‘Hitman: Agent 47’ Movie Review

Hitman Agent 47 Movie Review
Agent 47 (Rupert Friend) and Katia (Hannah Ware) in Hitman: Agent 47′ (Photo: Reiner Bajo © 20th Century Fox)

“You know why you’re still alive? Because I chose not to kill you…but they will,” says 47 (Rupert Friend), a genetically altered and programmed assassin who just saved Katia Van Dees (Hannah Ware) from being used to find her father and then murdered in the action crime film Hitman: Agent 47.

Agent 47, identified by only the barcode on the back of his neck, is on a very different mission this time around to protect Van Dees, who’s being hunted by a mega-corporation that believes she is the key to finding her father, Litvenko (Ciaran Hinds). Litvenko is being sought because he started the program of creating and programming the perfect killing human machines back in the ’60s. Anxious to create a whole army of powerful killers, even surpassing Agent 47’s abilities, the CEO of the corporation sends his most lethal assassin, John Smith (Zachary Quinto), after Dees and 47.

Wanting to stop the creation of any more agents like himself, Agent 47 teams up with Van Dees to help her find her father and search for a way to bring down the mega-corporation and its CEO once and for all.

Completely lacking in originality, seemingly uninspired, and horribly written, Hitman: Agent 47 is one of the worst action films to hit the big screen in years. It has ridiculous dialogue, laughable performances, dull and unimpressive action scenes, and when bullets are being fired in every direction or cars are being driven through break-away walls, the film crawls along at a snail’s pace.

In an obvious and obnoxious attempt to steal/copy from the Terminator movie franchise, Quinto’s John Smith character has been given titanium skin so bullets won’t stop or kill him. I know you’re laughing right now but, yes, it’s in the film. Ware’s character Van Dees always seems to find time for a nice, long, hot shower or a late-night skinny dipping swim and finishes just before Smith and his team of assassins show up to capture her…Oh please!!!

In a movie-going summer where the cineplex has had up on the big screen some of the best action films to come along in years, including Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hitman: Agent 47 is a perfect example of how excruciatingly painful a terrible action film can be to sit through.

GRADE: F

MPAA Rating: R for sequences of strong violence, and some language

Release Date: August 21, 2015

Directed By: Aleksander Bach