I was one of those who thought that Jason Statham should have been cast as the lead, and I still believe he would have been a strong choice. Timothy Olyphant (who I confuse with Josh Duhamel) won the role and brings a depth to it that makes the character more interesting than expected, but still is not explored as fully as it could have been. Still, Olyphant anchors the film with an oddly charismatic presence that far outweighs his villainous role in Live Free or Die Hard. The rest of the performances are all solid, considering what they have to work with.

Where Hitman fails is in the script. The screenplay fails to go anywhere beyond the surface. What little depth there is is left to the actors to try and drag out from in between the words on the page. What is the deal with those behind the Organization? Could this be the same group responsible for Jason Bourne? I smell crossover potential! What is the story surrounding Belicoff? There are certainly more political aspects to be explored to make this thread interesting. For that matter, why should I cheer for 47? There is little attempt to make him anything more than a killer for money on a job that went sour. Should I identify with him because he walks around real tough, can kill people in the blink of an eye, and pulls off the black and white suit look? Perhaps it should be for his bald head and trendy barcode tattoo? When you stop and think about it, Dougray Scott is the hero of the movie.

What makes the exercise worse is the epic promise of the trailers. As I left the theater my mind momentarily wandered back to the trailers, which both point towards an epic tale of good against evil with 47 at the center. We get lines like: "Engineered from Darkness," "Protected by Divinity," "Bred from the world's deadliest criminals," "Raised by an exiled Brotherhood of the Church" and "Most believe his very existence is a sin." I did not get any of that from this movie.

It bothers me that there is very little growth and we are cheated by the trailers promising something that isn't there. Sure, trailers have been known to be misleading, but this takes the cake. There is a lot of potential here, but it is left unexplored. Some elements can be extracted from what you see, but there is nothing presented to truly support any findings. The end result is a mixture of Dark Angel, The Transporter, and James Bond that came out of the oven half-baked. Perhaps when a sequel is made we will get a little more depth, but I am not holding my breath.

Not Recommended.