Hitman Review

I first heard about Hitman about a year ago while reading up on video game movies that were in the making. Immediately I was excited because I had always imagined the Hitman game to be a perfect canidate for the big screen. I was a bit skeptical though on how the final product would be. Movie studios have a tendancy to take a wonderful thing, strap a bomb to it, and blow it in tiny pieces of what it used to be. Thankfully, after viewing the movie, I can say that it met my expectations.

Plot: Agent 47, who belongs to a secret agency known only as The Organization, is hired to assassinate a political figurehead in the Russian government. When something goes wrong and The Organization turns its back on him, he must outrun assassins from his former agency and Russian secrect police, all while unravelling the mystery of his double cross. 

If you didn't already know, Hitman is based on the video game of the same name by Eidos Interactive. I have played all of the games in the series and beaten the second and third games (Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Contracts). While I haven't beaten the first Hitman (Hitman: Codename 47), I know the movie's storyline is almost identical to that of the game because the friend I went to see it with has played and beaten all of the games in the series and is a fanatic for Hitman. So, I trust him when he says that they are almost identical.

The real bulk of this movie is the action. This is another of those pure action, adrenaline filled, fast paced movies that seem to be popping up more and more lately (Crank and Rogue are good examples). The gun fight scenes were choreographed and filmed amazingly. At some points. it's hard to detach yourself from the movie and realize that it's all just blood packets and blanks. There are some extremely graphic parts, such as watching a headshot through a sniper scope, and some brutal hand-to-hand fight scenes. I thought that with a movie such as Hitman, that they may have too much action but, even though the whole movie is pretty much one gunfight after another, it seemed to work very well and kept me entertained from start to finish.

The lead role for this movie was one of the most talked about things when word that Hitman was finally in the works hit the streets. Most people assumed Jason Statham (Crank, Rogue, The Transporter) was going to be cast because this is his type of movie and he fits the Hitman profile. So, when it was announced that Timothy Olyphant (who was recently in Live Free or Die Hard) was to play Agent 47, people were extremely skeptical as to how well or if he could pull it off at all. I'm here to say that he did a fantastic job and turned out to be perfect for the role. Even though the rest of the cast are relatively unknown actors, they did their part and performed greatly. Dougray Scott and Robert Kneppner are just a few of those actors.

I'm making it seem like this is an amazing movie and, for someone like me who's played the games and knows whats going on, it is. But, if you haven't played any of the games and know nothing about Hitman, then this one could be a bit hard to get in to. I suggest checking it out though because, if nothing else, the action is worth seeing.

MPAA Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, language, and some sexuality/nudity)

Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes

Year: 2007

Rating: 8.5