Hitman (2007)

Director:

Xavier Gens

Writer (WGA):

Skip Woods (written by)

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

A gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as 'The Agency' is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Eastern Europe.

Plot Keywords:

One Man Army | Niger | Sniper | Restaurant | Balcony

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Timothy Olyphant	...	Agent 47
Dougray Scott	...	Mike Whittier
Olga Kurylenko	...	Nika Boronina
Robert Knepper	...	Yuri Marklov
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Mikhail Belicoff
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Udre Belicoff
Michael Offei	...	Jenkins
Christian Erickson	...	General Kormarov
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Bwana Ovie
Joe Sheridan	...	Captain Gudnayev
James Faulkner	...	Smith Jamison
Jean-Marc Bellu	...	Hitman #2
Nicky Naude	...	Hitman #3
Abdou Sagna	...	Hitman #4
Ilya Nikitenko	...	Hitman #5

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Russian | Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Germany:18 | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba) | South Korea:18 | Hungary:18 | Germany:18 (uncut) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | South Africa:16 | Finland:K-15 | Malaysia:18PL | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Ireland:16 | USA:R (certificate #43962) | Australia:MA | Ireland:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Denmark:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | France:Unrated | Austria:16 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

During the restaurant sequence, the scene in which Nika (Olga Kurylenko) talks about owning a squirrel/chipmunk when she was young was actually true for the actress, and the scene was improvised during filming.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At 48:45 a wire or cable can be seen under the opposite side of the detective’s car as he stands outside speaking with the Russian police.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mike Whittier: Fuck!
Agent 47: It's not there. It's in the kitchen, where you left it.
Mike Whittier: How'd you get in?
Agent 47: You have a nice family. They're fine. Alive. Asleep.

Movie Connections:

Features Hitman: Blood Money (2006) (VG)

Soundtrack:

DVNO

Unsurprising and expected...

Being a longtime fan of the games, I was pretty excited to hear that they were planning on making a film based on them. I knew that it would be a challenge to depict a rather 1-dimensional character like 47 in an honest and objective manner, while still making it entertaining for the public. That was when my optimism about this project faded; knowing Hollywood would take the easy way out, converting the rather complex and serious games into a very predictable and regurgitated action flick.

Later in the year, I read the script that was floating around the internet. It confirmed all my predictions and I knew I was going to hate the movie. However, I am a glutton for punishment and I decided to see the movie yesterday, knowing well that I was going to end up with the stale taste of regret in my mouth.

I think there are two aspects to look at here. The first is how the movie stands up compared to the game. The second is how the movie stands on its own as a film.

To address the first point, I am utterly baffled by the reviews that state that this movie is faithful to the series and how it won't disappoint fans of the games. I can only conclude that these reviewers have never played the games, and know nothing about the back-story of the series. This movie is only related to the games by name, and the fact that there is a bald guy with a bar code on his head wearing a suit in it. The relation ends there.

Olyphant's 47, portrayed as ¨cold¨ as Olyphant could muster, is warm and fuzzy (like Elmo) compared to the original Mr. 47. He jokes, he smiles, he awkwardly flirts with skimpy dressed Nika, and he spares the lives of our nice Interpol buddies. You don't have play the games for long to understand how this is a deviance from the original Hit-man concept. What really bothers me is that Olyphant's 47 destroys the fundamental concepts behind the Hit-man games, which are what have made that franchise so popular and unique: stealth, amorality, professionalism, moderation, restraint, and in a sense, non-violence. This movie doesn't remain faithful to any of that. It contains a bald guy shooting a bunch of dudes and saving a mistreated woman with a low tolerance for alcohol and a high tolerance for pain.

The second point, whether the movie stands on its own or not, is fairly evident from what I have already mentioned. They could have named this ¨Die Hard Jr's Soviet Escapades¨ and no one would have been surprised. As an action flick, it follows the same formula that has been used for decades. Tough guy, weak chick, persecution, explosions, and gunshots. The action scenes are nothing special, but not terrible either. The plot isn't well put together, and some pieces don't make much sense. Little back story is presented about the characters, and I didn't feel any sympathy for any of them.

Lastly, it appears that they dulled down the violence and edited out some of the background info from the script that I read. If the script was bad, a chopped up version of that script is an abomination.

To summarize, this movie falls flat on its face as an action flick, and is an insult to the Hit-man franchise. The acting is relatively poor with miscast actors, a terrible script, mundane action scenes, and strung together plot elements. I had originally rated this film 4 out of 10, but all considered, it was lucky to end up with my 3 out of 10 rating.