Hitman's Bodyguard : Movie Review

Okay, I've been waiting for this one since I first saw the trailer a few months ago. And it delivers as expected: the super entertaining chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds!!

Michael Bryce (Ryan) is an executive protection agent, a bodyguard in simple terms, who has fallen down the industry spectrum after the assassination of a very high-value client. Darius Kinkaid (Samuel) is a notorious hitman, extremely skilled and known for an improvisational approach to the job, though currently in jail having been arrested by Interpol. While the two have crossed paths before in their respective field over the years, the two highly-trained killers need to NOT kill each other and work together to survive. Why? Because of Vladislav Dukovich (Gary Oldman), murderous dictator of Belarus

There isn't a lot to the premise of the setup, so let me give you the gist of it. Dukovich is on trial in the world court for his heinous crimes but there is a substantial lack of evidence of said crimes. Darius, given his profession, has the dirt on Dukovich and his testimony and collection of evidence is what is needed to put the dictator away. Kinkaid is imprisoned by Interpol and needs to be moved to Hague where the case is being fought. Of course, there are spies and moles and mercenaries at the disposal of Dukovich who wants Kinkaid dead. Leading the security detail is hot Interpol agent Amelia Roussell (Elodie Young) and they get attacked, leaving only her and Darius alive. Amelia used to date Michael and he's the only one she can count on to get Darius to the court in time to give his testimony. There is some sexual tension between the two but Bryce takes it up on Amelia's offer to return him to his 'Triple A Security' status. And that's where the title comes from: the Hitman's Bodyguard.

What follows is a series of action stunts, gunfire, hand-to-hand combat and explosions, some of which are pretty cool and some are painfully obviously CGI. But the best part is the banter between the two contrasting characters, some of which is seriously funny, like 'leaving you in stitches' funny. Both characters seem to be aware of sorts of the realm outside the film's story and each other's movies in real life without ever directly referencing them. But that said, this film is also a love story. After all, the only reason Darius agrees to give his testimony and put his life on the line is to get a full pardon for his badass wife Sonia (Salma Hayek), also imprisoned by Interpol. There are some really sweet gestures and messages about love and relationships thrown in which add a bit of tenderness to this movie. But it's nice to see that it's not Reynolds who's playing the romantic and instead just being funny and badass-action-hero.

Director Patrick Hughes has done a good job for the most part of the film, there are some really meme worthy and poster worthy moments throughout and the script has got some very entertaining banter as well (written by Tim O'Connor). It was a good change of location too as the film takes us through the UK and the Netherlands. The song selection for some of the sequences is right on point for many of the action sequences which always adds to the film experience. 

There's not much of a story or a premise, but the action's good and some of the jokes are rib-ticklingly funny. It's like a fan movie to the two actors and if they used these characters to start a short-run TV series, I'd watch it. I enjoyed it that much. But I have to be fair though with my rating of it as a movie in itself, so I give it 6 out of 10 energy motherf**king bars.

If you like Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, I suggest you go watch this film motherf**ker!