"Hitman" tells the tale of an assassin who refuses to accept his role as a fall guy in a political conspiracy. Tim Olyphant stars as Agent 47, an elite killer under the employment of a group known only as The Organization. He was hired to assassinate the Russian president, Belicoff. Just like any other jobs, he was perfect and precise, killing his target without flaw. Just another day on the job. But then later on he saw his target make a speech on TV about the "attempted" assassination. Soon after, a string of other hitmen began showing up with him as their target. And Agent 47 is compelled to find the source so that he can finish the job and stop the bounty on his head. "Hitman" takes us in a rather familiar goose chase within urban Eastern Europe as our cold-blooded killer began warming up to his only link to the mysterious president, Belicoff's personal and reluctant sex slave, played by Olga Kurylenko (the next Bond girl).

Now, I say that the goose chase were familiar because we've seen them in prior movies such as Bourne Identity and recent James Bonds. So nothing new here in terms of environment. As far as the acting goes, any sexual tension between Olyphant and Kurylenko peak when they're not speaking and bottom out when they're talking with each other. While I'm not looking for award winning performances, I am looking for something other than just reciting lines.

Dougray Scott, however, plays his role as an Interpol agent convincingly. His character, Mike Whittier, is determined to bring Agent 47 to justice but ran into obstructions setup by Russian FSB police led by Yuri Marklov (Robert Knepper).

"Hitman" did one thing great - shootout actions. If you're a shootout junkie, you should enjoy these scenes because 1) there are plenty and 2) they are bloody. The movie averages one shootout every 15-20 minutes. And they don't disappoint. The one scene at Udre Belicoff's headquarter reminds me of something I see in Hong Kong action movies.

Prior to researching "Hitman" even after watching it, I was not aware that it was based on a video game of the same name from Eidos. Because it was driving me nuts watching a movie about covert assassins who walk around in public uniformly dressed with bald heads and dark fashion suits with a very distinctive tatoo. I'd like to think that such marks would get them caught by any police force worth a salt. But knowing that the characters are based on another media that values looks and persona far more than reasonableness makes a huge difference in my expectation.

All in all, I recommend "Hitman" if you're a fan of action movies. But be sure to check everything else at the door.