Hitman: Agent 47 2015

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: We don't attend something like Hitman: Agent 47 looking for gritty realism, but what we DO expect is an entertaining and reasonably clever thrill ride. No such luck. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The film was shot on location in Berlin and Singapore, and Friend is out-acted by the gorgeous scenery. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: What to call it, exactly? The 47th best action film of 2015? A feature-length Audi commercial, or a promo reel for the Singapore Tourism Board? The most unnecessary artistic contribution ever made by someone named Bach? Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: All of its materials feel utterly and depressingly synthetic, right down to the most basic ingredients of almost any violent B-grade action movie: cars, blood, and fire, which all get the bad-CGI treatment. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: Bach handles the project with a competent precision. The film doesn't rise above the genre and the plot is muddled, but he pulls off the basic elements with a distinctly chilly European style. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The various shootouts and chases that take place along the way are busy, noisy, and ultimately just as flat as Friend makes his tone. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [A] soulless actioner. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: As such films go, it's efficiently done juvenilia. Read more

Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly: The movie is profoundly dumb. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: Hitman: Agent 47 turns out to be exactly the kind of fast-paced, mind-numbing thriller that studios churn out to fill screens during the dog days of summer. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Ultimately "Hitman: Agent 47," like the profession it worships, feels purely contractual. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: About as violent and soulless as its title suggests. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Hitman: Agent 47" is a by-the-numbers schlock action sequel that writes its own epitaph when a character mutters the dusty insult, "You're dead, too. You just don't know it yet." Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Dumb as dirt and just as generic, "Hitman: Agent 47" trades brains for bullets and characters for windup toys. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: If you strip away all the gunplay, Hitman: Agent 47 would be about 10 minutes long. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Only a bare minimum of non-action scenes were included in the final cut. There's enough here to piece together a rudimentary storyline but the details are often either confusing or nonsensical. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: On the surface - and that's all there is - it seems as pointless and gassy as a "Matrix" sequel. Read more

Sandy Cohen, Associated Press: Unfortunately, Hitman: Agent 47 leans on another familiar Hollywood convention, this one painfully outdated: the damsel in distress. It's always disheartening to see this tired trope employed, but especially here. Read more

Calum Marsh, Globe and Mail: The friction between stateliness and lunacy is more intriguing than, say, the line-toeing mediocrity of a second-rate Marvel movie. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Who's human and who's not consumes much of the running time of rote actioner Hitman: Agent 47, which vainly attempts to revive a forgotten video-game spinoff starring Timothy Olyphant. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: Violence is the point of "Hitman: Agent 47," but there isn't enough of it to sustain this second film based on the "Hitman" video game series. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: Agent 47 doesn't feel like a character who's got what it takes to be a franchise hero - he, and the film, are lacking in personality. Read more

Steve Tilley, Toronto Sun: What it lacks in brains, Hitman: Agent 47 attempts to make up for with action, even if not much of it is particularly memorable. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Is 47 the good guy? That's unclear. This leaves little reasons to root for him - other than his super-chill demeanor, his ability to use two guns at once and his impeccably defined cheekbones. Read more