Movie Review: The Hitman's Bodyguard

The classic buddy action comedy gets an enthusiastic ode in this moderately diverting endeavour that blurs the line between being reverent and being derivative.

Ryan Reynolds plays Michael Bryce, an elite personal protection agent forced into the lower end of the market after losing a high-profile client. Samuel L. Jackson plays Darius Kincaid, a notoriously lethal hitman being compelled to testify against a Belarusian tyrant (Gary Oldman, hammy as ever) in the International Criminal Court.

Motivated by the prospect of his elite bodyguard status being restored, Bryce takes on the task of delivering Kincaid to his court date while an army of bad guys hunts them across a variety of attractive European locations.

The Hitman's Bodyguard is a lively affair that moves fast enough to prevent the realisation that nothing terribly interesting or new is happening. There are plenty of slickly-executed action set-pieces and a talented supporting cast (Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung), although only the latter really gets to shine.

Samuel L. Jackson in The Hitman's Bodyguard

The marketing plays up the jokey comparisons with 1991's The Bodyguard, but the film itself is much more concerned with evoking the likes of 48 Hrs. (1982) or Midnight Run (1988). And although it's bouyed considerably by the bickering chemistry between Reynolds and Jackson, this never comes close to those two classics of the genre.

That's a high bar to set however and it's clear that this movie's action comedy motivations are pure.

More than a few individual moments elicit a warm response, but an existing affection for the type of movie it is striving to ape may be necessary to really enjoy.

Cast:

Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds

Director:

Patrick Hughes

Running time:

118 minutes

Rating:

(R16 Violence & offensive language)

Verdict:

A lively, if predictable, throwback buddy comedy.

DID YOU KNOW...

Samuel L. Jackson swears a total of 122 times throughout The Hitman's Bodyguard - that's more than one swear word per minute of the film's 118 minute run time.