DVD Review: The Hitman's Bodyguard

The Hitman’s Bodyguard
(DVD Hitman’s)

Having been a fan of both Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in their own individual movies, I was intrigued to find out what a comedy-action film starring both of them would be like. It’s exactly what you’d expect —- raucous, excessively violent, sarcastically humorous, with copious amounts of swearing in practically every scene!

 

I was curious to see if one actor of the other would dominate the film, but the filmmakers wisely gave them about equal quality screen time. Elodie Yung gets a pretty significant role as Amelia Roussel, and Gary Oldman gets to chew the scenery as bad guy Vladislav Duhkovich. Vladislav is a Eastern European dictator on trial in the Hague for crimes against humanity, but all the witnesses who could testify against him keep disappearing or dying. Except Darius Kincaid (Jackson), a hitman-for-hire who’s currently in custody but has been convinced to testify against Duhkovich in exchange for his girlfriend being released from prison. But Duhkovich has people everywhere, and the first attempt to deliver Kincaid for trial leads to a bunch of dead bodies and Kincaid on the loose. Intelligence operative Roussel brings in her old boyfriend, disgraced personal bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds), to shepherd Kincaid to the Hague, dodging Duhkovich’s thugs the entire way. The only problem is — Kincaid and Bryce have a history, and it ain’t pretty. Can they get to The Hague without killing each other first?

 

As long as you can stomach the foul language and gratuitous violence, this is a roller coaster of a film, with lots of humor and tons of great stuntwork.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official The Hitman’s Bodyguard web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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