Movie Review: Hitman by ME

Title: Hitman
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert
Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen
Directed By: Xavier Gens
Produced By: Charles Gordon, Adrian Askarieh (II)
Genre: Action/Adventure and Adaptation
Release Date: November 21st, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, language, and some
sexuality/nudity.
Distributors: 20th Century Fox Distribution

There is nothing wrong with making a movie from a video game. Most ofthe time the stories are longer and more intricate to keep people interested. Sometimes, when a property crosses to a new medium, things are lost or the creators try throwing too many in-jokes for fans of the game. Hitman doesn't do that. It makes for an above average action flick that balances story with intense fighting while not catering to the fans or dumbing it down for a new audience.

Hitman doesn't waste any time creating a backstory for our hero Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant). Genetically engineered and raised by The Orginization as an assassin for hire, Agent 47 finds that he is setup and is now on the run from The Organization, a determined INTERPOL agent (Dougray Scott), a crooked Russian Politician (Ulrich Thomsen) and his pocketed policeman Yuri (Robert Knepper). All while trying to keep Nika (Olga Kurylenko) alive as she is the only other one who knows what is going on.

There are only three real players in Hitman. Olyphant is a good actor who gives Agent 47 just enough personality for you to not think of him as a mindless killing machine. He shows his adeptness with weapons and then turns around and easily shows how little experience he has with women. Namely, Olga Kurylenko, who really doesn't have much to do except show of her body and cry a bit. Dougray Scott as Mike was the best performance only because I think Olyphant had to hold a lot of emotion back. I can't really back it up with examples because most of these characters are your basic cookie cutter characters, but are fleshed out enough for my taste.

The action sequences are more believable than the Matrix and not shot using todays favorite, the shakey cam. You can actually see what's going on on the screen, imagine that! What is lacking is a bit of backstory for Agent 47, but I understand that there isn't a lot of story given to him in the game either, so I'll let that one slide. Also missing are the blatant nods to the fans of the game... well mostly. There was one scene where 47 crashes into a hotel room where two kids are playing... yep,
you guessed it – Hitman. But, that was the only cheesy game reference I noticed.

Hitman is definitely worth a rental on DVD. None of the action is grandiose enough to really warrant seeing on the big screen and parents can't even dump the kids in the theater while Christmas shopping as the film is rated R for violence and a little more nudity than I expected, even if only from Olga Kurylenko. All in all a solid effort by writer Skip Woods and director Xavier Gens. I really wanted to make a joke about how decent of a movie it is for being written by a “Skip” and
directed by an “Xavier”, but the film is better than that low of a blow.

7 out of 10

Visit the official site at http://www.hitmanmovie.com/

Keep reading,

Mitch Emerson
mitchemerson@hotmail.com

Movie Review: D.O.A. by ME

Title: D.O.A.
Starring: Natassia Malthe, Jaime Pressly, Devon Aoki, Brian J. White, Holly Valance
Directed By: Corey Yuen
Produced By: Andreas Schmid, Daniel Kletzky, Steve Chasman
Genre: Action/Adventure and Adaptation
Release Date: June 15th, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for pervasive martial arts and action violence, some sexuality and nudity.
Distributors: Dimension Films

D.O.A.'s plot goes something like this: Four beautiful women must stop the bad guy while also winning a fighting tournament. Plus, each character has their own little subplot to flesh things out. Hey, it's based on a video game, what do you want from me?

D.O.A. is pure dumb entertainment. You already know this if you have ever played any of the games that this movie is based on. Both movie and games are filled with sexy women in skimpy outfits beating the crap out of guys as well as each other. Definitely geared for young male gamers, D.O.A. is almost the perfect video game adaptation. With a ludicrous plot, not so great acting and cheesy characters you would expect a movie like this to be a train wreck. Which it is, don't get me wrong, but it's a really fun train wreck. Some of the things that hurt the film also help, if you are a fan of the game, that is. Each character is almost exactly the way they are in the game. So if you are wondering why there are some outlandish characters such as Zack, blame the game. Great fight scenes. Are they over the top? Of course, but when it's Jaime Pressly, Holly Valance, Sarah Carter, Devon Aoki and Natassia Malthe doing it, who cares? And what makes them so good is that the fight choreographer is none other than Corey Yuen, who directs this as well. He is mostly known as the director of the first Transporter film and the martial arts choreographer for the sequel.

Jaime Pressly, as Tina Armstrong, is the best thing in the movie. Imagine her character from My Name Is Earl, but with martial arts and wrestling skills. Funny, sexy and an ass kicker to boot, she rocks. The other stand out in the bevy of beauties that make up most of the cast is Sarah Carter as Helena. Game fans may be disappointed in the treatment of her character as she is nothing like her game counterpart but she is a key player in the plot and cute and spunky. Slightly more serious and just as beautiful is Holly Valance, who is also a popular pop singer overseas, as Christie, the thief who is after a cool 10 mil. Devon Aoki, who we last saw in Sin City, is the weakest of the bunch. Just a little wooden in her performance which could just be a part of her character.

After that, there really isn't much to be said about D.O.A.. It's a rather faithful adaptation of a popular fighting game that is just as ridiculous as the game. If exotic locations, beautiful women, bad one liners, and great ass kicking is your cup of tea, then D.O.A. is just the movie for you. Now I am sure that this movie will disappear from the marquee very quickly, so if you have any interest, you better go see it soon.

Oh, yea, there is even a volleyball scene taken right from Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, so if that isn't an incentive guys, I don't know what is.

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Mitch E
mitchemerson@hotmail.com