Get ready for a wild ride as rivals Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds must unite to save themselves from getting killed in this hilarious action comedy.
Michael Bryce was once a top elite bodyguard for respectable businessmen until a client is killed as he leaves the plane. Two years has passed and Michael still works as a bodyguard, but his job has resort to local businessmen and lawyers who need to be extracted when their lives are in danger. However, Michael’s life is about to change when he receives a call from ex-girlfriend Amelia Roussel, who is an Interpol agent.
Vladimir Dukhovich, the former leader of Belarus, is imprisoned in the International Criminal Court on counts of genocide. However, he has managed to have nearly all witnesses killed except for one. Darius Kincaid is a top assassin who has witnessed Dukhovich’s genocide. When an ambush results in Kincaid and Roussel narrowly escaping, Amelia calls Michael, who still holds a grudge against her as he blames her for the incident two years ago. However, things get worse when Michael learns that he must protect Darius, he is in for a shock as Darius has tried on numerous occasions to have killed Michael. In order to stop Dukhovich, who has dispatched his men all over to kill Darius, Michael and Darius must put aside their differences and get to Amsterdam before the deadline or the nefarious leader goes free.
Two of the funniest action stars today, Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, come together for what is perhaps one of the funniest action comedies today. The script has them play rivals who are forced to band together in order for Jackson’s character to be the key witness in an international trial. The film’s driving force is the impeccable chemistry between Jackson and Reynolds. The two play each other off so well that it will leave the viewer wanting a lot as they must journey from London to Amsterdam while getting chased by various villains who are there just to basically get shot at or beaten to a pulp.
Gary Oldman once again shows why he can play quite the villain actor. However, this time around, he is more of a mastermind as the former President of Belarus, accused of genocide. While Oldman is more of the criminal mastermind, he does have some powerful muscle in the form of Yuri Kolokolnikov as Ivan. His performance will remind one of the James Bond villain who tends to be more superior than the hero and thus, said hero must resort to using unorthodox tactics and well, if you’ve seen those type of films, you know what to expect. Elodie Yung and Salma Hayek (in an extended cameo) make the most of their roles as the former love interest of Reynolds and Jackson’s imprisoned wife respectively.
While Reynolds and Jackson have a strong comic chemistry, the action is quite done nicely as well. Reynolds uses a lot of close quarter combat when not chasing thugs in a vehicle or blowing people away and he’s quite adept to using some hand-to-hand combat while Jackson gets to blow people away while also engaging is some frenetic chase sequences. The first encounter in the film between these two is quite nice and it looks like something along the lines of Equilibrium and John Wick could be perhaps influences for this short fight that soon leads to the adventure that is the basis of the film.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is an action-packed, comic-filled ride with two of the funniest today playing off each other so well that it makes you want more.
WFG RATING: A
Millennium Films present a Nu Boyana Film/Campbell-Grobman Films production in association with Tik Picutres (HK), Cristal Pictures, East Light Media, and Tom de Mol Productions. Director: Patrick Hughes. Producers: Les Weldon, John Thompson, Matthew O’Toole, David Ellison, Mark Gill, and Dana Goldberg. Writer: Tom O’Connor. Cinematography: Jules O’Loughlin. Editing: Jake Roberts.
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Elodie Yung, Gary Oldman, Joaquim de Almeida, Yuri Kolokonikov, Barry Atsma, Richard E. Grant, Sam Hazeldine, Salma Hayek.
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