Raised from childhood by the mysterious Diana organisation, Agent 47 is the perfect killer, but when he is dispatched to kill the Russian president, 47 discovers that his employers have betrayed him.

Taking prostitute and possible witness Nika with him, the enigmatic assassin flees from both Interpol and the Russian secret service as he fights to uncover the root of the conspiracy......

Call it what you want, but Hitman is a film that has stayed in 2007, thanks to its generic score, filming style, and the whole feel of the film. Films of this style and substance were rife around this time, and because of this, Hitman got lost in the Bourne style action genre.

Plus, it's not a very good film either.

Olyphant is woefully miscast as the titular anti hero, and spends most of the film giving people really dirty looks, or fighting in that nauseating style that every film maker used back in the late noughties.

Dougray Scott turns up to add some gravitas and exposition to the film, and he is the best thing in it, giving a believable performance, whilst convincingly uttering woeful dialogue that is provided by Skip Woods, the man who could kill a franchise thanks to his woeful screen writing.

Olga Kurylenko gives us her most revealing role to date, and although she is easy on the eye, she rises above the mundanity of the film, and also puts in a good performance.

Thankfully it never gets boring, because Wood decides to put an action set piece in the film every five minutes, so you forget the cruddy dialogue we have just heard and just take the '101 ways to kill a bad guy' attitude the film has, and just go for the spectacle.

But this shouldn't have been just for spectacle, this should have been the start of what could have been a decent franchise. Instead, we get a film that isn't very good, but for some strange reason, you can't help but go back to it every now and again.

As for the reboot a few years later, this is so much better.

Like it's better to break your fingers, than it is to break your legs....

Normally movies based off of video games are really bad; in terms of being filmed, written and acted poorly. But Hitman hit the mark right on. It's not the greatest film in the world, but it's very entertaining. I'm a big fan of assassin films and this one caught my attention. I loved the actor they picked to play agent 47, he did a great job with his role. The filming was great and the lines weren't cheesy in anyway. The storyline was easy to follow and decently entertaining. I just wish they would have made the film longer!

As Agent 47 played by Timothy Olyphant aims his gun at Interpol's Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott), he asks, "How does a good man decide when to kill?" That is the paradox of Director Xavier Gens's slick "Hitman". The screenplay by Skip Woods is based on the video game "Hitman". I am unfamiliar with the game. Movie genesis from video games usually does not bode well. However, "Hitman" surprises with narrative and visual style, and the charismatic Olyphant as Agent 47. Olyphant (recently seen in "Live Free or Die Hard") has a decidedly dark air about him, and wisely underplays the role. Also a surprise is Olga Kurylenko who plays Nika, the woman 47 must protect in the enveloping conspiracy. Kurylenko is stunning naked, and surprisingly she is a genuine and compelling actress. She embodies vulnerability and smarts in what could have been a one dimensional victim. Analogous to "The Fugitive" narrative pretext, director Gens expediently overlays the origins of the mysterious 47 as a youth bred and trained to become the perfect assassin in the opening credits. Is he really a "good man"?

"Hitman" is puzzling in that the movie trailers appear more polished than the actual movie. Perhaps Gens was a music video director? Or "Hitman" is resourcefully produced on a medium budget? Some of the action sequences in "Hitman" are breathtaking. There is the automatic weapons orchestrated mayhem in the Russian night club. The deadly fight scene with 47 and assassins from his own Agency is an amazing martial arts display—knife fighting, joint locks, and close in boxing. Olyphant may not be a trained martial artist, though he is a graceful athlete. The slow motion and slick editing evoke the dramatic. On a very basic level "Hitman" delivers with its darkly powerful hero, beautiful women, spectacular action, and engaging story.

As played by Olyphant, 47 is the classic enigmatic hero—in the sense that we really don't know if he is really a villain from the start. 47's paying client hires him to assassinate Russian President Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomson). Belicoff is a merciless despot. 47 completes his mission; however, he has been set up. His employer informs 47 that there was a witness to the assassination attempt: the President's prostitute Nika (Kurylenko). She must be eliminated. Investigating the assassination coup is Interpol Agent Mike Whittier (Scott). Hindering the Interpol investigation is KGB Agent Yuri Marklov (effective Robert Knepper) claiming KGB jurisdiction. Whittier believes Belicoff's assassin is the "ghost" killer he has been tracking across the globe.

47 distinguishes the conspiracy and becomes the inadvertent protector of the vulnerable Nika. Their relationship reveals the more human side of 47. Humorously awkward and touchingly believable Olyphant and Kurylenko's partnership is an undeniable strength. They have a sublime chemistry that works. And 47 emerges as a hero and a man of honor.

"Hitman" is solid entertainment that benefits from Gens's stylish direction, and star-making performances from Timothy Olyphant and Olga Kurylenko. "Hitman" is a great hero story about an essentially good man vanquishing great evil and protecting the innocent. The movie is engaging fun.