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(Summit Entertainment/Millennium Films)
By Lucas Allen
When you think of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson nowadays, you’ll likely remember them for their appearances in two different Marvel movies — “Deadpool” and “Nick Fury” — respectively. Now you can see them together in a non-superhero action/comedy film, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” The two actors alone made the whole thing worthwhile, but there’s something about the movie that didn’t work.
Michael Bryce (Reynolds) was a high-level bodyguard until the sudden murder of a client reduced him to protecting random people. His ex-girlfriend Amelia (Elodie Young), an Interpol agent, suddenly pulls him into a new job. Notable hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson) is supposed to be the witness in the trial of corrupt politician Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) for crimes against humanity. However, Dukhovich’s men infiltrated the escort, forcing Kincaid to hide in the safe house. Now Bryce has 24 hours to bring Kincaid to the criminal courthouse in the Netherlands before Dukhovich goes free.
The big problem is the two men have a rough history together, and with goons and authorities after them, they have no choice but to work with each other to survive the whole day. Also, Kincaid is willing to reunite with his wife Sonia (Salma Hayek), who’s serving in prison, while Bryce tries to make amends with Amelia. Naturally, it all leads to one big chase and an explosive conclusion.
Right from the start, the movie lacked a proper tone. It wants to be an action-packed comedy but keeps changing in places into serious, gritty action/drama making each scene feel jarring. There are some good laughs from its two leading men, but their scenes are mostly made up of insults and curse words; that gets stale after a while. Even though “Deadpool” is both action-packed and funny, at least it stuck to the right tone.
Granted, some of the action scenes were quite good with the highlight being the extended car/motorcycle/boat chase in and around Amsterdam. However, some of them run too long and could have been edited down rather than make the movie last two hours. The real kicker is there’s one more bit of action that would have been good had it not been for appearing to mirror recent world attacks. This makes the movie look worse, especially coming with an ill-timed release. If you feel sensitive about it at the moment, then you can look elsewhere.
As mentioned before, the two leads are funny together and their comic chemistry is on the mark. The actors seem to be having a blast playing off of each other, even if some of their funny moments leave something to be desired. Hayek is also having fun in her small role, though her character also curses a lot in her scenes. However, Oldman doesn’t seem to be given much to do other than goof around with his faux Russian accent. You expect better from a veteran actor with a knack for going over the top.
While entertaining in parts, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is ultimately is a messy mish-mash of elements that work better in other movies. Action junkies will surely get a kick out of it, but it’s more of a Saturday night rental than a big screen event. Some of you may still like it, but the rest of you will wish for better entertainment for the end of summer.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong violence and language throughout)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 2 stars (out of four)
