Trap is not only a great thriller, it’s a perfect Hitman movie

Something started to seem strangely familiar about 19 minutes into my viewing Fallthe latest horror thriller from director M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Josh Hartnett as Cooper, a seemingly ordinary father who happens to lead a secret life as a notorious serial killer, who discovers that the pop idol concert he is at with his daughter is in fact an elaborate… uh, trap designed by the FBI. to arrest him. After being alerted to the plot by an overly enthusiastic concert vendor, Cooper looks for every possible way to escape the venue without arousing his daughter’s suspicions.

“Huh, this looks familiar,” I thought to myself as I watched Cooper push a woman down a flight of stairs to distract a pair of police officers guarding a set of doors. As Cooper’s attempts to escape became more and more erratic and ridiculous, a realization finally dawned on me: I wasn’t just watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie, I was watching the cinematic equivalent of a permanent-death Master Assassin series . Hitman: world of murder.

If you’re unfamiliar with the games’ premise, here’s the gist: In Hitman, you play as Agent 47, a bald, friendly assassin who travels the world carrying out assassinations of high-profile targets on behalf of a clandestine organization working for the highest bidder. Almost every mission from almost every game in the Hitman series plays out the same way: you infiltrate a location, track down your target, execute them in any way you see fit, and then immediately exfiltrate without being seen, captured or killed. the process.

Of course, as anyone who’s played a Hitman game will tell you, there’s more to the game than just killing. Hitman: world of murder is a stealth game, yes, but it’s also a crazy puzzle game. The premise of each mission is the same, but the variability of locations and the nature of each individual target demands something else on the part of the player in addition to ruthless execution: situational awareness, aptitude for improvisation and, most importantly, a sense of of creativity that responds to the dark humor of the series.

Don’t be fooled by 47’s sleek three-piece suits, the game’s operatic music, or the exotic and picturesque locations, full of brooding fashionistas and stern-faced villains. Every mission in Hitman is filled with a dozen or more Rube Goldbergian death traps waiting to be sprung onto an unfortunate target, not to mention the many unique (read: ridiculous) disguises you can discover and don during a playthrough.

Cooper is not a hit man; he is a high functioning sociopath and serial killer. Even though the differences are minor, the two are not the same. While Cooper and Agent 47 may differ in their respective professions, they have a surprising amount in common in terms of their modus operandi, as evidenced by much of the running time of Fall. Like 47, Cooper has an almost supernatural gift for noticing points of interest; cameras, locked doors, armed guards, anything that could trip you up in a video game, Cooper has it covered.

Once he senses he’s in danger, Cooper’s entire outward demeanor shifts from his dim-witted father facade to a murderous focus, taking every possible opportunity that might allow him to escape and going after it with dogged determination. Whether it’s stealing a kitchen uniform, lifting a keycard from an unsuspecting merchandise seller, sneaking past a group of heavily armed SWAT members and stealing one of their radios to listen in, or orchestrating a horrific explosion as a distraction to get past a crowd of onlookers, Cooper shows the kind of cunning, guile, and yes, creativity that fans of the Hitman franchise would recognize from their own time as Agent 47.

There have been two film adaptations of the Hitman series so far: the 2007 one Hitmanstarring Timothy Olyphant, and the 2015 reboot Hitman: Agent 47starring Rupert Vriend. While they both had unique takes on the game’s aforementioned master assassin, neither quite hits the mark utilizing one of the more subdued but essential components of the series’ overall tone: its dark sense of humor .

While Hitman’s previous cinematic adaptations leave much to be desired in this regard, Fall simply stands out because of Shyamalan’s own talent for twisted absurdity. Fall is a suspenseful film, yes, but it is also a terribly funny. A serial killer who unknowingly becomes entangled in a sting operation is an interesting premise, but the fact that the same killer is also a painfully clumsy and constantly attacked father of a teenage girl is what elevates the situation to hilarity. Combine that with his uncanny ability to ingratiate himself with almost everyone he encounters and his barely suppressed desperation and rage at finding himself in the clutches of federal authorities, and Shyamalan’s film expertly threads the needle between humor and horror and an experience that is both entertaining and surprising to watch.

Every action Cooper took in an attempt to escape Lady Raven’s concert felt like replaying my own panicked improvisations as I fail one of Hitman’s many “Mission Stories,” emergent clues that Agent 47 contextually encounters during a mission which allows him a chance to carry out his goal more quickly (and often ridiculously).

Despite Cooper’s frequent missteps, there is one more trait he and Agent 47 have in common: perseverance. No matter what happens, no matter how spectacularly shit hits the fan, Agent 47 never gives up until the job is done – a fact that often produces some of Hitman’s funniest and most memorable moments. From chandeliers crashing onto the catwalks of fashion shows to rogue surgical robots eviscerating their potential patients, 47’s determination to eliminate his targets more often than not manifests itself in ways that push the plausibility of their execution to the limit. With that in mind, a serial killer trying to escape a pop idol concert without being caught by the police sounds exactly like the kind of scenario that would play out in a Hitman mission.

He may not be as cool and collected as his video game counterpart when the odds are against him, but Cooper somehow always finds a way to come out on top. He really missed his calling as an assassin. Oh well; Maybe he’s considering a career change Trap 2 ever happens.

Fall is now available to stream on Max.