Hitman: Assassino 47

I found this solid and competent. The curious thing is that what it did well, it did not because of what it is, but because it did not stick closely to the world of the video game. This is also why the fan base rejected it.

Apparently, the agent in the game is one of the 47th generation of clones, where the movie has him as the best of a collection of specially trained orphans. Instead of a name, he simply has the number 47.

I also liked the mashup, conventional as it is: Russian mafia, secret supercapable murder enterprise, worldwide conspiracy of priests. Its the spice of the priests that matters, after the Dan Brown conspiracy to make it seem ridiculous and taking the style out of it. It is easier somehow to believe a cabal lead by a Moscow Patriarch instead of the inept Rome.

The girl does what the girl is supposed to do: claim that she is sexually exploited, and then proceed to be exploited by us in much the same way. The assassin does what he is supposed to and does it well: show us unexpected ways that he can manipulate the world, anticipating coincidences and odd subplots. Our designated watcher, the typical American detective, also does his job: watching at a distance.

Why this film deserves a comment and others I see do not, is the way it ends. The form here is reverse noir. In noir, we have a hero, an everyman, who is manipulated by the world of the viewer. He is subject to cosmic coincidences that come not from any natural unfolding, but from our need to have a structured narrative. The watcher unconsciously manipulates the character.

In reverse noir, the character somehow can control the world, so that minor coincidences are anticipated, even controlled by a plan he has that we do not know. We, the viewer, are placed in the thing to be befuddled as we end up as the manipulated soul. I am not sure when this reversed form first appeared; I am hoping a reader can advise. But the form is common enough now to have some endemic problems, the most challenging of which is how to end the film.

This film does that admirably, and it can be said that all the automatic stuff in the middle of the film is arranged to set up this satisfactory ending. The film starts with the beginning of that ending, with the remainder an implicit flashback (meaning only that the story is recalled and not repeated aloud). The ending is set up emotionally as our hit man is incapable of controlling the world so far as a mate, a family. We see him tortured about this. Yes, it is a juvenile portrayal of such an emptiness, but we get it.

So the only way he can get the pleasure of a family is the same way we get the pleasure of killing scads of bad guys: by watching. So while for 90 minutes our detective has been our surrogate watcher, giving us expected thrills and surprises, we reverse once again at the end: now the hit man is the watcher of love and family. We know he will never approach 'the girl' or the detective again, but that he will watch, which we see him doing through the only instrument available, a rifle sight.

This is good writing my friends, where the screenwriter understands the form well enough to manipulate it and us. He was able to give the fanboys something; he was able to give the studio bosses their key elements (boobs, explosions, creation myth, societal anchoring); and yet he was able to give himself a cleverly well ended story. Of how many films can you say that? I see he is working on the next Bruce Willis 'Die Hard.' Bet it is well written too.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I've played Hit-man and have really been excited to see the movie. At first I was wondering how will they ever pull off the Hit-man movie but after watching it, its one of the few games to movie adaptations that I really liked. Not a perfect adaptation, but the best so far compared to others out there. Though Jason Statham was my initial bet, Timothy Olyphant did a good job with portraying Agent 47.

Aspects of the game was incorporated in the movie and they didn't overkill with stupid ideas. Action was pretty good and I like the fight scenes. Agent 47 in the movie does live up to his cold killer reputation in spite of a girl being introduced. Its a good thing they keep it nice and cold.

The only thing I noticed is that Timothy looks too pretty cute to be Agent 47. Other than that, its good.

First, I've heard mostly mixed comments about this movie. But, I'm glad that for the first time in a long time, an "action" movie has had an in-depth plot. Not to mention, they captured the personality of 47 near perfectly. When I went to see this, I didn't think I would like it because Timothy Olyphant played such a convincing geek in Die Hard 4, but he did an incredible job of changing roles. The basis behind the movie is that the hit-man is sent to assassinate someone, but it goes bad, which results in him picking up Olga Kurylenko. Now, they tried to add some jokes in, and he does do some things that are completely out of character (such as smiling), but for the most part, he plays the part very well. Now, the hit-man games aren't known for the best plot of all time, but, since the movie focused more on plot then on actual action, it feels a bit refreshing since the games are basically "Target, Money, Kill". I'd like to see the next Hit-man game focus more on the plot.

Anyway, it's got a great story, 47 is for the most part, played as he should be, and there is enough action to keep you from getting bored.

Ranking wise, it's definitely no "Die Hard 3" or "Big Fish", but it is probably one of the best video-game to movie transitions thats been done in a long time.

.. despite the fact that the longest period i have spent playing hit-man the game was 10 minutes , i really did enjoy this movie

I've seen some comments call the movie horrible and disappointing , as i can see the movie was very good , but being short was the only bad thing about it .. IMHO there should have been more to watch maybe another target for him to kill .. still i highly recommend the movie even if you aren't a big fan of the game.

Timothy Olyphant was great in the way he performed agent 47 .. the way he walks , the way he moves or look , he literally rocked .

After all , i wish that the 20th century would think of producing another hit-man as good as this one or maybe better .

Watching the new film "Hitman," an adaptation of the highly successful Eidos video game series (which I have never played), you get the feeling right from the opening credits that this will be a hit-or-miss-type of movie. Like a pistol that's loaded, cocked and ready to rock & roll, "Hitman" succeeds by remaining true to its source material (even if only in a few instances) and becoming a stand-alone picture in its own right. That's where the hits mostly come from.

But the misses are mostly in the screenplay and frenzied direction of Xavier Gens. In a plot that mixes the assassin looking to rediscover his humanity, the hooker with a heart of gold, the video game adaptation, shady politics and the frenetic direction of European action movies, "Hitman" should be an action fan's wildest dreams come true. While skilled in these areas, the problems arise in trying to bring it together as a wholesome film and trying to tell a coherent story.

"Hitman" centers on the mysterious and world-renowned assassin Agent 47 (a perfectly stoic Timothy Olyphant), who becomes embroiled in a political conspiracy in St. Petersburg, Russia, following a failed hit on the Russian president. Hunted by a determined Interpol agent named Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott), his men, the Russian military and other assassins, Agent 47's only key to clearing his name is the tragic hooker Nika (Olga Kurylenko), who may have been a witness to the attempted killing. Of course because Nika is sexy as hell, the film allows her two topless scenes, and one attempt at trying to bed Agent 47, though sadly, her character is way underdeveloped, so all we care about are her T + A.

"Hitman" establishes itself nicely in the beginning but loses itself in murky political intrigue that I myself had a lot of difficult trying to sift through. If the script by Skip Woods had taken its time in developing the plot a little bit more, then maybe I wouldn't have been so lost at trying to figure things out. Of course where the film mostly succeeds at, is its bloody action sequences. Where most action films today don't even bother in the way of bloody violence, "Hitman" loses itself in these stylish action scenes. Issues abound though with the extremely hyper and tripped-out editing, which tends to take away from the action.

The bald-headed, bar-code-tattooed Timothy Olyphant fills his shoes nicely as Agent 47, the man who was literally born to kill, though I honestly thought that the role should have gone to someone a little bit older or more experienced in the realm of action films; of course the actor I would have chosen for Agent 47 would have been Billy Zane, though I'm not sure anyone knows where he is right now so Olyphant will have to do. Olyphant seems to handle himself nicely in the film's frequent blood-lettings, including a four-way shootout that devolves into a brutal hand-to-hand combat encounter within the claustrophobic confines of a rail-car.

"Hitman" is the latest video game adaptation to hit the screens so far and like most entries, it's a hit & miss vehicle. My generic approach to these movies is clear and as follows: "Mortal Kombat" (1995) remains the best adaptation of a video game yet, followed by last year's "Silent Hill" (2006). Others, like "Doom" (2005), and the "Resident Evil" films and "Tomb Raider" movies, are also above-average efforts, so "Hitman," with its hits & misses, fits right in perfectly.

6/10