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Hitman: Agent 47
Stars: Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciaran Hinds, Thomas Kretschmann, Angelababy, Emilio Rivera
Director: Aleksander Bach
You have to admire the guts of everyone involved in this driveling action show for wanting to reboot 2007s less-than-involving action thriller Hitman. Their best policy would have been to have given the idea the boot.
But no: presumably producers Daniel Alter, Michael Hendrickson, Marco Mehlitz, Charles Gordon, Adrian Askarieh, Alex Young and Skip Woods (the latter scripting the show with Michael Finch) believed there was an audience for the videogame-based tale.
And so genetically engineered elite assassin Rupert Friend roars into action against a hail of killer clichés as he sets out to attack a mega-corporation planning to unlock the secrets of his past and create an army of unstoppable killers.
Cue action, action and more action (the best performances are by the stuntmen who deliver the stirring sequences that are the movies main merit). Other good performances are given by Berlin and Singapore which provide background for the catalogue of genre clichés that passes for a plot.
Zachary Quinto who holds key secrets and unimaginable strength fortunately has 'Star Trek' to fall back on, Hannah Ware, who joins Friend in his mission, adds glamour as she boldly goes into danger to find out the secrets of her past, and Ciaran Hinds and Thomas Kretschmann are considerably better than the material they have to deliver.
To give debuting director Aleksander Bach his due, he drives the drivel fast and furiously to deliver a mass of action and a mess of pacy storytelling that may appeal to nerdy video-game addicts and action-minus-intellect addicts.
Friend sports a barcode on the back of his neck. My guess is that if it was scanned, the words Past its sell-by date would be revealed.
Alan Frank
Germany/USA 2015. UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Colour by de luxe.
96 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.
Review date: 28 Aug 2015