Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is stuck in dead end job that he hates.  His world changes when he’s told that his long lost father was actually one of the best assassins the world has ever seen.  In addition to learning that his father has been murdered he is recruited into a secret society of assassins called The Fraternity.  The Fraternity includes members Fox (Angelina Jolie) and Sloan (Morgan Freeman).

During his initiation and training, Gibson essentially gets the shit beat out of him but becomes a deadly killer able to make every shot and even bend bullets in mid flight.  Wesley’s life takes a turn for the worse when The Fraternity flips on him and makes him the target.

This is a comic book movie through and through.  You REALLY have to suspend disbelief here to get into it, but there’s some outstanding effects in here.  The concept of “bending” a bullet is kind of hokey but to see it on screen is super cool.  Some of the kill shots in here are right up there with the best I’ve seen on film.  There are quite a few plot holes in here but if you can get past them this is a fun little flick.

I’m glad that I didn’t pay full price to see this one in the theater, but I’m also glad that I’ve seen it.  If you’re looking for a good little action movie this is a thumbs up rental.  If you’re not a comic fan or a fan of assassin movies I’d probably pass.

From The Cover:

June 632 A.D.: Deep within the Uranah Valley of Mount Arafat in Mecca, the Prophet Mohammed shares with his closest companions a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated.

September 1789: U.S. minister to France Thomas Jefferson, charged with forging a truce with the violent Muslim pirates of the Barbary Coast, makes a shocking discovery – one that could forever impact the world’s relationship with Islam.

Present day: When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian café, Navy Seal turned covert Homeland Security Operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried so desperately to leave behind.

Saving the intended victim of the attack, Harvath becomes party to an amazing and perilous race to uncover a secret so powerful that militant Islam could be defeated once and for all without firing another shot, dropping another bomb, or launching another covert action. But there are powerful men who are determined that Mohammed’s mysterious final revelation continue to remain hidden forever.

Commentary /  Review:

If you like Jason Bourne, you’ll love Scot Harvath.  If you enjoyed the DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons, you’ll enjoy this novel.  This book has plenty of action and a ton of suspense and you make your way through.  It’s a quick read even though Thor has a TON of detail in there.  The weaponry that he describes is lethal as his the main bad guy referred to in countless ways through out the book but I always think of as “The Assassin”.

While Thor doesn’t hide his politics (I’ll leave it to you to determine) they definitely don’t come into the way of the story so Republicans and Democrats alike can enjoy this book.  The world of espionage has always intrigued me so this was right up my alley.  I’m always on the lookout for a good spy story and this one definitely quenched that thirst.

There were only two minor negatives that I could find.  One was that I had a hard time (at the beginning) keeping the characters separate in my mind.  This is due in part to Thor’s attention to detail and the fact that he wants his characters genuine.  It wouldn’t make much sense to have Islam militants named “Bob” or “Fred”.  A minor thing that’s really on me rather than Thor.  The second is the end of the book (which I won’t spoil here).  There’s a character that comes from out of nowhere in the last 5 pages that kind of left me saying “huh” but it definitely didn’t mess up the story as a whole.

This is the first Brad Thor book that I’ve ever read… I can guarantee you that it won’t be the last.  If you’re looking for a recommendation I’d say definitely pick this one up.  This is a very good read especially for history buffs.  Would LOVE to see this made into a movie one day – it would look awesome on the big screen.

The main character is Agent 47 played by Timothy Olyphant (Live Free Or Die Hard, Deadwood, Scream 2).  They don’t go into a ton of back story about how he becomes who he is but suffice to say he’s a bad ass contract killer out on to make a killing (pun intended).  After his apparent successful mission we learn that he’s been set up and the rest of the film shows how he goes about taking care of the rest of the contract.  I have to give HUGE props to Timothy Olyphant on his portrayal of 47.  He walked the walk (quite literally) and talked the talk of 47.  When I originally saw who was cast in this roll I wasn’t sure how it would work… he pulled it off beautifully.

Throughout the film, Agent 47 is being pursued by Interpol agent Mike Whittier (played by Dougray Scott who you may know from a stint on Desperate Housewives).  Scott delivers some great one liners and pulls off his roll very admirably.  He gets the shaft at the end of the movie in a big way but it makes for a great twist ending.

47′s love interest Nika Boronina (Olga Kurylenko probably best known as the Bond girl from Quantum Of Solace) is smoking hot, but really out of place in the Hitman world.  One thing that we learn when playing through the games is that this man has very few ties to the “real” world.  He’s a killer that is very good at what he does because he has no ties.  To think that he would have any kind of attachment to a whore no less is kind of a stretch.

This movie was pretty universally lambasted by reviewers.  I thought it was actually a pretty good flick when taken for what it was – a neat little action movie.  It’s just over 90 minutes in length so it’s not too long and not too short.  It’s got a very straight forward plot once you get into it and if you don’t mind the lack of back story it moves along nicely.  Big fans of the video game series might not like the fact that the story line doesn’t follow the game but even as a big fan myself I was able to get past this.

The one scene that really had me scratching my head was when 47 goes up against a couple of other agents.  They’re at a virtual standoff where they’re all pointing their guns at one another and 47 says something to the effect of “Let’s die with honor” or some such nonsense.  Immediately, all 4 of them drop their guns and produce katana-like swords from behind their backs and proceed to slice and dice one another.  It’s a GREAT action sequence in the film but we were given absolutely no reason to have it play out the way it did.  Weird.

If you’re looking for a good Friday night action movie this is worth the rental.  I picked up the “unrated” version used for $9 and I feel that I definitely got my money’s worth.  You won’t get a real deep plot but you’ll get plenty of action, quite a bit of violence and some gratuitous T & A.  Not only that but if you’re a gamer this is probably the best video game to movie adaptation to date (not that that’s saying much).  Enjoy!