Hitman (2007)

This Movie Is About: a gun for hire. He's only known as Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) by the barcode that was etched into the back of his skull when he was raised and trained at the Agency. He's on a routine hit when he gets set up by his target. After that, he has to escape from the Russian secret service as well as a super detective, Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott) who has been hot on his case for years. Along the way, Agent 47 runs into Nika (Olga Kurylenko), a prostitute who was set up as well. So now these two must work together in order to solve the real mystery behind the target and why they were chosen to take the fall. Agent 47 soon realizes that the Agency, the same one that raised him ,is involved in his set up. From then, it is very clear what he must do in order to clear his name, protect Nika, and find that freedom that he has been looking for.

You Should Watch This Movie Because: if you have played the games then you owe it to yourself to watch this movie. Yes, for those of you who don't know, this movie is based on the award winning video game series with the same title. This film does a great job in bringing Agent 47 to life and it is a treat to see him talk and have a personality behind the killing machine. The action is fast and furious and although there isn't as much sex as some people would prefer, the story is actually very well thought out. The film itself for those who have not played the game, stands quite well on it's own as the hero isn't just some bad ass character that goes out and kills a bunch of people. There is actually real emotion here which is something difficult to do in bringing a video game character to the big screen.

What's Hot: Olga Kurylenko will be the source of guys' wet dreams after this movie. She looks great when you first see her in a emo/goth sort of way but when you see her put on the dress you just wanna die. Okay, so that's out of the way. The action is great. It really lives up to the Hitman game as the assassinations are all nicely crafted as well as the hand to hand combat. The entire story is a watered down version of the Bourne series but it compensates by having more action and having things be a bit more stylised than a strange up political action movie. The story will be very hit and miss with some people but for me it was more positive than negative. A video game character like Agent 47 really doesn't have character so to see him go through a nice change was something unexpected and well done. And while this film does try to be a film first and a game/film second, it does do small little things in the film that reminds us over and over again that this is from a video game and the whole movie should have that video game feel which is definitely does.

What's Not Hot: There are major issues which the way some things go down and the back story. In a game you have all this time to really go over what happened to our hero and where he's coming from. In the movie however, it's really difficult because the audience doesn't want to sit there and listen to a whole bunch of back story. It was a fine line that had to be walked and difficult not to cross. There are certain things this movie forces you to accept if you want to enjoy the rest of it. There are moments when you will think that is impossible or that's just stupid. At these moments it's important to remind yourself that this film should be viewed like you're watching a video game. However, there will be many people who cannot accept this and if that is the case, then this movie will fall into the ridiculous and those small logic issues will be the focus of the film which will be too bad.

Last Comments: In my opinion, Hitman does a brilliant job in bringing a video game to life, not only in terms of staying true to the original game in terms of visuals as well as tone, but it also adds a story and gives a lifeless character some real emotion and stakes. We really feel for Agent 47 when all he wants is freedom. Then to go see him have that connection with Nika who is suffering from the same issue really helps us make that connection. The grand action scenes, although reminiscent of Bourne, just doesn't have the same umph although there will be times when the violence is beautiful and art can be found in death. I don't believe they went far enough with that idea but then again they did so many things right with incorporating a compelling story that it can be forgiven. If you are a fan of the game then definitely go watch it. If you are not but you like action, then this one is worth considering if you need that adrenaline fix.

Breaking it Down:
Story: 6.8 (Skip Woods)
Direction: 8.2 (Xavier Gens)
Acting: 7.5
Cinematography: 8.5
Music/Sound: 7.0

Entertainment Value: 7.6 (not an average)