Hitman: Agent 47 was my first introduction to this franchise. This was the second film adaptation based on the long-running video game series about a bald professional hitman with a peculiar barcode on the back of his head. Aside from the first trailer, I knew nothing about the world Hitman was enmeshed in. This is, put simply, a rarity for me. It’s also why I found myself enjoying the film thoroughly. I had no reservations or expectations.
Video game adaptations are often met with an extreme roll of the eyes, and generally for good reason. Most of those that had been released by this point were anything but critical darlings, let alone good films. There was a divide between a cinematic video game and its ability to become a quality film. After all, even the most intensely story-driven video games clock in at least 20 to 40 hours to complete the main storyline. Many go well above and beyond that amount of time. How, then, can a 2-hour film (and let’s be generous, few adaptations were ever this long until recent years) ever hope to capture the world of a video game, let alone its expansive story, roster of characters, and thematic elements. Yes, for years, the consensus was that it was an impractical, if not impossible, feat.
With a budget of $35 million, Hitman: Agent 47 brought in over $87 million. It was a financial success, even accounting for the typical 50% marketing budget. It’s not out of the ballpark, but nonetheless respectable. Questions continued to be raised on whether or not video game film adaptations were viable options. Yet, in the years since, that question was delivered and was an unequivocal yes. Warcraft was released the very next year and earned over $430 million at the box office. A slew of films continued the trend before The Super Mario Bros. Movie, released in 2023, proved it was no longer an outlier that a video game film could make money.
Put simply, the story of Hitman surrounds a monotonous professional killer known only as Agent 47 (Rupert Friend). He is ruthless and efficient, yet also incredibly creative, in how he dispatches those he has been sent to eliminate. Many, if not all, of his targets are high-profile individuals, oftentimes barricaded behind a veritable army of security personnel. The goal is to reach your target without being detected and without unnecessary bloodshed. However, the games make everybody killable (there’s a reason there are no children in them). The gimmicks and concepts that fill out any good Hitman game are all present here, from the myriad disguises available to Agent 47 to hiding in improbable locations to making his way seamlessly into even the most secure locations without issue. The film even included a section devoted to players who forgo silent assassinations for full-on rampages. The scene in the hangar was sublime.
Perhaps Hitman: Agent 47’s biggest flaw, after having played some video games, was its reliance on Katia van Dees (Hannah Ware) as an escort character – something many ardent video game players will tell you is the worst. Katia is a fun character central to 47’s past and the shadow war between the ICA and the Syndicate. The character is initially presented as a potential target, whom the Syndicate is dead set on protecting, and 47 seems intent on killing. Yet the tables are turned when Syndicate operative John Smith (Zachary Quinto) is revealed as the threat. We are treated to John’s efforts at protecting Katia and earning her trust, including getting themselves arrested at an embassy to stall 47’s pursuit. We then watch 47 work his magic and reveal that he is not trying to kill Katia. He’s also not technically trying to help her, only completing his mission.
The action set pieces are glorious and the most significant strength that Hitman: Agent 47 offers. In the games, 47 travels to various exotic locales worldwide, hunting down his targets. This film was one of the first American productions to be allowed to film in Singapore, during which 47 and Katia engaged in a high-speed car chase with Katia’s father, Piotr Litvenko (Ciarán Hinds). The car is suddenly besieged by high-tension wires, trapping it in place. However, it proves to be an ineffective method of constraining a seemingly unstoppable force that 47 is known to be, and he comes out guns blazing. As mentioned previously, the hangar scene was phenomenal, as we watched 47 mow through an army of Syndicate enforcers, using his environment to his advantage. While staying in a hotel, after Katia has allowed her nerves to get the best of her and she pulls apart his gun to study its pieces, 47 takes out a hit team with only a screwdriver. As an avid player, I can confirm that this is one of the various methods available to dispatch your targets.
Hitman: Agent 47 was released amid an action film renaissance. We were spoiled with the likes of John Wick and the Furious series reaching an all-time high. As a film, it is an exciting take on the character, but this ties back to its biggest flaw. The point of Katia’s character. Hitman is about an efficient killer going through seemingly impenetrable fortresses to eliminate a target. Yet, this is not the plot that Hitman: Agent 47 follows. Instead, the film plays out as a glorified escort mission. At the same time, 47 is hunted down by a faceless mass of minions led by a superhuman villain (John Smith has subdermal armor, adding a sci-fi element that feels out of place in this world). Despite being financially successful, it was simply disappointing that this take on Agent 47’s colorful and deep world followed the path of the Resident Evil film series.
Video game adaptations often fail for one of a handful of reasons. Fire and foremost, until recently, they would drift too much from the source material, almost as if they had no faith in the world they were adapting. Some aspects of a video game are, of course, impractical for a movie to reproduce. After all, a video game – especially a wide-open sandbox – has a lot to offer. Two hours cannot correctly convey it all.
On the other hand, some efforts are too married to the source material, frequently to its detriment. Warcraft, the most successful video game adaptation for a time, was surpassed only by the aforementioned The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, which fell into this pit. World of Warcraft has profound lore as its base, with rich backstory, well-crafted plots executed over decades, and complex NPCs to fill it all out with. Warcraft adapted a storyline from the game, but it didn’t have enough time to properly tell it – with countless characters cut or combined, plotlines dropped or glossed over, and thematic elements simplified, the story suffered. This is, of course, despite the fact that I enjoyed Warcraft and Hitman: Agent 47. Just liking something doesn’t mean you cannot acknowledge its flaws.
As a result, the sequel was scrapped after Disney acquired Fox’s assets. Time will tell if there is another, more faithful, adaptation of this franchise. Third time’s the charm?
Lloydd Marshall Books 