WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, now in theaters
Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) spends much of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard getting knocked around Italy like a well-dressed ragdoll and being verbally abused (and oftentimes physically attacked) by both of his nominal allies, Darius (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sonia (Salma Hayek) Kincaid. It gives the film a generally comedic tone, which keeps being upended when it shifts to a more straightforward action film with dramatic character beats. But considering the goofy comedy was the highlight of the film, it’s a shame The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard didn’t have the confidence to fully commit to that angle.
At many points, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard proves to be a film largely concerned with a ridiculous, inherently comedic view of the world. Although there are casually skilled killers around every corner, some of the more prominent figures openly meet to celebrate their actions. There’s an award ceremony for notable bodyguards, which is treated with a massive amount of fan-fare. There are multiple car chases across open city streets, with little attention drawn to the deaths on the scene. At one point, Darius and Bryce effectively convince Interpol to sacrifice two agents as part of a distraction — which promptly results in the agent’s gruesome demise, while the other two snark and make their way onto Aristotle Papadopoulos’ (Antonio Banderas) boat and suffers no consequence.
The thing is, the movie works best when it operates at this level. Stakes disappear, and Bryce essentially becomes a Looney Tunes character, surviving multiple collisions with cars with nary a scratch on him. He’s shot in the chest, almost left to drown and given lithium in the middle of a high-stakes mission. Overall, the movie treats him, and the chaos that comes his way, as an excuse to enjoy some intense modern action tropes tilted just a notch higher to produce solid slapstick.
It’s basic, but Reynolds leans into it easily and is enjoyably off-brand when he plays Bryce with a neurotic and worrying edge. He’s a man who insists on seat belts during a high-speed car chase through a crowded city, which is a fun direction for the film to go in.
If the film had fully committed to this tone, maybe The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard could have been wholly enjoyable. But instead, it keeps trying to insert flashes of drama into the narrative. The conversation about the Kincaid’s having children is completely upended toward the climax when Darius points out they can just adopt, making it a wasted character arc for Sonia and Darius. Bryce’s tensions with his step-father (Morgan Freeman) are played like a twist that then tries to use it for comedy. Even Papadopolous’ motivations are broad and not entirely clear apart from “revenge for Greece,” translating to a bad James Bond villain scheme to cause chaos across Europe. The film never quite knows if it wants to be a full comedy set in an action film world or an action-comedy tackling both genres.
If it had been a straight comedy willing to commit to the wackier elements of the action genre, it could have worked better and held together as a stronger piece. Instead, it sacrifices much of the sheer absurd comedy it occasionally hints at (Bryce imagining an exciting car chase in his head because he’s on lithium and the sacrifice of two perfectly good agents for a distraction) to try and find some exciting action beats that upend the more successful comedic tone. These tonal shifts are likely why the film tries to overcorrect and go broadly comedic. The result is multiple record scratch jokes that are distracting and wouldn’t need to be there if The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard went fully silly.
Directed by Patrick Hughes, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman, Frank Grillo, Caroline Goodall, Rebecca Front, Gabriella Wright, Alice McMillan, Kristofer Kamiyasu, Tom Hopper, Blake Ritson and Richard E. Grant. The film is in theaters now.
About The Author
