Fans of the video game on which this film is based may get a kick out of the cinematic treatment, but even these low level kicks will be tempered by the film's failure to articulate its main plot points or to create characters we care about.
Hitman (2007)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:14
Rotten:78
Average Rating:3.7/10
Consensus: Hitman features the unfortunate combination of excessive violence, incoherent plot, and inane dialogue.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $39,617,876
Synopsis: Based on the popular Playstation 2 game, HITMAN chronicles the frame-up and retribution-packed odyssey of Number 47 (Timothy Olyphant), a bald assassin raised from birth to be a killer and tattooed... Based on the popular Playstation 2 game, HITMAN chronicles the frame-up and retribution-packed odyssey of Number 47 (Timothy Olyphant), a bald assassin raised from birth to be a killer and tattooed with a barcode on the back of his head. There's lots of BOURNE SUPREMACY-style flash-edits and superhuman stunt work as 47 seeks to find out why moderate Russian presidential nominee Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen) was the client for his own assassination, a hit that 47 pulled off perfectly, except for one hitch: the target's still alive. For romantic interest we have Olga Kurylenko as a foxy Russian prostitute sold into slavery by the evil Belicoff. She and 47 wind up on the lam together but they'll never be safe as long as Belicoff is still alive. Meanwhile, Interpol agent Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott) has been tracking 47 for years; he's on the scent and about to close in. Luc Besson was the producer on this, and fans of his TRANSPORTER, THE PROFESSIONAL and LA FEMME NIKITA films will eat it up, as it's got the same narrative arc, same hyper-kinetic shoot-em-up flavor, vividly saturated colors, swooping camerawork, tightly choreographed fights, and lots of blood flying from the copious bullet wounds. Vin Diesel executive produced, and one wonders what stopped his big bald head from filling the screen in the lead, but no matter, as Olyphant does a thorough job, speaking in a measured drawl that recalls, of all people, Clint Eastwood in his DIRTY HARRY days. [More]
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Offei
Director: Xavier Gens
Director: Xavier Gens
Screenwriter: Skip Woods
Producer: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Charles Gordon, Adrian Askarieh
Composer: Geoff Zanelli
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Hitman
Hitman will satisfy only longings for tough-guy posturing, sadistic violence, blatant misogyny and incoherent plotting.
Hitman stands right on the threshold between video games and art. On the wrong side of the threshold, but still, give it credit.
47 doesn't even want the girl. What kind of action movie is this? A skippable one, ultimately.
Hitman is exactly the kind of movie you'd expect it to be. The bad kind.
Can a video game turn a movie into a hit, man? Maybe. But that doesn't mean that "Hitman" is far removed from its video game origins.
As far as it being a video game, I was in the theater and I was trying to work the remote control to close the curtains and turn the sound down.
A Eurotrashy vidgame knockoff that misses its target by a mile. Numbingly unthrilling as it lurches from one violent encounter to another, the pic's dark roots in an electronic, non-dramatic medium are plain to see.
Hitman loses steam as we realize what is supposed to happen and we don't get enough bold surprises along the way.
This is a script written with the sensibility of a geeky 12-year-old boy and then dumbed-down some. More than some.
Rooted firmly on the positive side of good and dumb ... Whether you go for it or not may ultimately depend on your feelings about a movie that helpfully explains its locations with onscreen captions like "London: England" and "Moscow: Russia."
An overcooked time killer that finds bad acting, bad direction, bad cinematography, and bad screenwriting in a furious race to dominate the running time. I'd call it a four-way tie.
The film's target audience - dummies everywhere - will be blown away.
I haven't played the video game but I'm guessing the movie has chosen, for some reason, to re-create the story scenes that play between levels. The ones that players skip.
Latest News for Hitman
October 28, 2009:
Xavier Gens Will Cope with Fallout ![]()
"Hitman" director Xavier Gens is set to direct "Fallout," a post-apocalyptic thriller that's being touted as a film "that combines elements of 'Assault on Precinct 13' with... More...
June 24, 2009:
Fox Hires Kyle Ward for Hitman Sequel ![]()
Fox is gearing up for a "Hitman" sequel -- and according to IESB's sources, the studio has hired Kyle Ward to write the script. More...
March 24, 2008:
Fifth Rambo on the Fast Track?
Who's ready for more Rambo? More...
March 10, 2008:
RT on DVD: Call It, Friend-O -- No Country For Old Men Hits DVD
The critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men comes to DVD this week, accompanied by a litany of fellow Fresh films (Lake of Fire, Summer Palace, Dan in Real... More...
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