The 2007 film adaptation of the Hitman video game series was less than successful. Not that it was the worst movie of all time, but what started out as an intriguing assassination plot eventually fell apart into a mess of code-names and generic double-crosses. For what it's worth, Timothy Olyphant made a decent Agent 47, though there's not much anyone could have done to save such a tired script or execution.
Nearly a decade has passed, and 20th Century Fox is preparing to relaunch the series with Hitman: Agent 47. Despite the long history of video game movies being absolute garbage, fans are excited: Star Trek's Zachary Quinto is attached as one of the principal characters, and the film looks to be taking plenty of cues from the games that inspired it...what could possibly go wrong?
To be perfectly honest, the first half of the trailer looked pretty promising. Yes, it's mostly a generic interrogation room escape and fight scenes, but both the visuals and subtle nods to the game series made it look like Hitman: Agent 47 would be a harmless, over-the-top action flick with a few flashy effects.
Everything starts to fall apart when two armored police officers are sucked into a jet engine: a CG explosion that looks like it belongs on the PlayStation 3 covers the screen, the music kicks up, and any sense of realism is drop-kicked out the window. From there, it's ridiculous, nonsensical action that looks about as fake as the explosions - if Hitman: Agent 47's goal was to completely ignore reality and the laws of physics, then job well done.
Of course, it's only a trailer: if anything, the CG should see some improvements before the film hits theaters, but...it's 2015, should Hollywood really be ripping off the first Matrix movie at this point?
Hitman: Agent 47 hits theaters on Aug. 28.
