Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

This unexpected sequel to 2017’s The Hitman's Bodyguard took what worked best from the first film (namely the great chemistry between the leads, and their natural comic talents) and tackled what didn’t work, by improving the action set-pieces and doing away with any distracting plot and unnecessary sense of realism.

Premise: Disgraced bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is haunted by nightmares of how hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) ruined his career. But Bryce’s attempts to follow his psychiatrist’s advice to get away from the stresses of bodyguarding are derailed when Darius’ wife, the con-woman Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), forces him to help her rescue Darius from criminal associates of the shipping tycoon Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas).

Review:

Back in 2017, The Hitman's Bodyguard was a fun, straight-down-the-middle, old school, action-buddy-comedy, that felt like a throwback to the classics of the 80s and 90s. But there was no escaping the fact that some elements worked better than others – specifically, while the cast were great and their natural comedy was enough to make the film worth a watch, the action scenes were a little uninspiring, and the clichéd and unbelievable plot still somehow managed to give the impression that we were meant to take it seriously.

What makes Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (for some reason, the film appears to have dropped the “The” from the title) one of the rare sequels that is better than its predecessor is that the sequel seems to have a far better idea of what it wants to be than the original did. And what it wants to be is a bonkers, utterly ridiculous, action-comedy that is all the better for embracing its craziness.

“…the ridiculous plot liberates the sequel to focus on what it does best – comedy & action...”

Whereas the original film had a “serious” plot involving a “serious” villain who was on trial for war crimes, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard has a plot that makes about as much sense as an Austin Powers film – but this liberates the sequel to focus on what it does best, and that’s the comedy and action elements. The plot itself revolves around a scheme to use a special drill and a computer virus to “destroy Europe” – but really, none of that really matters. All you need to know is that a madman (Antonio Banderas) and his bodyguard (Tom Hopper) and hitman (Kristofer Kamiyasu) are up to no good and need to be stopped, and Michael (Ryan Reynolds), Darius (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sonia (Salma Hayek) are the only ones who can.

After her scene-stealing cameo in the first film, Salma Hayek is now a co-lead and is clearly relishing playing the passionate, foul-mouthed (and possibly sociopathic), gun-toting con-woman, whose heart is in the right place even if her sanity may not be. And seeing Hayek on screen again with Antonio Banderas (26 years after they starred in Desperado together) is enough to make you forgive the (slightly insensitive) casting of the Spanish Banderas as the supposedly Greek character, Aristotle Papadopoulos. Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson continue to do what they do best – play to their comedic strengths and let their natural onscreen chemistry propel the movie along. All of the cast seem to be having so much fun it hardly seems like work, and the film even has cameos from Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman and Oscar-nominee Richard E. Grant, who are both clearly in on the joke. In fact, it’s really only Frank Grillo who feels a little underserved as the “exposition guy” (the Interpol agent investigating the case), but even he has what fun he can playing the “straight” character as over-the-top as he can get away with.

“…packed full of outrageous action & laugh-out-loud comedy moments…”

As well as upping the comedy content, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard also improves on the action scenes from the first film, with long-takes and well-choreographed fight sequences. The action can be fairly brutal in places – but it’s also always in service to the comedy, allowing characters (admittedly, mainly Michael) to suffer injuries for comic effect that would clearly have killed any normal human being.

Overall, while the film may not reinvent the wheel, it is packed full of outrageous action and laugh-out-loud comedy moments, and really, what more could you ask for from an old-school action-comedy? Based on this film, I’d happily watch The Hitman’s Wife’s Therapist’s Bodyguard in another 4 years.