Review of 'The Hitman's Bodyguard '
After his client is murdered triple-A protection agent Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is forced to take far less lucrative “bodyguard for hire” jobs. As a favour to an ex-girlfriend and Interpol agent Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung) following a suspected breach of security within the agency Bryce agrees to escort the international assassin, Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), from Manchester to the Hague where Kincaid is to be a witness against Belarusian dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) who is standing trial for crimes against humanity. Of course, Dukhovich's thugs will do anything to stop him…
You would expect from his smart-alec turn as anti-superhero Deadpool Reynolds would be a sarcastic and ultra-violent bodyguard…and you would be right. Paired off against Jackson playing an equally to type brutal, wise-cracking, street-wise master assassin who has an amusing romantic infatuation with a truly nasty Sonia (Salma Hayek) who is incarcerated in the Amsterdam. The combination of all of this results in high-octane action that dominates “The Hitman's Bodyguard”. Perhaps surprisingly the laughs and sarcasm are kept to a relative minimum as the two seriously kick butt. The action is incredibly visceral (read: lots of gore) and very well choreographed with some very imaginative sequences. If anything, it is a bit TOO violent, but the same could be said of the Deadpool whose scenes frequently cause you to wince. The story of The Hitman's Bodyguard“ is also very entertaining with enough twists and turns to keep us engaged but not enough to overly confuse.
A surprisingly funny and action-packed film from two of the biggest action stars around.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2022-01-02
Directed by: Patrick Hughes
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Year: 2017
Length: 118 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1959563/