Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Hitman: Agent 47 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 26, 2015

There’s some kind of lesson to be learned when contrasting the reaction I received when I initially reviewed John Wick to the reaction some of my colleagues have received when they included the film on their Best of 2015 lists. My initial review was met with at least some reader brickbats (what else is new?) because I didn’t give the Keanu Reeves action flick an out and out rave. Those complainers were nowhere to be found when the film showed up on the year end lists of at least a couple of my cohorts here at Blu- ray.com, and instead there were people disparaging its choice as any kind of “best.” The salient point here is probably nothing other than “you can’t please everyone,” which in the world of Blu-ray reviewing typically means “you can’t please anyone,” but there’s another issue with regard to John Wick which might perhaps help to inform some people who are wondering whether or not they’d like Hitman: Agent 47. While I found John Wick perfectly acceptable on certain levels, I personally felt that its attempt to invest its titular character with actual—well, character tended to detract from what was in essence a kind of videogame ambience (others obviously disagreed). There’s very little of that proclivity on display in Hitman: Agent 47, a film which embraces its franchise’s videogame roots and simply posits a cinematic adaptation of what tends to draw players to the IO Interactive enterprise, namely the chance to kick some serious butt as a genetically altered assassin type who, very John Wick style, is able to take out untold numbers of nemeses while barely blinking an eye. Hitman: Agent 47 follows in the rather unheralded wake of 2007’s Hitman, and if initial critical and box office response to this supposed reboot is any indication, any quick follow up is probably not forthcoming. That said, at least Hitman: Agent 47 doesn’t have any outsized ambitions (for better or worse), and delivers some expertly staged set pieces that feature a lot of bone crunching action that may at least temporarily satisfy undemanding adrenaline junkies.

The economy with which Hitman: Agent 47 approaches its so-called “plot” may dazzle with its brevity, but it leaves several questions unanswered as it marauds its way forward. A narrator very quickly offers more or less the complete set up of this particular universe: a geneticist named Dr. Piotr Litvenko (Ciarán Hinds) developed a whole army of assassins with a “special set of skills” (to quote another minimalist action entry). Litvenko disappeared shortly thereafter, leaving a young daughter to fend for herself. Now that daughter, one Katia Van Dees (Hannah Ware), is trying to reclaim suppressed memories and find the mysterious man she half remembers. Unfortunately for Katia, she’s not the only one wanting to find Litvenko, for the generically named Syndicate International is seeking to reboot Litvenko’s program and wants a little added help from its original creator.

When a swarthy looking stranger who ultimately identifies himself as John Smith (Zachary Quinto) starts following Katia, the assumption is of course that he’s out to do the poor girl in. Katia has a number of other “issues” she’s dealing with, including an apparent prescription drug habit she’s using to try to quell a number of strange phenomena which keep her unusually aware of her surroundings, but those abilities nonetheless never help her figure out Smith is tailing her. When he corners her in a train station, he tells her he’s actually there to keep her safe from Agent 47 (Rupert Friend), who has been tasked with killing her. That sets up the first of several chase sequences which also involve copious hand to hand combat, as Agent 47 and Smith duke it out while a number of subway trains barely miss them.

In one of several not very surprising plot “twists,” it of course turns out that Smith is out to do Katia harm, but only after she gives up the location of her father. The whole subplot of Katia’s missing Dad is so incompetently handled it almost defies description—at various points, Katia doesn’t know who the guy is or alternatively knows all about him (including several apparently recent health issues). If her special skills include telepathy, they’re oddly focused on only one element.

From a narrative arc standpoint, then, Hitman: Agent 47 offers very little, but that’s not necessarily a totally bad thing. Divorced from most plot mechanics that tend to “mean” anything, the film is free to simply flit from set piece to set piece, which it does agreeably enough, though by the time the umpteenth chase sequence with hand to hand combat shows up, many viewers will be feeling more than a slight sense of déjà vu. When the film does pause to offer something that supposed to be a character beat, like some lame brained talk about being able to really change, things come to a rather lurching standstill, pointing up the hazards of giving the audience time to actually think about anything.

Hitman: Agent 47 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hitman: Agent 47 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitially with the Arri Alexa XT Plus, Hitman: Agent 47 benefits from very little of the traditional color grading schemes that typically inform these action efforts, and the refreshingly natural looking palette pops quite impressively throughout the film. Close-ups offer abundant fine detail in elements like the fine down on Ware's arms or the crags in Friend's face. The overall look is commendably sharp and well detailed, with consistent contrast and above average shadow detail. There's one kind of strange anomaly that begins shortly after circa 33:30, when Katia and Smith are in a hotel room. One set of shots with Katia against a wall have weird flashes of light, to the point that I almost thought there might be a flickering television in the room that was creating the effect. A careful parsing of the scene shows that not to be the case, and no other shots (either the master or any other coverage within this particular sequence) show it, so I'm assuming there may have been some kind of technical malfunction of the camera.

Hitman: Agent 47 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hitman: Agent 47's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is an expectedly manic affair, with near ubiquitous surround activity providing a wealth of immersion in the equally nonstop action elements. Great panning effects as car zing through city streets, or the visceral sounds of flesh pounding the living daylights out of other flesh provide a wealth of sonic activity, much of which is expertly placed throughout the soundfield to create an amped up if not exactly "lifelike" environment. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and Marco Beltrami's decent if unambitious score also sounds great.

Hitman: Agent 47 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 4:03)


• The Hit Counter (1080p; 1:36:16) is a kind of goofy supplement that presents the film with a running total, along with PIP data points and/or animatics and storyboards, documenting all of the kills in the film.


• Re-Imagining Hitman (1080p; 6:02) is standard EPK fare filtered through the prism of the character of Agent 47.


• Ultimate Action: Staging the Fights (1080p; 6:54) is an interesting look at some of the set pieces.


• Hitman: Agent 47 Comic (1080p; 2:20) offers both Manual step through and Auto Advance options. The timing is for the Auto Advance option. Note that a printed copy of the comic book is also included with the Blu-ray.


• Making of the Comic Book (1080p; 1:49) is a brief promo piece on the prequel comic.


• Promotional Featurettes (1080p; 6:48) offer five very brief EPK fests.


• Gallery (1080p; 1:03) offers both Manual step through and Auto Advance options. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Poster Gallery (1080p; 1:03) offers both Manual step through and Auto Advance options. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 4:52)

Hitman: Agent 47 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is one kind of neat and genuine surprise in Hitman: Agent 47, but it's a relatively picayune one which deals with the "real" meaning of Katia Van Dees' name. That may be some indication of how rote much of this film is, but unlike John Wick (to cite just one example), it doesn't seem like the filmmakers had any undue ambitions to really create anything other than a baseline living comic book filled with lots of action and not much else. The film's two quick "stings" at the end obviously point the way toward what was once a planned sequel, though my hunch is any follow up is going to take some kind of miracle to actually see the light of day. Technical merits are generally very strong for those considering a purchase.