On paper, there’s a lot to recommend this film. Everyone involved with it has done great work in the past (Arjona was terrific in “Andor,” and Linklater and Powell have worked together a few times already, most notably on 2016’s instant classic “Everybody Wants Some!!”), the premise is fantastic, and the film is willing to get sexier than a lot of modern Hollywood movies do these days. (For the love of god, bring back sex scenes in mainstream American cinema!) Lots of my colleagues have declared this movie a masterpiece, but for me personally, as someone who was ready to fall head over heels for it, “Hit Man” never really came together for me in a satisfying way. It’s charming, yes, but it always feels like there’s something missing — like the film is capable of delving deeper into its ideas, but never really does. Our review reflects that sentiment as well: There’s an awesome movie in here somewhere, but the final version doesn’t quite live up to the film’s potential.
Oh, well. The movie is definitely serving its purpose from Netflix’s perspective. The streamer won a bidding war for the rights to “Hit Man” after it played at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival after several traditional studios passed on the movie, and the fact that it’s now the most streamed movie on Netflix not only in the U.S., but in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Iceland, Australia, and more must feel like justification for the $20 million Netflix shelled out for it.
