Hitman

Directed by: Xavier Gens
Written by: Skip Woods
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen

Score: 4.5/10

It’s a strange thing to think that with all the video game movies that have been released, there isn’t a single one that’s really good. For whatever reason, video game movies never seem to get past mediocre. It doesn’t help that the one man who’s responsible for most of these movies, Uwe Boll, is commonly referred to as this generations Ed Wood. While Hitman, the latest video game adaptation, was directed by Xavier Gens, somebody with a better visual style and who’s just an overall better director then Uwe Boll will ever be, it’s still just another mediocre video game movie.

Based on the Hitman series, that follows Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant), an orphan raised to be an assassin, as he takes down various high profile targets and deals with corruption from the organization he works for. The movie is pretty much the same; Agent 47 is on a mission to kill the president of Russia, Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen), and gets wrapped up in a government conspiracy, when the people he works for turn on him. So it’s your basic gun-for-hire story, where the Hitman gets double crossed and comes back for revenge. It’s a story that’s been done countless times, and is probably why it’s a lot more fun to play with a controller, than to watch on the screen.

Along the way he meets Nika (Olga Kurylenko), the president’s mistress and somebody who also a wanted person by Agent 47’s organization, for knowing too much. The story shifts to 47 protecting Nika who he grows to like - you even get the feeling that 47 has romantic feelings for her. This goes against everything the character was in the games and it brings the movie to a screeching halt. The action scenes are alright to watch, but when you introduce a ridiculous storyline featuring Agent 47 and this helpless woman it ruins what little story there was to begin with.

Occasionally the movie has a few scenes that are entertaining. When Agent 47 goes up against four other ‘agents’ in a train station, while sometimes poorly choreographed, it’s still one of the better fight sequences in the movie, but unfortunately Agent 47 is never really given any other opportunities to shine. He has his moments of action, but they’re never that great, he’s usually too busy running from inept Interpol Agents or trying to figure out a dumb government conspiracy involving body doubles.

As far as Timothy Olyphant goes, he does a pretty good job portraying Agent 47 - he even walks like the character from the games. It’s probably the best performance in the movie, which isn’t saying much, but still worthy of a mention.

Overall, while Hitman isn’t horrendous, it’s still just another run of the mill mediocre video game movie, something that we’ve seen many times before.