Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

Story: In this sequel to the 2017 hit ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard,’ the stakes are higher as Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is once again pushed into saving notorious hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) by his equally volatile wife Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek). But rescuing Darius puts them in the center of a global conspiracy. Is there a way out?

Review: Michael’s chance to kickback and unwind from all the violence and action at a vacation goes up in flames, when Sonia comes all guns blazing, chasing him to do what he just left behind. And she won’t take a no for an answer. Sonia’s husband Darius has been kidnapped and the couple, who is desperately trying for a baby needs to be reunited to finish the task at hand. But this rescue mission comes at a price. The trio find themselves in deep trouble when Interpol agent Bobby O'Neill (Frank Grillo) arrests them to hunt down Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas), who is out to destroy all of Europe to avenge the sanctions imposed on him.

Sure, you can tell it’s a hurriedly put-together plot that’s quite mindless, but has scope to infuse action and comedy into the narrative – the two pillars of this sequel that keep it going. Unless, you start asking too many intelligent questions, this multi-starrer potboiler checks all the boxes, trying its best to entertain. Director Patrick Hughes and writer Tom O’Connor retain some of the known quirks from the original, like Michael’s obsession with the ‘Triple A’ rating for his security services and he coming to Darius’ rescue that is the basis of all hell breaking loose.

Of course, this time, it’s the wife Sonia, who is the driving force behind all the action and Salma Hayek throws caution to the wind to play her loud and boisterous character. Short of becoming annoying at times, the actress manages to pull some laughs but some of her scenes with Jackson are just cringeworthy. Samuel Jackson offers nothing new, much like the plot of the film. Ryan Reynolds shines once again in his role of a sincere security agent, who is overwhelmed by so many twists and turns in his life. Antonio Banderas gets his villainy right and it’s always a pleasure to watch Morgan Freeman do his thing. He is quite the surprise package here and comes just in time when the plot starts getting repetitive and laboured. The action is good, not very slick, but the comedic parts make up for the lack of great action.

Overall, ‘Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ is a busy sequel with too many moving parts and stars, so some of it is bound to hit the marquee and it does.