Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

It would be interesting to know what triggered a sequel to (The Hitman's bodyguard) as this one was enough on its own and offered a rather successful movie despite a too predictable scenario and an obvious lack of originality. Wanting to surf on the wave of buddy movies of the 80's and 90's, this movie was mainly based on a rather efficient duo of actors composed of Ryan Reynold and Samuel L. Jackson. The first one played one of the best bodyguards who fell into disrepute while the second one gave life to an international assassin with a sharp sense of humor. Add to that numerous action scenes, some pretty effective comedy and the fact that the film is set in different European countries, The Hitman's Bodyguard. This duo of highly appreciated actors were also accompanied by the presence of many supporting roles played by confirmed actors and actresses like Salma Haye, Elodie Yung, Gary Oldman and Joaquim de Almeida. 

This second opus had a solid base to allow us to find this attractive duo and its spectacular action scenes worthy of Hollywood productions, but we quickly lose heart because the script and the editing of this film do not manage to convince. It seems that the action scenes are only attached without real conviction which is a pity as the trio formed here Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek is really an excellent idea but they seem not to really believe in their character and do too much (especially Ryan Reynolds)

In the 90's sagas like Lethal Weapon managed to mix perfectly action scenes and comedies and above all to hold all our attention thanks to perfectly mastered scenarios giving to the actors solid characters.  Hitman & Bodyguard 2 (The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard) seems to want to find the same formula by offering us a much more demonstrative version than the first part (explosions of all kinds, chases, gun-fights, gory effects...). But this overkill visible on the screen and which gains in efficiency when discovering this film in IMAX format is accompanied by a too simplistic scenario and a problematic editing. 

We find the duo of the bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) and the hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson). The second having been kidnapped, his wife Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) leaves to search for Michael Bryce. The latter has just been fired by his psychiatrist under the pretext that his therapy is over and that he must give up the use of firearms and forget his illustrious past as a bodyguard. While on vacation on the Italian island of Capri, Darius Kincaid finds himself in the middle of a gunfight when Sonia Kincaid comes to rescue her husband. Darius Kincaid has just been rescued by Interpol agent Bobby O'Neill (Frank Grillo), who kidnaps them and offers them a mission to stop a powerful Greek billionaire businessman, Aristotle Papadopoulos, from destroying the European economy and restoring Greece's lost prestige.

While the idea of a sequel to Hitman & bodyguard (The Hitman's bodyguard) was appealing on paper, the result is disappointing as the film fails to create a real atmosphere and seems to want to do too much to gain the attention of the audience but without really knowing in which direction to direct the story. By relying on a cast of prestigious actors in supporting roles such as Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo, Tom Hopper, the film forgets that it is not the casting of a film that makes its strength but the script and the presence of a director who is really committed. In this case, the actor Ryan Reynolds seems to want to take back the humor of his Deadpool character and stay in the background leaving Salma Hayek to overact and line up the inconsistent dialogues with too much sexual connotations. A few years ago, seeing Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek on the big screen was enough to make us dream and we will remember some of Pedro Almodovar's films but especially Desperado (1995). The chemistry is still present but spoiled by the same scenario signed by three writers Tom O'Connor, Brandon Murphy, Phillip Murphy.

Hitman & Bodyguard 2 (The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard) is therefore not a successful sequel and above all does not put forward enough the potential of an Imax projection. By trying to copy a proven formula, this film is certainly watchable but pales in comparison to other films of the same type and yet clearly superior. 

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
Directed by Patrick Hughes
Produced by Matt O'Toole, Les Weldon
Screenplay by Tom O'Connor, Brandon Murphy, Phillip Murphy
Story by Tom O'Connor
Based on Characters by Tom O'Connor
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Frank Grillo, Richard E. Grant, Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman
Music by Atli Örvarsson
Cinematography :Terry Stacey
Production companies : Millennium Media, Campbell Grobman Films
Distributed by Lionsgate (US), Metropolitan FilmExport (France)
Release date : June 16, 2021 (United States), June 30 2021 (France)
Running time : 117 minutes

Seen on July 02, 2021 at Gaumont Disney Village, Imax Room seat E19

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