Genetically engineered from conception through decades of research, a man known only as Agent 47 (Rupert Friend) was made to be a perfect killing machine blessed with unrivaled strength, speed, stamina, and intelligence. His current target is an evil corporation, known as Syndicate International, led by Le Clerq (Thomas Kretschmann) who is looking to uncover 47’s past in order to create an army of killers (agents) who are even more powerful than him. With the help of a young woman, Katia (Hannah Ware), he must confront revelations about his own origin and battle against his deadliest foe, John Smith (Zachary Quinto).
I’ll just start off by saying not to listen to rotten tomatoes on this one. As I am writing this, the film has an 8% rating on the site. You know what also has that rating on the site (also as I am writing this)? The most recent Fantastic Four film does. That film is terrible. This film is no masterpiece but it is a lot better than Fantastic Four. My synopsis above implies that the film has a story but it really doesn’t. I’m not sure if they thought they needed to explain anything since the film is based on the video game series of the same name or if they were trying to take its characters and give them a new story. I will admit that I am vaguely familiar with the video game series but you really don’t have to be to be able to enjoy this film. This may be because of the running time but to understand what is happening, you must simply accept what you are being told. Luckily there isn’t too much of it since the action sequences are at the forefront here. Although very well choreographed, very violent, and exciting, certain aspects defy both sense and reality. What I found unsettling was how bad all of the various henchmen were as they just seemed stupid and died a little too easily. I understand that the filmmakers are supposed to make the stars look good but I would have liked if they could have put up a little more of a challenge. Also, a lot of those sequences contain several instances of bad CGI which took me out of the experience but they panned away from it rather quickly. My favorite part of this film has to be Rupert Friend’s performance as Agent 47 because I thought he really embodied what the character would have looked like. I thought Zachary Quinto was good too but he didn’t really have too much to do and Kretschmann even less in this one. The real disappointment here is the story (or the lack of) what really seemed promising at the start where it tried to introduce and develop the characters as well as their motivations fell apart around half-way through and became an average, flashy, action movie. The last time I’ve seen this is in the Ryan Reynolds movie Self/less from a month ago. This film is watchable but I just wanted a little more.
Score: 6/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
