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MovieMeditation's
Reviews
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2017
The Hitman's
Bodyguard
directed by Patrick Hughes
-
one word
Confused.
one sentence
Hitman's Bodyguard hits up two of the biggest acting assassins in the game, from two very different styles and times, who slay every comedic moment they come by, yet the movie somehow fails to find its funny bone inside broken bones, blood spatter, bad romance and a very confused script.
one paragraph
Director Patrick Hughes doesn't have the greatest track record and he seems to struggle to reach his big break-through, Red Hill, from 2010. He directed The Expendables 3, which was nothing to write home about, and now he takes on full-blown action-comedy with some of the biggest and best to ever do it. With that cast, how can you fail? Somehow Hughes manages to do just that, by having a confused and cramped up script that doesn't allow the actors nor their comedy to breathe properly. Instead the movie wants to send some kind of political message - or at least a way too worked up wannabe version of that - inside a film that finds time for too much nonsense instead of picking a direct path. The movie seemed to be a comedy, yet it is way too serious and overly dramatic for that. And by the end of it, the movie seems to hint that it was a romantic comedy all along, inside a very bloated crime-thriller slash buddy-comedy B-movie. I don't get it. What a waste.
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additional paragraph(s) for the avid follower
It is truly a shame that such great talents go to waste because the movie appearently wants to wreck itself before it even gets started. It is nice to see Samuel L. Jackson back slangin' one-note bad language, but not even that can save a script that seems to hold the man down or dictate him his lines and personality instead of letting the expert handle things with expertise... Reynolds make a big comeback, so to speak, with Deadpool, where he really got to work on his crooked comedy and charming trash-talk. He does a lot of the same here, but he also seems held back by a bloated script and fragmented tonal style.
The logic in the movie also got on my nerves a few times; like when Jackson didn't know a phone could be tracked. Like, come on. Sure, the dude's old school - but tracking was possible in the god damn 80-90s. I'll let that slide though. But what I won't let slide, is when Jackson (almost) escapes Reynolds early in the movie and somehow he manages to pull an even dumber excuse later in the movie, to leave the room and escape. Only so a sort of important scene could take place. The movie often seems written for the plot points, and not the other way around, which really brings the movie down. Last logic side note; Reynolds also holds a god damn nail gun, and uses it to perfection, yet chooses not to use it more than once so that the director can spice things up a bit with some other action. Meh.
Admittedly, a lot of the action looks nice, partly because it is practical and also because some of the funnies and best moments with the characters comes in the midst of the madness. That is kind of what I wanted more of - comedy that came from out of a situation and not artificially made into a situation. This movie should have been A LOT better than it was. What a shame.
Question
Can you relate to the feeling of comedy coming off as too scripted and stale?
What are other movies ruined by such script and/or where great talents were brought down by bad guidance/production?
_______________________
MovieMeditation's
Reviews
_______________________
2017
The Hitman's
Bodyguard
directed by Patrick Hughes
-
one word
Confused.
one sentence
Hitman's Bodyguard hits up two of the biggest acting assassins in the game, from two very different styles and times, who slay every comedic moment they come by, yet the movie somehow fails to find its funny bone inside broken bones, blood spatter, bad romance and a very confused script.
one paragraph
Director Patrick Hughes doesn't have the greatest track record and he seems to struggle to reach his big break-through, Red Hill, from 2010. He directed The Expendables 3, which was nothing to write home about, and now he takes on full-blown action-comedy with some of the biggest and best to ever do it. With that cast, how can you fail? Somehow Hughes manages to do just that, by having a confused and cramped up script that doesn't allow the actors nor their comedy to breathe properly. Instead the movie wants to send some kind of political message - or at least a way too worked up wannabe version of that - inside a film that finds time for too much nonsense instead of picking a direct path. The movie seemed to be a comedy, yet it is way too serious and overly dramatic for that. And by the end of it, the movie seems to hint that it was a romantic comedy all along, inside a very bloated crime-thriller slash buddy-comedy B-movie. I don't get it. What a waste.
_______________________
additional paragraph(s) for the avid follower
It is truly a shame that such great talents go to waste because the movie appearently wants to wreck itself before it even gets started. It is nice to see Samuel L. Jackson back slangin' one-note bad language, but not even that can save a script that seems to hold the man down or dictate him his lines and personality instead of letting the expert handle things with expertise... Reynolds make a big comeback, so to speak, with Deadpool, where he really got to work on his crooked comedy and charming trash-talk. He does a lot of the same here, but he also seems held back by a bloated script and fragmented tonal style.
The logic in the movie also got on my nerves a few times; like when Jackson didn't know a phone could be tracked. Like, come on. Sure, the dude's old school - but tracking was possible in the god damn 80-90s. I'll let that slide though. But what I won't let slide, is when Jackson (almost) escapes Reynolds early in the movie and somehow he manages to pull an even dumber excuse later in the movie, to leave the room and escape. Only so a sort of important scene could take place. The movie often seems written for the plot points, and not the other way around, which really brings the movie down. Last logic side note; Reynolds also holds a god damn nail gun, and uses it to perfection, yet chooses not to use it more than once so that the director can spice things up a bit with some other action. Meh.
Admittedly, a lot of the action looks nice, partly because it is practical and also because some of the funnies and best moments with the characters comes in the midst of the madness. That is kind of what I wanted more of - comedy that came from out of a situation and not artificially made into a situation. This movie should have been A LOT better than it was. What a shame.
Question
Can you relate to the feeling of comedy coming off as too scripted and stale?
What are other movies ruined by such script and/or where great talents were brought down by bad guidance/production?
_______________________