Review: Hitman

Hitman and hooker team up. He was hired to assassinate a “moderate” Russian seeking re-election. She (Olga Kurylenko) was sold as a sex slave in the inner circle. They know too much. They must die. Her owner and his contractor may be the same bad guy under the skin, but it’s hard to say since the politician has a brother and there are doubles and decoys in play. This conspiracy keeps plastic surgeons busy. Who is killing who is unclear. Why is unclear. This is as it should be, since Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) is part of an international outfit “so secret that no one knows that it exists.” The opening scene shows head-shaved orphans getting barcodes tattooed on their scalps in a training facility that pipes in Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” For some reason, these assassins keep their heads shaved as adults so the barcodes on the back of their heads are visible to all except themselves. They are easier to track than the plot. But that’s the fault of the video game that generated this stupid action product directed by Xavier Gens. Blame the software programmers for the inane narrative branching of this film. No doubt the target audience of “Hitman” players already know why Agent 47 injects a knock-out drug in the neck of the super-hot hooker who mounts him after hours at no charge. With Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, Henry Ian Cusick and Michael Offei. 100m. Anamorphic 2.40 widescreen. (Bill Stamets)