Hitman (15)

Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko

Synopsis: Based on the Hitman console games. Agent 47, trained since birth by The Agency to become a top assassin for hire, is contracted to kill Russia’s President Mikhail Belikoff. After the hit he is double crossed and finds himself on the run from his own people. In the meantime, his activities have brought him to the attention of Interpol agent Mike Whittier...

Review: Over the years I have learnt to harden my heart to the destructive, commercially driven practices of Hollywood. So often I have been interested in the development of certain projects, only to see the final product and wonder what the hell happened. Hitman is one of those projects. Originally, Vin Deisel was to play Agent 47. I’ll just give you a moment to digest the concept of impassive, gravel-voiced Vin in a black suit and tie, barcode on his skull, and silenced pistol in his hand. Alas, it wasn't to be.

I get the impression that, like Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem, the character of Agent 47 was shoehorned into a pre-existing script. I’m only speculating. However, it seems to me that the only element of the game that has been utilised is Agent 47 himself. A lot of the gameplay and scripts for the games involve Agent 47 setting up his kills in difficult environments. Part of the fun was finding the way to overcome the obstacles in your path to a covert assassination and a clean getaway. Here the kills are more or less already set up – killing the Russian president is particularly very easy - it’s kind of like playing the board game Mousetrap and only seeing the finished trap being sprung.

As a straightforward action movie, Hitman does fare better, although it is stuck with having the audience buy into the idea of bald, barcoded assassins who are masters of stealth. Like AVP:R, if they hadn’t gone with the iconic video character, they could have had an effective action thriller – certainly better than “War”!

Bearing that in mind, there are times when I really enjoyed this movie, and other times when I winced at the screen. One such moment had Agent 47 crash through the window of a hotel, landing in a room with two teens playing Hitman, who gape at each other in disbelief. Kind of like what I was doing, but for different reasons. Other silly moments see Agent 47 in a Mexican standoff with 4 other Agents, who stupidly buy into his “code of honour” rubbish, put away their guns and have a swordfight instead. Because, you know, swords are cool. Also it provided me the chance to have a real sense of “déjà view” (see what I did there?), watching the ensuing scrap, as it utilised elements of the sublime Drunken Master 2 fight scene under a train, and also the fight in the cargo hold of Con Air!

The cast are pretty good – Olyphant is no Vin Deisel, but brings a level of intelligence to the role that he wouldn’t have. Olga Kurylenko is sexy, feisty and vulnerable, and reminded me a little of Asia Argento in XXX, funnily enough. You’ll be seeing her again at the end of the year in the next Bond movie. The most pleasant surprise of watching this though was Dougray Scott, who seems to have gotten a lot more weathered since Mission: Impossible 2. He puts in a very energetic and impassioned performance and was the highlight of the whole movie.

Verdict: Action fans are likely to enjoy this more than fans of the game, but paradoxically only if they can forgive it the trappings of the game.

5 out of 10 (Review by MikeOutWest)

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