By Travis Johnson
Who doesn’t love a buddy action comedy? 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run, Tango and Cash… and now The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which sees Ryan Reynolds’ security expert tasked with protecting Samuel L. Jackson’s stone cold killer.
As the official synopsis tells us, “The world’s top protection agent [Ryan Reynolds] is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world’s most notorious hitmen [Samuel L. Jackson]. The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours. During their raucous and hilarious adventure from England to the Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades and a merciless Eastern European dictator [Gary Oldman] who is out for blood. Salma Hayek joins the mayhem as Jackson’s equally notorious wife.”
This one comes to us courtesy of Australian director Patrick Hughes, who followed up his impressive debut, the outback noir Red Hill, with the less than impressive The Expendables 3, so he’s due for a win. This looks like fun – it’s hard not to crack a smile at Jackson and Reynolds doing their thing, even if it’s a thing we’ve seen a thousand times before. If it ain’t broke, etc and so forth.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard hits Australian cinemas on August 31, 2017.
