The Hitman’s Bodyguard

 

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is an action-comedy starring Samuel L Jackson, Ryan Reynolds and Salma Hayek. It follows Reynolds as Michael Bryce, a top tier UK- based private bodyguard who unwittingly takes on a new client, whom he has an unfavorable history with, Darius Kincaid, a hitman, played by Samuel L Jackson. His task is to get Kincaid to The Hague where he must testify at the International Criminal Court. With all sorts of obstacles in there way, will they be able to put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial safely and on time?

When I originally saw the previews for this movie, I thought that the plot was uninteresting and it didn’t look very funny to me; so I purposely skipped it for a few years. What gave me a change of heart was the sequel that is set to come out soon. Seeing the previews and Salma Hayek’s promotional tour really encouraged me to give the first one a second chance.

I thought that the sets were beautiful; especially the Netherlands locations.

The action choreography was really great. The fight sequences were crisp and during the higher octane sequences involving car, motorcycle and boat chases, everything was very intricate and entertaining.

Regarding the casting, I liked Reynolds and Hayek’s placement. They were funny. Reynolds was typecast but I still enjoyed his comedic puns and stunts. I also liked that this was a more unconventional role for Hayek and she brought so much intelligence and fierceness to her role that you wanted to see more of her than just the few scenes she was in. Which is why it's great they are doing a sequel with her as the lead. Where the casting took a dip for me was with Samuel L Jackson and Gary Oldman. It was unrealistic seeing Jackson as an actively working hitman. He was not young or agile enough for the role and he also didn’t always do the gun choreography confidently. As for Oldman, they casted him as Vladislav Dukhovich, a stereotypical Russian bad guy. Not only is Oldman not Russian; his attempt at a Russian accent was atrocious. To be honest, casting Russians as the bad guys is so played out at this point. I wish they would have come with a fresher idea.

With that being said, even with the gaps in casting, I was still pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this movie. It was action packed, funny, and also an unconventional story about love.