Danielle Solzman
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard features solid chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson but the sequel offers more of the same.
As action movies go, bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) and hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) are the last two people you would think of when it comes to a team-up. And yet, here we are watching them go at it…again. It’s funny though. Bryce wanted nothing more than to just go to Italy and spend a sabbatical where he didn’t have to worry about guns. He might not be licensed but he’s just happy to graduate from therapy. Of course, there wouldn’t be much of a film because there’s no drama in just watching him relaxing. I mean, Reynolds could certainly make relaxing charming and funny.
This time around, Darius Kincaid’s con artist wife, Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), gets to see more of the action. She isn’t relegated to just a mere cameo. Sonia is the one who drags Bryce’s ass off sabbatical. But right when we think they are all out of harm’s way, Interpol recruits them for an assignment. It’s a truly weird thing when this trio is all we have to protect us from Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas). We also have to talk about Morgan Freeman. All I will say about his character is. On second thought, no. You’ll get no spoilers from me. It is nice to see a reunion between Jackson and Freeman!
Listen, I have no problem with a film starring Reynolds and Jackson. Even though the first film might have its flaws, their chemistry was a high point. This fact remains the same in the sequel. Honestly, it makes you wonder what a film starring Deadpool and Nick Fury would look like. What the sequel manages to do is take what works from The Hitman’s Bodyguard and add a few twists to change it up. Sometimes they work. Other times, well, you already know.
The other thing about Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is that it really doesn’t matter what critics thing. If the film does financially well, a sequel is almost certainly bound to happen. It’s an action comedy and even though I felt it offered a bit of the same, I still found myself laughing during the screening. And again, the chemistry between the leads is what helps films power through a predictable plot. All of this aside, Ryan Reynolds takes the brunt of the film’s stunts. Everywhere you look, he is getting hit by something!
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard lives and dies on the chemistry between Reynolds and Jackson.
DIRECTOR: Patrick Hughes
SCREENWRITERS: Tom O’Connor and Phillip Murphy & Brandon Murphy
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, with Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman, Frank Grillo, Caroline Goodall, Rebecca Front, Gabriella Wright, Alice McMillan, Kristofer Kamiyasu, Tom Hopper, Blake Ritson, with Richard E. Grant
