This is based on the series of Hitman video games obviously. Nothing really works here other than a couple of the action scenes. Rupert Friend is a real block of wood in the main role. Hannah Ware isn’t terrible as the female lead. Zachary Quinto is the only one who really seems to be trying and, despite the fact that he’s the villain, he surprisingly has the largest emotional range to his role. Of course, that’s still not saying much; this is a Hitman movie after all. Brilliant character actor Dan Bakkhedahl does show up for about five minutes and he’s always a pleasure. The story is . . . about something. I watched this fairly recently and I’m struggling to remember anything in the way of details. I mean, there are MacGuffins and then there are MacGuffins and this is the MacGuffiny MacGuffin of all time. I mean, I’m guessing since I don’t remember a darn thing about it, but that kind of says it all. The action sequences aren’t terrible though. There’s an opening gunfight that’s really stylishly done and the climactic action sequences, a hand to hand fight between Friend & Quinto and a gunbattle on a rooftop, are both pretty good as well. They were even a little John Wicky, so I specifically watched the credits and, sure enough, David Leitch & Chad Stahelski, the guys behind John Wick & Atomic Blonde, were both credited as action directors/choreographers. Still, the action isn’t great or anything, just better than you might expect. Oh and this movie pulls an Amazing Spider-Man 2 move by ending just before the big badass fight. A second Hitman arrives to face down our protagonist Hitman and as they’re staring each other down preparing to fight, the movie just cuts to the credits. I don’t know who started this trend, but it’s incredibly annoying and stupid and it needs to stop. It allows the movie makers to save time & money, but it kind of undercuts the idea of a “climax,” you know? So stupid. Anyway, avoid this. 1 ½ stars.
tl;dr – a couple of surprisingly stylish action sequences are the only decent things here; bad performances, bad story, horrible ending, just your typical video game movie. 1 ½ stars.