Hitman: Hitman in the Red Tie

I was skeptical to even consider viewing Hitman. Timothy Olyphant (Live Free or Die Hard) seemed like a wuss and not much for an action movie where he's the tough guy. Let me change that... where he's the unstoppable killer. He is trained to be one of the best killers. He has no childhood, only extensive training to learn how to kill and disappear.

Hitman follows the actions of no-name Agent 47 after being double-crossed in a hit. Along for the ride is the target of the hit (Olga Kurylenko), originally used as bait for an attempt to kill 47. From there, you can figure out the rest. 47 has to fight soldiers, S.W.A.T. teams, avoid Interpol tracking him, and other hitmen from "the Agency."

First off, don't watch this movie if you can't handle the stupid stuff.
47 walks around with a barcode tattooed into the back of his skull. Did no one think, when sweating over whether they've seen his face, that the barcode might be easier to spot? Why doesn't he ever put on a wig or large hat to cover up the dead giveaway he's a killer? The bad guys are obvious, but their plot isn't completely clear, only 47's trail, although some areas are left up to some confusion on where exactly how it leads to killing whoever is in charge.

The advantage of the movie is the unflinching character. He acts like a man without a childhood. He's not leaning towards violence as the only way to communicate as he isn't abusive to the usual girl next to the killer, but seems to not consider letting people live as much of an alternative. Sex doesn't intrigue him, nor does killing really. He's merely a perfectionist in killing people and vengance is the only thing that gets him excited. It's humorous to see a hero who not only doesn't sleep with the girl, but doesn't even care. A great scene of this is where 47 takes the girl out to dinner without telling her he'll be performing the hit there. He memorizes everything. She asks him if he remembers the color of the lady's dress behind him for him to say, "That's not a lady."


Regrettably, the character is still not completely filled. While 47 skips out on chances to figure out his past cause he would rather just kill the guy than wait and hear the answers. We never do figure out a single clue about "the Agency" or insight into the training of 47, which would have been a plus.


Entertaining? Yes, but you will tire of the action when there isn't any plot to back up what he is doing. Although he has some creative techniques, they would be better suited had the plot explained why he did them in particular manners.


Marketable? Not really. Shallow plot will turn away many. Although it was better than most video game movies with an actual character, it has a short lifespan.


Memorable? No. It's a small cut above. 47 is not the everyman of action, so I like it's someone other than just the hero and a change from the usual, but it's potential was far, far from what it could have been.


My suggestion? Go see No Country for Old Men or rent Live Free or Die Hard.