Hitman: Agent 47

This review may contain spoilers!

The stunning technical work put into this film doesn't really excuse the awful plot and cast. I would give Hitman: Agent 47 a 3.5/10.

Hitman really flourished with some extremely good visual effects; The explosions and slow motion visuals really made a great style within the film. The cinematography really compliments the action sequences that dominate this film; the shots are ever-changing and blend really well. The fight choreography was a high point of the film; these sequences were appropriately brutal. The score for the film was epic, the sound was very unique and really amped up the film.

Dan Bakkedahl, who played Sanders, was a minor role that really stood out; he acted out being manipulated extremely well in one of the best scenes of the film. Ciaran Hinds, who played Litvenko, gave a very genuine performance; his outbursts of guilt and big scenes with Kretschmann are some of the high points in the film.

However the best performance came from Thomas Kretschmann, who played Le Clerq. The film would have really been advantaged if there had been more scenes with this character. Kretschmann was a very calm and collected villain, he was methodical and calculating. Yet the scene where Kretschmann flourished was when he threatened Hinds and lost his cool. Suddenly he stripped his character back to a very raw performance that was brimming with rage.

This film went on for far too long, which is embarrassing considering the film only went for an hour and a half. The action sequences were stilted and over the top; sometimes they took place just because the film needed another beat.The story itself was filled with plot twist after plot twist to the point that you stopped caring about the ever evolving narrative. The motives of 47's organisation were exceptionally vague and to go beyond that and so shamelessly flaunt a sequel within several scenes was embarrassing to watch.

Angelababy, who played Diana, was this very nothing character; she had next to no screen presence but was talked about as if she were important. Rupert Friend, who played Agent 47, was an awful lead; he was exceptionally quiet and his monotone performance meant that he never really connected with anyone else in the cast. Zachary Quinto, who played John Smith, was a role that made me want to put my head through the screen; the style of his dialogue constantly changed and his deadpan delivery really did not help with this at all. Hannah Ware, who played Katia, looked like she didn't understand what was going on for most of the film; she really didn't fit her role nor did she seem to work well inside the action genre.