Blend the killer-in-training elements of "La Femme Nikita" with the physics-defying stunts of "The Matrix," whip in the Oedipal angst of "The Empire Strikes Back" and sprinkle liberally with "Fight Club's" bad attitude.

That's the recipe for the tart-but-tasty "Wanted," a cinematic confection guaranteed to raise moviegoers' pulse rates.

With a star-heavy cast, mind-blowing visuals and more blood than a vampire flick, this modern-day fantasy about an ages-old brotherhood of assassins is an over-the-top guilty pleasure.

Those familiar with the earlier work of Russian director Timur Bekmambetov — the supernatural epics "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" — know that he's a visual genius who can be something of a narrative nincompoop. Happily, "Wanted" (it's based on a comic book) is mostly coherent (if wildly improbable).

The tone is set immediately with an astonishing high-rise shootout between a lone gunman and a squad of snipers. Bullets travel at super-slow speeds, drill into bodies and emerge on the other side in graceful spirals of gore. A man heaves himself 100 yards from one skyscraper to another.

Then we're introduced to Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a paranoid, anxiety-riddled office drone with a mean boss and a cheating girlfriend. The wimpy Wesley is a sweat-drenched wretch, the star of his own never-ending black comedy.

All that ends when he's approached by a mysterious beauty improbably but accurately called Fox (Angelina Jolie), who in a spectacular shootout and car chase saves him from a Terminator-ish killer (Thomas Kretschmann).

Wesley is taken to an old textile mill where he's introduced to the urbane Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and some surly, rough-looking types.

They're members of the Fraternity, a super-secret guild of assassins formed by medieval weavers. They're really good at killing people — they can make a bullet curve around obstacles to hit its target, and they sense danger the way other people smell smoke. They have miraculous hot tubs that heal broken bones and bullet wounds.

And they claim that Wesley is one of them. The father he never met, he learns, was a member of the Fraternity. Only recently was the elder Gibson killed by the same rogue assassin who tried to take out Wesley.

Now our wimp hero is told he will replace his father and take revenge on his turncoat killer.

But first Wesley will have to survive a brutal training regimen under the supervision of Fox, a casually cruel taskmaster without a sentimental bone in her body. He's going to need that restorative hot tub.

Accept from the outset that "Wanted" is utterly goofy. There is, for example, the "Loom of Fate," a machine that turns out cloth in whose fibers are hidden the names of people to be killed.

The loom apparently pulls this information out of the ether, but the Fraternity members have learned to unquestioningly obey. In the past some assassins have refused to pull the trigger, and their targets have gone on to commit acts of great evil.

"Kill one, save a million," is how Fox explains it.

Our boy Wesley learns his lessons well. He's so swept up in his newfound confidence that he fails to look carefully at the motives of his new colleagues.

Despite its ridiculous premise, "Wanted" is a kinetic marvel, an Energizer Bunny of a movie that spews power, mayhem and testosterone all over the screen. It has its own unique look and visual style, and Bekmambetov finds ways to make even trite ideas seem fresh and exciting.

Yeah, it may be an empty exercise in attitude and style. Just don't call "Wanted" boring.