The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard Review

2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard was nothing special, but mostly an opportunity to see the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson share the screen. While it was okay, it didn’t do especially well with the critics so a sequel wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon, but somehow it did – and in some ways it may just surpass the original.

The film begins with Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) dealing with some issues he’s been having since the end of the last film, causing him to lose his bodyguard licence. He has a recurring dream where he wins an award, only for everyone in the room to turn into Darius Kincaid (Jackson). So, on the orders of his psychiatrist, he takes a sabbatical – until there are people being shot and running for their lives in the background while he’s busy wearing headphones, reading The Secret and making messages for his future self. Then who should show up but Sonia Kincaid (Selma Hayek), the wife of Darius, who claims he has been kidnapped by gangsters. One action scene later we have our principal characters together and now the main plot can get under way.

Reynolds and Jackson proved they could work well in the first film and Hayek was in it occasionally, but here she appears more or less throughout and I think that was a wise move. She is there initially to act madly in love with Jackson (which she does more than her fair share of) but also displays a great ability to seem very loving one minute and then switch to foul-mouthed and unhinged – played for comedy, of course. This manages to be entertaining most of the time – I would have been happy to see the bickering back and forth between the two leads, but I’m glad Hayek got the chance to do more. She has a believable chemistry with Jackson and works just as well with Reynolds.

There may be a bit too much plot going on here. The first time around it was just ‘get from A to B’, but as this is a sequel it has no choice but to go bigger. There are quite a few storylines to take in, such as the main characters trying to stop a mob boss called Aristotle (Antonio Banderas) who wants to destroy a power grid in Europe. We spend a few scenes with him to monitor his progress. Meanwhile Frank Grillo plays a maverick Interpol agent who is the main reason for Bryce’s sabbatical turning into another mission. He also has an (apparently) Scottish partner whom he nicknames both William Wallace and Sean Connery. There’s also the business of Bryce wanting his licence back and the question of what Kincaid was actually doing on the night he was supposedly abducted. That is a lot to balance out, but most of it comes into focus before things get boring or stale. It follows a pattern – action scene, bicker for a few minutes, repeat and throw in occasional stunts and call-backs to the first film for good measure (seatbelt rules, how to get down from rooftops). The pattern is subverted a couple of times with hints of Hayek having insecurities about her age and wanting nothing more than to be a mother. The writers try to make this emotional but no matter how hard they try, more comedy is always round the corner, even in what’s meant to be a moving scene of a burial at sea.  

There’s also a brief appearance from Richard E Grant as Mr Seifert whom you may remember from the start of the last film. He didn’t need to reprise his role at all, and yet here he is.

Another old gag to look out for is that Kincaid was once responsible for an incident in Bryce’s life. Here this is swapped around and it transpires that Bryce once unknowingly shot Kincaid in a sensitive area of his body.  

The climax feels a bit longer than it needs to be, but that’s how a climax seems to work most of the time nowadays. This is fine, but I preferred the simple way when it was easier to keep track of everything that’s going on.

Act Three also brings in Michael Bryce’s father, who is also called Michael Bryce but is played by Morgan Freeman. Right away Jackson tries to comment on how unusual this is but is stopped by Reynolds. Bryce Sr is said to be the best bodyguard ever and gives us the closest thing that his ‘son’ has to an origin story. Freeman plays the role well, he seems to be cast against type and isn’t in it as much you’d expect, but his presence, however minimal, is always welcome.

Patrick Hughes is back directing. He may not have done anything ground-breaking or have many impressive visuals to show off, but everything seems to be directed very competently and happily there’s no use of the over-familiar shaky-cam.

I have no doubt that Atli Örvarsson did his best on the score, but the popular songs chosen for key moments take all the attention away from his work. Not really his fault – for example, in a film that has a scene with guns blazing everywhere and two lovers walking towards each other in slow motion to the strains of Lionel Richie’s Hello, the score is going to be easily overshadowed. There’s also a moment when Bryce is throwing a man’s head into a jukebox, but I couldn’t hear enough of the songs to figure out what they actually were.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard gets the most out of its cast, is well paced, the actors have believable chemistry and there is a lot of enjoyable action and dialogue, mostly delivered by Hayek. There are some reminders of the previous film whether you want them or not, a forgettable score and a climax that may be a bit overlong. If you liked The Hitman’s Bodyguard you will probably like this too. I don’t expect there will be a third film, but then again I thought the same thing after I saw the first one and look what happened there.