The Hitman's Bodyguard - A Funny, Entertaining Film With Two Fun Leads

Certificate – 15
Directed by – Patrick Hughes
Starring – Ryan Reynolds; Samuel L. Jackson; Gary Oldman; Elodie Young; Salma Hayek.
Running Time – 118 minutes (1hr 58 mins)

★★★✩✩

IMAGE VIA LIONSGATE

I’ve been looking forward to seeing The Hitman’s Bodyguard ever since Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson parodied Kevin Costner – Whitney Houston one-sheet for The Bodyguard and the trailers made me laugh.

The world’s top protection agent (Reynolds) is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world’s most notorious hitmen (Jackson). The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours.

IMAGE VIA LIONSGATE

Compared the 2015 (the year of the buddy cop film) this is no Nice Guys.

This is a fun and funny film and it tells you this isn’t going to be a deep character piece and we’ll get to learn more about Reynolds bodyguard and Jackson’s hitman. No, it’s something you can chill and enjoy whilst having a laugh.

Because it’s a simple story and script, you can see Reynolds and Jackson having a great time even though they’re both in cruise control, it still works really well and Reynolds has this charisma that makes everything enjoyable.

IMAGE VIA LIONSGATE

Meanwhile, Samuel L. Jackson is playing a Samuel L. Jackson character with a lot of over the top swearing, you’ll lose count how many times he says the word Motherfucker.

The film is also packed with brilliant action and car chases with one standout in the beginning of the third act.

IMAGE VIA LIONSGATE

As for the other casts members – Gary Oldman as the villain was comical at times and so cliché and I’m sure at some points he went from Eastern European to Cockney. Meanwhile, Elodie Yung is super underused and wished she stuck around with the two leads a little longer. Additionally, Salma Hayek was used the right amount as Jackson’s wife.

IMAGE VIA LIONSGATE

The film is incredibly protectable, you could say what was going to happen before the film does and “surprises” could have been called from a distance.  Furthermore, this should NEVER be close to two hours long, 90/100 minutes max!

Finally, I did like how the film portrays Interpol as being truly shit at their jobs.

Verdict

An entertaining, funny movie with two enjoyable leads who stay perfectly in their comfort zones.