Hitman: Agent 47

A straight forward Action Movie

I don't understand the low rating.. Honestly..

A postmodern bulk action movie, with a rather cold (cool) edge. With a lot of stock actors (redshirts), tons of bullets, car chases and a straightforward story.. Would make a great TV Show. Good entertainment with agreeable acting. Rupert Friend is a believable fighting machine.. All in all a straightforward, no frill action with no higher aspiration..

I did enjoy this compact gem..

Therefor I give it a solid 8/10.

It felt like the team that made the Resident Evil films- another failed attempt to turn a game into a movie - has worked on this as well. It is an Apple-style, gun kata, Matrix derived, James Bond cloning, CGI filled, Resident Evil sequel.

I wanted to watch it because I like Rupert Friend in Homeland. He did not disappoint, but neither did he blow my mind. It is clear that he needs better direction than the one time director Aleksander Bach could provide. Zachary Quinto does a decent job as well, considering the script. Hannah Ware is... cute and has a British accent. That's about it.

I could waste time telling you about the story, but it is rather silly and obvious. Even the twists, you see them coming from miles away. I think one thing only explains the film better than any review: Jürgen Prochnow gets less screen time than Angelababy in this movie. Yeah, I had to google her, too.

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.

Hitman: Agent 47 is a pretty decent thriller/action movie. It was probably not as cool as I expected after watching the trailer, but I still enjoyed it.

The story of course has wholes, inconsistencies and illogical moments, but if you just want to see some action and let it flow, then you will enjoy it as well. The main characters deliver and my rather small complaint would that neither of them are actual martial artists and as there are a lot of hand-to-hand combat, sometimes it was not as smooth as it was supposed to be, but still very watchable.

Recommended for action movie nights.

Despite good casting, very good performances, more than a correct direction, camera work, sfx, editing and music, this movie is not excellent. It has no soul, as previous version (with Timothy Olyphant, 2007) did. Comparison is inevitable. This is only an action movie: a good bunch of action scenes and essentially a mindless fun. However, no character development or an explanation who, why, where, when and so on. Previous version had it all and if someone planned sequels (or a franchise), they should have done it eight years ago. Then it would make sense. Don't get me wrong here. This movie is not a bad one and the cast gave it all to make it entertaining. But for me that is just not enough, considering the template (video game) and possibilities to develop a good idea into a more complex and challenging story. This movie returns all to the level of the video game (maybe even below that). I think that these characters deserve more. So do we. Recommended for "set-brains-to-off" fun on a weekend afternoon.