20th Century Fox presents an R rated 100 minute action crime thriller based on the game, Hitman. Directed by Xavier Gens and starring Timothy Olyphant (Agent 47), Dougray Scott (Mike Whittier), Olga Kurvlenko (Nika Boronina), Robert Knepper (Yuri Marklov), Ulrich Thomsen (Mikhail Belicoff), Henry Ian Cusick (Udre Belicoff) and Michael Offei (Jenkins).
Over a score of Ave Maria the film opens to the training, bar-coding and initiations of young boys schooled to become killers. Years later an un-named man, Olyphant, a bit stiff and cold actor, sits within the home of an Interpol agent, Mike Whittier. He poses a proposition which unfolds the journey of three months ago on how they got to that point in time. The question, how does a good man kill? The answer unfolds within the somewhat weak written but high octane action story of cat and mouse.
The premise is not quite close to that of the “Borne” films but a bit of a rip off to say the least. Now, I know where many of the television actors spent their summer vacations! Filming this young male demographic movie, of course! Even though I kept seeing “Desperate Housewives”, Lost or Prison Break actors portraying English officials, foreign weapons dealers or Russian police, they did an adequate job.
Mike refers to this ‘Hitman” as the ghost mainly because he is never been seen or caught but has over a hundred kills to his credit. He receives his targets from a lap top computer and plans his kills accordingly. The story deviates to Russia when his target becomes President Belicoff but not all things appear as they seem and the “Hitman” later known as Agent 47, the killer with a photographic memory, now becomes the focus of the conspiracy. His organization along with the help of other government officials now wants Agent 47 dead. Why! His original killed target once again rises from the dead, so to speak. Only Agent 47 and Belicoff’s “not by choice” whore, Nika, know the real truth. He soon befriends the Russian beauty on a search for truth, survival and their justice, no matter how deadly it may be.
Nothing gets in his way or focus, not even a naked beauty like Nika, nicely acted by Kurvlenko. Blood baths pursue throughout the story line as Agent 47 seeks to take out anyone who gets in his way whether Interpol, the FSB or other hit-men from within his own organization. Choices of life and death are made as he travels from Moscow to Turkey in pursuit of his main target, Belicoff. As usual, politics play amongst the countries and the characters eventually falling favor to the “Hitman”. Albeit in the end, the key to the church and salvation may lead the officials to Agent 47’s true path but it is the beauty of a woman that eventually tames the beast. Overall, making everyone even and left alone, that is unless the film does well and Hitman 2 makes a debut in the future. Doubtful though!
Reporting for Talkin' Pets, I'm Jon Patch.