Hitman's Bodyguard stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, as enemies drawn together by unfortunate circumstances. Samuel L Jackson's character "Kincaid" is due to testify against a leader of a small nation as he is brought forward to pay for the genocide of a nearby village.
Rocky beginnings
Kincaid's convoy is brought to a screeching halt as the agency tasked with his transport (Interpol) has been compromised.
A rookie agent, (Amelia) and Kincaid are the only ones that survive the surprise attack. They hide out as Amelia contacts a has been high-profile security agent Michael Bryce (Reynolds).
Bryce, butts heads with Amelia having been romantically linked, now estranged and blames her for his ruined career. Kincaid and Bryce meet and have had to learn to cooperate, after having been on opposite ends of various murder attempts.
Hitman's Bodyguard has an identity problem and doesn't find the balance between comedy and action film til its second half. Coincidentally while Reynold's is doing his best Samuel L.
Jackson impression.
Higher Ground
In its second half the film masters it's action aspect and balances the humor but putting it in the background. Motorcycles, Boats, and Cars, Oh My! The film revs up the pacing and drops the one-liners and overly drawn out jokes; to deliver a great chase sequence, with a little heart. Bryce is discovering that his own shortcomings led to most of his failures, and comes to terms with that.
The film delivers tight actions shots with a powerful, cliche, acoustic spy soundtrack. The movie is littered with profanity and a great cameo from Salma Hayek, as Kincaid's killer foul-mouthed wife. She had recently been arrested and Kincaid was pleading her out of prison with his testimony against the national leader's corruption.
She delivers boisterous laughs and great one-liners, as the tough as nails, Sonia Kincaid.
For the sake of laughter
One of the harder things to swallow about the film is every actor's different comedic styling. As Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and even Salma Hayek; have all had lengthy careers and have all very notable different comedic paces. It clashed throughout the beginning of the film, as the director tries to fit in way too much dialogue and some scenes that just went on uncomfortably long in the hope of providing an awkward chuckle or two but I just felt myself get bothered waiting for something to happen.
Hitman's Bodyguard is a slightly funny, yet passable action flick. While its main set piece and second half were all great, it took way too long to deliver the meat of the film. I give Hitman's Bodyguard 5 failed coup's out of 10.