The world’s most lethal odd couple – bodyguard Michael Bryce and hitman Darius Kincaid – are back for another life-threatening mission. Still unlicensed and under scrutiny, Bryce is forced into action by Darius’s even more volatile wife. Soon, all three are in over their heads when a madman’s sinister plot threatens to leave Europe in total chaos.
I want to say this is a raunchy film, but I also need to clarify that I am hopelessly addicted to fun and foolishness in the serious times in which we now live. In 2017, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” came out to the tune of $176 million and it was decided in 2018 that a sequel would be most appropriate. With the sequel originally set to debut in August of 2020, Covid had its reign and now it is opening two months shy of its re-release date of August 2021. In reviewing the current roster of actors, it appears that the majority were in agreement to continue the brand and with that being said, I am not sure which of the four stars gives the greatest performance of being the most ridiculous, but in hindsight, let’s just say between Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds, and Antonio Banderas, it is an extremely healthy competition.
As the film opens, Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is in a session with his therapist after losing his AAA Security License and vowing that he will walk away from the hitman’s life of violence, guns, and wicked ways in general. As the therapist literally pushes him out the door, encouraging him to have a safe and happy life, he immediately returns to the self-doubting quirks that caused him a great deal of trouble in his profession. Before the ink is dry on his release from therapy, he finds himself in Italy in the middle of a shootout with Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), the wife of Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), the hitman he previously fell out with and vowed never in life to have anything to do with again. The slapstick comedy begins as Sonia leads Michael to believe that her husband has specifically requested his assistance in helping to free him from an even higher-skilled Hitman that is threatening to take over Europe by uploading a virus that would cause total chaos. Against his better wishes, Michael gets caught up in the scandal and when he comes face to face with Darius, he finds that he is the person who actually told his wife to get anyone except Michael to come to his rescue.
The drama intensifies when the two hitmen realize that they must combine forces in order to keep the virus from getting into the wrong hands and the biggest twist is when Michael finds out that his father, Senior Bryce (Morgan Freeman), who taught him everything he knew about being a hitman, has joined the evil forces and has disowned his son due to his disappointment in his career failures. While Michael deals with the reality of his father’s involvement, he also finds that he is the only buffer between Darius and Sonia that keeps them from killing each other due to a lie that is tearing them apart. There are so many twists and turns in the film, that viewers may struggle with who to root for while each of the Hitmen’s weaknesses are exposed in the worst of times.
In the end, it can be said that director Patrick Hughes seems to have a way with the weaving of the characters’ lives that make them heroes and victims at the same time. Salma Hayek’s ability to flex her actors’ muscles through every scene as the sexy and ruthless protagonist proves invaluable to the plot while Ryan Reynolds’ insatiable quirkiness begs him to be loved and hated, and Samuel Jackson’s ability to always play the wild card is utterly entertaining. In the end, the time seems to go by swiftly in trying to make a case for Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman whose characters, overall, still seem somewhat out of place even for this hilarious foolishness that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital),
Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On-Demand August 17th
