Bullet Points: The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

If I only had four words to describe my take on The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard they would be… Better Than The Original.

The sequel to 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard does what any great sequel should do… it brings back as much of the positive elements from the original as possible. It builds upon those original elements including adding to the backstories of the characters we are already familiar with, while at the same time adding just the right amount of new so the sequel isn’t 100% rehash.

• The Returns: Ryan Reynolds reprises his role as bodyguard Michael Bryce. But at the start it seems like we won’t be getting the Michael Bryce we knew before. Michael’s therapist suggests he forgets about bodyguarding and violence for a while and take a vacation to find himself. But Michael’s spiritual vacation in Capri is short lived when Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek, Desperado) shows up and forcibly recruits Michael to help her husband, hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson, The Long Kiss Goodnight). It isn’t long before Michael and Sonia are rescuing Darius from a mobster and “The Odd Couple” of Michael and Darius are reunited and pick up right where they left off. Hayek’s foul mouthed Sonia is one of the more unique characters in action movie history and her role is expanded greatly from the original as she finds herself in the thick of things with her husband and Michael Bryce and not stuck in a Dutch prison.

• The New Additions: Frank Grillo (Boss Level) plays Agent Bobby O’Neill and he was easily my favorite character in the entire movie and maximizes his minutes when he is on screen. Bobby is a former Boston cop who ranks getting results higher on the list than following Interpol protocols. So it is no surprise when Bobby opts to use Michael, Darius and Sonia to help him stop a plot to attack Europe’s power grid, especially when they are the three responsible for screwing up Bobby’s original plans… The man behind the cyberattack is none other than Aristotle Popadopolous (Antonio Banderas, The Mask of Zorro). The eccentric and filthy rich Aristotle is not a fan of the economic sanctions that the European Union are putting on his beloved Greece and he plans on making the rest of Europe pay for their disrespect. Absolutely no offense to Gary Oldman, who played the main villain in the original film, but Banderas’ Aristotle Popadopolous was an upgrade in the villain department… Morgan Freeman (Hard Rain), in what I will describe as a surprising role, is the other big addition to the cast.

• The Action: As great as the cast of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is, the action in the film is just as great. There are down and dirty shoot outs, there is vehicular mayhem around every turn and some brutal fights featuring extreme physicality between the combatants… in other words, everything an action fanatic would be looking for. Props to the stunt team for their efforts, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard kept them busy!

At the start of this review I said The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was better than the original and while I have just discussed some of the reasons why I feel this way, I believe the main reason is the pace that the movie moves. As entertaining as The Hitman’s Bodyguard was, there were points in the film that it felt like it lost momentum, that is not the case in the sequel. Director Patrick Hughes keeps things moving and grooving for the entire duration… there’s some form of action, great one liners or major storyline development (or any combination of the three) happening constantly.

Let’s keep this review moving and grooving with some Bonus Bullet Points…

• Favorite Line: “She’d make a terrible mother. I wouldn’t leave a Chucky doll in her care.” – Michael Bryce
• Familiar Face: Tom Hopper (SAS: Red Notice and The Umbrella Academy) plays one of Aristotle’s bodyguards, Magnusson. Magnusson is not just a bodyguard, he’s a Bodyguard of the Year award winner!
• One Question: I had one burning question going into The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard… would Lionel Richie be featured in the soundtrack again. SPOILER ALERT! Yes, Lionel was back. There’s also some Tina Turner and the return of Ace of Base!