and weaponry) in that flick...
Beautiful gun, but why does it have adjustable sights when she can just bend the bullet’s path to go where she likes?
I cannot get over how UGLY Angelina Jolie is. Ugh! Do you think SHE would want YOU to have a Matchmaster? Being left-handed, how can she run the Matchmaster without an ambi thumb safety? Enquiring minds want to know!
I can't speak to her politics (but we all have a feeling where they lay), but I can tell you as a person that shoots lefty and prefers 1911s that the lack of an ambi safety is something you can work around. I just stick out my index finger and use that to actuate the safety. It isn't ideal but as long as you're not trying to operate it quickly then you'll be fine.
I think a real life, southpaw assassin that's expecting use their pistol would realistically opt for an ambi safety but it's just a movie: I think the people behind the film picked this 1911 for its appearance rather than the practicality of it. It is a rather good looking pistol.
Having read this comic, I cannot stress enough how badly this movie suuuuuuuucked
One of the most beautiful 1911 firearms out there