Movie · 2017 · Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller · 1h 58m · R · English
Curator score: 1.9/10 (473.4K ratings)
Everyone's out to get them... If they don't kill each other first.
Overview
The world’s top bodyguard gets a new client, a hitman who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.9/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.08/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 44%
Metacritic: 47
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Patrick Hughes
Production
Campbell Grobman Films, East Light Media, Nu Boyana Film Studios, Tom de Mol Productions, Summit Entertainment, Millennium Media
Cast
Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Salma Hayek Pinault, Élodie Yung, Richard E. Grant, Joaquim de Almeida, Kirsty Mitchell, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Sam Hazeldine, Mikhail Gorevoy, Barry Atsma, Georgie Glen, Tine Joustra, Joséphine de la Baume, Rod Hallett, Abbey Hoes, Ori Pfeffer, Lee Nicholas Harris, Nadia Konakchieva
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, noisy buddy-action comedy with strong star chemistry and a few genuinely funny stretches, but it leans hard on clichés, predictable plotting, and a glossy, sometimes ugly digital look. If you want easy banter and chaotic set pieces, it works; if you want sharp action-comedy craft, it’s mostly disposable.
Best for
fans of star-driven buddy comedies
viewers looking for light, undemanding action
people who enjoy profane, fast-talking banter
audiences in the mood for a dumb-fun road-movie energy
Skip if
you want inventive action choreography
you’re sensitive to generic CGI-heavy visuals
you dislike crude, repetitive humor
you prefer tightly written thrillers over broad comedy
Overview
The Hitman's Bodyguard is built almost entirely on the friction between its two leads, and that’s the main reason it stays afloat. Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson have the kind of easy, abrasive chemistry that can make even recycled material feel temporarily alive, and the movie knows enough to keep throwing them into arguments, chases, and escalating disasters.
Worth noting
The problem is that everything around them feels familiar to the point of exhaustion. The plot is a standard protection-job chase, the jokes are hit-or-miss, and the movie’s expensive sheen often works against it, making the action feel oddly flat and synthetic. When the film is moving fast and letting the leads spar, it’s entertaining; when it pauses for exposition or villain business, it becomes generic very quickly.
Bottom line
As a piece of mainstream action-comedy, it’s watchable and occasionally very funny, but not especially memorable. It’s the kind of movie that survives on charisma rather than invention, which is enough for some viewers and not nearly enough for others.
This won’t be news for anyone who’s seen a movie — any movie — in the last 30 years, but Samuel L. Jackson sure loves to say “motherfucker.” For most of us, it’s just a swear word, but for him it’s an instrument. For the length of those four syllables, he’s less of an actor than he is a bonafide artisan. Yo-Yo Ma has a cello, Wayne Gretzky has a hockey stick, and Samuel L. Jackson has an expletive. What… more This won’t be news for anyone who’s seen a movie — any movie — in the last 30 years, but Samuel L. Jackson sure loves to say “motherfucker.” For most of us, it’s just a swear word, but for him it’s an instrument. For the length of those four syllables, he’s less of an actor than he is a bonafide artisan. Yo-Yo Ma has a cello, Wayne Gretzky has a hockey stick, and Samuel L. Jackson has an expletive. What… more
Matt Singer (3.5★) · 553 likes
I am shocked to tell you this movie is really fun and Samuel L. Jackson is great in it and if it had been on HBO when I was 15 years old I would have watched it 8,000 times.
Full review at ScreenCrush.
Patrick Willems (1.5★) · 546 likes
Why is this movie 7 hours long? Why did they cast Gary Oldman and have him sit in a room away from all the main characters for the whole time? Why is this the ugliest-looking expensive movie I've ever seen? Why do CGI helicopters always look so bad?
Robby · 327 likes
The jokes are hit and miss, the plot is incredibly predictable, and it's way too long, but The Hitman's Bodyguard is saved by two very charismatic leads with great chemistry, fun action sequences, jokes that are really hilarious when they land, and a riot of a third act that's so much fun.
2012 · Action, Comedy, Crime · 1h 49m · R · Curator 5.8/10 (1.8M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, TNT, TBS, tru TV
Fast, self-aware, and genuinely funny in a way that keeps the action-comedy formula fresh.