Killer's Bodyguard 2

The verbal humour was a bit hammy at times, but otherwise it was pleasantly irreverent, with an impeccable Salma Hayek. I hate to use the cliché that she “had fun”, but in her case it really applies and she must have enjoyed her part incredibly. I guess the guys and gals behind the camera on set must have had fun during her performances too, including the flapper. Moreover, in the case of Salma, this is clear evidence that a woman in her fifties can look great even without hideous plastic surgery (Hollywood princesses say hello). (23.08.2021)

Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek must stop Antonio Banderas from destroying Europe, but they'll have plenty of work to do to keep from killing each other. The sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard brings back characters that were fun in the first one, but this time they've run out of gas. There's still plenty of action and it doesn't look bad, but when it's supposed to be funny, the film feels insecure and, more importantly, almost embarrassing in that it's built entirely on the fact that two people are yelling at a third for two hours. Significantly weaker than the first one, and a completely pointless film. (14.07.2021)

"I wouldn't leave a Chucky doll in her care." The second cinema visit this year, another sequel, and it's a fun R-rated ride that I really enjoyed. Drama fans will of course be disappointed as the story doesn't really bring anything new to the action comedy genre and the villain has a traditional bomb plan, but who cares. It's fun, it's gritty, it's got a breakneck pace, lots of familiar faces, cool memorable scenes, and I had enough fun that I didn't have time to think about anything downright annoying. Ryan Reynolds may be doing his Deadpool thing again and Samuel L. Jackson spurts one motherfucker after another. Frank Grillo as the detective and Antonio Banderas as the villain (albeit with punishingly little space) were quite enjoyable. Of course Salma Hayek steals the whole show here, not only with her deep cleavage but also with her awesome lines. I wanna marry her! The highlight is the flashback grim reaper who seems to have fallen from a Final Destination movie, it had the whole cinema laughing. The entrance of Morgan Freeman is similarly cool as the entrance of Christopher Lloyd in Nobody. I have minor reservations about the action scenes, they were little too wild and chaotic for my taste. The camera was either too close or there were so many cuts that I didn’t know was going on at times (this not Indonesia or Korea, so I’ll turn a blind eye). A tad weaker than the first one, but still a fun and enjoyable ride with fine actors that shouldn't offend anyone. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 4/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5, Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Actors 4/5. 7.5/10. (15.06.2021)

If the first film seemed too long to me because of one useless action scene, this one seemed too long to me because of at least half of the film. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard pretends for a while that it will be a very light variation on Bond films, and after a while it turns into a parody of those films and at about the middle of the film, when the heroes get to Tuscany (and when I foolishly hoped it would end soon), it becomes a parody not of Bond films, but of itself. Ryan Reynolds’ character survives more than Deadpool, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek try to have a child, one villainous devilish plan alternates with another, apparently drugged Interpol agents hire killers and bodyguards like on a treadmill and Greece is facing an apocalypse because the European Union is an evil that came from hell itself. To make matters worse, perhaps every character speaks with a more or less terrible accent, which is also supposed to be funny. But it's not. More than once I thought of Casino Royale from 1967 or the two years older What's New, Pussycat?, which is actually very, very, very similar madness, but at least I had fun with them. (20.07.2021)

Im zweiten Teil, in dem es um einen unausgeglichenen Bodyguard und einen geradlinigen Killer und seine noch geradlinigere Frau geht, verlagerte sich die Handlung von einer "Bromanze" zu einer Art "Beziehungsromanze", wodurch der Film etwas von seiner Attraktivität und Frische aus Teil eins einbüßte. Trotzdem hat es der zweite Teil geschafft, mich ausreichend zu unterhalten und mich durch verbale und physische Duelle, allerlei Anspielungen und eine ordentliche Portion Action sogar zu fesseln. Ich persönlich hätte den Film um etwa fünfzehn Minuten gekürzt und die Familiengespräche gestrichen. Die Figur des Bösewichts war etwas überflüssig, was vielleicht etwas schade ist, aber andererseits war ich froh, Morgan Freeman in einer kleineren Rolle zu sehen. (25.07.2021)

The second Hitman’s Bodyguard is more or less a sort of compilation of what I hate about contemporary mainstream cinema, namely an overabundance of characters, CGI out of laziness, pop culture giggles, Ryan Reynolds, and a fixation on nostalgia for old faces. But somehow I couldn't get angry at it, because it managed, I guess, to convey the mood of a place where quite obviously no one could care less and does whatever they want. It's written on drugs, acted on drugs, and the fee for Richard E. Grant's cameo must have kept the Croatian dealers busy for weeks. The upside is that this train doesn't stall and even when there isn't exactly an action scene going on, there is dialogue that is played with such nonsensical intensity and written so over the top that it comes across as an action scene. In any case, the gold digger Salma Hayek is utterly unbearable and undoubtedly deserving of a golden Anna Nicole Smith statue. (13.10.2021)