The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Directed by Patrick Hughes, The Hitman’s Bodyguard follows disgraced protector Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) as he reluctantly agrees to escort a notorious assassin (Samuel L. Jackson’s Darius Kincaid) to a pivotal court appearance – with problems (and violence) ensuing as a whole host of thugs and criminals attempt to prevent Kincaid from arriving alive. It’s a familiar yet dependable premise that’s employed to egregiously over-the-top effect by Hughes, as The Hitman’s Bodyguard comes off as an assault on one’s senses for the duration of its extremely padded-out and overlong running time – with Hughes’ unabashedly cartoonish approach to Tom O’Connor’s screenplay preventing the viewer from connecting to the one-dimensional protagonists’ plight. The less-than-engaging atmosphere is compounded by Reynolds and Jackson’s often excessively lazy work here, as both actors seem content to coast on their previously-established big-screen personas (ie Reynolds delivers more wisecracks than ever before, while Jackson breaks the record for the use of the word “motherfucker”). It doesn’t help, either, than any trace of grittiness has been completely scrubbed from the proceedings, with the complete absence of real-world stakes growing increasingly problematic (to say the least) and ensuring that the movie becomes something of an endurance test long before it reaches its larger-than-life finale – which undoubtedly confirms The Hitman’s Bodyguard as a bloated misfire that might’ve worked had it topped out at a more reasonable 80 minutes.

** out of ****