Hitman: Agent 47

Greetings from the other side. I just finished watching this movie again, and it all came rushing back. ..

First, this is a good action movie, and it would have done better if it removed the bogus "Hitman" tag. Obviously, it was put there to get butts in the chair, and that may have worked a little. However, when people show up expecting something, and you give them something else, it pisses them off, and the reviews will suffer because of it.

There is an agent 47, and it is suppose to be a hitman movie, but it's really not. The first Hitman movie with Timothy Olyphant did it justice, and if you haven't seen that movie, I highly suggest you do. Agent 47 doesn't act properly in this movie. There is no sneaking or setting cool traps, etc. It's wide open action here, and Swartzenegger could have played the role.

Anyway, it's still a good action movie and worth viewing, just be aware that this is not your typical Hitman movie, that all.

When it comes to movies based on popular videogames, a majority of them intend to fail and get the fanboys of the game source to rave and rant on what's wrong with it and question why it was made. In this scenario, Hit-man: Agent 47 does stand somewhere near there, but it does improve on its 2nd attempt to bring the 'silent assassin' on screen in the best way possible.

The film follows an assassin known only as Agent 47 (played by a great and bald Rupert Friend) who seems to team up with a woman named Hanna (Hannah Ware) to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry. Together, they aim to take down the leader of Syndicate International, a terrorist group who is aiming to discover and create more deadly hit-man that process Hannah's unique ability and are more deadly than the assassin himself.

What makes Agent 47 so redeemable is the fact that it tries to improve on its plot and following the game source material than what the 2007 adaptation did (not to mention that the casting of Timothy Olyphant is mixed for me), it may not have done its 100% faithfulness to be label how game-to-movies are made but it's better than what most people say. The plot itself stays simple and is a no brainer to follow what's happening, but I did feel that the movie itself ran smoothly and kept pace in strong hold but the 96 minute running time is still considered short for my tastes (hopefully in future there will be an extended cut of the film that could help bring the film longer).

The casting range here may or may not seem recognisable but the cast do put on their best performance roles, Rupert Friend (from TV's Homeland) suits better as Agent 47 than what Olyphant's take did. Agent 47 is pretty much an emotionless, ruthless and yet cunning like in the game and Friend sticks close to that with good results. Ware makes a good impression as the female lead, playing a character that is searching for not only her past but embracing the future ahead as she learns more about her 'unique' side. Zachary Quninto plays a decent role as well though other reviewers say that his role was wasted, I won't give away too much but he does give his best on-screen role that's not a waste.

Pros: + Better plot than the previous film + Great performances from Friend, Ware and Quinto + Fun and well-set action pieces that are structured much well better than the first film

Cons: - Short running time, I would have loved to seen the film go longer and see itself expand into something unique- CGI may be clearly noticeable in some of the action set pieces

OVERALL: Hit-man: Agent 47 is a better but not yet best game to movie adaptation to surface in years, Arming itself with a great choice of casting, direction, plot and action, the film is a worthy watch on a lazy afternoon and it's a 'leave the brain at the door' so you can't take it to be full-on serious.

There seems to have been a great opportunity here to do something very Bourne-esque with the premise, but alas, it's just another average Hollywood action movie where everything is very silly, totally unbelievable and lacking depth. Still, if you just want to watch something with some action, then this is as good of a time-killer as anything else, maybe even more so if you're a fan of the video games that it's based on, although I suppose that would depend on just how faithful they've been to the source material. There's been better and there's been worse.

One thing that bugs me more than any other about this film is the choice of the lead actor. He looks more like poor man's Orlando Bloom, and less like Agent 47 from the video game. IMHO he doesn't look convincing enough to play this role. He looks too skinny to be an engineered human being, bred for one purpose, to be a killing machine (just shaving some actors head doesn't make him an Agent 47). Wouldn't all those years of physical training be visible on his physique? Maybe I'm wrong, and he was bred for stamina rather than strength. The action scenes are very well done with some genuine WOW moments, but the story feels too generic, and plagued with the same problems like the first attempt on turning this video game into a movie (they just had to have a woman as his sidekick again!!!). If you expect a good action flick, you will be satisfied, but if you are a video game fan, this just won't do it for you, as it didn't do it for me.

Went to this not knowing anything about the video game, previous films, etc.

It was pretty decent. Nothing earth shattering or monumental, but competently done and a pretty decent action movie overall.

I gave it 6 out of 10 as I felt it was slightly above average.

There were a few scenes where the actors didn't quite maintain their characters, but the directing / editing covered it up pretty well.

Pretty good action sequences and special effects. It is quite bloody and graphic with a lot of killing, so if that sort of thing bothers, then you might want to think twice.

The plot and character development are average, but at least this film does have a plot and does attempt character development which is more than I can say for most films these days so . . .

Overall, decent.