Movie Review: The Hitman's Bodyguard

Movie Review: The Hitman's Bodyguard
I am a big fan of both Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, but I did wonder how their chemistry would be in a "buddy movie" such as this. The answer is: funny and seamless.

Michael Bryce (Reynolds) was one of the top "executive protection agents" in the country—until one of his clients gets murdered. Three years later, he's still a bodyguard, but to much less "executive" clients, and he and his girlfriend, Interpol agent Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung), have split up. However, one day his phone rings, and it's Elodie, asking for a favor: she needs to get an important witness, Darius Kincaid (Jackson), to court, without him being shot or killed—and she needs Bryce to get him there safely. What she doesn't know, though, is that Bryce and Kincaid hate each other, and in fact have tried to murder each other on several occasions. Bryce and Kincaid must work together to get Kincaid to court by the 5pm deadline, and try not to kill each other in the process.

Jackson plays his "usual" type of character here, and I'd say this film definitely deserves its R-rating—there's not a ridiculous amount of sexual content here, but there's a lot of language. Both Jackson and Reynolds are great in their roles, as is Gary Oldman, as the bad guy (Vladislav Dukhovich, the former leader of Belarus, as well as a mass murderer). Salma Hayek has a supporting role as Mrs. Kincaid, who is in jail too; when Kincaid signs an agreement to testify, he does so in exchange for her freedom.

Yes, see this movie (and leave the kids at home, as you may have guessed). The film has great action scenes as well as car chases, and it also manages to sprinkle in some humor throughout. The buddy team of Reynolds and Jackson definitely works, and the supporting cast, including Oldman and Hayek, is decent too. I recommend this movie for anyone who likes action movies or dramedies (drama/comedies), or who is a fan of Jackson or Reynolds, and it's a fun movie to cap off the summer "popcorn season."

The Hitman's Bodyguard is in theaters today, August 18th, and is rated R with a runtime of 118 minutes. 4 stars out of 5.

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