SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
The Hitman's Bodyguard is the kind of commercialized entertainer one could clearly pick apart by the quotients it's made of for the targeted audiences and say which are nice or which are not.
To begin with, Act I was a failure. Despite the stylish music, locales, Michael Bryce's (Ryan Reynolds) preparation montages and funny late reaction towards a murdered client, it has a broken plot construction. From the bodyguard's story, we quickly jump to what dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) is up to, before hopping across to show who is Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson). The set up wasn't smooth. Plus, the scenes were old and bland! There's a typical rat in the law enforcement department. Unrealistic portrayals of trained elites as fools and notorious criminal as celebrity. Humor too, missed the marks.
As soon as Michael and Darius meet, you'll realize that the best part in the film is the chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson! From their first building escapade to the ones that followed, the quality of humor sparks they produced got better and better! Singing song to stay awake, doubting about dick size that may not fit in a bottle opening, Michael being ejected out of vehicle before confessing love, chanting rhymes with nuns in a van, Michael pouring out his frustrations while a series of violent action-destruction is taking place behind him, quick cuts of starting up a car but ending up in an accident just seconds after, the pair losing all transports and walking on a field full of cows were scenes that will tear the roof off by laughter! For some reason, Salma Hayek as Sonia got funnier too post Plot Point I. Describing her husband with a cockroach analogy and asking the officer on visit to relax were hilarious! Leaving all these aside, hearing Samuel L. Jackson say "Motherfucker" is a beauty and joke on its own!
Protagonist and true opponent are supposed to be on both sides of the same coin. Writer Tom O'Connor did know this, and he has shown the pair's contrast of views in achieving the same goal, shared past and concurrent life condition regarding lost love. Each teaches the other about the thing that's lacking inside themselves. For Darius, it's trust, friendship and compassion. For Michael, it's to be daring, take chances and love. But, the way it's done was too on the face! There were no subtleties in delivering these that made it lack intrinsic value. Sharing sessions did not transpire organically as there were no natural reasons for them to take place. Speaking of what's obvious, the way the filmmakers have introduced musical cues to knock and tell the audiences that a scene is an emotional one, was cheap. That's not how you execute segments with emotional hefts. Hence, we neither felt anything for Bryce's relationship with his girlfriend nor Darius' with his.
The next ingredient that functioned really well was the action sequences! Subway foot chase, reversal car pursuit and the mega stunt portion in Amsterdam that had a motorbike, boat and car on each other's tails were jaw-droppingly good! What audiences should be aware of is the one-take sequence revolving hand-brawls through a restaurant and DIY store! The single camera navigation to capture all the details and tension was enthrallingly impressive to say the least! Guess we can't complain about bullets not hitting the leads even once in a movie as such, can we?
Ultimately, the blame goes to the subpar plot. We really didn't need the President's storyline here! Nobody cares and it's boring. Although everything ties up finally at the courtroom and there's solid justification through backstory for Darius doing what he did, there weren't any essential payoffs. The climax went on and on with fake delays of arrival rather than stopping quick and short.
Certain scenes just didn't make sense, like Bryce urinating in a bottle and keeping it in the car, Dukhovich's men catching up with the leads in the woods too fast or Bryce making love during a hot mission. Computer graphics demanded loads of improvements. As far as practical effects go, blood flowing down Darius' injured calf was real! Setting design for the neon-colored tunnel with mannequins was awesome. There were some picturesque shots involving crows' heads which in turn explained the tattoos on Darius. Cheap emphasis on cleavages and buttocks should have been discarded.