Hitman (2007 film)

Infobox Film
name = Hitman


caption = Poster for the film
director = Xavier Gens
producer = Chuck Gordon
Adrian Askariah
Daniel Alter
Luc Besson
writer = Skip Woods
narrator =
starring = Timothy Olyphant
Dougray Scott
Robert Knepper
Olga Kurylenko
music = Geoff Zanelli
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = United States:
November 21, 2007
runtime = 94 minutes
country = United States Russia Bulgaria Turkey United Kingdom
language = English Russian
budget = $17,500,000
gross = $99,933,257
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.hitmanmovie.com/
amg_id = 1:329210
imdb_id = 0465494

"Hitman" is a 2007 film based on the same-titled video game series. The film was directed by Xavier Gens and stars Timothy Olyphant and Dougray Scott. "Hitman" was released on November 21, 2007.

Plot

The film opens with a montage showing a group of bald children receiving tattoos of bar codes and then shows them being instructed to use of firearms & martial arts.

Interpol agent Mike Whittier discovers Agent 47 in his study, where the two talk briefly. The scene flashes back 3 months, as 47 is completing a hit in Niger. He receives a communication from his Agency contact, Diana, and is told he is to kill his next target, Russian President Mikhail Belicoff, publicly.

Agent 47 succeeds in killing Belicoff using a sniper rifle to achieve a head shot from over 4 km away. However, when 47 is in the train station ready to leave, he's told there's a witness–Nika Boronina–whom he must kill. Confronting Nika on a street, he realizes she's never seen him before and decides not to kill her. Additionally, Belicoff's death was covered up, being portrayed in the media as a grazing wound. Agent 47 then escapes a failed assassination attempt.

Agent 47 confronts Diana about who would want Nika dead when she wasn't a witness and why Belicoff is still being portrayed as alive. Outside, Mike Whittier and his partner have been tipped off that 47 is in the hotel. They encounter the FSB, led by Yuri Marklov, who sends in an emergency response team to capture 47. Diana calls 47 directly, informing him that it was Belicoff himself who ordered the hit. The troops attack and a hotel battle ensues. Agent 47 successfully escapes. However, the Agency he works for has dispatched assassins to kill him for failing his mission.

Agent 47 kidnaps Nika–who was about to be killed by her driver and questions her. She suggests 47 may have killed one of Belicoff's doubles, but 47 denies that possibility. The two try to leave by train, but are intercepted by the Agency's assassins. Agent 47 is able to defeat four of them including the assassin that tried to assassinate him earlier. He also defeats Mike Whittier who pursued, and escapes with Nika.

Agent 47 arranges a meeting with Agent Smith, later to be revealed as a member of the CIA. Smith reveals to Agent 47 that Belicoff's opponents ordered the hit on the real Belicoff and replaced him with a double that is loyal to them. Agent 47 then offers Smith a deal: if Smith helps him during some unrevealed time in the future, 47 will kill Belicoff's brother, Udre, a slave trafficker, and arms dealer. Smith accepts the deal. Agent 47 and Nika travel to Turkey and after kidnapping and impersonating arms-dealer Mr. Price, he succeeds in killing Udre in the ensuing fire fight. Udre is shot in the head.

The death of Udre was a set-up designed to draw the fake Belicoff–who, working with Yuri and an unseen cabal, is part of a plot to have a puppet leader in control of Russia–into the open. Agent 47 kidnaps Yuri and forces him to have his own FSB agents try to shoot Belicoff as he delivers a eulogy for Udre. Agent 47, disguised as a soldier, manages to kill all of Belicoff's guards and takes him into the archbishop's chamber in the church, and after having a small conversation with Belicoff, he kills him by shooting him point blank in the head. He then allows himself to be taken into custody by Interpol and Mike Whittier, being transported in a Mercedes-Benz G500. However, Agent Smith intercedes at the last minute with a fleet of black Audi Q7's, allowing 47 to escape.

There is a flash forward to the conversation between agent Whittier and 47, which is taking place at Whitter's house. After wrapping up their conversation, 47 reveals the body of Mr. Price, shaved and dressed to look like 47. They make a deal in which Whitter would go along with 47's plan, admitting that the body in his home is the real 47. As 47 leaves, he turns to Whittier and says that he hopes to never see Whittier again, for the sake of both of them.

The scene then changes to Nika, who is shown picking up an envelope from an undisclosed sender. Inside it, there were papers and a message saying that she now owns a vineyard (she had told 47 of her childhood dream of having one). Meanwhile, 47 is watching her from afar, through the scope of his sniper rifle. He then looks at the corpse of another hitman, lying close to him, and says "I told you to leave her alone. You should have listened." He then turns back, and walks away.

Cast

*Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47: An orphan trained by the International Contract Organisation to become an elite assassin. He is the main protagonist in this story.
*Dougray Scott as Mike Whittier: Interpol agent Mike Whittier has been tracking Agent 47 for quite some time. During this movie, he finally gets to confront his mysterious target.
*Olga Kurylenko as Nika Boronina: A woman who is swept into companionship with Agent 47 as events unfold.
*Robert Knepper as Yuri Marklov: Leader of a FSB force, he joins in the chase to capture Agent 47.
*Ulrich Thomsen as Mikhail Belicoff: The Russian President, Mikhail Belicoff is targeted by Agent 47 as a mark early on in the movie. As the story unravels, more is revealed about the seemingly president.
*Henry Ian Cusick as Udre Belicoff: Sibling of Mikhail Belicoff, he is protected from arrest by the CIA and other international police organization under his brother's influence.
*Michael Offei as Jenkins: Mike Whittier's partner, he helps hunt down Agent 47.
*James Faulkner as Smith Jamison: An agent of the CIA, Smith is instead portrayed as a very competent and dutiful CIA agent in this film (in contrast with his videogame counterpart).

Production

In February 2003, "Hitman" makers Eidos and IO Interactive entered negotiations with Hollywood production companies to adapt the video game to film. [cite news | author=Brian Linder | url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/384/384928p1.html | title=Games to Film: "Hitman" | publisher=IGN | date=2003-02-03 | accessdate=2006-12-05 ] Twentieth Century Fox eventually acquired the rights and hired screenwriter Skip Woods to pen the screenplay with actor Vin Diesel executive producing and starring in the film. [cite news | author=Dave McNary | coauthors=Ben Fritz | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117931358.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1 | title=Woods to adapt 'Hitman' | publisher=Variety | date=2005-10-20 | accessdate=2006-12-05 ] In December 2006, Vin Diesel stepped down from the role. In January 2007, Timothy Olyphant was cast into the lead role with director Xavier Gens attached at the helm.cite news | author=Nicole Laporte | coauthors=Michael Fleming | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957622.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1 | title=Olyphant to shoot 'Hit Man' | publisher=Variety | date=2007-01-17 | accessdate=2006-01-18 ] In March, actor Dougray Scott was cast as the antagonist to Agent 47, with Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, and Michael Offei also joining the cast. Production began the week of March 27, 2007 in Sofia, Bulgaria and lasted 12 weeks. [cite news | author=Ali Wood | url=http://www.instockmagazine.co.uk/cgi-bin/news.cgi?section=2&id=4300 | title= FILMING STARTS ON EIDOS MOVIE | publisher=Instock | date=2007-04-05 | accessdate=2007-04-09 ] A second unit also shot in locations including London, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, and South Africa.cite news | author=20th Century Fox | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=20042 | title="Hitman" is Underway | publisher=ComingSoon.net | date=2007-04-24 | accessdate=2007-04-24 ] . The release of the movie was set back a few months before release, this was to allow for the reshooting of several scenes, most of which required shortening of important dialogue or changing the location. Whilst the full extent of the re-shooting is unknown, several major scenes were re-shot, most notably a stand-off between 4 assassins who go on to participate in a sword fight, which replaced the original train platform sequence, simply consisting of Agent 47 facing off against one assassin. Reports before the movies release confirmed that not only reshoots were taking place, but that Fox may have totally removed Xavier Gens from his directing position and denied him the final cut. Nicolas de Toth was brought in at this stage to soften the edit and cut down material, which didn't strengthen the claims made by Fox that they weren't interfering with Xavier Gens' movie. [ [http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/fox-yanks-hit-man-from-director-xavier-gens/ Twitch - Fox Yanks HIT MAN From Director Xavier Gens ] ] 47's origins were also changed at this stage, Xavier Gens told an interviewer that whilst they are not directly dealing with the clone storyline, one scene (being the original train station sequence) which shows a bald, barcoded assassin (Jean-Marc Bellu) following Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant), another bald, barcoded assassin, is very explicit and showed his intention to keep him as a clone [Xavier Gens and Timothy Olyphant discuss Hitman [http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2740&Itemid=99] ] . The detail was likely changed to accommodate for the casting of actors of mixed races, making it impossible for them to be clones.

Release

"Hitman" was originally slated to be released on October 12, 2007 in the United States and Canada,cite news | author=Pamela McClintock | coauthors=Michael Fleming | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117961860.html?categoryId=19&cs=1 | title=Actors set sights on 'Hitman' | publisher=Variety | date=2007-03-26 | accessdate=2007-03-27 ] but the film's release was postponed to November 21, 2007.cite news | author=Stax | url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/815/815745p1.html | title=Exclusive: Hitman's New Date | publisher=IGN | date=2007-08-25 | accessdate=2007-08-24 ] "Hitman" opened in 2,458 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $13,180,769 in its opening weekend, ranking fourth at the box office.cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hitman07.htm | title=Hitman (2007) | publisher=Box Office Mojo | accessdate=2007-11-26 ] The following weekend, "Hitman" opened in 12 markets, having the following highlights: $150,355 in 38 theaters in Indonesia, $224,449 in 37 theaters in Malaysia. and $244,329 in 32 theaters in the Philippines. In Taiwan, the film opened in fourth place with approximately $100,000. The film also performed weakly in Lebanon with $19,321 in 6 theaters. [cite news | author=Conor Bresnan | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2426&p=.htm | title=Around the World Roundup: 'Beowulf' Tops Another Modest Weekend | publisher=Box Office Mojo | date=2007-11-29 | accessdate=2007-12-01 ] As of July 2, 2008, the film has grossed $39,687,694 in the United States and Canada and $60,245,563 in other territories for a worldwide total of $99,933,257.

Reception

The film has been almost universally panned by critics. The most common complaints are a lacking, often confusing, plot, dry acting and extreme violence. On the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, "Hitman" has received a Rotten rating of 14% based on 91 reviews, [cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hitman/ | title=Hitman | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | accessdate=2007-12-27 ] and it has received a Rotten rating of 6% from 19 "Cream of the Crop" reviewers from mainstream news outlets. Although top film critic Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four, saying "Hitman" stands right on the threshold between video games and art. On the wrong side of the threshold, but still, give it credit." [cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hitman/?critic=creamcrop | title=Hitman (Cream of the Crop) | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | accessdate=2007-12-27 ] On the website Metacritic, the film has received a metascore of 35 out of 100 based on 22 reviews. [cite web | url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/hitman | title=Hitman (2007): Reviews | publisher=Metacritic | accessdate=2007-12-03 ]

Blu-ray Disc & DVD release

An unrated version of "Hitman" was released in the high definition Blu-ray format on March 11th 2008, and features extras including deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a gag reel. This version also features a special digital copy of the movie which can be transferred to a portable media device like an iPod. [cite web | url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=884 | title=Hitman Gets Unrated Blu-ray Release | accessdate=2008-01-26 ] A standard definition DVD was released on March 11th as well in three versions. A single disc theatrical version, a single disc unrated version, and an unrated special edition including many extras, and the digital copy mentioned above. [cite web | url=http://www.realmovienews.com/dvd/news/1444 | title=Hitman US details! | accessdate=2008-01-26 ] Fox described the unrated DVD to be "packed with explosive action", however upon release was only 1 minute longer and only contained a few extended scenes with more blood. [cite web | url=http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schnittberichte.com%2Fschnittbericht.php%3FID%3D4888&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 | title=Rated vs. Unrated DVD differences in Hitman | accessdate=2008-03-12 ] , the UK version of the film was available on Blu-ray and DVD from 31st March 2008.

The French, Blu-Ray version of the movie came with 10 deleted scenes, accompanied with French audio commentary by Xavier Gens. Some of the scenes incuded are the original Niger assassination, in which Ovie survives, is taken to hospital only to be killed via lethal injection by 47 disguised as a doctor. The alternate train platform sequence which features no sword fight, as well as showing the older assassin biting off his tongue to avoid giving answers to 47, and an extended departure sequence between 47 and Nika, which shows Yuri and his men stopping their train and boarding it to look for 47.

Director's Cut Petition

A petition calling for the release of a Director's Cut was created on August 17th 2008 [cite web | url=http://www.gopetition.com/online/21274.html | title=Director's Cut Petition | accessdate=2008-08-28 ] . Describing not only the need for entertainment purposes, but also to help repair the image of Xavier Gens, whose budding career has been tarnished by studio interference.

References

External links

* [http://www.hitmanmovie.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0465494|title=Hitman
*rotten-tomatoes|id=hitman|title=Hitman
*metacritic film|id=hitman|title=Hitman
*mojo title|id=hitman07|title=Hitman
*amg movie|id=1:329210|title=Hitman