The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard opens with a hilarious spoof of awards ceremonies, in which bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is accepting an award, only to find it all go wrong -- and then he wakes up. In addition to this recurring nightmare, he's trying to get over the fact that he lost his AAA rating thanks to Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) in the first film. Bryce winds up seeing a therapist, who advises him to go on a vacation and to stay away from guns.His peaceful vacation in Capri is quickly interrupted by Darius' wife, Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), who is in the middle of a shoot-out on a beach. She asks Bryce (whom she endearingly refers to as "Breece") to help save Darius, who's been taken hostage by the mafia.
Still refusing to use a gun, Bryce, against his better judgement, goes with her, but is then forced into helping with an Interpol investigation. In the process, all three have to help stop Greek mafia king Aristotle Papadopolous (Antonio Banderas) from attacking Europe in an effort to help Greece, which is having financial problems.
From the get-go, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is loaded with profanity and violence, but it's also loaded with laughs. Ryan Reynolds is hilarious as always, and it's hard to tell where he's ad-libbing and what was actually in the script, because his quips are nonstop. If you watch the blooper reel on the DVD/Blu-ray, you'll see an example of his many ad-libs, some of which are honestly side-splitting.
It was great to see Salma Hayek play a bigger role in this sequel. We barely got to know her in the first one, but in this she has an opportunity to show the many sides of Sonia Kincaid, including a soft spot for Michael Bryce.
Although the plot is somewhat bizarre and goes all over the place, there's a surprise meeting between Michael and his superstar bodyguard father that offers up a pleasant surprise. Overall, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is worth watching if you want a film that will make you laugh and don't mind a little profanity and gratuitous violence along the way. ~Alexandra Heilbron
SPECIAL FEATURES
*Featurette: "Ryan, Sam, Salma: One F'd Up Family"
*Featurette: "Gone Soft: The New Michael Bryce"
*Featurette: "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard: #stuntlife"
*Featurette: "On the Set of Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard"
*Gag Reel
*Theatrical Trailers
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard releases on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, August 17, 2021.