The Hitman's Bodyguard: Just A Fun Movie, MotherF#*%er

Movies and film are a constantly revolving evolutionary door. Not just in cinematic quality, but in story and what the audience is willing to see and what they've given up on. For instance, there's a reason Adam Sandler movies were so popular in the 90s and are forgotten Netflix scroll-by's now. Comedy, in film, in 2017, has evolved beyond Sandler's elementary humor while he's still trying to churn out the same jokes. Action films have also evolved which is why you're seeing more "realistic" and gritty action films like Jason Borne and John Wick and Atomic Blonde. I'm not saying these movies aren't fun or even great, because they are, they just don't have the same kind of feeling as action movies did in the 90s (films like Face/Off, Con Air, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Rush Hour, The Rock, etc.) What the 2010s have seem to evolved into has essentially left behind the "buddy-cop" action movie. Hell, as much as most action junkies LOVE the Bad Boys films, the third movie has fallen in and out of production a half a dozen times in the last five years and it was recently announced that it will probably never happen now. And it's a shame because not only do buddy cop movies take what was great about 90s action films (schlocky, loud, explosions happening by just a mere car crash...) they also combined it with comedy and heart. There's just no room for comedy and heart in a realistic, gritty 2017 action film, which is why The Hitman's Bodyguard is a breath of fresh air. Is it as good as any of the previously mentioned films of this time? No. But I'll argue that it's having way more fun than any of them.
What's nice about the film is it's an easy and digestible set up. Gary Oldman (hell yes, he BELONGS in an action movie like this-- especially as the villain) is a corrupt leader of a European country, just bringing all kinds of genocide to his people. His people are trying to get him thrown in jail, but everyone who testifies against him either winds up dead or has no actual evidence to back up their stories. However, there is one guy who has the dirt on ol' Gar. Enter Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), a professional assassin who used to work for Oldman, is the one who has actual physical evidence that will get him sent away for good. Problem is-- Oldman knows this and obviously doesn't want him to be able to reach the court. So, he sends all of his goons... seriously ALL of his goons... out to kill Kincaid before he reaches the court. Finally, because the CIA and Interpol know this is going to happen, and after nearly every Interpol agent protecting Kincaid is killed in a raid, they recruit the services of professional Bodyguard, Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds). The rest of the movie is literally a buddy-"cop"- road trip movie of Bryce and Kincaid trying to reach the courthouse as all of the white, foreign goons try to stop and kill them.

Last week, when the film was first released, I was trying to decide whether to see this movie or Logan Lucky. As most of you do, I deferred to Rotten Tomatoes. Logan Lucky was sitting coolly in the mid 90 percentile, while this film had a lousy score in the late 30th percentile. So, Lucky it was... and if you haven't seen it... it really is a fantastic movie. But, I was deceived by The Hitman's Bodyguard score... and this really is where Rotten Tomatoes can sort of hurt films. It's is very undeserving of such a low score... but because it doesn't fit the criteria of what makes a good action film... in 2017... it appears like it's not going be worth our hard-earned time and money. I'm here to say that it just isn't true. Not only is it very entertaining, but it really is a throwback to the good ol' films of the 90s that really define the action genre. It's a buddy-cop movie, but with a clever twist. It's not two cops with differing styles and points of view on how to distribute justice... it's an anal-retentive bodyguard and a stone cold killer with a filthy mouth as partners. Even better, the filmmakers didn't wuss out and give us a watered down PG-13 version of the film in order to get younger asses into seats.  If you have Samuel L. Jackson as a wisecracking, killer assassin... you better let him say and do whatever he wants to say and do.

The movie has a very nice balance of action and comedy, though I'd say the action probably outweighs the comedy here. There's several attempts at jokes that just don't land, but the ones that do make up for the ones that don't. The action sequences are a lot of fun, both using the landscape of what our stars have around them as well as R-rated bloody shoot-em-up badassery. All of this though, is capitalized upon due to the great chemistry of the two leads. Ryan Reynolds is a subdued, snarky asshole and Samuel L. Jackson is an unrestrained, snarky asshole. The two together, hating each other for 75% of the film is where some of the most fun happens. There's always interest in conflict, but when you have two actors with senses of humor like Reynolds and Jackson, there's magic ready to be made. So, while the movie itself lacks in some areas or feels like it may have gotten lazy at certain points... it's all made up for by the chemistry and performances by our leads. We have fun watching them because they look like they're both having a blast on screen.

One of the biggest surprises of the film is a smaller role played by Salma Hayek. She's Kincaid's incarcerated wife, whose mouth is somehow more foul that Jackson's. She spews some of the most vulgar and hilarious insults I've ever heard and she steals every scene that she's in. You genuinely wait for her to pop back up on screen because not only is she going to crack you the hell up, she's also got some action chops of her own. Other than that, I would say that my only real criticism of the film is that Gary Oldman is severely underused. Yes, he's hamming it up to the 10th degree with his role of corrupt and violent dictator, but it's his goons doing 90% of the grunt work while he's locked up in the courtroom. If you get an actor with the strength of Gary Oldman to be your villain, it would be nice to see him be able to stretch those chops in a movie as fun as this one. He gets a few moments, but it's rare to find an action movie with A-listers as both protagonist as well as antagonist. Usually, we only get one. The protag is some A-list star, while the antag is some hard-nosed, creepy looking dude with an accent we've seen once or twice in other films. Let Oldman work his magic!

Look, it was an abysmal week for film. How no major production company landed a major release this weekend is somewhat perplexing. I realize everyone has gone back to work or school and going to movies is going to take a great film to get you go... just know that while I can't proclaim that The Hitman's Bodyguard is a great movie, I can say that it is a very fun movie and truly is a blast to watch. Whatever you expected to get out of it based on the trailer is exactly what you will get out of it... no more, no less. And, as an added bonus, nearly everything that comes out of Sam J's mouth is concluded with a very satisfying "motherfucker".

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