The Hit-man's Bodyguard is a movie I never knew I wanted to see until I saw the first trailer. I was instantly hooked, and couldn't wait to see it on opening day. Well, I actually got a bit lucky for once as I was invited to see the movie almost two weeks before it opened. And I gotta say, it's one of the best action/comedy movies I've watched in quite a while...perhaps since Deadpool.
So what's this movie about? Well, it's about a guy (Ryan Reynolds) who used to run a protection agency before he lost a client and his business failed, forcing him to become a personal bodyguard. He is tasked by an Interpol agent to get a witness who is a former assassin (Samuel L. Jackson) to a courthouse to testify against a dictator. Craziness ensues.
While the story sounds interesting, it plays out in a pretty typical and predictable way. Not that I should have expected much more. It is an action/comedy film, after all. But predictability aside, the story does get the job done. Yeah, you'll be able to figure out how the film will end within the first 30 minutes or so, but that's not all that important, because it's all about the journey to that very predictable, and satisfying, ending. And boy, the adventure that Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds go on is extremely entertaining.
Being a comedy, you'd expect some good comedy in this film, right? Well, The Hit-man's Bodyguard delivers on that expectation and then some. Once you get past the movie's slow start, it's pretty much an all you can chuckle buffet. (The chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson is incredible!) Of course there are a few jokes that fall flat, but they are few and far between. Oh yeah, if you're a fan of Deadpool humor, you'll really like this movie. It's not full-blown Deadpool, but it's pretty damn similar.
Now, the biggest surprise for me with this movie is how great the action sequences are. The team behind this film definitely drew some influence from movies like John Wick and Jason Bourne for both the combat scenes and the chase scenes. They're riveting, with some great humor sprinkled in.
Overall, The Hit-man's Bodyguard is one of the biggest surprises of the year so far for me, and will definitely go down as one of the most enjoyable films of the year. It's funny, it's action packed, and the story is interesting enough to keep it all moving towards a satisfying conclusion. So yeah, I guess you could say it's pretty dang good. Go see it when it comes out on August 18th.
