1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Production

4. Reception
    Box office  Critical response 

5. Sequel

6. References

7. External links

• Matthew O'Toole
• John Thompson
• Les Weldon

• Ryan Reynolds
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Gary Oldman
• Salma Hayek
• Élodie Yung
• Joaquim de Almeida
• Kirsty Mitchell
• Richard E. Grant

• Millennium Films^[1]
• Cristal Pictures^[1]

The Hitman's Bodyguard is a 2017 American action thriller comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Tom O'Connor, whose script was on the 2011 Black List survey. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, and Salma Hayek.

The Hitman's Bodyguard was released in the United States on August 18, 2017, and grossed $176 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising Reynolds and Jackson's chemistry but criticizing the clichéd plot and execution.^[5] A sequel, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, is currently in production.

Plot

Michael Bryce (Reynolds) lives a stylish life as an elite UK-based private bodyguard, until client Takashi Kurosawa is assassinated on his watch. Two years later, the disgraced Bryce ekes out a living protecting drug-addicted corporate executives in London.

Meanwhile, Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman), the ruthless dictator of Belarus is on trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. Unable to secure solid evidence or testimony against Dukhovich, the prosecution's last hope is notorious incarcerated hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson), who agrees to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for the release of his wife Sonia (Hayek) from prison.

Interpol Assistant Director Jean Foucher assigns Amelia Roussel, an inexperienced agent and Bryce's ex-girlfriend, to lead Kincaid's transfer from Manchester to The Hague. The Interpol convoy of French GIPN and British AFOs from the National Crime Agency is ambushed in Coventry, leaving only Kincaid and Roussel alive. The two retreat to a safehouse; Roussel realizes there must be a mole inside Interpol and turns to Bryce for help. Despite his belief that she is responsible for Kurosawa's death, and past entanglements with Kincaid, Bryce agrees to assist them to restore his reputation. Roussel returns to Interpol to update her superiors but is placed on leave, while Bryce and Kincaid escape an attack by Dukhovich's men.

Foucher, the mole, goes to Dukhovich and demands his payment; Dukhovich stabs him in the hand and assures him he will only be paid when Kincaid is dead.

Dukhovich's men track Kincaid and Bryce using Kincaid's cell phone data; the pair eliminate the attackers but their vehicle is destroyed. The two hitchhike to a ferry to Amsterdam, where Sonia is being held. Kincaid reveals that he killed Kurosawa, having spotted him by chance while on another job. Enraged, Bryce punches Kincaid and abandons him.

As Bryce bemoans his failures at a beer stand, Dukhovich's men attack Kincaid. Bryce has a change of heart and helps Kincaid escape, but is captured. As Dukhovich's men torture him, Kincaid, arrives and rescues Bryce. After settling their differences, the two battle their way to The Hague, arriving just in time for Kincaid to testify that Dukhovich tried to hire him to assassinate a political rival, but in the process Kincaid witnessed Dukhovich carry out a mass execution, and uploaded photos of the massacre to a secret FTP site that he provides to the court. Roussel notices Foucher acting suspiciously, deduces he was the traitor, and subdues him.

Dukhovich resorts to his backup plan; bombing the court. In the confusion, he seizes a gun and attempts to shoot Kincaid, but Bryce jumps in the path of the bullet, telling Kincaid to stop Dukhovich. Kincaid pursues Dukhovich to the roof, where he attempts to escape by helicopter. Kincaid destroys the helicopter and kicks Dukhovich off the roof to his death.

Bryce recovers and rekindles his relationship with Roussel, and Sonia is released. Kincaid is rearrested for his various crimes, but breaks out of HMP Belmarsh several months later so he and Sonia can celebrate their anniversary in the bar in Honduras where they first met. As a wild bar brawl breaks out around them, the two embrace.

Cast

• Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce, a former triple A rated executive protection agent and CIA officer.
• Samuel L. Jackson as Darius Kincaid/Evans, one of the world’s most notorious hitman and Sonia’s husband.
• Gary Oldman as Vladislav Dukhovich, the dictatorial President of Belarus.
• Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid, Darius’s wife.
• Élodie Yung as Amelia Roussel, an Interpol agent and Michael's ex-girlfriend.
• Yuri Kolokolnikov as Ivan, leader of the Belarusian mercenaries working for Dukhovich.
• Tine Joustra as Renata Casoria, Director of Interpol.
• Joaquim de Almeida as Jean Foucher, the French Assistant Director of Interpol, who is later revealed to be Dukhovich's inside man and second-in-command.
• Kirsty Mitchell as Rebecca Harr, Kincaid's lawyer.
• Richard E. Grant as Mr. Seifert, a drug addicted corporate executive and client of Bryce.
• Sam Hazeldine as Garrett, a National Crime Agency officer.
• Mikhail Gorevoy as Litvin, Dukhovich’s lead defense lawyer.
• Barry Atsma as Moreno, the lead prosecution lawyer.
• Georgie Glen as ICC Lead Judge
• Rod Hallett as Professor Petr Asimov, a critic and victim of the Dukhovich regime.

Production

In May 2011, David Ellison's Skydance Media acquired the action script The Hitman's Bodyguard written by Tom O'Connor.^[6] The script was among the top 2011 Black List of unproduced screenplays.^[7] While originally intended as a drama, the script underwent a "frantic" two-week rewrite to be remade into a comedy several weeks prior to filming.^[8]

On November 4, 2015, it was announced that Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman were cast in the film, which Jeff Wadlow would direct for Millennium Films. Producers would be Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O'Toole and Les Weldon.^[9] On February 23, 2016, Élodie Yung and Salma Hayek were cast in the film, which Lionsgate would distribute in the United States.^[10] On March 9, 2016, it was reported that Wadlow had exited the film and Patrick Hughes signed on to direct the film.^[11][12]

Reception

Box office

In North America, The Hitman's Bodyguard was released on August 18, 2017 alongside Logan Lucky, and was projected to gross $17–20 million from 3,350 theaters in its opening weekend.^[13] The film made $8 million on its first day (including $1.65 million from Thursday night previews).^[14] It went on to open to $21.6 million, topping the box office.^[15] In its second weekend the film made $10.2 million, finishing first at the box office in what was the combined lowest-grossing weekend since September 2001.^[16] The film made another $10.2 million the following weekend, becoming the third film of 2017 to finish atop the box office for three straight weeks. However, while it made an estimated $12.9 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, was again involved in a historically low weekend, as it was the worst combined holiday weekend since 1998.^[17]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 182 reviews, and an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Hitman's Bodyguard coasts on Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds' banter—but doesn't get enough mileage to power past an overabundance of action-comedy clichés."^[18] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score 47 out of 100, based on 42 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 80% overall positive score and a 57% "definite recommend".^[14]

Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review and called it a pleasant late-summer surprise, writing: "The Hitman's Bodyguard is about as close to a live-action cartoon as you're likely to get this year... That's not a style that works much of the time... but in the hands of The Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes—and more importantly, owing to the chemistry of stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds—it makes for a delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy."^[20] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers praised the cast, giving it 2.5 stars out of 4 and saying, "Reynolds and Jackson make this summer lunacy go down easy with their banter and bullet-dodging skills. They're the only reason that The Hitman's Bodyguard doesn't completely sink into the generic quicksand from whence it came."^[21]

Sequel

In May 2018, it was announced that Reynolds, Jackson and Hayek were in early talks to reprise their roles for a sequel, titled The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, with plans to begin filming later in the year.^[22] Production on the sequel began in March 2019, with Frank Grillo joining the cast of the film.^[23][24]

References

External links

• {{Official website}}
• {{IMDb title|1959563}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes|the_hitmans_bodyguard}}

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