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half-echilon
Reviews
Hitman (2007)
AESOME. they didn't screw this one up.
**SPOILERS** sorry guys. had to be done for the reviews sake.
wow. i must say, for another movie being released on what is arguably one of the coolest "stealth/shooter" video game series out, it was a REALLY good movie.
Gratuitous violence, explosions, and did i mention boobies.?
I was skeptical at first; the game character, Agent 47, was BASED in looks on the video game's voice actor, David Bateson. Literally. But Olyphant pulled no punches, and even in situations were the actor COULD have gone in a complete ulterior direction with the character, he stayed true to form.
The movie starts in present day, and uses the flashback method to track 47's progress through a series of hits. Having apparently botched an assassination attempt on the current Russian president, 47 moves through various locales (taken RIGHT out of the game, mind you) to track down the only witness to his crime.
OF COURSE, being Hollywood, she's amazingly gorgeous. and did i mention she gets naked. because she gets naked. several times. a lot. Throughout the rest of the movie, the intrepid hit-man follows a path of murder and betrayal to find out who's been setting him up, and to finish the job he was originally contracted to do.
The acting in the movie wasn't bad at all; stale at times, but OLYPHANT NAILS 47 TO THE "T". His ultra calm demeanor, no matter the situation, is capitalized by a more realistic portrayal of the human 47. In the game, you never really take into account what 47 does when hes NOT killing, and they were at least able to show the discord of an emotionless human killing machine. The rest of the cast's acting is sub-par, with the head interpol agent, played by Dougray Scott, leading the merry band of lemmings off of an acting cliff. BUT, WHO CARES. the movie was about 47, and Timothy Olyphant played the role perfectly.
The movie takes place all over the European world, with shots LITERALLY taken right out of the game. if you're a fan-boy of the series, you wont be disappointed.
The script purposely avoids the origin concept, with good measure; i would have rather seen it done exactly to the game, having already been a quite interesting plot in of itself. Instead of deviating from the story at hand, they flashback only to his childhood in snippets throughout the intro credits; but its enough that you get the picture.
The original game focuses on the cloning experiments of the worlds foremost 6 criminal masterminds, in an attempt to create a genetically perfect human killing machine. the MOVIE tells of a school with ties to all and loyalty to none, in which orphaned and rejected children are trained from an early age in all aspects of combat. to be used through their contracting agency for their sole explicit purpose: killing.
All in all, Olyphant MAKES the movie worth watching. Definitely worth paying for to see on a big screen. Definitely worth eventually owning. if you're a fan of the game series, this movie will rock your socks off. 9 out of 10.
Jingi naki tatakai (1973)
One of the best Yakuza movies. period.
This was, BY FAR, one of the best Yakuza movies i have ever seen. From the graphic violence to the internal politics of the Japanese mafia, these movies earn a well deserved place in anyone's mafia library. The series follows the life of Shozo Hirono, an ex WWII Japanese soldier, and his rise and fall within the tumultuous ranks of the Yakuza. The movie chronicles the violent start of the Japanese mafia to about the end of the 70's. I really enjoyed the ENTIRE series, but i felt that it lost its gusto towards the end of the 5th movie, and it ended in a very "japanese" way: with commentary and non violent closure. Hirono retires unscathed, and walks off into the veritable sunset.. Other than the lame ending, the ENTIRE SERIES is straight up and down, one of the most awesome and REALISTIC views into the secret world of the yakuza, that i have ever had the absolute pleasure of viewing.