Review of Hitman (2007) by Adam M — 11 Jun 2011

The response Hitman recieved from critics is the perfect example of people taking films far too seriously. While I will admit there is nothing special about Hitman, and I was skeptical to give an overall positive rating. Still I do not feel that this film deserved to completely panned. There is plenty of action and violence. The main cause for its poor reception was the "messy" plot, but I can think of some films with worse plots that recieved at least mixed reviews (Death Race and The Men Who Stare At Goats just to name a couple). Calling this film awful is completely unjust. Solid direction and plenty of action will allow viewers to at least put aside the "muddled" plot. A question worth asking for this film, is there enough action to make up for a flawed plot and incoherent dialogue? And it really depends on the viewers' opinions, but I must assume that there is probably more than enough violence to allow most viewers to have a good experience.

Video game adaptations have yet to reach the level where they are considered respectable films. Having a name like Uwe Boll attached to a genre doesn't help either. Most video game adaptations try to follow the video games plot far too much, and that is a crippling flaw. I have yet to see a game plot that would come even close to working for an entire film. Yes the plots will work to an extent, but what game adaptations need to achieve respectability is a hero. For a game adaptation film to be able to do well, their needs to be a perfect mix of use from the actual game, and changes to make it work better as a film. So far there has been nothing even close to that. Hitman features an unknown director, Skip Woods (Thursday and Swordfish) as screenwriter was suppose to be a strong point, but instead became a laughable flaw. There is a lot of potential in the future for video game adaptations, but there is a lot of work to be done.

Acting is another usual flaw in game adaptations and also action films in general. Timothy Olyphant's performance as Agent 47 is one of those performances that has not unique or outstanding aspects, but the performance does just enough to get the film by. He is able to mix the emotionless killing with the true caring the character develops throughout the film very well. Olga Kurylenko as Nika Boronina is another passabe performance. She is Olyphant's love interest for the film and while the acting isn't the best, she is still as sexy as ever. Hitman's acting will not turn any heads, the bad reputation that game adaptations get for their acting isn't proven wrong but also isn't proven right.

Because of the cult following that the video game has earned over the years, a success at the box office was pretty much gauranteed for the film. Hitman earned about 100 million at the box office while having a budget of 30 million. Timothy Olyphant as the lead is the lone bright point for the acting in this film. No character development and direction talent is at the bare minimum. The action in the film will be just enough for the majority of the usual viewers to enjoy the film, but it lack the essentials to be a respectable film. Hitman is a film that will develop a following, for sure. It will also be a guilty pleasure for many movie buffs and "critics", including me.

Mood-O-Meter: 58%.