[rating=6.00]
There’s not a lot to say about The Hitman’s Bodyguard that one couldn’t figure out from the movie poster. Ryan Reynold’s plays Michael Bryce, a suave bodyguard, once top-rated in his industry and since disgraced due to a job that goes horribly wrong under his watch. Samuel L. Jackson plays Darius Kincaid, a gruff, profane hitman who’s temporarily released from prison so he can provide testimony against Russian villain Vladislav Dukhovich, played by Gary Oldman.
After Kincaid’s protection gets taken out by Dukhovich’s hired goons, Kincaid is on the run, and Bryce is brought in to escort him safely to the trial inside of 24 hours (give or take). Within seconds of meeting on screen, it’s revealed that the two have a long, sordid history, but the two begrudgingly agree to work together for their own benefit. For Kincaid, his testimony will free his wrongly imprisoned wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), from prison. For Bryce, it’s a chance to redeem his soiled reputation, and put him back on the top of sought-after top-tier bodyguards.
Despite the fact that the film plays out as a (mostly) paint-by-numbers farce, it’s not entirely without its charms. Bryce and Kincaid emulate everyone from Cates and Hammond to Riggs and Murtaugh — another pair in a long line of action movie odd couples who see eye-to-eye on nothing but are forced to tolerate one-another for mutual benefit.
That said, each actor has more than enough natural charisma to carry their share of the film, trading barbs with one-another, before firing bullets at the unending string of hitmen sent to stop them. While it doesn’t outright excuse the plot-holes that are so ubiquitous they’re practically action fodder requirements, it’s easy enough to shrug off Kincaid’s on-again, off-again limp or the string of exploding cars. Meanwhile, you just sit back and enjoy the film for what it is: an enjoyable, if somewhat forgettable, action movie romp that will end up a cable movie staple inside of a few years.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is now playing in theaters everywhere.
