Hitman: Agent 47, the second—and, chances are, once again failed—attempt to turn the 15-year-old video-game franchise into an ongoing film series, is frustrating because it does a great deal right in regard to casting and design even as it runs afoul of a predictable problem: crudely uninspired, formulaic writing. The story turns on a European woman (Hannah Ware) trying to decipher her fragmented memory when she encounters the title agent (Rupert Friend), a bullet-headed, highly secretive international assassin engineered to operate with neither remorse nor sentiment. She forms a reluctant alliance with him to continue her perilous search for the truth of her past and evade a dangerous pursuer (Zachary Quinto) with high-tech, Terminator-style titanium body armor implanted beneath his flesh.

Not to damn with faint praise, but this is not a poorly executed action film. It is flashily photographed on location in Germany and Singapore, and the chases and fights (the raison d'être) are exciting, over-the-top, violent, and choreographed with a strong sense of both fluidity and propulsion, if at times a tad too reliant on computer-generated imagery. As for the cast, British actor Friend proves an ideal and magnetic Agent 47, playing the iconic character in a perfectly detached, elegant, internalized way with a just-right, never-overt shade of charisma. And raven-haired Hannah Ware (reminiscent of Olga Kurylenko, the female star of the first Hitman adaptation) is a fetching and resourceful presence. Her character has a firm motivation and a relatively well-defined arc, and she is never forced to become a love interest or an object to be rescued, which is refreshing.

Unfortunately, the screenplay otherwise is mediocre verging on very poor. A dubious name is credited as co-writer: Skip Woods, whose pen previously resulted in woeful franchise nadirs X-Men Origins: Wolverine and A Good Day to Die Hard. The plot is as threadbare as the images are hypnotic and the players enticing, with one antagonist spending almost the entire film seated at the same table, only standing up to deliver an irony-free, risible variation on the oldest of chestnuts: "We are not so different, you and I." Another central character is lazily given a type of clairvoyance, employed when the film writes itself into a corner or needs a go-to way to hopscotch over suspense building to the next set piece, and the enterprise builds to not one, but two wide-open, television-cliffhanger-style endings teasing an improbable hypothetical sequel.

C+

It is crazy how Hitman makes Hannah Ware look like a solid-built action heroine, but in person she is just tiny.

She is very cool and sexy. Outshines the material.

It's a timewaster at best. Maybe even a bit better than that last awful Hitman movie, but the really poor CGI does ruin what's otherwise some actually well staged action sequences. Rupert Fiend was a decent Agent 47 and Zachary Quinto looked like he was having a lot of fun playing a villain. I also didn't mind the chick who was pretty much the sidekick. She atleast had more to do than Kurylenko and wasn't just there to be eye candy.

There's no other words for it, than to say it's just bad. At the times it's so bad, that it's actually funny/ good. Which then again does make me appreciate those moments of watching it, where I chuckle up a bit. The cast is really fine, Friend is decent, Quinto is actually pretty good, and Ware was a very pleasant surprise. She does everything right, and I'll keep her in mind, when looking for some other films to watch. For the rest, the CGI effects are actually pretty cool too I felt, but as far as the script and sound editing/ mixing goes it's just awful. I'm a big fan of the games, and this film, just like the previous one just pales in comparison. Currently I would say this one might be a bit better, but that's just because I don't remember anything of the first one.

Essentially this is just a bad film, which I didn't have such a bad time with however. I got a bit of a Tomb Raider vibe, without coincidence also a video-game adaption, so I guess you pretty much get a certain similar type of film when adapting games. That also had Ciarán Hinds btw, again I don't think he's very good, but he suits these type of films well.

C

Come to think of it, Ware would have been a much better choice than Clarke for the role of Sarah Connor in Genisys. Much, much, much better.

Hitman: Agent 47

It's a trashy, fast-paced actioner. Soulless. Pointless. There are a few cool death scenes but most of the film is just bollocks. Zachary Quinto and Peter Friend are pretty crappy. The story, dodgy effects, laborious screenplay, and painfully one-note score makes this yet another crappy game-to-film adaptation that'll be forgotten in no time.

It was, however, a pleasant surprise to see Singapore's 'Gardens By the Bay' in a feature film.

D

Shot in mostly fake Singapore the movie doesn't do any justice to the character(s). The action sequences are impaled by crappy graphics and while the story tries hard to bring its twists there is no emotional connection to the characters here.

3/10