‘Hitman’ on Target

When a video game is transferred to celluloid, the worry is that the story may be too far-fetched, or that the lack of interactivity may bore viewers. Hitman falls victim to neither, though its first few minutes were worrisome. Was this going to be the first movie to ever make me walk out? We’re introduced to Dougray Scott’s Mike, an Interpol inspector coming home on a dark, rainy evening. Big surprise: Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) is there, sitting in Mike’s office, and there’s a dead guy on the floor. Unoriginal dialogue ensues. But then we’re taken back three months: Mike is one short step behind 47 as the monastery-trained assassin takes on a job that may be his last. The pace picks up here and never slackens. And the story’s improbabilities are grounded in a real world, making the suspension of disbelief easy and quite willingly given.

My initial thought on the casting of Olyphant: Just because someone looks like Hitman doesn’t mean he should be cast as Hitman. Slightly less pretty than Keanu Reeves, Olyphant is at least a little better at acting. His physicality is right on: He walks like 47, fights like 47, and handles a gun like a pro. His suit and physique give him the right silhouette. Of course the noggin helps (though one of the concept’s weak points is the idea that bald guys with bar-code tattoos are inconspicuous). However, his line readings tend to come off as flat, a problem Olyphant has had in other roles. But he is likable in this role. Dougray Scott gives a more nuanced performance despite his rather uncomplicated, flat character. Olga Kurylenko as token tag-along hottie Nika is gorgeous, and she does a good job with a shopworn role. Robert Knepper as a dirty Russian intelligence agent gives a solid portrayal.

Intrigue-heavy films such as this always tend to lose me on the finer points of conspiracy, but there’s nothing here I can’t forgive. It follows the formula of so many other antihero-assassin films; though it isn’t perhaps as dynamic or compelling as the Bourne films, Hitman is certainly not the dregs of the genre. It might have done without its bookend structure, and the psuedo love story between 47 and Nika is too contrived. But beyond that, the action is intense and the fight choreography excellent. The score is well-suited for the film’s tempo; in comparison to The Bourne Supremacy, for example, Hitman’s soundtrack creates a smoother build to the film’s crescendo. Also in comparison to Supremacy, flashback sequences are more effective.

Hitman doesn’t forget where it comes from (indeed, at one point 47 comes flying through a hotel window, interrupting a couple of kids who happen to be playing Hitman on the TV), and that’s worth a lot. Let’s just say I’m amenable to another chapter in the franchise, something I can’t say about other comic book/video game transfers, such as Spider-Man (which we’ve already been subjected to three of) or Superman (which has another bun in the oven, ugh).

~ by JT on November 25, 2007.