Meanwhile, I'm Still Thinking

The truth is, I was seeing a lot of ads for the sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), so I figured we should watch the original. I even made this decision after hearing some derisive comments about it on podcasts. 

It starts with Ryan Reynolds in a modernistic house, putting on a fine suit, selecting some fancy guns, kissing Elodie Yung, still in bed, goodbye, and heading to work. He is getting a rich marked man (named Kurosawa?) to the airport safely. The operation goes flawlessly - Kurosawa and his two wives get into their private jet. Reynolds and a corps of 8-10 bodyguards are just waving goodbye when a shot through the plane's window hits him square in the head.

In the next scene, we find Reynolds in considerably reduced circumstances. A bodyguard who loses a client doesn't get the same kind of jobs. In fact, he looks like a bit of a loser, although we find out that some of that is camouflage - helps him blend in. He is still meticulous and cautious, anticipating every angle. 

Meanwhile. Yung, who works for Interpol, is trying to get Gary Oldman, an Eastern European dictator, convicted at the Hague. They need to get a witness to the court. That witness is Samuel L. Jackson, who figures he would be safer if he went alone, seeing as how he is an international hitman. Sure enough, they get ambushed, and Yung now knows that someone in Interpol is compromised. So she goes to her ex-boyfriend, Reynolds.

There you have it - the bodyguard, the hitman. They have to get Jackson to the Hague from London in three days, with Oldman's henchmen all out to kill him. And Jackson is motivated by the promise that if he testifies, his sweetie, a psycho played by Selma Hayak, will be let out of jail.

So we have Reynolds being an uptight, by the book type, constantly griping about the loss of his "triple diamond executive protection" status. Jackson is a loose cannon, just jumps in guns blazing and always makes it out. Reynolds figures that bullets must be allergic to him. We have extravagant chase scenes, cars, boats, and busses full of nuns. There are hand-to-hand fights. gun fights, and all kinds of fights. It isn't quite John Wick, but the existence of hitmen (who only kill bad guys) and bodyguards with triple diamond ratings indicates that it is that kind of world. 

Plus, it has a fight scene choreographed to Chuck Berry's Little Queenie, and they don't cut a single verse. 

Anyway, we had a blast with this. Jackson's charisma and bad-assery were a big part, but the film definitely gave him a role with room to move. So yes, we will be watching the sequel