Hitman (2007/I)

Director:

Xavier Gens

Writer (WGA):

Skip Woods (written by)

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as 'The Organization' is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Russia and Eastern Europe.

Plot Keywords:

Interpol | Agent 47 | Assassin | Shot In The Head | Syringe

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Timothy Olyphant	...	Agent 47
Dougray Scott	...	Mike Whittier
Olga Kurylenko	...	Nika Boronina
Robert Knepper	...	Yuri Marklov
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Mikhail Belicoff
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Udre Belicoff
Michael Offei	...	Jenkins
Christian Erickson	...	General Kormarov
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Bwana Ovie
Joe Sheridan	...	Captain Gudnayev
James Faulkner	...	Smith Jamison
Jean-Marc Bellu	...	Hitman #2
Nicky Naude	...	Hitman #3
Abdou Sagna	...	Hitman #4
Ilya Nikitenko	...	Hitman #5

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

89 min | 90 min (unrated version)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Russian | Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | DTS

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:16 | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | South Africa:16 | Hungary:18 | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Malaysia:18PL | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | France:Unrated | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R (certificate #43962) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Japan:PG-12 | New Zealand:R16 | Ireland:18 | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | Austria:16 | Spain:18 | Brazil:16 | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Régie du Cinéma Québec)

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Diana and Agent Smith, characters from the video games, make appearances in the film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The interpol agents and St. Petersburg police discuss intercepting Agent 47 at the St. Petersburg Station. However there is no St. Petersburg train station in St. Petersburg. The train station shown on the map is the Moscow Station, located in Revolution Square whereas the Leningrad (the former name for St. Petersburg) station is located in Moscow. They were designed by the same architect and deliberately misplaced to represent the bond between the two cities.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mike Whittier: Fuck!
Agent 47: It's not there. It's in the kitchen, where you left it.
Mike Whittier: How'd you get in?
Agent 47: You have a nice family. They're fine. Alive. Asleep.

Movie Connections:

References Dip huet seung hung (1989)

Soundtrack:

Swingville Sashay

Better than expected!

Being a big fan of the Hit-man games, I was fairly worried when I heard that they were going to make a movie based on it because movies based on video games don't tend to be very good movies...

But after seeing it last night, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually quite a good movie. It may not win an Oscar or anything, but it's amazing to see Agent 47 up on the big screen. Timothy Olyphant does a surprisingly good job of portraying him too.

The love interest is a bit awkward to anyone who knows Agent 47's nearly complete lack of emotion in that department, but despite what the trailer may lead you to expect, it really doesn't go very far outside of what you've come to know in the games (and what happens when she tries to seduce him is absolutely hilarious and very much in the Agent 47 tradition).

It is indeed a violent movie, and 47 is as cold-blooded as you'd expect him to be. Seeing it tends to make me wish other movie heroes had the same level of guts, just to shoot the bad guy in the face instead of letting him live or anything silly like that. The fight scenes with the other assassins from the Agency are also very well done and quite a treat to see.

All in all, it's quite a good movie. Definitely worth paying to see in the theaters. Hopefully there'll be another one!