The Hitman's Bodyguard - Dumb Fun Without The Fun
Quick Thoughts: The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
A once triple-A rated bodyguard has to deliver a hitman witness to international court.
Not worth the watch. At best, some could say that The Hitman's Bodyguard is dumb fun, but this was just dumb. The biggest fault of this movie was certainly the casting choices' meeting with the script. Whilst Jackson, Reynolds, Hayek and Oldman are fine, there is no point in this movie in which they didn't appear to be actively playing their parts. In such, everything feels contrived and forced, not at all natural or immersive. This contributes to a devastating lack of verisimilitude, that which an action film almost entirely relies on. Whilst this film never needed to be Jason Bourne, whilst it didn't need realism, it did need something which gave the fantasy and the spectacle weight and so some sense of meaning or worth. This certainly isn't provided by the flippant script (which concerns itself with Putin, terrorism, dictators and international politics for no good reason (maybe this was hoping to be another The Interview?)) and the performances of all involved. The strongest aspect of this movie is certainly the direction as you can feel Hughes trying to create something worthwhile. Unfortunately, the director of The Expendables 3 doesn't bring much to the table that elevates this movie beyond the quality of competence that is to be expected from a big-budget Hollywood movie. With the transparent attempts at characterisation through the acting and the writing, with a cliched, predictable and dull script, with uninvesting, unimpressive and endless action scenes, The Hitman's Body Guard managed to take the 'fun' out of a 'dumb fun' movie. I feel disheartened in writing those words because this movie almost got me at so many points - points at which I only managed to enjoy the presence of Jackson and Reynolds, not their characters. But, whilst I came close to enjoying and liking this movie, I cannot deny that I was bored and waiting for the end after 40 minutes.
So, again: not worth the watch. However, have you seen The Hitman's Bodyguard? What are your thoughts?
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A once triple-A rated bodyguard has to deliver a hitman witness to international court.
Not worth the watch. At best, some could say that The Hitman's Bodyguard is dumb fun, but this was just dumb. The biggest fault of this movie was certainly the casting choices' meeting with the script. Whilst Jackson, Reynolds, Hayek and Oldman are fine, there is no point in this movie in which they didn't appear to be actively playing their parts. In such, everything feels contrived and forced, not at all natural or immersive. This contributes to a devastating lack of verisimilitude, that which an action film almost entirely relies on. Whilst this film never needed to be Jason Bourne, whilst it didn't need realism, it did need something which gave the fantasy and the spectacle weight and so some sense of meaning or worth. This certainly isn't provided by the flippant script (which concerns itself with Putin, terrorism, dictators and international politics for no good reason (maybe this was hoping to be another The Interview?)) and the performances of all involved. The strongest aspect of this movie is certainly the direction as you can feel Hughes trying to create something worthwhile. Unfortunately, the director of The Expendables 3 doesn't bring much to the table that elevates this movie beyond the quality of competence that is to be expected from a big-budget Hollywood movie. With the transparent attempts at characterisation through the acting and the writing, with a cliched, predictable and dull script, with uninvesting, unimpressive and endless action scenes, The Hitman's Body Guard managed to take the 'fun' out of a 'dumb fun' movie. I feel disheartened in writing those words because this movie almost got me at so many points - points at which I only managed to enjoy the presence of Jackson and Reynolds, not their characters. But, whilst I came close to enjoying and liking this movie, I cannot deny that I was bored and waiting for the end after 40 minutes.
So, again: not worth the watch. However, have you seen The Hitman's Bodyguard? What are your thoughts?
Previous post:
The Grand Marriage - Grand-Marriage-Zilla?
Next post:
Viva Riva - Compassion & Necessity
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
