Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife Movie Review

June 18, 2021 3 min read

Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife stars Ryan Reynolds and Salma Hayek on their quest to rescue Samuel L. Jackson from the clutches of an evil mob boss; which then turns into them needing to rescue all of Europe from a madman with a drill… The plot is about as confusing as it sounds and there’s about 10 more layers that I won’t get into, regardless of how much my readers are dying to know about the story behind this popcorn blockbuster. The wacky crazy characters from The Hitman’s Bodyguard(2017) return for a sequel that’s equally as action packed as the first, and the ridiculousness knob has been turned all the way up to 11.

What I appreciate most about H’sB’sW is that the writer and the director seem to be aware of how absurd an idea it was to decide to make a sequel to HB. I’m imagining them in a room together drunk off some whiskey and one of them says, “wouldn’t it be hilarious if we made a second one, but with more Salma Hayek? YESSSS!!! And let’s throw Morgan Freeman in there somehow!”. Thankfully I didn’t go into this movie expecting anything spectacularly different from the 1st formula with Ryan Reynolds’ classic smart ass character type and Samuel L. Jackson acting surprised and yelling “Motha Fucka” a lot. However, it was nice to add the extra flavor of crazy into the mix with Salma Hayek, because she’s truly funny in this movie. The banter between the three of them is incredibly silly and pretty much the only saving grace this film has. Although I didn’t enjoy the actual story very much, I laughed a lot because of how entertaining the three of them are together.

This film is packed with a lot of action, explosions, gun fights and car chases with what seems to be a little larger of a budget than the first. There is an absurd chase scene that involves a van on a bridge with a helicopter in pursuit that ends in a beautiful mess of fire and explosions that I’m sure cost them a fortune to pull off. I’m a sucker for cheesy action sequences in a theater with engulfing surround sound. If you’re an action film connoisseur you will probably have a good time with Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife.

There’s a few major problems with the movie that I couldn’t get behind. The biggest problem I had was with Ryan Reynolds character. In the first film he was a cocky smart ass that reluctantly saved Samuel L. Jackson from harm over and over again, with witty comebacks and that classic Van Wilder charm. For the sequel they turned him into a depressed, broken lamb who can’t fathom the idea of picking up a gun or hurting anyone ever again. From my perspective this shift didn’t fit the original character’s storyline and it left a hole in Reynolds performance. He basically played the jester character throughout, who fumbles around and can’t do anything right. The other big problem I have with this film is the plot. It’s completely absurd, makes no sense, and tries to make things too complicated with all these storylines and past traumas that get brought up for every character in the film. The original had an incredibly simple plot: protect Samuel L. Jackson and get him to a court hearing so he can testify against a corrupt dictator. I don’t think I could even begin to describe the plot to this film in a single sentence. It takes you down all these loopy windy narratives that try too hard to show an evolution to the characters’ development, which ends up as a confusing mess.

If you’re looking for a movie where you can turn your brain off, laugh a lot, and enjoy some fun action, this will be right up your alley. If you’re looking for a good story, with heart and soul that keeps you engaged and wanting more, you will be disappointed.