Sequel Saturday: Hitman Reloads, by Mat Bradley-Tschirgi

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So many flicks based on video games are just low budget genre fare. Once in a blue moon we get one with class, one of which was 2007’s Hitman. Based on a series of stealth-action video games about a genetically engineered assassin, Hitman was stylishly directed by Xavier Gens. Timothy Olyphant (Live Free or Die Hard) looked like a big baby with his head shaved, but that’s beside the point. Some tense, witty sequences based on stages from the video game and a solid European flair make the original Hitman worth seeking out.

This summer we’re getting another shot with the titular character in Hitman: Agent 47. The trailer promises more hand-to-hand combat along the lines of The Bourne Identity than the sniping gunplay the series is famous for. It’s unclear why we’re getting another Hitman movie. The original barely managed $100 million at the box office. Hitman games are popular, but are hardly something as best-selling as Metal Gear Solid or Call of Duty.

The titular character was meant to be played by Paul Walker in Hitman: Agent 47, but his untimely death caused him to be replaced by Rupert Friend (Virgin Territory). The assassin as an antihero is a somewhat novel concept. I’d like to see a video game franchise also succeed in the medium of film but that seems impossible, Resident Evil notwithstanding. Here’s hoping for another interesting action-spy-thriller thing.

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