The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
Strap yourself in, let your mind go blank, and drink in 2021's The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, a big budget action adventure/spy spoof that trades logic and realism for non-stop action and a surprising amount of humor that we don't see coming and sustains itself through the final reel.
Ryan Reynolds plays Michael Bryce, a disgraced former bodyguard who has lost his license and is so lost without his life's work that it has driven him into therapy. Just as he begins his suggested "sabbatical" from being a bodyguard, he is approached by a voluptuous con artist named named Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) for Michael's assistance in rescuing her husband, a veteran hitman named Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) who has a long and colorful history with Bryce, so that she and Darius can have a baby. However, their rescue mission complicates an even further mission that they are forced to assist with...the prevention of a deadly virus being planted underground that could destroy the entire continent of Europe.
I didn't learn until after viewing this film, that is actually a sequel to a 2017 film called The Hitman's Bodyguard, which also starred Reynolds and Jackson. Now the fact that this film is a sequel and I didn't realize it might make one want to watch the first film before viewing this one. But I will say that, without knowing this film was a sequel, I never suspected that it was a sequel and never felt like I missed something or needed something explained, except possibly why Bryce lost his license, but as this film progressed, I found that why he lost his license was irrelevant.
The screenplay is surprisingly well-constructed, rich with inside jokes about the bodyguard and hitman businesses, and addresses a lot of action movie cliches directly and without apology. The story cleverly combines a world crisis that must be averted with three dimensional, flawed characters at the center, whose personal history gets worked throughout the film with some really clever use of flashbacks, something you don't see in a lot of action movies, but it works here. It's quite clever the way the writers keep the fact that Sonia wants a baby as a through line for the entire film. This is also the first film I have ever seen that references the Goldie Hawn-Kurt Russell movie Overboard.
The movie moves at a lightning clip (at glamorous locations all around the world) until about the halfway point, where we find out heroes stranded in the middle of nowhere. Conveniently, they happen to be very close to where Bryce's father, a famous former bodyguard lives. The casting of this role is genius and the reunion between Bryce and his father is definitely one of the film's highlight.
Director Patrick Hughes puts careful consideration into production values, which include gorgeous worldwide photography, editing, art direction, and sound. Reynolds is a lot of fun, bringing the same loopy sensibility to Bryce that he did the Deadpool franchise. Salma Hayek lights up the screen as Sonia, the daredevil who is not above using her obvious physical assets to get what she wants. I have never enjoyed Hayek onscreen as much as I did here. Initially, Samuel L Jackson seems a little long in the tooth for this sort of action yarn, but he really seems to be enjoying himself and there are cleverly placed reminders of same from the bad guys that just tick Darius off. I have to admit I'm a little curious about the first film, but don't feel like I have to see the first film to appreciate this one. This movie was a whole lotta fun.
Strap yourself in, let your mind go blank, and drink in 2021's The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, a big budget action adventure/spy spoof that trades logic and realism for non-stop action and a surprising amount of humor that we don't see coming and sustains itself through the final reel.
Ryan Reynolds plays Michael Bryce, a disgraced former bodyguard who has lost his license and is so lost without his life's work that it has driven him into therapy. Just as he begins his suggested "sabbatical" from being a bodyguard, he is approached by a voluptuous con artist named named Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) for Michael's assistance in rescuing her husband, a veteran hitman named Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) who has a long and colorful history with Bryce, so that she and Darius can have a baby. However, their rescue mission complicates an even further mission that they are forced to assist with...the prevention of a deadly virus being planted underground that could destroy the entire continent of Europe.
I didn't learn until after viewing this film, that is actually a sequel to a 2017 film called The Hitman's Bodyguard, which also starred Reynolds and Jackson. Now the fact that this film is a sequel and I didn't realize it might make one want to watch the first film before viewing this one. But I will say that, without knowing this film was a sequel, I never suspected that it was a sequel and never felt like I missed something or needed something explained, except possibly why Bryce lost his license, but as this film progressed, I found that why he lost his license was irrelevant.
The screenplay is surprisingly well-constructed, rich with inside jokes about the bodyguard and hitman businesses, and addresses a lot of action movie cliches directly and without apology. The story cleverly combines a world crisis that must be averted with three dimensional, flawed characters at the center, whose personal history gets worked throughout the film with some really clever use of flashbacks, something you don't see in a lot of action movies, but it works here. It's quite clever the way the writers keep the fact that Sonia wants a baby as a through line for the entire film. This is also the first film I have ever seen that references the Goldie Hawn-Kurt Russell movie Overboard.
The movie moves at a lightning clip (at glamorous locations all around the world) until about the halfway point, where we find out heroes stranded in the middle of nowhere. Conveniently, they happen to be very close to where Bryce's father, a famous former bodyguard lives. The casting of this role is genius and the reunion between Bryce and his father is definitely one of the film's highlight.
Director Patrick Hughes puts careful consideration into production values, which include gorgeous worldwide photography, editing, art direction, and sound. Reynolds is a lot of fun, bringing the same loopy sensibility to Bryce that he did the Deadpool franchise. Salma Hayek lights up the screen as Sonia, the daredevil who is not above using her obvious physical assets to get what she wants. I have never enjoyed Hayek onscreen as much as I did here. Initially, Samuel L Jackson seems a little long in the tooth for this sort of action yarn, but he really seems to be enjoying himself and there are cleverly placed reminders of same from the bad guys that just tick Darius off. I have to admit I'm a little curious about the first film, but don't feel like I have to see the first film to appreciate this one. This movie was a whole lotta fun.