Two out of Five stars
Running time: 93 mins

Hitman starts well but quickly degenerates into a confusing, badly plotted mess, enlivened only by the occasional gunfight and the luminous presence of Olga Kurylenko.

What's it all about?
Based on the infamous video game, Hitman stars Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4.0) as Agent 47, a bald assassin with a barcode tattooed on his head who gets caught up in a high-level conspiracy when he agrees to assassinate a member of the Russian military (Ulrich Thomsen). Pursued by an intrepid Interpol agent (Dougray Scott), the Russian military police and several other similarly-trained bald, tattooed assassins, Agent 47 tries to find out who set him up before it's too late.

Whilst searching for clues, Agent 47 kidnaps gorgeous Russian prostitute Nika (Olga Kurylenko), who had ties to his intended victim. However, things get complicated when Nika develops feelings for him, stirring unfamiliar emotions and uncovering the smallest hint of a conscience in the hitman's machine-like soul.

The Good
Hitman starts well, with an economical, stylish-looking title sequence that shows Agent 47 being trained alongside other boys in a futuristic-looking assassin school. However, after twenty minutes, the script rapidly degenerates into a confusing, badly written mess, to the point where you have no idea what Agent 47 is meant to be doing at any given moment.

The Bad
On top of that, the acting is mostly terrible, with Dougray Scott giving a particularly wooden performance. Olyphant does his best but he never looks comfortable in the role (perhaps because of the baldness), though fans of genre TV may find some amusement in T-Bag from Prison Break (Robert Knepper) and Desmond from Lost (Henry Ian Cusick) both attempting thick Russian accents.

In addition, the film has several long, boring stretches that even Kurylenko's tireless commitment to onscreen nudity can't save, whilst the gunfight sequences are both surprisingly thin on the ground and lacking in originality.

Worth seeing?
In short, Hitman is something of a disappointment, although it's worth seeing for Olga Kurylenko alone. Still, if it's a fast-paced, gunfight-heavy action thriller you want, rent Shoot 'Em Up instead.